Strakes

Yeah, you can add "Maybe the previous owner beat the crap out of it". Who knows if the previous owner let it run low on oil a few times or ever changed it. Who knows if his teenage son drag raced his buddies on the weekends in it low on oil. There are a lot of what ifs. I'm glad you're okay and that the old Subaru was able to give her all in getting you out of a situation that could have resulted in injury or death. Best of luck on getting your car on the road soon.

About the suspension, I don't know but here's what I do know about the rims: We've gone from stock 14in (185/70R14) to 16in (205/55R16) on our 93 wagon with no issues. Our 93 is a FWD. The 2002 GT Rims fit the 1993 Legacy Wagon with the stock 205/55R16 Tires with no rubbing issues. I've sold those rims and now have 2002 WRX rims with 205/55R16 tires on it now. A lot of people run 205/50R16s for the clearance issue. The rubbing issue is of concern in the rear. The fronts have lots of space.

I don't own one, but recently read in the latest automobile magazine on their long term Legacy 2.5 GT Turbo. They were very impressed with how it handled all their abuse and never let them down.

The ASX's noise is a little bit quieter on asphalt, but a little bit louder on concrete than the RE92's...but not annoying or bothersome.

Did you ask the dealer that he bought the car from? Maybe they have a record of the repair on their computer that they can show you. This worked for my neighbor who was buying a used Infiniti J30 from a private seller who had all his work done at the local dealer.

I'm running P215/45WR17 Kuhmo ASX All-seasons on my GT. Like them a lot. Good traction dry and excellent traction in the wet. Haven't had them in the snow yet...but it doesn't snow that much here so that isn't much of an issue for me. What tire rated highest in the snow traction on your list? Maybe that's the one for you.

Gnuman...I wouldn't say your 92 wagon is "not the prettiest". I would call that a custom Burgandy-Winestone-Pearl Door Modification.

They should work. But to be sure, maybe you can jack up one side of your car and put them on the front and rear and test the clearance.

Mobil-1 15W50 in both cars, however, I did use Mobil-1 5W40 last winter as an experiment.

If you call up ipd and ask, they'll tell you exactly what each mm setting on your bar will handle like. I know from my own bar that the lowest setting has very slight understeer and the middle is completely neutral and the top is slight oversteer. They told me this when I bought the bar. After having some fun in a very large, completely empty, apparently abandoned, wet parking lot, I verified that their conclusions were correct. The funny thing was a "security" guard comes out of this abandoned Kmart/Kroger (or whatever it used to be) after I had done about a half hour of donuts to tell me that I had to leave cause I could run into somebody. Anyways, I have mine set on the neutral setting. You're right about it being counter intuitive to add gas when the back end comes around.

Sometimes I wonder about those wheel stores. I was told a similar story at a local performance store. There are plenty of 17 inch rims with the proper offset available on the aftermarket. Take a look at www.tirerack.com I got a set of 7 spoke 17's there with a tire size of P215/45WR17 and I love them. Also, you may want to look at a rear sway bar upgrade. Probably the best bang for the buck upgrade in my opinion. I have an ipd sway bar that i got at http://www.subysolutions.com/ that I love. Others also highly recommend the whiteline sway bar. Good luck.

I love my ipd sway bar on my 2002. here's a link: http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.aspx?CategoryID=1654&NodeID=5238&RootID=1414

You can get steel wheels for about $40 a piece if budget is an issue. And then slap a set of hubcaps on them. Or you can get aftermarket alloy wheels also. I've never had any trouble with aftermarket wheels (alloy or steel). Many of the OEM's actually manufacture "aftermarket" wheels. If you want a whole new set of alloys, take a look at tirerack.com. If you call them up, they can give you prices for regular steel wheels for your application as well.

Lexol Cleaner followed by Lexol Conditioner. I purchase them at the local pep boys. We use it on the leather seats in the airplane that I fly.

I applaud you for your maturity, diligence and smarts in getting such a nice car. Talk about advance planning! Most highschoolers are busy wanting a mustang or a similar sports car for themselves and get themselves in a ton of debt early just to impress their friends. A car like this can easily last you through college and beyond...freeing up cash to pay for college without a ton of loans and/or credit card debt. That's a nice car!

Yup...Beech King Air B200, a reliable workhorse. The airplane I fly has two ventral aft strakes hence the "Strakes" handle. What do you drive?

I did a search on google using "custom auto upholstery knoxville tennessee" and came up with a few shops in my area. Don't know where in PA you live, but if you did that with your online search, at least you can get a bunch of phone numbers and call around and see what it'll take to rebuild your seat. Hopefully the prices won't be shocking.

That sucks. I bet having a 5 passenger car and not being able to use the back seat makes things a pain. The cushions and seat can be rebuilt by an auto upholstery shop. If there is a hot-rodders meet near your home or a friend who's into custom cars, you may ask them for a reference. Also, have you tried junk yards? I don't know of any junk yards with subaru specific parts, maybe somebody here might be able to help you. If your successful with what I've listed above, then cancel your order and get a refund on the parts you ordered. Good luck.

Ooooooo...shiny. (the heads from CCR that is.)

I agree with zooma37. I forgot that we had to find rear facing seats without the grab-handle on top. That way it wasn't so wide and could fit between the gap on the front seatbacks. That allowed us to place the car seat in the middle rear position giving both front passengers leg room. Good grief. I remember growing up and my parents letting me and my brother having the whole back seat to roam without seat belts. Listening to some today makes me wonder how we made it to adulthood with the things we were allowed to do as children. Now if we have a long road trip, the kids can get highly irritated at having to be straight-jacketed into a car seat without any entertainment for extended periods of time. No wonder so many parents rave about dvd players in their minivans.

'tis but a flesh wound. At least the cost of the new engine out weighs the cost of the stitches. I have had an oil change that required 6 stitches. I saved $15 dollars on an oil change but spent lots of money on my visit to the ER, so that means my oil change cost about $320+.

We have 2 Legacy wagons and 2 kids. A minivan would be nice, but all the super-sized minivans today are too cumbersome manuevering around parking lots and spaces for my wife. She does like the smaller minivans like the Mazda MPV and new Mazda 5. I don't know anything about the reliablity of those two vehicles though. We aren't going to get rid of the wagons anytime soon because they are paid for. But if one was to die, we'd seriously consider a minivan. The wagons are plenty large enough to carry all your stuff with a few trade-offs. Keep in mind when you have to shuttle your twins to school, band practice, and sports, that it may be very hard for them to bring along a friend because of all the car seat safety requirements. Find the smallest car seats for your precious ones, ones without all the cupholders and extras hanging on the sides...that way you can actually get 3 car seats across if needed. If both want to bring a friend each, watch out...you can't put a kid in the front seat anymore, so effectively a 5-6 passenger car is only at max, a 3 kid car. Many families these days don't want to be seen in a minivan and want tons of space and utility (car seats and all) so they end up getting large SUVs based on image with a price they pay at the gas pump. A minivan, I think, is a good option for most families without the lousy gas mileage penalty the typical SUV has.

That additive is only $2.50 at the local dealer here.

Um, maybe you could post some pics of it? That may help us somewhat. It could be a number of things, including someone spilling a bunch on the engine while adding oil or something. If you clean it up (degrease it) and then watch and see where it's coming from that may help also. Also, if it has less than 30000 miles, it should be under warranty and the dealer should cover it.

Thanks. I didn't even think of using a plastic scraper. That's a great idea. I was afraid of using my metal scaper because it may gouge the metal and lead to an improper seal and another oil leak.