Geiiga

I drive a '95 Legacy with about 113,000 miles. I love her, even if she's ugly, beaten, and could use a fresh coat of paint. I love her even if the dealer I'm trying to sell her to tells me she's worth $900. I love her even though I still owe $3300 on her. It's a good thing I love her, because I can't afford to leave her. But the following are my gripes. What I'd like to know is how much I can expect to spend, how much of it is easy enough for a smart guy who doesn't know how to, for instance, rebuild a transmission, but can do more simple maintenance tasks without much prompting, to accomplish without paying through the nose to have someone else do it. My number one gripe is that at idle or low speeds, it sounds like there's a coffee can full of rocks in the engine somewhere. That's definitely one thing I can't stand. Number two is that oil has a tendency to collect in and around the cylinders, which leads to gripe number three: the cylinder has recently rejected the spark plug and the threads the spark plug goes into, and the whole mess has been fixed with heliocoil, which I've been told by two sources is not a permanent fix. So, how not permanent, how much can I expect to pay for the parts, and I cna I take care of the labor myself? Finally, the rear bumper cover is a lost cause. It's got a crack about an inch and a half wide from an encounter with a retaining wall in St. Louis during an ice storm. But, as I said, I love my car and would love to keep her driving and pretty for a long time. At least until I have enough saved up to buy a Baja without having to take out a loan.

I replaced three of the four plugs a couple months ago...gave up when I couldn't reach the fourth one (the one closest to the driver's seat) to get it out. So it sounds like wires, then. I guess the only thing I should add is that my fuel gauge is horribly off, and that this problem additionally could have been caused by running it dry a couple times.

I knew not being mechanically minded would come back to bite me. I've got a '95 Legacy with 106,000 on it. About a week ago, she started to make popping noises if I pressed the accelerator too hard, especially if the engine wasn't yet to peak RPM (the lack of a tach on my Brighton (hooray for getting a car I could afford on my part-time customer service job that I quit two years ago) makes it a guess as to what peak RPM is). A few days later, she'd fight with me at that point. And today the CHECK ENGINE light came on and the car has started shaking at idle. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with my car, how hard it is to fix, and how much I can expect to pay a mechanic if the answer to previous question is 'too hard for you, you pasty leech'? I'm planning to trade it for a Baja next month, but I don't want to walk away from that with my backside hurting too much.

Since I'm trying to put any available money into my Brat, I guess I should have called this 'How to get a new stereo without spending any money,' but hell. I've got a '95 Legacy Brighton, that still has all the stock stereo equipment in it. I've got a $20 CD player from Wal-Mart (no skip protection = balance it on leg while driving) that's got maybe three weeks of use left, and I can't stand to listen to the radio. So, since my birthday falls on December 17, I convinced my mother to do a Birthmas present to me, namely an in-dash CD player. The last time I had one of these was the first year I had my '89 Celica, which was horrible, because there wasn't enough space between the shifter and the console to change the disc when the car was in park. I'm perfectly capable of doing the install myself (after the Celica's player died due to a poor attempt at theft, I installed a replacement tape deck), but I'm not entirely certain what's required. I understand that the size of the stock unit is weird, and I'll need to buy a kit to make it look right, but do I need a wiring harness, or are these Best Buy guys just trying to make their job look harder? What is a wiring harness, anyway?

I'm at 106,000 on my '95 Legacy. Just getting broken in! 40,000 of that was since I got it just about two years ago, but I'll probably be moving to Texas (2,000 miles one-way) and traveling back home to Kansas often from there (1,000 miles round trip from Dallas), so it won't be long. Entire list of problems: -Clutch needed to be replaced at 90,000 due to an oil leak and my not knowing how to drive a manual when I got it. -Something or other wrong with an axle from sliding sideways into a curb after a Kansas ice storm.

Well, two hours after Mark dropped off the Brat on Saturday, my apartments had it towed for not having plates. Since I'm technically still a Kansas resident, this posed a problem, especially given that it was Saturday, and it's not like the MVA is ever open. After working through the entirety of their business hours yesterday, I managed to get up early enough to get down there today, where they charged me $75 for 15-day tags good only to drive to and from inspection. I know at this point it won't pass inspection, but I'm unwilling to cough up another $250 to get it towed again. So, I've got fifteen days to pass the Maryland safety inspection. I know I'll need new wheel wells, ignition switch, and fuel filters, the ignition switch portion of which Mark is graciously sending me. But in Kansas, inspection consists of "Hey, did you get it here okay?" "Yeah." "Here's your tags, then." and I have absolutely no concept of what needs to be done. Please help.

My '95 Legacy Brighton with a back full of golf clubs, cans of soda, and a bowling ball in addition to my slim 175 pound frame gets consistently 27 miles to the gallon, mostly on the highway.

What size U-Haul?

Well, that's certainly an elegant way to do it. I was beginning to plot starting a third line of cell phone service with the roadside assistance, signing my roommate up for AAA, and using all that to get it up there. I'm sure someone would get wise to it after tow number five, though. Thanks much for the advice.

I'm about to engage in a fun ride. Bought my first Subaru just about two years ago. It's a '95 Legacy Brighton that's not in the best shape, but gets me where I'm going. In the meantime, my employment has been shaky at best, and has led to me wielding my own wrench quite a bit of the time. With the knowledge that I am not the world's best mechanic, and also with quite a bit of alcohol, I went on e-Bay and bought the...vehicle...that I'd wanted as a kid. An '83 Brat. For $350. I don't have it yet, but from the pictures that I've seen and the attitude of the seller, I won't actually be driving this beast for awhile. In the meantime, I have to scheme a way of getting it up here. I'm in northern Maryland, he's in southern Virginia. It should be able to drive that distance, but in my experience, not knowing if a soob can make it from point A to point B points a finger to some serious mechanical issues. The seller would tow it here for gas money, which is reasonable, but in addition to that, two nights motel stay, which may be reasonable, but I'm not willing to pay. It's about a six-hour drive from here, and I don't own a truck. What's the best way to bring it up?