Ranger83

I guess you will not be flying in any light planes or helicopters, either. Nor race cars. What you call plastic most folks call composites. They're called composites because they are a mixture of materials. For example, there are companies now that inject aluminum infused with carbon fibers to make it stronger. People race around the world in boats made of carbon, kevlar, and glass fibers in a resin matrix, either polyester or epoxy. Burt Rutan flew around the world non-stop, and one of his guys flew into space in a "plastic" aircraft/spacecraft. In fact, just stick with the car you have! The dollar value of plastic parts in most new cars exceeds the cost of the steel in that car. Most automotive manifolds - and at least two thirds of them these days are "plastic" appeared in the 70's in European cars. They can be much more complex, allowing better berformance; they deliver a denser charge, since they don't heat up as fast; and they can weigh 3-5 lbs less. They cost about the same as aluminum depending on production volume but allow increased design flexibility and lower shipping and assembly costs. Most American manufacturers used glass fiber reinforced Nylon 66. This material has been used in everything from rifle stocks to military equipment. It is incredibly tough stuff; resists chemicals; and isn't too expensive. There are always late technology adapters who won't buy anything new until they've been whipped. Some other people are pioneers and buy every new technology available. But most of us are in the "early majority" that will buy a product once the benefits seem to be proven and the cost is reasonable. Plastic manifolds don't even move the technology meter. No late market adopters will buy a Tribeca. In fact it's not clear just who will buy one, and I predict rebates by Christmas. Ford has made a habit of beating their vendors to death over price. No one should be surprised about any quality problems they have. I'm from a "Ford family" but only one of the last six new cars we've purchased has been a Ford. Even though our 1994 Econoline runs well with 161,000 miles, we just bought a Chevrolet Express.

I didn't. After two, the dealer was such an idiot that I decided to look around. I found that the Honda Accord with the seat folded down had a decent amount of cargo space. and the V6 gets better mileage, is much faster, and burns regular. The price for an Accord EX with leather, V6 and satellite radio was $300 more than the base Outback wagon. I still have the 97 if I really need AWD, but I got Nokian snows on the Honda.

AKA draw bar

Auto parts stores have tread wear gages. NTB will give you one, free. After nearly 20,000 miles my HydroEdge had worn 1/32nd, so at 3,800 it should be like new. You'll be able to tell if it's too big because the car will pull to the side of the old tire. Unlikely, though. They wear fastest when the tread is thick, so the new one will "catch up."

Fix it soon or your brake rotor will become proof positive of the problem.

And... Many passenger cars have slight negative camber, for several reasons. One is that the suspension component compress in corners. Another is that the car rolls out. Positive camber can lead to unstable handling, as any owner of an early VW Beetle or 3 series BMW or 240Z can attest. Too much negative camber is bad as well. My old Scricco, which was set up for racing, had 1 1/2 or 2 degrees negative camber and would wear out the inside of street tires if driven very long that way.

This site says it's locked?

Look at the bright side - tinted windows in NH would destroy the resale value.

No one ever seems to reply to these inquiries here. The best place I've found to go is the Cartalk "MechanX Files" at

The cruise control does not know what's coming. And it attempts to hold the speed within a narrow range. I have a V6 Honda Accord and my gps says it hold +/- 0.3 mph. The Subaru doesn't do as well - more like +/- 1 mph. You don't have any extra momentum so whe your speed drops, the cruise control feeds throttle and may initiate a downshift - even if you're about to crest the hill. Take a tip from the truck drivers, who take it easy up the hills and let 'er roll down the hills. I was towing a 23' keellboat (about 3,000 lbs on the trailer ,and a lot of wind resistance) with a Ford van from Ma to FL when I learned this. Trying to maintain 75 mph, Iwas getting around 11 mpg. Hitting 89 downhill and sagging to 70 uphill got me over 12 mpg.

1. You can't afford this car. Buy something else. 2. You'd likely get more useful advice if your handle wasn't so insolent.

tirerack.com has the most comprehensive reviews. The Michelin HydroEdge and Goodyear TripleTread are the top two rated last time I looked in the size/style. I have HydroEdge on my 97 OBW. They have 34,000 miles on them and still show 9/32nfs tread depth - 11/32nd is new. As far as any of these tires being as good in snow as a dedicated snow tire......we put Nokian RSi's on our Honda Accord and it stops and turns dramatically better than the Subaru on snow and ice. The Subaru has better starting traction compared to the FWD Honda, but that's the only area where it's better.

Another example of why this is the most negative Subaru "enthusiast" site on the www.

You've come to the right place! No other Subaru forum is as persisitantly negative and unhappy as this one!

Got any facts to back that up? There are plenty of equally or more sophisticated systems on the market by any measure. Reliable as in the 2.5l engine that people here bash for head gasket problems? Audi makes AWD vehicles with manuals, along with BMW, Honda, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Porsche, and Toyota to name those that immediately come to mind. What will save Subaru is GM's investment.

I just checked the Craigslist Boston again. Doesn't seem to be any rationale to pricing. There are '97 OBW for $3,800, $5,000, $6,700, and $7,500. The $7,500 car has 89K and is not a Limited. All the others have over 100K. There are several old Legacys for $500 to $1,500.

I see the 05 Outbacks have LSD, and I understand in the early 90's it was an option available on Legacys. But which 97-2004 OB's have it? Was it an option, associated with a trim level [Limited] or??

I have a '97 with 153,000, all maintenance records, nice stereo, everything works, and it had head gaskets replaced pre-emptively at 140K. I put it here and on Craigs List for $3,700 a month ago, in the middle of a bad winter here in the Greater Boston area. The highest offer I've gotten was $2,500 via email and no one has even come to look at it. I decided to keep driving it, I figure it will still be worth $2K at 175K miles. So, based on my experience, it's not worth more than $2,000 or so. Never overestimate the market for high mileage cars.

You can buy the windshield adhesive at almost any auto parts store.

I wrote Subaru of America complaining about having to replace the headgaskets on my car (admitedly long off warranty) and they sent me a voucher worth $1,000 off a new Subaru. The headgasket repair cost me $1,250 at an excellent independent garage, which is why there is such astonishment over the price quoted. Go to http://www.cartalk.com and look up garages in the "MechanX files" section. While few list Subaru specifically, many have done plenty of work on them if you call around.

Not sure. I posted an add in the Boston craigslist and here for $3,750 OBO for a '97 OBW with 152K mi but looking good and all maintenance records, and had head gaskets replaced pre-emptively at 140K. Not a single inquiry from here, offers of $2,000 and $2,500 from Craigslist bottom feeders. So I'm still driving it and my new 05 Honda Accord V6 is sitting in the parking lot....

First, it would be helpful to establish a baseline. As mentioned, AWD vehicles aren't miserly. But at least then you will be able to justify cost/benefit. You may be getting mpg as good as it gets, or not.

Get rid of it while you can still get something for it and get something newer, with more safety features.

The automatic transmission model costs more but has MUCH better resale value. Lots of people these days can't, or won't drive a manual. Some even say that automatics cost less to own because you don't have to replace clutches. The Subaru automatics seem quite durable but so are the manuals. Once automatics lost weight and got locking top gears, the performance differences diminished. If you read some of the reviews of the turbo models, though, some mention a mismatch between the shifter logic and the boost curve of the engine. And driving a turbo smoothly with a manual isn't much easier. Subaru seems to have taken the engine substantially as tuned for the WRX, which is a little peaky. Most passenger car turbos use a smaller turbo that builds boost at lower rpms. Drive it plenty before you buy.

There's a long thread here about speakers - http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7141 I put in 4 Infinity Kappas and a late model OB AM/FM/WB/Cassette/CD and they sound great. I've had good luck with the Michelin HydroEdge tires. There's a Goodyear assymetrical that seems to be a good one as well. The best snow tires I've experienced lately are the new Nokian Hakka RSI's.