mikekerstetter

One day after my last post, on the one week anniversary of buying the Accent, I hit a deer on my way home from work. $2250 bought me a new hood, hood hinges, headlight assembly, grill and bumper cover. I've been driving cars with over 100,000 miles for years and I've not hit even a large pothole with any of them. Buy myself a 2 year old car with a warranty and a week later I wreck it. But I've got it back and it looks as good as new. Getting 30 mpg on my 7 mile work commute. Loving this car so far.

Just under a week and I am happy with my purchase. Had two small snow storms come through that left under 2" each. Had no problems getting around in that. Interested in seeing how it handles a bigger storm. 29mpg driving my 7 miles to work is a plus too. It's been a few years since I've gone a winter without either AWD or a 4x4. I started life driving all rear wheel drive cars and 4x2 trucks. Although I had to work at it sometimes, I always got where I was going safely. My first FWD car was a '93 Ford Escort Wagon, which I purchased 2 weeks prior to the blizzard of '93. While it wasn't as good as AWD, I had no trouble driving the 20 miles home in the height of that storm. It was a year or two after that I bought my first Subaru, an '89 GL10 wagon with the 5 spd. and the old true 4x4 (fwd/4x4/4x4low). I loved that car so much that when I finally had to get rid of it because of rust I bought an '89 GL10 sedan with the same set up. I bought that car for $1800, drove it for 4 years and then sold it for $1750 after I bought a '90 Legacy Wagon. My wife drove a '92 Loyale Wagon, which was the same body style as the GL10's but wasn't the same driving. It had a push button to engage the AWD and it didn't have the low range option. It probably was my least favorite Subaru, it didn't have the feel of the others. Maybe because we bought it with an 'R' title (it was wrecked and totaled but a local Subaru shop bought it, repaired it, and put it back on the road) was the reason, I'm not sure. Our next purchase was a '95 Impreza wagon with a 5 spd. We got that car when the front pulley was coming off the shaft due to a bad key or keyway used to keep it in place on the '90 Legacy. I was using a local shop that specialized in selling and repairing used Subaru's. The repair bill was pretty hefty at the time, the car had 180,000 miles on it, and I was eyeing up the Impreza, so I asked them what they would give me in a trade for the Impreza. I got a fair deal and dumped the Legacy. I drove that Impreza for several years with no problems. I traded it a few years ago to get a truck that I thought I 'needed'. That was my last Subaru until I bought this one. The 2000 OBW ran good and was smooth riding. Too bad there were all the things going wrong in rapid succession.

So, it's OK to tell me that my opinion doesn't matter but when I give it back you cry foul? LOL, get your panties in a bunch much? I've given solid, factual rebuttals which you completely ignored and told me I didn't know what I was talking about. You need to man up and admit it when you're proven wrong. And, just for the record, I've not called you anything. I said your argument was foolish, I didn't call you a fool. There is quite a difference.

Yes, if you are mechanically inclined you can do a lot of the work yourself. I'm not, and I don't have the location nor the patience to do it. My only point in this whole thread-turned debate is that at some point the cost and or work involved is not worth putting into the vehicle. I'm really not knocking Subaru. I liked all of my previous Subaru's. But the fact remains that they all have had common Subaru issues. For someone to tell me that Subaru builds vehicles which are superior in quality to other vehicles, given the past decade and a half of HG failures, oil leaks prior to that, and the current shake issue, is just ludicrous in my opinion.

LOL. At least you are being entertained. But what do I know, the genius says my opinions don't count. ROTFL

Yeah, I've not found one car worth putting more money in than it's worth, and that includes the 6 Subaru's I've owned. I guess with age comes wisdom. You portray yourself as a self-proclaimed expert and tell me I don't have the experience you have. I guess paying attention to and considering what another person writes before giving an opinion is also a virtue of age. Had you been paying attention, you would realize how foolish the diatribe you wrote in your last post sounds. As previously stated, I HAVE previously owned a Hyundai, albeit re-badged as a Mitsubishi, and I HAVE owned 6 Subaru's. I can make an informed opinion, from my experience, that Subaru and Hyundai are of comparable quality and value for the money. It's foolish, given the myriad of problems over the past decade and a half, to claim Subaru is an industry leader in quality. The facts just don't support the rhetoric. :cool:

So, what was Subaru's remedy for the shakes? Oh, that's right, they haven't come up with one yet. Again I find it odd that you can say that with a straight face knowing that Subaru has no idea what is causing a well documented problem with its Outbacks. Apparently the dealers you took it to couldn't duplicate the problem. Subaru knows of the problem and can't find a cause. Broke because you keep fixing your Subaru? LOL My 2 '89's leaked oil like crazy, not to mention they rusted severely. (Although you'd think the oil would have prevented them from rusting. Didn't happen though) Really, no mechanical issues for 6 years, gets great gas mileage, but it's a throw away car. Interesting. Equally as interesting. Your 90 Legacy is not the 2000 OBW that I was driving. It wasn't the 1st or 2nd generation 2.5 with all of it's HG problems. HG's shouldn't fail under 100,000 miles. They should realistically last well past 100,000 miles, pushing the 200,000 mile mark. The gen 1 and 2 were failing sometimes at 30,000 miles. Mine were fixed two years ago, and were failing again. Subaru has everyone dumping stop leak in the radiator as their solution to that problem. What about the fuel line problem that was never addressed? Again, my 2 '89' GL10's, '91 legacy wagon, and '95 Impreza all leaked oil. I've seen post after post on the P0420 CEL problem on many Subarus. Quality my arse. These pages and the pages of various other Subaru forums are jammed full of broken Subaru repair questions. I'm a fan of Subaru. I've enjoyed every one of them, except for this one. Fuel smell, coolant smell, bad alternator, replaced the exhaust from the cat back, replaced the O2 sensor and STILL have the CEL on constantly. I've put $750 in this car in 2 months since I bought it with the prospect of putting $1800 to $2500 more into it to repair current problems (still have an exhaust leak somewhere up front). What is going to need repaired next? How much money does one sink into a car that is seemingly falling apart? I'm glad you like your Subaru. I've liked my previous Subaru's. But I'm not naive enough to claim that Subaru is 'quality' above all other manufacturers. The track record indicates otherwise.

I've lived within 4 miles of the place I was born all of my life. I drove rear wheel drive cars and trucks for the first 14 years I was driving. I traded my 1st 4x4 truck on a front wheel drive Ford Escort Wagon two weeks before the blizzard of '93. I drove the 20 miles home from work in that Escort in the height of the blizzard and had no problems at all. I have never stayed home because of a storm. Had to work a bit to get where I was going in that '76 Dodge Dart or the 2wd pickups I drove that were rear wheel drive, but I always got where I was going. The FWD cars, while they're not as good as AWD or a good 4x4, are night and day in comparison to those old RWD cars I started out on. I have no anticipation of not being able to drive the 7 miles to work or any where else I need to go in a snow storm with this FWD Hyundai. Yes, the AWD is better, but it's not essential for me to have. As far as Hyundai being a throw way car, or has rattles and other stuff, I think that's a case of casting stones while living in a glass house. My Outback whistled so loud from the front side windows that you had to almost shout to hold a conversation. And let's not pretend there isn't a huge problem with HG failures that's gone on for years, the poor gas line design that causes the raw fuel smell in the cockpit if you don't tighten all the hose clamps every year before winter or the current 'shake' issue with the 10/11 Outbacks. I'm not knocking Subaru but those are the cold hard facts. It seems Subaru has had it's fair share of problems, so calling another make 'throw away cars' is a bit hypocritical. We owned a Mitsubishi Precis a long time ago, which was a Hyundai Excel rebadged for Mitsubishi. That wasn't a bad car. We had no problems with it. It was reliable and got great gas mileage. I did some research and a lot of the reviews rated the Hyundai very well with other cars of it's price range and class in 2009. The ride on this 2009 is comparable to my Subaru. Of course it's smaller, so it's a bit choppier, but it's not harsh by any means. Let's not forget that the Hyundai/Kia warranty is one of the best in the business. And the fuel mileage of 30mpg vs the 22 in the Subaru is going to be a welcome change, especially with gas prices predicted to rise to $5/gal this summer again. So I'm sure it will do me just fine to get me everywhere I need to go until retirement.

Weighed all my options. Decided to trade it in for a 2009 Hyundai with 28,000 miles, the balance of the factory warranty and around $60/month more in payments. In the end it came down to me not having confidence in this particular Subaru. It's too bad, because the car drove smooth. But thanks for everyone's opinions.

Well, I'm not positive, but the owner said they did both. And mechanic said both sides are weeping, drivers side rear and passenger side front, where the coolant passages are.

Gross he is way over that 100K warrenty. 1800 somebody is behind on his boat payments. That is a Subaru Dealer quote What source for the replacement parts have you used ? just the dealer. We do have a shop in the area that specializes in used subaru sales and service and I've used them quite a few times in the past. I just happened to be at the Subaru Dealer for a recall for that front O2 sensor and ECU reflash and asked them to evaluate the coolant smell The fuel smell I would just replace all the little rubber hoses. LOL, that's a LOT of clamps and short hose pieces. The alt, well they get tired. Yeah, that wasn't no big deal, I expect to replace some parts with this many miles The cat? How was that decided, I woudl have replaced the O2 sensor with an OE one first and see what happened. I haven't replaced the cats, just everything behind them. The O2 sensor was replaced with an OE under recall. I think I have an exhaust leak somewhere up front because I can smell some exhaust coming in the vents. I'm not sure that isn't where the smell of the raw fuel isn't coming from on the first cold startup. I guess it would have to be in the Y pipe or cats.

The guy at the Subaru Dealer who diagnosed the problem gave me the additive to put in it. I did that, and it's still weeping. To my understanding, the head gasket repair from the dealer includes sending the heads out to be milled, valve seals, water pump, and a timing belt. He said basically the same thing as some of you, to keep an eye on it. Said it wasn't anything that needed an emergency repair, and might actually go this way for years. I haven't had the exhaust smell looked at, but I did have the cat back replaced when the muffler fell off, because someone cut the flanges and welded everything together rather than fix it right the first time. It only cost me a little extra to do it right. Honestly, if I hadn't joined the Subaru Outback forum after buying it, or actually found the site looking for the fuel smell problem, I wouldn't have know about the head gasket issue. I've driven quite a few older vehicles where I could smell coolant so that smell by itself wouldn't normally have caused me any concern. It's not dripping coolant, so their is no puddles of any kind on the ground. The problem, for me, is the knowledge or thought that this could fail at any time and leave me stranded somewhere. And the possibility that it's going to be a money pit.

I'm at a crossroads. Do I spend $1800 to fix the head gaskets on my 2000 OBW with 146,000 miles on it or trade it in? I've owned the car for 2 months, so far I've replaced the exhaust from the cat back, replaced the alternator and had the front O2 sensor replaced under a recall. Even after tightening fuel lines under the hood I still have a slight raw fuel smell after starting it when it's really cold. I am pretty sure I have an exhaust leak in the Y pipe or cats somewhere. When I had the O2 sensor replaced I asked the dealer to check out the source of coolant smell, and they said head gaskets were weeping coolant. It's not something that's in desperate need of immediate repair, but I don't know how long it'll be until it starts leaking significant amounts of coolant either. Previous owner said the head gaskets were replaced two years ago and the heads were machined at the same time. Timing Belt was replaced at that time also. He said the tranny was replaced last year with a used one that had 20,000 miles on it. Neither by a Subaru shop. I still owe $3900 on the car, and I can get out of it for about what I owe on it. I'm not sure I want to dump in another $1800 - $2500 to fix all the problems with this car. I'm leery that after I fix this something else will pop up. I can get a 2009 in another make with 20,000 miles and the remainder of the factory 60/60,000 warranty for a few dollars more per month. I like the AWD, but with a short 7 mile commute to work it's not something that's a necessity. I just don't know what to do.

Well Hello neighbor.

Hello everyone from Central Pennsylvania. I currently drive a 2000 Outback Wagon with 146,000 miles on it. I've owned 5 previous Suby's: '89 GL10 Wagon, '89 GL10 Sedan, '91 Legacy Wagon, '92 Loyale Wagon and a '95 Impreza Wagon. My greatest Subaru story is pulling a Ford F-350 with a snow plow out of a snow bank he got stuck in with my first Suby, the '89 GL10 wagon with the 5 spd. gearbox and two speed 4wd system. I miss that set up. Wish they'd bring it back.