Megalomando

It's not that I'm so moral, I just believe what's fair is right. I wouldn't let someone else have to deal with a head gasket problem maybe at a critical time in their life just because Subaru's morality is different than mine. What if it blows on the way to the hospital or something like that, I can't stiff another person that way as much as I want Subaru to be accountable. The odometer is incorrect, thanks to the GPS telling me the truth in speed and the distance is equally off according to the mile markers on I-95. Because of this, I have less than the 100,000 miles they list as the top end of the warranty on the engine. This engine is still under warranty! They say it's what's on the Odometer that counts and I say their engineering is defective to the tune of 5%, this moved the car out of warranty faster, gives higher MPG evaluations and lessens the value of the car because it artificially racks up imaginary miles that are recorded on the odometer. If the car were out of warranty in real miles I wouldn't have anything but good will I might hope for from them. I wouldn't be mad as I am now. At the very least they should offer some assistance in this but if this shows what their interest is in good customer relations, they can go to.... I'll never buy another Subaru and their "not my problem" indifference will cost them plenty in the loss of my future buys and what I'll say about my experience to anyone looking for a new car. I'm sure Toyota will be more than happy to sell to me.

So how does one come up with a Subaru Certified Mechanic? I know a few mechanics who are good with cars but if the Subaru is such a fragile car that it fails unless someone highly versed in Subaru-speak works on it, how does one find one of these specially trained mechanics away from the Subaru dealership? I'm really sorry I bought a Subaru at this point; Toyota and Honda build really reliable vehicles and they now have AWD vehicles which was a huge selling point to me (That & the supposedly great reliability of Subaru which I've discovered is a farce.) I understand the importance of bending even if the other person is wrong if it means continuing a relationship that is beneficial. Subaru is penny wise and pound foolish by alienating those entering the Subaru "fold". After seeing first hand the lack of interest SOA has in dealing with those that have issues based on their bad engineering, I'll never buy another Subaru. Subaru has lost me forever as a customer and I will be sure to tell my experience to anyone looking to buy a Subaru. Think it's time to get this fixed so I can have a good conscience selling it to another & I'm going for a Toyota or Honda AWD.

Oh yes, I kept the receipt. The parts guy said my engine was past warranty and willingly sold it to me. I remember being surprised he seemed like this was a waste of time. Subaru has just told me they will not have any part in helping with the head gasket. My GPS tells me the speedometer is off by exactly 5% & it's reading high. I measured by the mile markers on I-95 and indeed it's 5% off so my actual mileage is less than 100K but they will not "participate". I've got this car now but Subaru has permanently lost a future customer.

LOL Absolutely! I went to AutoZone & got the free loan of an O2 Sensor wrench and it worked great. I was a bit concerned that it wouldn't come out but after trashing a cheap China made ratchet (metal arm bent & bulged the gear right through the Bezel/wrench housing). I used a craftsman ratchet & the sensor came out just great. It sure was hard screwing that Radio Shack battery into the O2 Sensor hole though. Sparks & acrid smoke youbetcha. Had to use my Radio Shack cell phone to call for help.

Thank ya Brus, I passed by there today & picked up a sensor. Lessee now... Radio Shack for the front & OEM for the rear, right? That was a great price. Nice people there, I thought they were pretty helpful & the price can't be beat. Thanks for the heads up!

I bought it from a used car dealer who got it at auction. I've already used up the seller's warranty thanks to several out of state trips. I just looked underneath & other than several drops of oil on the jacking plate with tips of coolant (on the apex as they hang down), I can't see any leaking as in drip, drip, drip. Holmgrens North of Saybrook are the ones who told me they saw the evidence of a leak. I looked at the lip of the head gasket where the engine metal allowed it to be exposed to view and the gasket is metal. I thought the metal gaskets were the good ones & the earlier gaskets were a composite material. These are definitely solid metal & look like they might be made of stainless or some non ferrous metal. I need a Crystal ball... Yes, Mystic is a ways from Milford. Nice drive but I'd deal with this there if that was the way it had to be.

Thanks for both of the replies. I do get to Milford every so often to go to the Costco off of exit 41. I went to Nursing school at the U. of Bridgeport back before it got bought out & used to date someone from Milford so I know the area pretty well. $74 is a great price BTW! If there's a known benefit from using an OEM in the front sensor then I'd do that although $74 for a plug & play makes the effort less interesting. If it's just the issue of wiring the plug & the instructions are clear, I'm happy to do it myself, I know the connections would be good when I was done.

I'm the new owner of the car, I've only had it a month & had 101K on it when I bought it, I had read the different forum topics on the head gasket issues and was under the impression the problem was fixed by 2001. I'd also gotten the impression that it was related to the SOHC engines. I was wrong but that's what my first reading on newer Subaru OBW said. Also, when I used Carfax it said this was a DOHC but indeed it's a SOHC and always has been. I had the timing belt & water pump replaced as soon as I got it and then came to understand I was in a bad ball park. I called a local dealer and gave them my VIN & they told me mine was one of the engines that was under suspicion but that all suggested recall work had been done & the conditioner added. I looked underneath & saw drops of antifreeze but attributed that to residual droplets from the water pump replacement. I've changed all the fluids and before doing that degreased the bottom of the engine & then hosed the degreaser off. I thought all the antifreeze was gone as I did a thorough cleaning with the hose. I soon came to realize if I wanted to tow a larger trailer I'd be better off with a 6 cyl engine so I went to the dealer and after they were looking at my car for trade for an 01 bean, they told me there were signs of coolant leakage but no oil in the antifreeze. He told me this year engine was known to have head gasket issues and the dealership offered me a poor trade in value. Nothing was mentioned by them that it might be covered by SOA. I was surprised and looked underneath when I got back home & sure enough on the few drops of oil on the jack plate were green rings of antifreeze surrounding the drops & there was green at the tip of each drop. No way that was residual antifreeze, I'd hosed the engine compartment down really well and had driven through a rainstorm so this was indeed fresh antifreeze drops. Since the car is in beautiful condition otherwise I decided to keep it, get the head gasket leak repaired & then downsize my towing plans. I called around for estimates on the repair & that's when I was told I might be able to have Subaru cover this as the discovery mileage is so close to the 100,000 round number. I do a lot of high mileage driving and don't want this to become a puddle maker & head warping adventure somewhere in the middle of nowhere so I need to deal with it while it's drops, not streams of antifreeze. Since it's apparently something Subaru knows about as a design or material flaw, I'd like to have them take care of their problem. BTW, I'm in Mystic.

Again, quite true. Your answer is a good approach to any business dealing but what I am hoping to learn is what kinds of resistance from the dealer or SOA (assuming they are handling the warranty as opposed to a gatekeeper agency that handles the warranty matters) do people falling just outside of the 100K warranty encounter and how were they able to get SOA to do the right thing & do the replacement? Within the warranty it's pretty straightforward. So it's when it's just past the 100K mark that I'm wanting to learn how it was successfully handled. I've been looking & doing forum & google searches but haven't found that discussion yet.

Seeing as my car has almost 104K & needs to have the gaskets & seals replaced, I probably should replace the front O2 sensor. The dealer's price is quite high. A Denso OEM costs $99 and a Bosh universal costs $60. I can replace the sensor myself & would like to save the $40 difference. Thing is I've never replaced an O2 sensor with a universal one where I need to use the old sensor's plug and attach it to the new sensor. If anyone has done this, how do you know which wires to attach to which? Thanks

Yes, I'm sure that's exactly the case. I'm wondering what the successful people have said that made a difference. I could hire an attorney to deal directly with SOA but by the time all is said & done, it would hardly be worth the expense. It would be better to know how to best deal with them directly so they won't beat around the bush and things can be dealt with nicely.

Hi, I just bought a 2001 OBW 2.5L SOHC and was told there was signs of a coolant leak when I went to a Subaru dealer for a trade in towards a bean. I looked at the jack plate & indeed saw antifreeze. Called several dealers to see which had the est price for repair and one asked for my VIN & he said it had been treated per the recall, that Subaru might still cover seeing as it's so close to the 100K limit. Said they might cover part & might cover nothing. I need to take it in so they can verify the problem. None of the other dealers mentioned this possibility of Subaru doing the right thing. Anyone have experience with Subaru covering this flaw when over the 100K limit? Suggestions for me at this time? Thanks! MM