gator1

Thanks for the feedback guys. By the sounds of it, I think I do not need to do anything major or anything soon. My shade tree mechanic has a really good reputation around here and I have used him for almost 20 years on other cars. This is the first time he has had a look at the Subaru [ other than oil changes ] because this is the first time anything has been really wrong. Other than that, it has been a great little car for our Canadian winters. gator

I have an '07 Forrester that I bought new. I have been happy with the car but not necessarily with the Edmonton dealer. I recently checked on used prices just for fun. What I have is listed in Edmonton for around $14K - BUT that is in Canadian dollars. With the exchange rate being what it is, and with a little bargaining, it just might be within your budget. I have about 177k kilometers [110K miles] on mine and have had very few problems with it - my recent post not included. And you are correct about them not lasting long when the For Sale sign is on. I have a friend who sells Fords in a small town in Alberta and he says that on those rare occasions when one does hit the market, it never lasts more than a day or two on the lot. They are very much sought after as used vehicles. gator

I guess I posted this in the wrong place the other day. Oh well. I will try again. Hi guys. I have a problem on my '07 Forester. I took it into the dealer because the brake pedal felt a little bit "mushy" - not too bad but just a little bit. Well, it turns out that the dealership in Edmonton is what my brother calls a "stealership". After only 50,000 km [ 30,000 miles ] highway miles.they told me that I needed to get both front rotors replaced AND both front pads AND a brake flush. While they were at it, they also said that there is a slight weeping of oil from one of the head gaskets and that would entail a complete engine removal to repair. Total repair bill was over $5,000. My own shade tree mechanic looked at the rotors and said that they were "virtually brand new" which is what you would expect from brakes after 50,000km on the highway. Now, for the perplexing bit. My brother checked somewhere on the internet and a gentleman who is familiar with Subarus told him that the symptom is that of a master cylinder that is about to fail WITH NO WARNING. I really don't know what to think about this. Any suggestions? Thanks. As an update, I got the car back from my shade tree mechanic who I trust a lot more than I trust the wrenches at Subaru and he turned the front rotors. He said he shaved about three thou off, which is what you might expect from 30,000 highway miles. The front pads are virtually new. He did adjust the back drum brakes a bit. It is better now but this business about a catastrophic main cylinder failure still bothers me.

Hi guys. I have a problem on my '07 Forester. I took it into the dealer because the brake pedal felt a little bit "mushy" - not too bad but just a little bit. Well, it turns out that the dealership in Edmonton is what my brother calls a "stealership". After only 50,000 km [ 30,000 miles ] highway miles.they told me that I needed to get both front rotors replaced AND both front pads AND a brake flush. While they were at it, they also said that there is a slight weeping of oil from one of the head gaskets and that would entail a complete engine removal to repair. Total repair bill was over $5,000. My own shade tree mechanic looked at the rotors and said that they were "virtually brand new" which is what you would expect from brakes after 50,000km on the highway. Now, for the perplexing bit. My brother checked somewhere on the internet and a gentleman who is familiar with Subarus told him that the symptom is that of a master cylinder that is about to fail WITH NO WARNING. I really don't know what to think about this. Any suggestions? Thanks. and as a PS, if I ever need another car and if the Edmonton dealer doesn't change their attitude, I definitely won't be buying another Subaru even though I do like the car.

I just found this forum and it looks like a neat place to hang out. I have a 2007 Forrester that I bought new. It has 166000 km [ 100,000 mi ] on it. I have had very few problems with it. I do live in the frozen bits of northern Canada so I really appreciate the AWD and the legendary reliability of the Subaru. In the milder summer weather, I run with all season tires on mag wheels but for winter, I have Yokahama winter tires on steel. They really do make a difference. I was one of the first people in my community to buy a Subaru but there are getting to be more and more all the time. Anyway, I should stop in from time to time. Hopefully I won't have to pester too much with problems.