Johngenx

Many Canadian Subaru dealers are on the verge of going broke thanks to cross-border shopping. Subaru has some of the worst price differences from Canada to the US. On a WRX, even with the lower 08 model pricing, it's possible to save $6K. On a Tribeca, people have saved close to $15K. Legacy models are awful, and sales in Canada are very poor thanks to the high pricing. Many people have saved $15K on Legacy and Outback GT models. Foresters are a HUGE deal in the US, even after paying the 6% duty. I would NOT buy a new Subaru in Canada. Montana, here we come...

In my search, I found a bad ball joint on the right front, and replaced it. Got rid of the noise at slow speeds (was clunking going over speed bumps, etc) but the odd moving in a straight line noise is still there. All the rest of the suspension/steering bits look good. After replacing the ball joint I had it aligned, and they found everything in good order. I think I'll try rotating the tires and see if that does anything, or maybe mounting the snows for a day and see if that changes it.

Our 2001 Forester (175K-kms, AT) has an odd noise I can't seem to track down. When driving straight down the road at a constant speed and add a slight amount of throttle, it makes a noise that kinda sounds like something is stuck in a tire. It's a "thunk thunk thunk" noise that is quite subtle, but there. There are no unusal sounds at low speed or sharp turning and the car feels normal driving. It kinda sounds like a con rod knock, but duller. It is not that, as I changed gear and the sound stayed the same, so it is not RPM dependant. It is not RPM or gear related and happens really above 60km/h and seems to go away at 100km/h, but that could just be because of wind/road noise. Before I spend a whck of dough on diagnostic time at the dealer, anyone have an idea of where I could look to solve this myself? Thanks!

Chains wear out, just like belts. However, it's usually at a much higher mileage than a belt. You can really prolong the life of your chain if you change your oil and filter often and use synthetic oil. The double-row chain on my Mercedes lasts at least twice as long as the belt system on the Forester and costs half as much to change once it does need replacing. I wish more makes would get off the belts...

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My Dad has a 2001 Legacy Outback with the 2.5L Phase 2 engine. He recently had a dealer replace the timing belt and water pump. Two weeks later both the valve covers are spewing oil. He called the dealer without much reponse and the problem got worse quickly to the point the oil was causing ignition problems, stumbling and a CE light. The other Subiw dealer in the city where he lives (Calgary) squeezed him in, changed the valve cover gaskets and installed new plugs and wires. Problems all solved. However, it would seem to me that the dealer that did the timing belts screwed up. I've not done any work on the 2.5L boxer, but looking at our car, it seems to me that the vlave cover gaskets must be R&R'ed to change the belts. And what is the likelihood that BOTH the gaskets would begin leaking like crazy at the same time? I told Dad he should raise a ruckus with the original dealer, but he's not sure.

Not sure how your local constabulary works, but in our neck-o-the-woods, they simply put the tire contract out to tender and the least expensive bid that meets the minimum basic requirements wins.

The Tire Rack just did a test of the Revo 1, WS-50, X-Ice and Graspic DS-2. The Revo 1 took first place with the WS-50 and X-Ice following closely behind. The Graspic showed well, but was definitely in last place. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/bs_blizzak_revo1.jsp We run the WS-50 on our Forester, and it works very well. The compromise in dry handling is more than offset by the ice and snow traction. People freak out about the soft dry handling, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as the anti-Blizzak crowd make out. Sure, it's not a Z-rated performance tire, but you know that going in. Winter driving means no auto crossing! I have a set of the new Revo 1's for my Mercedes this winter, so I can't report on them yet (of course) but as winter progresses (mornings are below zero now...) I'll update...

My wife just filled her 2001 Forester "S" automatic yesterday after about 1.5 weeks of all-city driving. The trip odo read 501kms and she put 49L in it. That's pretty much dead-on 10.0L/100kms. We always seem to get 9.5L-10.0L/100kms in city driving, which is much better than the 12-13L/100kms we averaged with our 01 OBW. The Forester has the same driveline, but is about 400lbs lighter, so that would help in the city. On the highway, we never break into the 7's with most of our highway driving in the low to mid 8L/100km range.

Yeah, the reason I jumped to the knock sensor diagnosis is that it's pretty common failure on the early SOHC 2.5L engines. Our 01 OBW and 01 Forester have both had their knock sensors replaced thanks to a CEL and indicator code. My father's OBW has also experienced the same problem. Normally, I wouldn't advocate throwing parts at a problem, and I'd probably use a known-good knock sensor to test it, but since this is a common fault, it's a good place to start.

That would be because you didn't repair the faulty knock sensor. The CEL is not there to annoy you, but it's actually connected to things. If you don't remedy the problem that triggered the code, the light will not stay out. Go buy a scanner and you could reset the light every day if you wanted, but it will keep coming back on until the fault is repaired.

Does Subaru have a rebuilding service? I know Mercedes offers rebuilt engines and transmissions at about 50% of the price of "new" and they come with a long factory warranty and are superb. If you're planning on keeping it, you might look into that. Otherwise, you might start calling wreckers and try to find a used engine.

Yeah, buy the ML and get the V-8 model! You're asking for big bills. You could have done worse and bought an S-Class.

You'd be surprised. We have a 1998 Mercedes in our family, bought new in the fall of 1997. It's a C230 and the eighth Benz to rest on the left side of the garage. Why? The compact MB sedans are CHEAP to drive and own. Parts are cheaper than any of the Subaru, Honda/Acura or Mazda cars we've owned. Most MB's are super-easy to DIY. I can do the front brakes (pads and discs) in less than 15 minutes and all maintenace items are simple and parts inexpensive. Major repairs are very few. Engines never wear out unless you abuse them. When I sell them they typically have at least 400,000kms (250K-miles) on them and have never had one that had any sort of engine repair. Trannies last a long time and rebuit units are inexpensive, especially considering that they last so long. Suspension parts last a long time. I've never replaced shocks before 10-12 years or 200K-miles. Not km's, but 200K-miles. Our 98 C230 is at only 185,000kms (I don't drive as much now) and has never had a major repair of any kind. It drives like new, runs like new and routine service and upkeep has cost almost nothing. We have loved our various Subarus (the Forester is our third) but they are NOT less costly to run than any of the MB's we've owned. Now, I would never buy the upscale MB models. They are horrific money-pits, but the "normal" cars are no more expensive to run than an Accord. Of course, the 2001-2004 models are CRAP for electronic glitches, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms...

We took our 2001 Forester into Canada's only desert region this summer and had a solid week of 32-36C, which is about 92-97F or so, I think. No problem with cooling the cabin. We've owned three Subies now (a 1999 Outback, a 2001 Outback and a 2001 Forester) and they've been very reliable. The only fault with our 2001 OBW was a leaking tail-gate brake-light system that was VERY aggravating and ended up costing nearly $1000 for a real fix. I've talked to other 2000-2001 OBW and Legacy wagon owners with the exact same problem. The OBW needed a new knock sensor, a common repair. The Forester had a new O2 sensor and the inside passenger side axle boot failed. The axle boot is a common problem thanks to it being located close to the exhaust. I knew this and kept a very close eye on the boots and caught it very quickly. Changing the boot is easy and I did it before there was a chance of axle damage. That's it! We've owned many cars, including Acura, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes and BMW. Our Subaru models are among the most reliable cars we've owned.