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It is nice to have a backup car, but I believe i have only needed to rent cars twice in thirty-three months, although I think one month of liability coverage through USAA costs the same as a one day rental, unless I can get an especially good deal, and the time involved in getting a car can be problematic.
My Civic has been good to me, but like my Prelude long before, I found more problems with the car than I expected, even though I had mechanics inspect each of them. Ah. Three rentals.
The HX has an aluminum oil pan and the first time I changed the oil I was tightening the plug with a socket wrench and it would not get very tight. I pulled the bolt and the pan threads were on it. I found a used pan for $80, but one of the bolts attaching the exhaust manifold to the exhaust pipe was stuck and the heat shield prevented me from getting special tools in there. I tried a heat gun and propane torch, PB Blaster, and many other things. I ended up removing the manifold with the other pipe attached and hammering a 13mm socket on a 14mm bolt.
Anyway, it was Easter, and my family kept asking if I needed a ride, I did not want anyone to drive an hour out of their way for me while I still had a chance to fix it. They kept asking, though, so I ignored them and tried to work. Then they were upset because I did not respond. Whatever I was trying did not work, so I resigned myself to renting, except it was Sunday.
Easter Sunday.
I ended up riding my bike five miles to U-Haul and renting an F150. There was a big scene with my family and they claimed I ruined Easter, so I left after ten minutes.
Perhaps backup cars are not so terrible… 🙂
Is tractor paint anything like Rustoleum? I throughly researched painting with that and decided it was not for me.
Did you call around? Auto-MD showed places estimating AC compressor replacement starting at $580, $790 with the clutch, although in my experience, repairs usually cost about 20% more.
My clutch went out when attempting to drive uphill. I had my car towed to a shop, but unfortunately, I did not know of a good one in that area. I do not have a customary shop, I keep having bad experiences, so I have fixed as much as possible myself. My insurance company towed it to one chain shop, I had another location replace the timing belt on a different car, and then needed to have them fix it two weeks later. Apparently, the timing belt tensioner failed, but they wanted me to pay for a valve lash and some other expensive things that I did not need.
Two months and two thousand miles after having the clutch replaced, I cannot shift with the car on until I have driven about half a mile, but it is getting worse daily. Here in Arizona, it is usually at least 70°F when I go to drive, but that lowers daily.
I would like to have the shop fix it, if this is related to their recent repair. I just want to skip them attempting to convince me to pay for services that I do not need, and I cannot find anything relevant.
Thank you very much for any input you may have!
I do not know about elsewhere, but there are only two Subaru dealerships in the Phoenix area, and many people say that their parts are unnecessarily expensive. Maintaining a Subaru is more difficult because of the boxer engine, requiring removal of the intake, battery, and windshield washer reservoir to replace the spark plugs. I am on my third Honda, but according to this link, Toyotas are the most reliable: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/friends-do-not-let-friends-buy-volkswagons-31037-2.html#post466729
I am not trying to bash Subarus. If you need AWD, one is probably worthwhile. I may not like how many repairs the car has needed, but I am not saying it is a bad car, although I wish that I had known to replace the head gasket when it needed a timing belt.
Everybody has their own experience, probably based on biases, driving styles, and how well they take care of their vehicles. I loved my Accord, but I hit an elk, and there was not anything to do after that. However, the car still drove over a hundred miles, all of the way to the junk yard. A friend followed in what was once a similar Accord, but he insisted it was garbage, and complained incessantly about it.If you do not take care of a good car, it will probably stop being a good car.
According to the factory service manual, I have a SOHC. I attached a picture I just took of the bottom of the cylinder head. It was dry under the valve cover and timing belt cover, so I am pretty sure it is the head gasket.
I hit the thanks button! Is that how this place works? 🙂
A mechanic told me “if oil leaks out of the head gasket area, it would need replacing , and a compression test plus a block leak test will not show the head gasket is bad in that case, as it’s just an oil leak that has nothing to do with combustion or water leakage. I’d bet it is the head gasket,” and he recommended using the UV dye.
I looked at diagrams until I figured out exactly where the head gasket was and what was around it. If it is not leaking, I am pretty sure something is leaking on it, and I am not sure what could leak on the head gasket, but I am going for a closer look now.
Thank you very much for your response! Please enjoy your day!
The shop that I quickly stopped using said it would be $300 for one hose. The mechanic said that Subaru parts were overpriced and there were not any aftermarket ones. Recently, I talked to a shop owner who said that when you order on-line, you cut out the storefront’s markup and the shop’s, so the hoses may have been $300 each through them. I shopped around and ordered them through subarupartswarehouse.com. The following is my receipt:
Items Ordered:
Item: steering, p/s pump & hoses, p/s pressure hose Forester POWER
Price: $217.06
Qty: 1Total (before taxes or discounts): $217.06
Item: hvac, air conditioner & heater, condenser, compressor & lines, suction hose
Price: $210.19
Qty: 1Total (before taxes or discounts): $210.19
Item: hvac, air conditioner & heater, condenser, compressor & lines, discharge hose
Price: $162.71
Qty: 1Total (before taxes or discounts): $162.71
—————————–
Items Total: $589.96
Shipping Method: Ground
Shipping: $70.80
Handling Fee: $0.95
Coupon Discount: – $88.49
_________
Order Total: $573.22$573.22 just for parts, plus labor to install, flush two systems, and refill them. Referring to the hoses, tires, and battery, I admitted “the Arizona heat could have killed them.” I was not complaining that I needed to replace my spark plugs, but that I needed to take apart my engine bay instead of simply popping out the old ones, and putting in new ones. I also spent a couple hundred because my driver’s door stopped locking. They clearly overcharged me there, so that was my last visit
I do not know about newer Subarus, but my 1999 has had too many repairs. I thought three hoses, two tires, and the battery in one years was frustrating, but thought the Arizona heat could have killed them. I allowed my ex to drive it for one year and I believe she was hard on it. She was not bright, but she easily replaced the spark plugs and wires on my Civic, while I needed to remove the battery, windshield washer reservoir, and intake in order to to replace the spark plugs and wires. I believe the shop wanted to charge two hundred dollars for that.
I have been trying to decide whether to replace the head gasket or sell the car as-is.
Well, I wish that I knew where my post went when I hit “Reply.”
ToyotaKarl, great post! The lower center of the engine gravity would not make any difference when the center of gravity is so high! I hate how my 1999 Forester with 122,000 miles corners, while my Dad’s F150 did so perfectly. I would not call Subarus garbage, although I have been disappointed with mine. I had not known that they were notorious for head gasket leaks and nobody suggested replacing it when I did the 105,000-mile maintenance.
I have had the car for three years and 29,000 miles, although my ex-girlfriend drove it for one year. It was her “first car.” She actually tried to sue me for the less than five hundred dollars that she spent repairing the car while she drove it.
I have been researching replacing the head gasket and one mechanic on YouTube said the hoses were soy-based and decomposed while you still needed them. I had three hoses go out, AC and power steering, and needed to have the AC purged and refilled. Then two tires dry-rotted in a year, and apparently another went out on my ex, which she did not see fit to replace. I replaced the battery and then so did she. I live in Arizona, so rust is not relevant, although I doubt the heat helped any of the components that I just mentioned. My ex complained on Facebook that she needed to replace the radiator, but admitted to not keeping the coolant topped off. A mechanic told me she replaced the brakes. I am not sure what else. I also could not get the driver’s door to lock and stopped using a mechanic after they refused to acknowledge their estimate or explained why they greatly passed it. They just billed for three hours sixty minutes after I dropped off the car.
My ex messed up some stuff, like by backing into someone, but the dealership estimated $3,500 to replace the head gasket on a car valued $1,900 by Kelly Blue Book. I have had my Civic for eighteen months and have spent eight hundred dollars, $44.44 a month, to repair that.
I have a 1,999 Forester with 122,000 miles. I let my ex-girlfriend drive the car and when I took it back, I took it to three shops, with the last one telling me to take it to the dealership, which said I had a bad head gasket, and they would charge me $3,500 for the honor. Kelly Blue Book says the car is worth $1,900.
That was months ago. The car drives fine, although it has a prodigious oil leak; however, it seems inconsistent. When I parked the car weeks ago, I topped off the oil. My friend checked it for me and it was still full. Yesterday, I cleaned the bottom of the engine. Today I ran it for at least twenty minutes, sitting there, waiting for a leak, and not wanting to run an engine without sufficient oil.
That grew boring…
I did not see any oil.
I wish that the shop that replaced my timing belt said Subarus were prone to blown head gaskets; replacing the timing belt was a big deal, but now I am trying to figure out how to replace the head gasket, and you remove the timing belt in the process.
