stevetone

Before you go off the deep end, if you bought the car used you have no idea as to how it was treated by its prior owner(s). Even a perfectly engineered car will suffer if it's abused or not maintained correctly.

First thing (and the easiest) I would do is clean up the battery terminals. Remove the connections from the battery, and use sandpaper or a wire brush to get the inside of the clamps and outside of the posts real shiny, then reassemble (I am assuming that it is not a side post battery?).

Are you sure it's the brakes smoking? If not, my guess is that it is engine oil or CV grease splattering onto the exhaust system.

If your tire circumference is longer than stock, and you haven't recalibrated your speedo, you're travelling faster and farther than your gauges would indicate. Your mileage is probably better than you think.

I did this on my '95 a few months ago and I think it cost me around $80 at Advance Auto. Not sure I would do it in their parking lot though, unless you are experienced with these kind of things (I wasn't). It took me about an hour, and was fairly straightforward. Good Luck!

Couldn't you rotate the tires and see if the shimmy changes or is eliminated?

Thanks for the interesting post! Can you tell me how much the oil filter influences this type of analysis?

Oh my -- 2nd gear at 55mph? Just a hunch, but that seems like it would come close to redlining the engine, wouldn't it? At the very least it would be beyond the most effective torque range for the engine. If so, the computer is keeping you from a damaging or ineffective situation. Maybe the '93 computer is not quite as "smart"?

I agree with the previous posts -- fix it. I know I'm stating the obvious, but a "bailing wire" approach that results in inadequate oil pressure will cause a lot more pain than extracting that bolt...

Since this may be a "quirk" with Subes that your fiance will have to live with (although I would certainly try to remedy the situation if possible), one way to workaround the issue may be to manually shift the transmission into D1 or D2 while in slow, stop-and-go traffic.

I'm a little unclear - did your vehicle overheat shortly after the flush job? If so, then I say that the (improper) refill may have contributed to HG failure. But, if there was no overheating, then why would a radiator flush "cause" a HG failure? That line of reasoning doesn't seem right to me, but I may be missing something.

Care to elaborate on that?

IMHO, I think you might be "throwing the baby out with the bath water" if you sell it due to this maintenance issue. Fix it and it's fixed for many, many years. I would expect this type of issue on any vehicle that is 14 years old. If you buy a different used car, you never really know what your getting in the form of "deferred" maintenance.

I don't think that is a politically correct way to refer to a "slow" engine

Is there a question embedded in this stream of consciousness?

Sometimes there are things more important than money -- like getting the job done right. I would have someone you trust install a new muffler and never step foot in a Midas again.

I don't have an answer for your initial problem, but my '95 Legacy does the same thing with the door locks -- it comes and goes on no predictable schedule. So, I would guess that it is not related.

Water pump? Also, I have heard that non-OEM thermostats have been problematic -- search the boards for more info.

Not to rain on your parade, and certainly you can go ahead and do it, but the money that a newer vehicle depreciates will never come back as well. It will be cheaper to maintain your Impreza over the next 100k miles than the maintenance cost and depreciation expense that you will experience with a newer vehicle. You just have to decide if the joy of ownership is worth it or not.

Uh...isn't that where the hydrocarbons are supposed to be found?

Maybe this is too obvious, but could you just use a key (gasp!) to lock and unlock your doors, and leave the fob at home?

Did you disturb any vacuum lines in the process of replacing the battery?

Never really thought about that -- it makes sense for a head-on collision. But does the same apply for a rear end collision, where the accelerating forces of your body and seat are toward the rear? Wouldn't the seat back and frame be the primary force restraint in this case?

Sounds like I've got the same car ('95 LSi wagon, w/roof rack), and have got as high as 30 mpg on all-highway driving. But normally I get in the lower 20s.

I guess that is their choice -- that is what capitalism is all about. Are you suggesting that the government (ugh) should dictate the operations of a private company?