Martinjmpr

At the risk of being pedantic, I have to disagree. Subaru has 4 basic vehicles on 3 platforms that they sell in the US: The Impreza, the Legacy, the Forester and the Tribeca. The Outback Wagon and Outback Sedan are versions of the Legacy wagon and Legacy sedan. The Outback Sport is a version of the Impreza. The Forester is its own vehicle but sits on the Impreza chassis. The Outbacks and the "vanilla" Legacys are the same basic vehicle but the Outback gets some different body and suspension parts, as well as different interior goodies. Certainly they have multiple variations (Impreza comes in 4d sedan, hatchback, OBS, WRX, and WRX-STI, etc) but the line is essentially 4 model types on 3 chassis. From 96-99 Outbacks and "vanilla" Legacy wagons actually did have different bodies, with the plain Legacy's getting the "flat top" and the Outbacks getting the "bubble top." From what I've seen, though, it seems like when they went to the 3rd generation Legacy body in 2000, they all became "bubble tops."

Strictly Automotive quoted me $1400, I think, to do the HG back when I thought mine was leaking (it wasn't.) I had them do my timing belt and they also replaced some of the pulleys and the water pump. Total cost was just under $1000 but that was 7 months and 8,000 miles ago and so far, so good. They seem to have a good staff and apparently enjoy a good reputation.

Wow, this is funny, I was off the boards for a couple of days and found out I was the subject of much speculation. Here's the lowdown: Up until a couple of months ago I, too, averaged around 22-23 in the city. I have managed to boost my Mileage by about 2-3 mpg by changing my driving style. It's a little hard to describe, but I call it "driving smooth." Pretend there's a rotten egg behind the accelerator and the brake pedal. IOW, do everything smoothly - no jackrabbit starts, no quick stops. Take the car slowly up to the driving speed of the road you're on, and let it go slowly back down. Don't worry about all the idiots in a hurry to race from stoplight to stoplight - slow and steady wins the race. This isn't easy to do. Many of us have habits we've developed, like driving 5-10mph over the speed limit, making sudden changes in direction, punching the gas to get through a yellow light - but if you can "unlearn" that, you will benefit at the gas pump. The same thing applies on the highway. If you can stand it, when on the interstate, stay in the far right lane, set the cruise control between 55 and 60, and just kick back. Sure, it will take you longer to get there, but you'll save a lot of money and be more relaxed when you get there. Doing this I recently clocked 29.1 mpg - and that included a 38 mile trip up to the top of Pikes Peak (14,110') and back down, where I was in 1st or 2nd gear most of the time! Incidentally, I do live in Denver but my employer (the US Govt) gives me a free bus/light rail pass, so I normally don't drive to work (except sometimes when I need to go somewhere right after work and need the car.) So most of my driving is not in stop-and-go rush hour traffic, it's urban and suburban streets where speeds are 35-45. And I don't run any special oils or anything like that. I get my oil changed every 3,750 miles at a local Subaru dealer and they use whatever the recommended oil is. They also check the tire pressure - I'm a little bit ashamed to say it but I haven't checked the pressure in months. Oh, final note: I took the cross bars off the roof rack last year. I still have them in my closet, with the ski rack still mounted to them from the last time I went skiing. Considering that I tore my ACL, it's unlikely I'll ever ski again, and the crossbars won't go on unless I need to haul something.

Or as Robert Farago called it, the "Flying Vagina."

Last time I ran my car down below "e" on the gas gauge, it cost me just over $42 to fill it (at $2.91/gal) and my MPG (mostly city) averaged out to around 25.5. I always reset my tripmeter when I fill up and in this case I put in gas at about 405 miles.

If you bought it locally I assume it's RHD? That would be wicked to bring over to the US, although I'm not sure how much fun it would be to drive in traffic! I'm a little surprised that it's an auto. I thought it was only in the US and Canada that we had a fetish for autos, that the rest of the world was content to shift their own gears. When I was stationed in Hungary, the local cops took a look at one of our HMMWVs and were mystified about how to drive it because none of them had ever driven a car with an automatic tranny!

Very nice to see. Great pics! It's just a shame we won't see the Baja with the 05+ body style, that would be awesome. I think if the Baja had debuted this year instead of 2003 (when you could still buy gas for $1.50/gallon) it would have been a big hit because it would make a viable alternative to a more gas-guzzling 4wd pickup. I like the idea of being able to separate clean gear/dirty gear with a truck bed (if it was me I'd get a shell for the back.)

You'd be surprised. I was in Kuwait for almost all of 2004 and there were some days in August and September when the humidity approached 90%. The air was so thick we almost choked on it.

Jluther: It would be useful to know exactly what mileage the new engine was installed at and exactly what mileage it was at when it failed. If it was over 24,000 miles, then make the best deal you can with the repair shop, because if the warranty was for 24,000 miles and the engine failed at 24,000.001 miles, then you're screwed. Your warranty has expired. If it was under 24,000 miles it is under warranty and I'd fight tooth and nail. You paid for a warranty, they are bound to honor it. You mentioned that "subaru" wouldn't honor the warranty. The critical question is who is it that granted you the warranty? Was it Subaru (i.e. work done at an authorized, franchised Subaru dealer) or was it Super Rupair, which AFAIK is not an authorized Subaru dealer? If your warranty was with Super Rupair, and they're telling you that Subaru of America won't honor the warranty, then so what? Your warranty is a contract with Super Rupair, not with SoA. If they have difficulty getting recovery from SoA, that's not your problem, it's theirs. Google "colorado small claims court." I believe you can file a suit for less than $50 for disputes up to $7000. If you need assistance, PM me. I'm a lawyer in Colorado.

Outbacks do have good ground clearance (especially the new ones) but ground clearance is only part of the equation when it comes to off-roading. Fender clearance, poor approach/departure angles and breakover angle, how low other parts of the body are to the ground, and lack of low gearing mean that the Outback isn't really an "off road" vehicle so much as a "rough road" vehicle. Before I owned the OBW I owned several SUVs, my last one was a 1990 Mitsubishi Montero 4 door. It had great ground clearance, skid plates, a dual-range transfer case, and was very maneuverable. It also only got 15 - 17 MPG, was difficult to park in the city, got blown around like a sailboat in crosswinds, and generally handled like a grocery cart. I actually took it 'hardcore off roading' maybe 4 or 5 times in the 7 years I owned it (while, on the other hand, I took it on long highway trips at least two dozen times.) After my last trip to Hole in the Rock in Utah, I realized I was never going to be one of these guys who can tear off a quarter panel or break an axle and laugh about it. My SUV was my daily driver, and I simply couldn't afford to roll it trying to get up over some huge rock. It was at that point that I realized I wasn't a hard-core 4 wheeler and probably never would be. The OBW should not be mistaken for a truck. If your friend really needs to get over trails that have large rocks or ruts, an OBW probably won't cut it, sad to say. Yes, you can do some amazing stuff with an Outback, but it has limits that are due to its basic car-based design. Even in Australia, where they get dual-range transfer cases, nobody is going to mistake an Outback for a Toyota Land Cruiser. I realized that what I needed was a vehicle that had AWD and enough ground clearance to allow me to get around on moderately rugged forest service roads and dirt roads without having to worry about leaving a trail of parts behind. The Outback is perfect for that role, and the AWD is a bonus on the street, especially in snow and ice. In my conventional-4wd SUV, I often couldn't use 4wd because the road surface was only intermittently slippery. About the only complaint I have regarding the Outback as a camping/exploring vehicle is that I wish it was a little bigger (about 6" longer) and had a flat load deck. But I love the AWD and the fuel economy. Bottom line is that like any other choice, this one involves tradeoffs. Only your friend knows whether the things he gives up (overall clearance, gearing, off road ability) are worth the things he gains (superior on-road handling, true AWD, good economy.) As for the Forester, the older models did appear to have better approach and departure angles, but I don't know about the newer ('03 - up) models. They seem to have an awfully long "snout."

That's about average. Incidentally, on most modern cars there's usually very little (if any) difference between running with and without AC. In fact, since you usually have the windows up with AC on, instead of down, it will probably improve mileage because there will be less wind resistance. The days when AC meant a 2-5 MPG drop are in the past. I get 22-24 in the city, but if I drive like an old lady I can stretch it out even more. Right now the car's sitting at just under 1/4 tank with 325 miles on the trip odometer. And that's almost all city! But I probably pissed off a lot of people driving 40 in a 45 zone. But this way, not only do I save money on gas, I'm also less likely to get a speeding ticket like I got last month! That $40 could have filled my tank and bought me lunch, too. Incidentally, the farthest I've ever gone on one tank is 411 miles.

Well, while you're at it you might as well wish for a fusion motor. The Baja is history. IMO it fell victim to poor execution - the concept SXT or whatever it was called had a disappearing midgate, like the Chevy Avalanche. If the Baja had that, I think it would be a big hit because then it could function as a true truck. But the little "acess hatch" wasn't enough to transform the Baja into a useful utility vehicle, and by 2005 it was clear that the Baja just wasn't going to make it, sales wise. Too bad. In this day and age with $3+/gallon gas, I'll bet there are a lot of people with 17-19mpg Frontiers and Tacomas who would love to have the utility of a truly economical truck. It may be that the Baja's biggest misfortune was that it came just a couple of years too soon. More's the pity.

Interesting. Were the 5-spoke wheels part of the limited package? I don't recall seeing wheels like that on an Outback.

I have. I actually noticed them years ago. Every now and then, a car designer just gets it "right", and IMO the 2nd gen Legacy/1st Gen Outback is a great example of that. I don't care for the looks of the 1st gen Legacy's (though I've heard they run forever!) and I thought Subaru really ruined the design for the 3rd gen in 2000 when they raised the hood and added the big plastic cladding things to the side. The 4th gen Legacy's, I think, really redeemed their reputation for a balanced, pleasing design, but IMO it still looks "gimmicky" compared to the '95-'99 models. As for the scoop, yes, it's unneccessary, but I like it. It cleans up the rather boring hood (whenever I see a 95 or 96 the hood just looks barren.) So, I don't really have any advice on striping, I just wanted to agree with you that the 2nd Gen Legacy's Rock!

GOT IT! Man, that little tiny fusebox is hard to find! If not for OB99W's excellent description, I don't think I would have found it. Anyway, fuse was indeed blown, and now both power outlet and seat heaters work fine (not that I need seat heaters when the temps will be 100 by friday!) The culprit in all of this was not anything on my car, incidentally. It was the cheap-rump roast car charger for my cell phone. I even confirmed this by plugging it in after I fixed the front power socket - the fuse blew right away, so I know that's what it was. Needless to say, said car charger has been tossed into the nearest dumpster. Thanks for all the help! You guys are a mechanical moron's best friend!

Yeah, I realize that. What I meant was the "main" fusebox that is underneath the dash. The fuse I'm looking for is in another fusebox located somewhere above that one.

Update: Okay, I got the cover off (it's the one that sits below the steering wheel.) According to the diagram in the manual, the auxiliary fuse block is underneath. Now, I couldn't see anything that looked like a fuse block. I saw something that was the right shape, just above the main fusebox, and it had three vertically stacked rectangles - but they were at least 5x as big as an ordinary blade-type fuse. They also did not have amp markings on them. Could this be them? See photo below. I've circled what I think may be the box, but look at the size of those "fuses." Can that be right?

Okay, I feel like a complete dummy for not seeing that in the manual, but it begs another question: Where is the "instrument panel lower cover?" Is that the cover over the console?

Since the manuals (both the Subaru and the Haynes) were of no help to me, can someone answer what should be a couple of simple questions regarding fuses? First off, what fuse is used by the rear 12v power outlet on a '99 OBW? Second, what fuse(s) would be used by the seat heaters on the same vehicle? Neither one is working, and before I start tearing into them, common sense tells me to check the fuses. Thanks for any help! Martin

Dude, you are a f'ing genius! :headbang: Last night I bought a big can of lysol. side note: have you noticed you can't buy just ordinary spray disinfectant anymore? It's all "summer Breeze" or "mountain spring" or "ocean pine" or something like that. Anway, sprayed it in the intakes while the car was running. Drove around for about 1/2 hour with the ac/heat on different settings. Strong smell of disinfectant but I figured that was better than the stinky/moldy smell. So today the car sat at the train station all day in the heat while I was at work. Started up the car and the smell was gone. As in, not a trace of it remaining! And what really surprised me was that the smell of the disinfectant was also gone. Completely, totally, not a trace remaining. In fact, the output from the air vents smells better than it has in years. I'm thinking now that this procedure (spray lysol in the intakes) should be a part of annual maintenance. Here's how I did it: I sprayed it in while the car was running, and sprayed a lot - like almost 1/2 the can (big can.) Then, after driving around for 45 minutes or so, I parked for the night, but before I did, I sprayed about another 1/4 can into both intakes to let it fall to the bottom of the heating ducts (where, presumably, the mold is growing) and just sit down there, disinfecting. So, this was a great $1.97 solution to my very vexing problem! Thanks again!

Thanks for the info. Another dumb question: Where are the fresh-air intakes? Under the hood? In front of the windshield wipers? The Haynes manual doesn't help much in this respect. Reason I ask is that I seem to have isolated the problem there. AC: no smell. Recirculate: No smell Fresh air/no AC: Smell. So I'm figuring it's somewhere between where the fresh air goes in and where the fresh air stream joins the rest of the air output.

First question: Over the past week I've started to get a noticeable "stale" smell from my air vents (hard to describe, not particularly foul, but peculiar and annoying.) The smell is most noticeable when the vent is on, with the outside air turned on (i.e., not recirculating.) It's hardly noticeable when the AC is on. I had heard about some AC equipped vehicles getting mold in the ducting, and to prevent this I always tried to turn off my AC before I actually shut off the car, to let the AC air warm up to ambient temperature. Honestly, I didn't think it'd be a problem in Colorado, but I've got something in there, whatever it is, and I don't like it. So here's the question: Does anyone know of a fairly inexpensive solution I can use to try and flush or freshen the air? Not really looking for an "air freshener" (something that masks a bad smell with another one) but hopefully something that will kill the mold or whatever it is. Any ideas? Thing is, the car is a 1999, with 112k on the odometer, so any solution that requires several hundred dollars worth of work is really not acceptable - I'm not going to throw that kind of money into a 7 year old car just for AC. I've tried running the fan all the time at the 3 or 4 setting, hoping that it will dry out whatever's in there, but I can't seem to tell any difference. Would running the AC all the time help? I know AC has a drying effect. Honestly, even if the solution would simply reduce the smell by 50% or so, I could probably live with it. I'm just hoping that there's someone else out there who's had a similar problem and who may have an inexpensive fix. Second question: Are there any aftermarket sources for Limited Slip Differentials (LSDs) on Subarus? Or will Subaru dealers install the LSD? I'm looking at replacing the OBW within the next year, primary candidate will probably be a Forester X. But it seems you can only get the LSD on the XT (turbo) which I have no interest in getting. Subaru does offer the LSD as part of a performance package, but that also includes things like power seats, which I really don't want (plus it's $2300!) I know I was able to put an LSD in my '99 Ford Ranger for about $750. Anyway, any help on either of these issues (especially the AC!) will be much appreciated!

The problem with that idea is that a junkyard seat is likely to suffer from the same malady as mine, i.e. crushed by years of use.

The driver's seat on my '99 OBW has gotten squished down (no I'm not fat!) and I'm wondering if anybody knows of a good upholstery shop in the Denver metro area to get it re-stuffed. Obviously, I want to make sure I retain the seat heaters, they're great in the Winter!

I'm pretty sure the warranty runs with the vehicle. I bought a '99 OBW in April of '03 with 42k on the odometer. When I took it in to a dealer (not the one I bought it from, a Subaru dealer) there were some minor oil leaks that they fixed under warranty.