mikem

Wow! I guess it depends on how much value you put on your time as to whether it is expensive or not. I figure if they can get to the plug then I can get to the plug. Special tools may be another matter if they are required, i don't know if they are for the flat sixes. I've got an 06 3.0R in the garage and now I am curious if I can even see the plugs. Do they need changing at 60K? Someone here will certainly know. Oh well, I've got another 52k before I get to 60.

Good to hear SOA is giving you some encouraging information and paying attention to you and "their" problem. I think, from my experience, that the rep is going to help you solve the problem. The dealer is also probably very happy to have someone else solve the mechanical problem and will cooperate with the area rep. I think the minimum is a new engine. Your experience with the dealer is probably some indication of their ability to fix the mechanical problem. Not the people I would want going inside an engine. And then deal with them again if it isn't done right. I must commend SOA for trying to keep customes happy. I put an awful amount of effort into getting them to pay attention to and solve "their" problem with "their" product. I probably would not go to that effort again in order to be a SOA customer, or any other brand of car. Keep pressing on them. You are your best advocate.

I am not sure of Fl law but the date the problem started is the date you need to be concerned with in regards to the eighteen months. If you purchased the car in May of 2004 and the ticking occurred in Oct of 2005 then you are within the 18 months. If you called the dealer about it at that time and have a record of it or there was a written record made at the dealer when you first mentioned the problem then are in a better position. Another important aspect of the process is the number of days the car is " out of service". That includes days when the car was not able to perform as designed. If you parked the car because it would not run properly or you were not able to get the full benefit of the car because of degraded performance then it is "out of service". Now that the dealer says it is "unsafe to drive" make damn sure you do not drive it. If you do drive it after they make that statement then you loose a lot of your bargaining power because you are now disagreeing with the dealer's statement that it is unsafe to drive. Acutally they gave you a big gift by stating it was unsafe. Now the time it sits counts towards the required total days out of service. Very inconvenient for you to lose your car til this gets settled but they may let you have a loaner since they have made the statement your car is not "safe" in their opinion and you have been trying to get them to fix it for a while. The district rep may be more helpful with the loaner than the dealer, his budget for customer relations is bigger. Wow, glad all this type of adventure is behind me. Hang in there buddy.

Is this great or what? No more hanging around nasty cold/hot/whatever garages and watching people fix cars to learn how to do it myself. After forty years of that now I get to sit in a nice chair, drink a little wine and follow the drama of live mechanicing via USMB. Life is good. Thanks guys for the education.

Sorry to read of your woes with the dealer. The problems with the Baja are probably not that complicated to analyze and fix if a competent dealer gets involved. Unfortunately you seem to have a dealer that has greater problems that you are currently experiecing and they are not in a position to help you. You are on the right track by keeping a record of events and continuing to give the dealer a chance to solve the problem. I have been down this road with Subaru of America and can relate to the very great sense of frustration you are experiencing. It is very important that you adhere to the "Dispute Resolution Procedure" in the manuals that came with your new Baja. Somewhere in one of the manuals there is a section that tells you exactly what steps to follow in order that you protect your rights in this situation with Subaru of America. You will also need to get a copy of the Fla. Consumer "Lemon Law" from the Consumer Affairs web site. It will tell you what Subaru of America must do in the state of Florida in this situation. You must send a copy of your complaint to SOA and open a case file with them. Send it registered mail and then call to get the case number of your file. Get the name of the district rep and speak to him/her directly and fax to them your complaint letter. You are more likely to have the dealer rep solve a simple mechanical problem than an incompetent or uncaring dealer. It is very difficult to get SOA to settle a "lemon law" case because basically the burden of proof in on you and they can be very frustrating to deal with since it is not them that is suffering the loss of service from your automoblile woes. However, in order to be fair to SOA, it is a very complicated process that requires much paperwork and attention to detail in order that both parties are treated fairly. Good luck.

I can respond to a very narrow part of your question. I had an 04 wagon with the 3.0 engine but it was not the vdc nor the ll bean. The engine aspect is what i will stick to relating. It was strong, dependable and got about 25mph in town. I did have a persistent unresolveable problem with the throttle position sensor, at least that is what they thought it was, but SOA got involved and solved the problem indirectly. I have on 06 wagon now with the 3.0 and it is very much the same mileage in town and on the highway at interstate speeds, that is 25mph. the oil is easy to change. the quality of the car is very high. There is a lot of info about the vdc here, i don't have any experience with it. good luck in your hunt.

Please do not come near North Carolina if you intend to fuel while the engine is running. We have enough smokers at the pumps already. Take it from someone who has been involved in extracting another human being from an automobile totally involved in flames from a gasoline fire: it is extremely unlikely anyone will come to your aid if you are on fire. Natural preservation of the self tends to be more predominant than preservation of a stranger.

just went out and looked at my 06 outback 3.0r wagon trying to find the plugs. I can see the top of the unit that fits on the plugs. Looks like they would be a tight fit. Manual says "removing plugs may be difficult, consult your dealer". That looks like an accurate statement. Just makes me want to try it more! Probably doable but it is gonna be real tight. let us know.

Try backing out of the garage real fast and see if it makes any difference! May not but it sure as heck will be fun and a different way to start the day.

Ain't it great, my wife thinks I am just a genius for that piece of work. added hundreds to the resell value not to have to listen to that bit of noise. thanks to whomever discovered it.

I will give a plug for Southern States in Raleigh. They are a Subie dealer. I dropped in on them one day with my previous '04 3.0 outback and they were very helpful. The service manager called one of the tech's to listen to my problem and he made some suggestions. They turned out to correct the problem. That is the only contact I have had with them but they certainly treated me with concern and helped me with my question. good luck!

Plan on fifty or sixty hours of driving. spend ten hours or so off the intended track. It would be a shame to drive across most of america and not see what makes it tick. get off the interstate twice a day and drive along a country road that has no signs. Look around. Stop at a local diner that has no more than five cars in the parking lot and curtains on the windows. Talk to people. Look at their life in their neighborhood. End the trip with something more than a sore butt, vague recollections of interstate offerings , and a bar of soap from Motel 6! It'll give you something to talk about next winter in New England.

That is very similar to the line of crap I got out of my dealer when the TPS was creating a life of its own. I filed a NHTSA report. My 06 idles @ below 1000rpm.

I've have experience with two of the h3.0's. First was in an 04 35th edition. engine was good and i felt like it had enough grunt to do what i needed which is haul my 55 year old butt around and occasionally tow my 13' boat. Started having some problems that the dealer could not solve with the TPS. Long story short, SAO took back the car and we ended up with an 06 3.0r. Feels the same to me but I don't even begin to apporach whatever the car is capable of doing. Oil filter is in the same place. That is all I have had to touch. I love it!

Thanks for the note. Will put that on my list of reasons I don't like snow!

Get your area rep involved now. He can hook his laptop to your OBD connector and monitor all parameters real time to catch those incidents which do not set a code. It sounds like your dealer is either incapable of addressing your problem for several reasons or has no motivation to seek a solution. I wasted a lot of new customer good will trying to get my dealer to fix a problem they did not have an interest in fixing. SOA has an interest in keeping you as a customer. Make that the primary point with your district rep. The mechanical aspect of why your car does not perform gets to be the issue instead of the fact that the product is not performing as it is advertised and warrantied by SOA. Make sure that stays in the forefront of your efforts. Good luck.

I have had an 04 3.0 wagon and now have an 06 3.0R wagon. neither had vdc but i don't think i need it in my driving so i can't relate any experience with it. However, the basics of the 3.0 are very nice and it is a comfortable car. Been reliable and the quality is very high for the price. The 04 required the "fwd fuse " action with a spare on the front, the 06 does not mention that in the owners manual nor does it have the"fwd fuse" position. we average about 25mph in the city and about the same or a small amout better on the interstate at 65+. the 06 rear seat also folds forward without having to flip the bottom up. Much easier to use. the 06 seems to sit higher, i think it has 17" tires instead of 15 or 16. hope that is of some value.

been in europe since sunday night and have seen only one sube in two major cities, barcelona and milan. Almost every brand in the alaphabet and lots of each brand except sube. Are they over here? Anybody else noticed this? At least i can surf the board over here. Will be in Brussels tomorrow thru friday and will be looking.

I have an 06 3.0R outback wagaon and it has two potential tie down spots. First there are two flip down latches at the bottom left and right just inside the tailgate where the cargo net attaches. Secondly, if the rear seat is folded down the very strong latches for the seat catch on the left and right are available for securing stuff. Unlikely a dog could ever do any harm to them. The cargo net latches may not be much of a match for a 100lb lab. We had an 04 Seamist Green Wagon. We now have a red wagon. I go for color that looks ok after you haven't washed it, not color that looks good just after you did wash it. But then I don't get to vote on car colors. Enjoy your potential new one.

Dang! Got in our 06 today and flipped over to the ET display to see if I could troubleshoot your problem and ours had quit working! got out the manual and there is nothing to do, it is controlled by the ignition switch.I figure the circuit board has gone south and yours plus mine equals a trend. However, on the second leg of our errand running it was back to normal. Gonna go on my "dealer list" of things to get done under warranty. How will I ever be able to face the day without my Subaru ET display?

I did the seat belt repetitive chime disable routine on my 06 outback and it worked. Chimes once. That's it. Life is good. And quiet.

congrats on your new sube. My 06 has the et display and I just have to cycle thru the various displays to get whatever. No special trick. Maybe the display is defective. we use home depot 6x4' door mat laying in the back with the seats folded down for pet cover. Oddly, that was one of two requirements for the new car a few years ago. One, my wife had to like it, secondly the dogs had to be able to see out the back and sides. I just get to work on it if needed.

Congrats on your new sube. Hope you enjoy it. I have an 06 outback with the 3.0 engine and it is automatic but I don't see any large increase in idle rpm when started. Maybe a few hundred for a minute or so but nothing on the order of what you are seeing. However, rest assured you have come to one of the best places to get good information. I have certainly enjoyed my sube more by having been exposed to usmb. The collective talent and knowledge available here is incredible. Just hang on, somebody will know and will tell you. Welcome aboard!

not sure if you meant legend or myth concerning the 250k accidental death policy on volvos. It might be legend in some sense of the word but it is not myth. The brochure is still in the pocket of my 96 850. It is 250k per death/ one million per accident if you have your seatbelt on at the time of the accident. I hope they never have to pay!