samsonlonghair

I'm impressed with your skills. Do you work at a fabrication shop?

More specifically, I bought a 2002 Outback wagon with 3.0 liter engine. She's not too bad for a twelve-year-old vehicle I think. My Outback has a lot of neat bells and whistles: Dual moon roof, Mcintosh radio, fog lights, air conditioning, cruise control, et cetera. More important than all the gimmicks, this Outback drives like a dream. She handles tight curves better than cars half her size. Edit: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/outback/2002-vdc.html shows lots of info about my car. Regarding problems: First of all, one of my side mirrors is cracked. I hear that Autozone sells cheap stick-on mirrors. I think I'll try that first. If that's no good, I'll have to call my local scrap yard to see if they have a proper replacement. I haven't the foggiest notion how one replaces a mirror, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. The rear moon roof operates fine, but the front one doesn't seem to pop open as the operators manual states it should. I can force the front moon roof open with my hand from within, but the button does not open the roof. I suspect that the motor that usually opens this moon roof may have burnt out. The lid to the passenger-side vanity mirror is broken. Because of this, the vanity light stays on. I stuck a bit of electrical tape over the light button to keep the light off. The compass always reads North. The operators manual prescribes an arcane ritual for re-calibrating the compass that involves (I kid you not) driving to a wide open spot away from anything metal or any radio interference, holding down a button, and driving in a circle three times. This seems like voodoo to me, but I'll give it a shot. The check engine light is on. Maybe this means the gas cap is unscrewed, or maybe this means the whole engine will explode in ten seconds. Who knows? I'll go to Autozone or Advance (I get those two confused all the time) and ask for free a diagnostic. The VDC OFF light is on. The Operators manual indicates this happens when the check engine light comes on. A cursory google search indicates that VDC is basically Subaru's anti-skid system. Looks neat. I'd like to get that in working order again. The emergency brake doesn't seem to do anything. This one concerns me. I haven't needed the emergency brake yet, but by the time I need it, it will be too late to fix it, right? I want to look into this soon. The regular brakes work perfectly - no squeaks or squeals. Just another to-do list, right? I'll get these things fixed one at a time. I'll take any help or advice I can get because I know next-to-nothing about fixing cars. 86bratman, I may be near you. I also live near the VA/WV border. I'm currently in Mercer County, WV near Tazewell County, VA. Do you recommend a trustworthy mechanic who is extra-knowledgeable about Subarus?

Hi, I'm Samson. I'm new to this forum. My old Dodge Neon broke down on new years eve, just one hour before it would have turned ten years old. How's that for timing? I spent the next nine months saving up a few dollars out of each paycheck and researching what car I would buy next. I knew I wanted a reliable, long-lasting vehicle. This brought me to Subaru. At first, I was thinking of an Impreza hatchback because I like smaller vehicles. My love for camping, canoeing, and kayaking led me to reconsider the Outback - larger than I had initially considered, but packed with features. After two different deals to buy a subaru from a private seller fell through, I finally decided to go to a dealership. I don't want to make payments, just own my car free and clear. None of the dealerships near me carried a Subaru that I could afford. I wound up driving to Johnson City, TN just to buy my new Outback. There are a lot of little things wrong with my new Outback, but I think they're all fixable. I'd like to troubleshoot some of these issues on this forum now that I'm here. This might seem silly, but this is the first car I have ever loved. All my previous cars were just machines; this one seems special. I'm thinking of naming her. Subie seems like the obvious name. Maybe I'll call her Kangaroo Subaru for fun.