Lesley

A mechanic friend of mine confirmed that I just have to let it warm up, but I've never had a car act like that cold before. It just seems odd to me. And the idle is not that high, really. I have just under 25K miles on the car and the trans fluid is fine. I'm beginnig to think that these issues are just not going to go away and I'll have to live with them or get a new car. Thanks for responding!

Hi, I have a 2005 Forester XS with a problem that the dealer says isn't really a problem and that I can't recreate at the dealer, either. I live in a hilly part of Nashville, and on cold weather mornings (this has been happening since I got the car a little over a year ago), it tends to lurch when I brake and the engine is still cold. It doesn't do this in reverse, but as I come to a stop on the first hill (downhill), I press the brake and it stops and it lurches (doesn't really go forward, though). Then, it does it again at the next stop a about 10 seconds later (also downhill) and at the next stop about 15-20 seconds later (flat). After that, it doesn't do it again (I assume because the engine/brakes/transmission/whatever else is warm). It almost feels like the car stopped before it really wanted to. The dealer has told me that it's because of the idle (it's at about 1250) and that's just the way it is. Personally, I don't think a car should do this, particularly one that's so popular in cold-weather areas. But they checked the O2 sensors and all the other stuff and couldn't find any problems. And when I took it to the dealer and left it overnight, they could not recreate the problem because it's flat there (and it didn't really get all that cold; it has to be below 40 degrees). I have searched and searched and have found similar, but not the same issues. One post on another site said something about having the throttle retrained, but I'd like to have another opinion before I go back to the dealer (which I should have done a year ago, but I really hate going there). The only other problem is a lugging sound around 35-40 mph, which makes it seem like the (automatic) transmission does not downshift properly sometimes, but they also can't fix that since they couldn't recreate the sound (I drove it for them, but traffic around the dealer did not allow me to drive the way I do in other areas). The sounds is like a very, very quiet version of the way diesel truck exhaust brakes sound. Anyone have any advice for me? Thanks!