Rice Burner

I was wondering if anyone on the board has had the same issues that I have had. I own a 2009 Impreza Outback Sport that was bought new(with a bug shield). For the past year I have been having problems with rocks very easily chiping the paint and sometimes leaving very deep chunks missing from my paint when hit by a kicked back small rock! I have never had this problem with a vehicle before. I also own a 2005 Honda Pilot and there are very few paint chips compared to my Subaru. I also owned a 1997 Impreza OBS and when I traded it in last year, it was in better shape paint wise than what my new car is. I work at a car wash as my 2nd job and have been using touch up paint and waxing my car every 2 weeks but this is CRAZY!!! It seems to me that Subaru made the paint too thin and almost too "soft", if that makes any sense. I would like to see if anybody knows of this being a problem that Subaru has been having, if so then I would like to contact them somehow to make a complaint. This seems like poor quality control on an otherwise great vehicle.

Does anyone know how to properly remove the glovebox to get to the cabin air filter? I can't figure out what screws to remove or where to remove them from. Thanks

Thanks for the opinions. The Baja is owned by a lady in my church and it has already had all the major things needed for the mileage. I don't know what options it has just yet because I have yet to look at it in person. Her husband passed away a year ago and it has been stored in her garage since then. I am just hoping that my Odyssey sells so I can own Two Subaru's. Anyone know what the ground clearance is on the Baja compared to an impreza outback sport? I am curious......

If I can sell my 2000 Honda Odyssey, I have the option of buying a 2005 Baja sport automatic with 90k miles for $8,000. Anyone know about the reliability of the Baja and if that is a good deal? Any input would be welcome. Thanks

I have a 2009 impreza obs with 6200 miles. Recently for no reason my left turn signal will blink very quickly but eventually go back to normal. I have looked at the front and rear bulbs, but they look ok. Any ideas? Seems very strange for this to happen on a "new" vehicle with such low miles.....

:confused:I have a 2009 impreza outback sport with 6k miles and am wondering what is REQUIRED maintenence for my subaru? I have been getting emails from the dealer saying I am due/overdue for "recommended" maintenence, but if I followed their schedule I would be spending a fortune every 3k to 5k miles to have things done. Is all these little things necessary or is there a simple way to do what is required and not lose my factory warranty. Thanks.......

Hey guys, I have a problem where my wife was getting off the interstate today and the check engine light and stability control light came on and my cruise control light started blinking. The gas cap was checked when she got home and it was on tight. The car only has 3750 miles on it. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I have been smelling gasoline after parking my vehicle. The smell seems to come from the rear of my vehicle. My wife will be calling John Howard Motors in the moring and trying to make an appt. to get it looked at A.S.A.P. Any imput would be helpful. Thanks....

Awesome! Thanks

Thanks, i did the three step thing and it worked. Now, this won't effect my airbag or anything else will it?

I tried the seatbelt thing with no success. :-\

I have a 2009 Impreza Outback Sport and was wondering if there was anyway to silence the seatbelt chime that comes on whenever you have your seatbelt off above 5mph. Any help would be appreciated. (this occurs for the driver and passenger)

sounds good. I'm there at school if the police grand cherokee is parked out front.

I believe all the Morgantown Sheetz have them. And they are FREE. I work at Clay-Battelle High School in Blacksville (western end of county) as a school police officer.

Thanks for the info. You from MoTown as well? I did get and still plan on getting my car repairs done at the Sube Shop on the mileground behind more tire. They have always treated me right. As far as the Sheetz air pumps, they are brand new with digital readouts. I thought they would be pretty reliable. I take my police jeep over there every week because I know one tire loses pressure down to 18 lbs and it seems to work fine.

Thanks for the input guys. How much does a catback exhaust cost? I will probably start with the small stuff until I save enough and then go to the expensive stuff. ebay has the eyebrows (for that MEAN look) for around $30 and STi carbon fiber/ mesh grills for around $100.

Another thing I was wondering, I know the 2.2 engines were "bulletproof" so to speak. I never had a problem with mine or heard of anyone having problems (reason I got rid of my old OBS was due to my sube shop not being able to figure out a stalling/ sputtering issue) but I have heard many complaints of 2.5 head gasket issues. (my brothers 97 and 99 legacy outback wagon have both had blown head gaskets and my moms 96 has had one as well) Is this more of a problem for legacys and outbacks due to the weight of the cars, a design issue or is it a problem on all models? Do I need to worry about head gasket issues with my 09 OBS or have those been resolved on the newer cars?

Yeah, it was warm outside (70's) and the car had been run for a few miles before I checked them. I am thinking maybe I should go back to the Sheetz station and fill up the tires to 37-38 and see how it goes. Also, any extra goodies that anyone thinks I should get for my new car? I already bought a Subaru bugshield because I got a rock chip in hood after less than two weeks:mad:, Subaru all weather rubber floor mats, and a license plate holder for the front. I plan on getting the windows tinted, carbon fiber eyebrows that fit on the top of the headlights, a armrest extender and these cool led lights that light up the area around your feet. Any ideas to "pimp out" my ride? Eventually I would like to get the WRX short throw shifter if it makes a big enough difference.

Hello, Less than a month ago I just bought a 2009 impreza outback sport that I LOVE. It replaced my 1997 impreza outback sport (that I also loved)that had 225,000 miles. When I checked my tire pressure at a Sheetz store the other day it read 37 psi on each tire. The guide inside the door jamb said it should be 33 psi in the 17 inch tires so I adjusted the air to the recommended pressure. Now less than a week later the TPMS light came on when I went to leave my house. Should I have left the air in at the higher pressure? I am wondering if the dealership had it set at 37 due to the low profile, 50 series tires. This is all new to me since my old OBS did not have all these features and had 15 inch tires. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

The timing belt and water pump were done about 4 years ago when I bought the car. I just found another post where it looks like someone else has/had the same problem as me. The vehicle runs great when moving or sitting still with the air off. No temp. problems then. Only with air on while sitting. Same thing is happening to my 98 Jeep Cherokee Police Jeep except when that happens it does not matter if I am moving or sitting still. In the Jeep it will cause the coolent in the overflow tank to boil. Nobody in the motorpool can figure it out. Oh well, its getting replaced in 2 months anyway with over 215k miles.....

I have a 1997 impreza outback sport 5 speed with around 202k miles. While sitting at idle in traffic with the air conditioner on the temp. guage will go up in the high temp range where I am afraid it will overheat. If I start to drive again the temp goes down or if I am still sitting in traffic and turn the air off the temp will go down. If anyone has any ideas what might be causing this please share. Thanks

Lately it seems that my 97 impreza outback sport has been getting horrible gas mileage. My wife drives it more than i do so i am not sure exactly what the mileage is. The car has 195,000 miles on it. Does anyone know if (1) it would hurt to take off my cat and put on a straight pipe. not sure if any oxygen sensors would be affected. and, (2) if that would give me a noticable increase in mileage. If anyone has taken off their cat and could tell me what the result was, would be appreciated. Thanks

Not sure exactly what the deal is. Here is the problem: #1 when car is cold and i start out it is ok if i dont gun it. if i do, the tach goes up (engine revs) but no response from the engine. the car does not speed up any, and i have to back off. this has progressively gotten worse and my wife said that on the interstate she was in 5th gear (with car warmed up) climbing a hill when it started slipping/reving also. #2 if i am coming to a stop and i have the clutch pushed in and am in 1st gear it puts out a weird rubbing/pulsating noise. this only happens in 1st. if i put it in 2nd or slip it out of the gears the sound goes away. not sure what the deal is. you can sometimes feel the rubbing sound also

I am having some problems with my manual transmission in my 97 outback sport and was wondering if anyone would know how much I am looking at in getting it fixed. thanks

I need help. I own a 5 speed 97 impreza outback sport with approx. 188k miles. When the weather turned cold this winter my car started to exhibit a strange trait. When the engine is cold the engine will RPM high when accelerating but the car will not respond by going any faster. i have to ease off the gas and bring the RPM's low before the car will continue to push forard again. this will happen in any gear i use, preventing me from getting up to speed quickly, thus forcing me to be conservative. When the engine warms up though, the car will respond like it should and i can take it to the proper RPM, usually between 4 and 4500 RPM, before i upshift. If anyone has any ideas what this might be. please let me know. PS. In cold weather when starting my car my RPM's will go to 2-3K and usually the way to bring them down to normal is to rev the enging for a second. this will usually put it back in the 900 range. thanks again for any help.....