jon38iowa

Perhaps Look under Salvage Yard.

I found a place called Pams Auto Parts in Minnesota. The prices can vary, my recollection is they cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $ 200. for both bottom and seat back. John

Have you considered a used one? Often times a rear seat gets the least use and is inexpensive used. Try an on-line search. Good luck, John

Cool Photos! The '08 Tribeca nose reminds me of a cross between a late model Cadillac and Dodge Caravan. John

If you have a little extra money I recomend: Zaino- They have awesome products in my opinion. I bought their total auto package and on-line. It is more expensive than the retail store, however, the product goes along ways. John

the only real problem with it is massive piston slap that is making my dad nervous. he isn't as happy with this car due to these engine problems. I like it its a great engine when well taken care of. don't let the problems scar you away its not like it happens all the time. Indeed, mine had that too! It was so anoying, and the only cure is a rebuild. I am told it requires slightly larger pistons to correct this problem, and so far it has worked for me. John

Yes that is precisely what I am saying. The cruise on my car programed to force a downshift and it was not really needed( al least on the given grades I encountered) in my opinion. A handful of times I had to downshift, but otherwise the car could easily make most grades in fourth gear. I don't like to run the rpms near the redline, which is what the cruise was forcing the car to do. I was able to finesse the gas pedal myself by simply applying soft and increasing pressure to it, mostly this worked pretty well. Wouldn't I get a idiot light if the injector was turned off? Thanks for the link, I will research it today. John Ps. I unable to access endwrench- It gives me a homepage, but after that I get the boot.

I just got back from taking the Red Brick to Salt lake City. It was good trip overall. However I noticed in the mountians the car performed erraticaly: For example, when going up steep grades the car would suddenly Zoom to 5 rpms or beyond. This when cruise control set,and after disengaging I could easily drive without having the car needing to upshift. Most disturbing: On one occasion it did as described above, and on the downhill slope refused to drop back to 4th gear. I tried the breaks and turning off the cruise, still didn't budge. The only thing that worked was for me to reactivate the cruise, then it quitely went into 4th gear. The transmission works flawless otherwise. Needless to say for the remainder of the trip I drove all steep grades myself. I know from experience that most all cars are a little course in the mountains, but this was ridiculous. Separate issue but still persists: The car idles slightly rough. That is, not bad, but it shakes a little at the stop lights, even with the car in Park, and it drives slightly off.Kinda like and old car with carburation, something like a near sputter in terms of performance; I have replaced the: MAF sensor, new OEM coil, wires, plugs,run five cans seafoam through it,had the engine block rebuilt - new pistons, water pump , gaskets, , etc,all this the past callendar year. Tomorrow I am going to clean the intake manifold. If this doesn't help would my next step be to consider fuel injectors? Or, is it possible that its a computter issue? Fuel consumption seems to be on par. I burned through ten tanks of gas, the lowest mileage was 19.(heavy head wind), and the best was 28, but the average was 22. Not too bad for a pretty heavily loaded car. Despite pushing it to speeds of 80 mph or so and sustained most of the trip, it did not use any fluids whatsoever. Thanks in advance for any pointers. I like my cars to perform smoothly and near new. With this car I am having difficulty getting all the bugs worked out. John

Indeed: Not all Radio Shacks are the same. The one I went to sold me the wrong bulb, stating the one I needed was not available. This bulb, though fitting the spot, burned out an $80.00 relay! The kicker: Subaru gave me the replacement bulbs for free. John

Amen! I love Ebay, but Buyer Be Ware!

I had a rather humbling moment tonight: We had a largely state wide blizzard here (inter-states closed,etc), and on the way home tonight I was pretty much the only one on the road. I was doing great, a little puffed up with pride perhaps with my Forester. Anyhow as neared the road to my home the drifts (due to 30 mph winds ) were substanstialy getting deaper. I could have followed the two tracks already made on the desolate on coming lane, but no, I decide I am indomitable in my red brick, morevover, all starts going fine at speed but then I make the irreverasable mistake of slowing down, and the car sinks then womp. I could scarcely open the door to get out. I was not dressed to dig out the 20' or so feet ahead of me, nor the undercarriage of the brick. After trying unsuccessfullly to dig out the tire areas, a couple guys came along with a chain and pulled me out the drift area. It was kinda embarrassing when one of the guys said, " I thought those cars don't get stuck." But then as I told him I shouldn't have been over confident, and the car doesn't have winter tires on it. I did one concern though: When I when I was trying to rock it out, the ABS light came on(never happened before). Is that typical? I was using caution and not spinning the tires too fast, nor was I shifting gears without stopping for a pause. I turned the car and at restart the went back out. John Central Iowa

Here is what works for me: I buy these gladd covers at the grocery store and place them over the alternator, ABS unit, and the electrical fuse box useing rubber bands to hold them in place. Next I spray down pretty much everything (save for the rubber hoses) with the Green soap (wallmart auto section), and then finish with the high pressure spray at the car wash. I take a flat box to protect the hood insulation, it doesn't fair well to getting wet. It is also helpful to take the car up to freeway speed to blow out any standing water. I am sure you already know to do this with the engine warm but not hot.

Good News: The shop looked it over and all it turned out to be, was a loose ground wire. No charge either:banana:

Battery replaced new last Fall, top of the line Napa. The cable look tight and in great shape. I have replaced a starter on '80s american made, moreover, if memory serves me it did not kill the lights or have any effect on the rest of the car. Perhaps cars have changed even more dramaticaly then I thought.

Having the '99 Forester myself (note midyear change for Subaru for this car- it has the phase 2 engine), I would be personaly be much more concerned with the dreaded piston slap/knock. Having had this myself, it would have been far more pleasant and less expensive to replace a bad HG. Just my 2 cents

Thanks to you both. Battery connections are immaculate and coated with protector, moreover, I tried it two more times this morning and after repeat of my first post, it started like no problem at all. I had a friend follow me to the shop and it now awaits diagnosis. Thanks again. John

All was well with my Forester until tonight. I went to start it cold- Zero here but block heater plugged in, and after a couple click sounds, nothing.I mean the lights went out! I wiggled the battery cable and pop, the security lights(parking lights) come on blinking. So I try again, same scenerio, eveything is dead. Again until my hands began to freeze I wiggle the clean battery cables(tight as a drumm) and same as before, all lights shine brightly, but after atempting to start, dead again. Anyone have any thoughts? My guess is loose wire somewhere, but I would be happy to have others opinion. Last fall I put in a brand new Top of the line Napa battery, and I have been given no indication of any problem whatsoever. All the fluids are perfect. Thanks in advance for any pointers. John

I have the '99 Forester as well. The price the shop quoted you sounds resonable for that much work, moreover, I agree with nipper, get a second opinion first. Whatever you do I would definately stick with OEM seals/parts, this, as mine had to be rebuilt twice because of after maket parts installed the first time.

My Forester takes forever (at least five minutes) even in the summer, for the gauge to slowly creep up to the near center mark. It has been this way since day one and even after two rebuilds.

Would it cause any harm to simply intall a filter yourself in the engine bay. Mine is located on or near the strut tower, moreover, not much to it- The old can style filter with two steal connectors for the gaslines and simple bracket to hold it the body. If I ever get stuck with the inside fuel tank filter, thats what plan will be after warranty of course, that is unless there is dire consequences that I am unware of. Good Luck

Toyota just got sued over it. nipper Didn't I read Toyota recently anounced a major recall campagne? Seems like it involved tens of thousands of vehicles or more. It happens to the best of em. Just my 2 cents. Oh and if my budget allowed it, I would be thrilled to own a Lexus, however, it does not. so I am just as happy to have Subaru, lousy service from SOA and all. This just means I have to work a little harder(which I have done) at getting the car repaired, and perhaps a little more maintenance exspense.

My shop cleaned mine and reset the CEL,however, within a few miles the light came right back on again. Only a new sensor cured the problem. Still I think it is worth a shot to clean em first an see.

You also might consider a block heater; This was the best $ 100. I have ever spent! Not only does the car start easier, but also, the Forester only takes a couple of minutes to get warm- Right now it is sub zero here as well.

This doen't Fit your criteria for "pesonalizing" the car, but, I have had such good results with this product, it deserves a mention. The product is called Zaino for those interested. Last year I decided to give my maroon paint (very pretty but shows every flaw) a freshening- That is strip off all the old wax, buff out as much of the sctratches as possible and apply a quality wax. I ran accross the Product Zaino, more of a product line actually, and I purchased all they recomended for my needs. Wow, IMO they really make a top of the line show car product and it exceeded my expectations in every way! No I don't sell their product lol. It was a great deal work, at least 10 hours by hand, to just remove the exsisting residue and buff out the preveously ingrained swirl marks, but, the results came out perfect. Now six months later the product still adheres and feel nice smooth/ shiny, mind you this is Iowa- Salted roads , the car gets washed every week, etc,. It is rather expensive, but it goes along way and one will have some left over after the job. Very seldom do I plug a product, but then, this is the first car product I have found to have lived up to its label. I know others here love their Subaru as much as I do.