jasonbrianmerrill

yes, they replaced the whole system for the timing. I am sorry if I sound panicky - but the second mechanic was emphatic about it... maybe he is used to working on newer or more expensive cars - he said "pouring" not me, and it was a very dramatic adjective which doesn't seem to size up to what I've been seeing. But of course, I'm NOT a mechanic, so I felt easy to defer to his understanding of it... thanks for all of this. I am EXTREMELY skeptical about stop leak.

the timing belt was recently replaced, along with the water pump. That was before my trip to pittsburgh. but it seems that oil AND tranny fluid is leaking (according to one of the mechanics)... I just... don't get it. And I don't know the best course of action at the moment. I am certainly going to stay on top of the fluids, however. thanks for your reply

So.... If you check my first post in introductions you can see what I bought and how I came to buy it. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/140740-new-subaru-owner-a-little-bit-of-background/?do=findComment&comment=1184169 anyway, as mentioned in that first post, I got him down a bit - and I was able to take it to a mechanic I trust and have used for quite a long time. However, there is a subaru master who is a bit further away, and I took it to him to double check, even though I already bought it. Apparently it's "pouring" oil even though I have checked the oil consistently and it hasn't seemed to move. He cites the head gasket - which I don't doubt it might need - this is something I kinda planned for. Sucks, but I almost expected it. Weird though. Then, he brought me under the car and showed me some red fluid dripping off of some lines near the radiator. Obviously, tranny fluid. I don't understand, I have been checking this too. I drove this car 600 miles round trip after getting the work done that I knew it needed, and checked the fluids the whole way. I don't understand here, but someone is either an idiot (me included, apparently) or someone is being deceptive. Was the original owner lying about the state of the car? Did he overfill the fluids so that it always appeared a little above full or something? Is there a way to mask this? Stop leak? Was the guy I brought the car to lying to me or how could he not see a leaking tranny line? Is the guy I brought it to today lying to me? At this point, I'm fairly confused. What do I do from this point on? What type of transmission fluid should I have on me? Should I cut and run now? I bought the car for 1700 and with tires/timing belt/water pump/other misc repairs I'm up to 2700. I feel like I did the best I could by bringing it to a trusted mechanic and having him check it out before I purchased the car. I realize that a Subaru for under 2k isn't going to be a great car - but is this out of line? I am a musician, not a mechanic - a fact which the guy today felt a need to snarkily remind me of. Of course, that is why I brought it to a mechanic in the first place... sorry I didn't bring it to the guy today before buying it. Made it to and around pittsburgh without a problem though... any advice would be quite welcome.

Hi! I had a beater Saturn Wagon (1999) which was stick... and you know, I loved it. It was 2 grand, and got me through three years of university - back and forth 50 miles each way almost every day. However, it blew a cylinder. I immediately wanted a Subaru, just due to everything I've heard from other owners... so I looked a little and found 3: 1 - a 99 forester 120k miles, for 3600 from a dealer. As I was looking at it, I called someone to ask what I should look for, etc... he told me the place I went was a little shady and that I should get it checked out by a guy down the road he trusted. I took it for a test drive, and since the dealer put no parameters on how long or how far I could take it, I clandestinly took it to the mechanic. The car was completely rotted out underneath, bad news, old inspection. Dodged a bullet. Went back and told he dealer it wouldn't pass inspection, maybe if he wanted to sell it for a grand? Needless to say I was on my way to the next one. 2 - a 2000 Subaru Impreza Wagon - 128k miles. The owner was a mechanic, and did a ton of work to a lot of stuff underneath the car (brake lines, exhaust, etc...) and put coating underneath the car. My friend said this one wasn't too bad, but it has a few rust spots and the shifter (automatic) was tough to move on it. It rode fine. They wanted 3300 dollars, I was able to get them down to 2500, since there was a check engine light on, and it would need all new tires. Inspection till july '14 - according to the mechanic I asked help from, those tires could NOT have passed inspection and he thinks the mechanic just stuck a sticker on it to sell the car. I drove around a bit more and a friend facebook messaged me with a craiglist ad of a local guy selling a car. 3 - this was a 2000 Subaru Legacy Wagon - private seller. Went down there, and the car looked pretty good - rode well, but there was a shakiness - a bent rim, he said he hit a massive pothole with it. It needed tires. It had one rust spot, with a hole through it. The timing belt had not been done yet, and it had 140k. So that would need to be done. He let me take it to the mechanic, and the mechanic mirrored my sentiments - rust hole would need to be fixed before inspection is up (august 14), needed timing belt/water pump, tires, rim, swaybar links... would be about 1k of work. However, the body underneath was sound and the car was in great shape, other than that. The owner wanted 2500, I got him down to 1700. I went for this one. It seemed to be the most honest one, and the cheapest (almost even after considering the money I would put into some essential fixed). He was the original owner, and had receipts since the thing was new. Maintained quite well (weird that he didn't get the timing belt done after 100k, I hear this is essential). My budget was low, so this seemed the best choice. Anyway, I just got all that stuff done (with the execption of the rust, waiting till next month). and here i am!