Invaderkymm

The jerk who sold me my 1999 Forester (with 144,000 miles) said he had the timing belt changed. Then he says the timing belt was changed before he bought the car at the dealership and if I need to know when I should call them and have them look it up. Now, I call the dealership today and they say they have done nothing to that particular vehicle and that they will do the timing belt and water pump for me for a mere 500.00+ parts cost of the waterpump. Isn't that nice of them? GAG!!! I am planning on going on a trip tomorrow, should I put it off until I can recycle enough cans to afford a timing belt change? GRR. GRR. GRR.

I checked the pump fluid and it looks beautiful and full, no leakage. It's not a so much of a clunk it's a "chirp! chirp! chirp!" and it's only when I have the steering wheel wanged all the way to the lock...such as backing out of a parking space. My husband says it's the power steering belt. So, he's going to swap that out (if he can, he hates japanese cars...he's a weird Rover freak) We'll see if that clears it up. Another thing, the "weird smell" is coming from the radiator. I couldn't smell it when I opened the engine compartment but I can smell it when I get out of the car, I don't think I recognized it as coolant because it was heated and antifreeze smalls a bit different when it's warm or something. Duh. But there is no leak under the car, and no smell of coolant, warm or otherwise in the engine. Thanks for all your help, everyone.

I just went out and farted around in the Forester. It's not the CV boots. I peered through the engine compartment and there is no grease on the axels and the Boots look happy and healthy.

AWESOME!, yes, I wanted to get a pre-buy inspection, but my husband vetoed it. Ithink he really was both thinking I was not very serious about buying the car and really wanted to put me into a Land Rover Discovery. But oh, well, the problems aren't that bad. If it isn't the CV boot couldn't the noise also be either a steering box problem or a tire rotation issue? I'm just learning, so feel free to make fun of me! ALso, how do you determine if how long a boot has been cracked and whether or not the axel, bearings or other bits in there are damaged?

Hey everyone! I just bought a 1999 Subaru Forester L and it's having some issues, evidently. I need the downlow on parts. I KNOW some of you would have to know where there is an awesome wrecking yard (or something) that can pull and ship things or could be in Washington somewhere. Maybe someone knows a good shop that won't rip me off in my ignorance,(machanical stuff and me are like lemons and milk!). Basically, I think I'm saying "Let me into the club! I want to learn and keep my Subaru for a long time!" Right now it's making a crappy clacky noise at a tight U-Turn and sometimes it smells funny. I can't really describe the smell, I'll check on it again after I get the free diagnostic at Auto Zone (to set me on the right track). My husband said something about the transmission being jumpy but I drove it more then he did and didn't get that, so we'll see. I know someone didn't take good care of it at some point in it's life but I love it and want to make it well. By the way: If there is an internal coolant leak, how would you detect that?

The shop I was going to take it to is a general Japanese Motors shop. There is a Subaru shop also (not a dealer shop) and they wanted about the same for a 2 hour rather then 3 hour inspection.But those are my feelings exactly. I think that maybe The Husband feels that I may be jumping the gun on buying the Forester (I haven't even put my Honda up on craigslist yet.) and that I should wait until I see a few other cars (Rovers, I'm sure!) before I drop too much on an inspection. 143,000 is a lot of miles on a vehicle, but I don't think he really gets that ALL the Subarus in our price range have this many or MORE on them. I'm not sure why all the Rovers we've looked at have so few. (90,000 and 110,000) So I'm going to wait it out, get to work on selling the Honda and have some buyers interested before I work more towards getting the Subie. Hopefully I won't be without a car for any period of time. He feels that a Rover would suit better because he has all the sweet hook-ups and an honest garage lined up for them, which is a very valid arguement in my opinion. However the Rovers are gigantic and eat gas like crazy and I really don't think that we could comfortably afford gas for two. I have been longing for a Subaru for years. I don't want that to cloud my judgement. You all have been great. I would never have been so confident without all of you helping.

Okay. I drove the Forester. It was awesome! So peppy up the hills! The owners are moving overseas and need to sell most of their stuff in a hurry, which seems to be why the thing is so cheap. Anyhow, everything seems to be in working order. The only place that did Subarus that I could find wanted $150 for the inspection! My husband said NO WAY. The owner had an inspection done, it sounds like reciently. Here are my concerns: It does have a lot of miles on it. The tires need to be replaced. There is a weird small, but it's not coolant, it smells more like hot or burned oil. But there were no leakages where the car was parked. I told my husband about what the tires looked like and he thought there may be an alignment problem! But I may have only thought they were worn on the inside and not so much in the middle. I'm really only freaking out about this because it's the first time I won't be able to blame someone else if the car turns out to be a lame duck.

I asked them if they had done the head gaskets, water pump and timing belt in this car when I sent him my first e-mail. He said the Dealership swapped the timing belt when they did their 21 point inspection. I was wondering, this was only an issue with the phase II 1999's and there is a recall on them wouldn't that show up on the carfax? Now I just have to find a trusted machanic...Washintonians! let me know!I'm actually going to take it into a shop on monday, since the owners are going on some trip this weekend, if I like how it goes this morning. If you take it to a lousy shop they can still notice major issues, though, right? This is the first time I've done this...

Okay Folks: what do you think of this- http://seattle.craigslist.org/car/137152749.html (hope the link works!) I'm going to look at this tomorrow. The Carfax came back clean. Why do you think they are selling it for so little? You have to understand that this is my very first time buying a car without the help of "a REAL grown-up" to help me and I'm needing some reasurance. thank you and soon, hopefully, I will have a rockin' new Soob.

That is good to know! We are long legged peoples. Gosh, all of you have been so helpful. Thanks!

This has to do with Lucas electrics and it isn't as much of a big deal as everyone makes it out to be. The English do call him "The Prince of Darkness" LOL. My husband's 1992 Rover (3 inch lift, converted to coil suspension) doesn't have problems with the electrics, per say, just with dirt getting into the Land Rover Only parts. Just about anything on a land rover can be replaced with a Buick or whatever part. Except for a few items. The buttons and levers to move the seat for example. His starter went out right after he bought it and he hopped on the phone to about 15 Rover shops (including a call to a Rover shop in Perth!) and eventually got the part the dealership quoted him would be 800.00 for 300. So that was nice. And if a Rover isn't leaking oil most owners take it to the machanic to find out what's wrong. Porches do the same thing. Ford, as I understood it, has nothing to do with the running of Land Rover, they just own it. The trucks are still made in Dogsbodyshire England (or whatever...some Shire) and are including a picnic basket. But the newer rovers suck. word up.The Disco II sux! It's why I was going to buy a 1994. Old styling. Nice. This is my dilemma. But I think all the Soobs I was looking at were sold, so far. No fun. Except for the 99 Forester. Trying to predict how a car was cared for and why the owner is really selling it is really annoying. It would be a pisser if I sold my Honda and ended up with a car that had more hidden problems that I paid extra for. You guys are awesome and are a great help.

Does that mean that's the bad year? I was going to go look at one tomorrow. He said he replaced the timing belt and that's the only work he's had done on it.

I can't afford a 2000! I can only get about 6000.00 for my Honda and I only feel comfortable spending 1000.00 of my Tax return on a car. EVery 2000 i've seen is going for 10,000.00 or more. I went and sat in a 2002 OBW when I was getting a new ashtray for my Honda at the dealership (ours spontainiously combusted). Are all the seats as uncomfortable? Or did I just get into an exceptional one?

Funny thing about my Honda: I don't trust it. I'll give you the medium version of the story. I had a two seater truck when I got pregnant and asked my dad to help us buy a sedan. He found this Honda in Hometown, California (when I lived in California too). My dad is a doctor and while a smart man, knows pretty close to jack about cars, he looks for low milage.That is all. He did not ask the owners if it had been in an accident, he did not ask them for service records, he did not take it to a machanic before he called me (while I was in labor!) and told me I had to make a decision about the car right then (and 1000 miles away). So: a year or three later and the brakes are acting up again. We took it into a brake shop and they inform us that the alignment is so effed that it needs a ...what is that a shem? a shiv? whatever. The front end is bent and it's been causing our tires extra wear, they also won't release it to us without new front tires. I expect that my dad got suckered on so many levels it just embarasses me. 900.00 later I want this car gone before we have to spend another 900.00 (or worse!) unexpectedly. Or rather, while it still has low milage for it's year and it's worth something. It's a 1997 Honda Accord, 89,000 miles on it. It's got a nice, large interior and is fairly comfy (cloth). We put in a new stereo after someone stole ours (cracking the dash) about 2003. (dash is still cracked, 60.00 part.) I went to Auto Zone and got their Free Diagnosic fun-bit, there is a Torque converter clutch circut malfunction. I'm not sure exactly what that is but it has something to do with the transmission which makes me run screaming from the room. The thing also has some interior carpet damage, (which my dad failed to notice before he shelled out 5,000 too much) and some nice fellow keyed it. Almost all the Subarus I am looking at are in the city of Seattle or in the suburbs. Most have a good deal of milage but less then 150,000. I've been reading about the head gasket issue, but wasn't sure what years, engine sizes etc. I don't have a machanic I can trust, unfortunitely! Except Matthew's Rover machanic. We moved here from California in September. So if anyone lives in the Seattle area, let me know who you go to. Thanks so much for the advice. I am totally going to be prepaired.

They are pretty "lux" but I can get a Rover Disco, with less miles for less then I can get a Soob. the one i'm looking at has 89,000 miles and is a 1994. But concerning Harsh Terrain, sooner or later we want to buy a peice of land and build on it, so we will have to drive over dirtroads and rockchcuks daily. I MUST have automatic. I have a stickshift phobia. I can drive them, but i hate it. What do you mean by "pokey"? I am a bit concerned with the interior room, I've only got the one carseat to deal with thank whomever. I assumed that if I were goign to be doing any rock humping that I was going to need to do a raise on a Soob, but how low is the ground clearance, how harsh can you drive it offroad stock? All rovers that I know of are fulltime 4 wheel drive? I only know about old dogs though. I wouldn't buy a Disco 2 or any rover newer then 1996. thank you for your help!

It would be a 1994 Disco. Yes. And that Is pretty lame gas milage. Matthew (Dear Husband) went from 10 MPG in a Chevy truck to 13-15 in his Rover, so we saw an improvement. It was something I hadn't thought about. Oh man, the Discos, even being the weakest of Rovers WILL drive over anything, I have seen videos of them, totally stock, pulling stuck Hummers out of the mud. Fierce. The limited slip differential is what most of his argument for the rover was based on. He drew me diagrams and everything. His point was, with a locking Diff. there are less peices that need care, lubrication, and attention when, not if, they break. I had no idea ahow to counter that. I don't think this is a problem. This Honda is my 6th car. I've also had a Chevy truck and a 80's 4-Runner. My biggist concern is matenance, since we are not the richest Mutha's on the block. I'm a fairly good driver and can handle almost anything (except San Francisco in a stick shift). Awesome. that was what I was looking for! Thanks so much!

Hello everyone! My name is Kymm, I am selling my Honda Accord and I want to buy a Subaru Outback Wagon. I have found 3 1997 Subarus that I want to go have a look at (and look pretty good) they all have at least 120,000 miles on them. The trouble is my Husband is a Land Rover fanatic and is trying to convince me that a Rover is going to have problems that he can fix or his Rover garage can fix and that the Subaru will cost us more in the long run. What do you all think? Questions: What should I beware of when buying a Subaru? What questions should I never forget to ask a seller? In your opinion, would I be better off with a Land Rover? I am not going to do any SERIOUS offroading, but I will be doing some serious roadtripping with a 4 year old. Thank you all!