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Tell them to look at the joint where the head meets the block under the engine. The car does have a lot of miles on it which should be a consideration. My 99 Forester has 125,000 and still runs fine, but it has had every bit of reccomended work and then some.

292 Old county Road in Belmont 650-593-4758. They have a guy who used to work at the dealership. A number of folks here speak highly of the place and they are near the Caltrain station if you have to leave the car. We have our fleet cars serviced there and they do pretty good work at about half the dealer cost.

do you have a limited slip rear end?

just stop going to Tahoe. This is perfectly normal for a car driving in snow. At least we get to melt it back out. Some of the folks on this board get rid of it in April.

I'd want to be pretty sure it is the fuel pump. A bunch of things can give you those symptoms and I would want to see a guage on it while it was misbehaving. Water in the gas can do that as well as a fuel filter cloging up. When did you last service the filter?

Springs can last a couple of sets of struts if they don't work hard or get rusty. At 100,000 your struts should be tired even if it runs on smooth roads.

It could be either way. When it happens to me it is usually because I left a connection loose or something. I have seen coincidence too though.

One thing about Foresters is tiny back seat legroom. If you have to do a car seat it may be tougher than in a Legacy. Three adult size kids have survived a Christmas trip of 150 miles with me but they didn't have much room for thier feet back there.

It might be good to check everything from the cam timing up. Sometimes what happens is that in looking for a problem several more are created. If it acts funny only when warm or only cold the first thing I change is the coolant sensor. I usually get a code for other sensors. Any sensor code I would change that sensor also.

One of the real problems is that we are generalizing here. All things being equal a Rover has a very sturdy driveline. A transmission repair would eat her whole budget though. Either way try to get a good car and good luck! By the way I have six Jeeps over 30 years and have matured into a Forester. With the average 4wd there is just a lot more to fix but the Forester has not needed anything in the 4wd system. By the way my BIL's Land Rover is also full time 4wd like my old Jeep Cherokee used to be.

No, 99 is the first year of the improved engine. See if you can get an expert on Subies to check it out for you. I bought a 99 on advice from this board a few years back and I'm glad I did. If Subaru's goop is added the headgaskets are warranteed to 100,000 miles.

The seats depend on the car and what was ordered. Some are pretty good and some poor. My 99 Forester is not bad at all, more comfy than my BMW sport seats and my last Mercedes. I have heard 05 Outback owners complain about seats. I think you'd just have to try the car. There are a couple of Subaru mechanics on the board and perhaps one could help you find a good car in your price range. After hearing your story I think I'd look for a car with a 2.2 as the prices are lower and they are extremely reliable if not beaten to death.

Brother in law has a Disco in New Zealand and it could be considered a bit pokey too. Either car will cruise quite well and go off road quite a distance. Land Rovers will go amazing places but a Subaru can shock a lot of folks. My Forester gets a fair bit of mud and when conditions are right can actually do better than the heavies as it stays on top. Fuel prices have brought Land Rover prices down a lot in this area, Subarus are holding thier value. The Subaru will be cheaper in the long run and a lot of folks who live way off road use them. You would only need to lift one if you live in a mudhole or want to be cool. Foresters and outbacks already have a bit of a lift. When you need to park you will be glad you are in a Subaru.

A Rover has to be a labor of love and with gas going up you will have to have another car to actually drive. Until 2000 the Outback had the phase 1 engine which can have headgasket problems. I would have no fear of one of these with new gaskets, but a 2000 would be less likely to have problems. 99 is the magic year for Foresters. A car that old of either type will need a lot of service if it has not been kept up as a lot would be due on both cars. If you get used to it the Subau is easer to repair than a Landie. My reccomendation is a 2000 Outback that was kept serviced by a fussy old person like me.

Cars have done this since the Model T and maybe before that. There are two or three cold weather tricks I'll mention. Remove the hose and clean it and apply a thin layer of silicon seal, very thin. This expands and contracts better than the hose. Use two hose clamps. I face them in different directions. Tighten when full cold. Move to California. I did this and it works best.

Yep, I'd want to at least pull the heads before I ruled it out. It might only need a valve job.

Stock Michellin on my 99 Forester. The first ones went about 60,000 and it looks lie this set is not dead now at 125,000. I think this set may make 70,000 miles or more.

There are several possibilities but if faced with the same problem I'd change the coolant temp sensor that tells the ECU how hot the engine is. It's fairly cheap and easy to start with. I think you could be having any number of electronic problems but the temp sensor often throws no code. I'm sure some other folks may have other ideas from thier experience.

At least it knocks down the possibilities. One time I had an alternator that made noise and I never did figure out why. It seemed to spin quietly but squeaked under load.

Can you borrow a vacum pump? This would rule that out.

Taking the alt belt off and running for a minute is a common test method. Just don't run long.

Have you checked for codes?

Water pump and reseal the oil pump and crank seal while you are in there. That should close it up on front for several years.

price it on the web and ask for delivery to your house with all costs.

On the BMW board I frequent a lot of folks have brought them over to the Great White North. I understand customs is a bit of trouble and you have to fit equipment like daytime running lights.