Rooster2

I had a strut mount go bad on an old VW. It blew the strut straight up through the rear deck. No damage, and cheap to fix, but sure surprised me when it broke. Suggest you get the front end of your car up in the air on a lift or large jack. Check for loose suspension parts like ball joints, and tie rods, and wiggle the strut to see if there is any "play" allowing road wheel movement.

a bad wheel bearing makes an grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound when stressed as in accelerating, or on a turn like exiting a freeway ramp, when the roadway wraps around. I would tend to think it is a bad wheel bearing rather than a bad half shaft. The grrrrrrr sound is not a high pitch sound, more of a medium pitch sound.

Just my thoughts and humble opinions.......here in the Midwest, there are no Mavis or Town Fare stores, must be a New England thing, so have no opinions of either. Don't recommend going to a Good Year or Firestone tire stores. My experience with both is that they seem money hungry, with product and service both on the expensive side. Discount Tire stores do good work with competent tecs, but be aware their counter guys are on a commission or an incentive plan, so they are known to aggressively over sell customers to line their own pockets. A good friend of mine, worked several years at a Discount store as a tec, and was uncomfortable that women customers, in particular, were being taken advantage of, and sold new tires, when current tires were still good. All they had to do is tell a woman that her tires are unsafe, and it is an easy sale. Tire Rack must sell a lot of tires on line, and then the buyer goes to an installer. I have priced out tires through them, and then with the installer fee, I don't see where there is much savings. I also thought, if you have a tire go bad under warranty, then shipping it back to Tire Rack, and wait for a replacement tire or credit sounds like more trouble then it is worth. So, I have never dealt with on line tire sales. I live in Indy, and found that a smaller chain tire store (Tire Barn) has good prices, the replacement tires in stock, and a good counter guy to work with. You prolly have smaller tire chain stores in your area. Worth shopping with them. Subarus really need 4 new tires installed at the same time because of the all wheel drive feature. Otherwise, running tires of different tread depth can cause mechanical problems with the all wheel drive.

With leaking HGs, are you implying a slow coolant leak?? If so, have you been using Subaru coolant conditioner, sold by the dealership. The product is specifically designed as a stop leak, and reportedly works well. No need to replace HGs, if the conditioner will fix the leak.

I have never believed that extended warranty insurance is a good deal, especially for Subarus. Subarus don't break down that often, or cost that much to repair.

Bubbles in the over flow tank is a big sign of bad H/Gs. I have heard of guys removing the thermostat, and driving on for a while with the bad H/Gs. That means poor heat, and prolly some slight motor drivability issues, but it does help keep down the over heating for a while.

Not necessarily so. That motor in that Forester would definitely be the 4 cam model. Yes, they will eventually blow the head gaskets, but if repaired correctly with minimal over heating, they are good reliable motors. My 99 has 233K miles, I replaced HGs at 185K miles, when it started to over heat, It has been running strong ever since with no issues. Yea, at $1,200, the Forester is priced right. If you take a look at it, ask owner if he has receipts on work done. Ask, and look specifically for a receipt about head gasket repair. If you live in an area where a lot of salt is used on the roads..........look underneath the car for rust problems.

From what you have described, it doesn't sound like a head gasket problem. I own both a 98 and 99 Outback wagons. Both blew their head gaskets, and over heated the motor. However, bad head gaskets present themselves with the engine run at high speed, or when motor is laboring, as in climbing long road grades. Over heating does not present itself when the car is idling. Both of my Outbacks could idle for hours without over heating. Bad head gaskets can be identified by seeing bubbles in the radiator over flow tank at time over heating begins. As Olnick wrote, I would suspect a bad t-stat, or perhaps a clogged radiator causing the over heating. New radiators cost only about $100, and is an easy install. Not that you need to install a new one at this time, but good to know it is a user relatively cheap purchase, and an easy install. The burping air out of the cooing system is best done with the nose of the car elevated higher then the rear wheels. It helps to bleed out air with car on an incline, or front end jacked up. Just be careful not to over heat your motor. Subaru motors have a lot of aluminum content that warps under high heat, leading to self destruction. You don't want to be kicking yourself in the butt for ruining your engine.

+2 on it being an internal leak in the brake master-cylinder. If you can't find any external leaks of brake fluid, or any brake fluid spots on the garage floor, or where you park it over night, or the brake fluid level remains high in the reservoir, then it is highly likely a bad master cylinder. I don't think I would recommend going to a chain muffler shop for brake work. They are really exhaust specialists, and prolly not good at other mechanical repairs. Go to a good repair garage, or dealership for quality brake work, if you are not able to do the work yourself.

My vote is that it is a switch issue, otherwise the motor would not work at all. I am guessing that all the other windows go up and down normally. I, too have a 98 Leggie, that had the switch go bad. Wife put window down on a cold January night, and window would not go back up. Got a replacement switch from a wrecking yard. Suggest you do the same.

Even after 3 gas fill ups, it is still possible that you have some water in your gas tank from an earlier fill. Suggest at your next fill up, that you buy 1 gallon of E-85. The ethanol in E-85 will absorb any moisture in your tank. I have done this before with good results. Changing a fuel filter is a good idea. Even though my car seemed to run good, I could not believer how much better it ran with a new fuel filter. I guess even some filter blockage is not a good thing.

Don't be surprised if car remains "up for sale," but just not to you for asking stupid questions. You said sellers English was shaky enough, so flowery written ad must have been ghost written by someone else. Let the buyer beware!!

How long since timing belt was changed??

Have you tried car-parts.com??

A rebuilt title means that the car was wrecked or suffered flood water damage. The damage was deemed severe enough that the insurance company declared it more expensive to repair the car, then to simply pay off the owner according to terms of the insurance policy. So a "simple fender bender" does not sound like a reasonable statement. Suggest you ask the owner for pictures of the car showing damage before repair. Judge for yourself how bad the damage is. Ask to see a receipt as to how much money it took to repair the damage,

Yes, 2005 model calls for belt change at 105K miles. Earlier models back in the 90's is 60K miles, as I recall.

Does sound like half shaft trouble. Autozone rebuilt axles don't have a good quality reputation. Seems like their rebuilder spends as little as possible to refurbish them. I have one on my OBW, and had to replace it within a year. The replacement has held up for a good while now.

Maybe the speedo cable is binding inside its sheath. Disconnect the cable from both ends, and lube with some light oil. That may help, or maybe the work is more trouble then its worth.

Sounds like previous owner just took super good care of the car. Enjoy your new wheels!!

Agree with Fairtax...........sounds like head gaskets to me also. I think seller is playing dumb about the cheap rad cap, and over flow hose being plugged off. You won't ever know how many times the motor has over heated. I think I would pass on buying this car.

Did you by chance see water bubbles in the radiator over flow tank?? Bubbles will look like what you see in a home fish aquarium. If so, that is a dead give away that the head gaskets are bad. Suggest after a new rad cap is installed, drive again for some time to get the motor good and up to operating temp, then stop and look for those bubbles I just spoke about. Even if not over heating, the bubbles probably will be present indicating bad HGs The tranny late shifting may possibly be fixed by changing the ATF.

If it has the 2.5 motor, I have heard it said that by looking at the corners of the HGs, you can tell if they have been replaced. I don't know what specifically to look for, but I bet someone on this forum can tell you. As said, if it has the 2.2 motor, then don't be concerned about the HGs, they seldom give you trouble.

Not so sure I agree with "Don't touch the head gaskets unless you can confirm failure." Having same motor with HGs go bad at 160K miles, and another at 185K miles is not reassuring that your HGs will last much longer. I think I would replace them, just to be on the safe side. Much easier to replace with motor out of the car.

Yes

Interesting, but with all the screwing around with a vacuum cleaner, small hoses, and tape, I think I will continue to change my oil the old fashion way of pulling the drain plug.