brus brother

3 words... High Test Gasoline! $$$ YIKES!

I just bought a 2008 OB 2.5i automatic with 22K miles that had been a rental car for $18,000. Clean as a whistle. All Subaru warranties remain from date first brought into service. In my case that means I have another 14K miles and 15 months of the 3yr/36K mile bumper to bumper warranty and the same 5yr/60K mile warranty from date of introduction to use. This thing has enough bells and whistles to be its own band. The warnings about timing belts and other maintenance on a high mileage car should be calculated into your purchase price.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/tsbsearch.cfm Have a look here. I recall a TSB about leaks at the courtesy light area. This site is interesting in gaining a heads up on possibilities as warranties near expiration. If you have any hint, get it on a service record before expiration.

When first started, my 05 OB has all of the grace and charm of an outboard motor. It quiets down after a minute. I complained when the car was new but was advised this was "normal".

90 LegWagon is correct about the unfriendly face plate design for the hvac/radio in the 2005 OB. There is a link floating around on this site to a handyman fix but it entails some rewiring and soldering of the original unit and likely not for the squeamish. It recreates what my 2008 OB has standard (see below). I believe SOA came out with a new design faceplate for the 2005 that might make swapping doable but I don't know the cost. Check with a Subie parts dealer for availability. Our 2008 OB has an aux jack in the center console and an aux setting on the head unit as well as 12v outlet in center console so the likes of Mr. Shiny IPod stays out of sight.

:banana:Happy Anniversary:banana: Battery terminal: How about shaving down the connector where the two ends come together. This will allow it to be tightened to a smaller diameter.

In this gas mileage hypersensitive time, I am wondering about the impact of various style tires. After ordering Goodyear Triple Treds, I read one review that stated that the "loss of 2-3 mpg was OK considering the improved traction". YIKES! This seems extreme. Has anyone had this experience with these tires or other tires?

While I recall mention of Forrester right rear bearing issue, I don't recall others. I will have it checked nonetheless.

"200" was a bit before my time;) but I did own an automatic 2000 Legacy GT wagon. It had the EJ25 engine. It is an interference engine and timing belts are changed by 105K miles or sooner under extreme conditions. External headgasket problems continued until mid 2003 I believe but Suabru provided for an extended 100K miles/8 year warranty if they added some stop-leak goop to the coolant system.This HG issue, while not as bad as the late 90's internal HG issue was a continued black eye for SOA. I had my transmission replaced twice under warranty. The first was an issue of delayed engagement apparently common to my year. When going from reverse to drive, there was a noticeable lag before engagement. The second time, there was a ticking noise. SOA doesn't repair transmiisons at the dealerships but ships rebuilt ones to swap in. All that having been said, it went to 110K before being totalled by the insurance company after an accident. It would have gone another 110K if they had repaired the damage. I got 22 mpg on average and considered it a fine ride. Good luck.

Hey Nippy, OK on the tire balancing. How about alignment? Same monkey business? PS I think I followed your lead on the Triple Ts.

I knew I was due with 58K miles on the original tires on my 05 OB but I was surpirsed to find that while all tires showed more wear on the outside edges, the right rear was damn near bald 1/3 away across from the outside edge! Is this an alignment problem or individual tire balance problem? Based on board discussions, I already ordered Goodyear Triple Treds through Tirerack ($40 rebate on 4 tires) and they are being shipped to my local indie shop. Is Subaru balancing or more importantly, alignment any better than an independent shop?

I'm in for 5.

Thanks for the directions and tips. I have tried the twist method with no luck. There appears to be two seams on the back of the handle and I am assuming that this it is only the front section that roatates away? If so, the offset in the seams appears counterintuitive to the direction of twisting. I haven't tried the "pry bar" method yet but thanks for the "delicato" warning Shawn.

How do you get to the screws behind the door pull on the 05+ Outbacks. The handle has seams in the back but I can't figure out how to pop it off and I'd rather not trash it.

The Dakotas... 9 months of winter and the rest is 3 months of bad sledding:lol: I have yet to try the Goodyear Triple tread but haven't been impressed with the other makes and models I've tried, so next time I will put them in the game and see how they do at bat. If there is any inceased cost associated with changing tires with the pressure monitoring sysems, longer life tires will result in a better payback over time.

Just got the same one in Harvest Gold. I'm looking into ordering the matching color exterior door handles for mine as the contrast is more noticeable with the lighter color. Your color was my first choice but I got mine used and the grey wasn't available. Any tricks to popping the door panels to replace the exterior handles? How do you get to the "hidden" screws?

Just replaced my one color 2000 Legacy GT wagon (titanium pearl) with a 2008 OB 2.5i (harvest gold) and the colors are in the same range. The 08 harvest gold (also one color body) is light enough to be seen in the dark yet dark enough to go without weekly washings as the white (or black for that matter) and not look like a "beater". The 05+ OBs style change eliminated almost all of the plastic side armor and became available in the lower end models without two-tone paint. The GT wagon had stopped production in the early 2000s so I was looking for a 05+ Legacy wagon but having stopped Legacy wagon production altogether in 07, none were available used and the cost difference was almost non-exisent between an 05 used Legacy ($17K) and an 08 OB 2.5i, (19K miles on odometer) with more bells and whistles. $18K and we now own our fifth Subaru. Granted, the colors are tame but these OBs are not your mother's station wagon...

OK I'm sticking with black.

Got an OB with black door handles. Would like to match the handles to the body color. Any tips or tricks? Rattle can color with a couple of clear coats or have a pro do it? Any issue with adhesion?

2000 Legacy

Insurance is taking the car for "total" so I guess the best way is to hotwire the pump.

I am about to junk a car with a full tank of gas. Can I turn the key to the start position and drain the fuel as it comes out from the fuel filter? Any tips or tricks?

Interesting. Where is Louisiana?

There's two of them in my driveway.:cool:

waddaya mean... they seem roadworthy to me:grin: