outback_97

http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/hg.html Steve

If I drove >30K miles a year I'd put interior room and comfort pretty high on the list too. That is a lot of miles. In another post he mentioned HG problems at around 180K miles IIRC, and some wheel bearing problems. I'd think these issues have some influence on the decision, but referring to his post above, interior and comfort were obviously important too. George, get back to us in another 8 years and let us know how she did Steve

OK I have to ask... how tall are you? I'm 6'4" and fit in my 97 just fine, it's better than a lot of mid sized domestic cars in that respect. Haven't spent much time in the newer ones though. Steve

My apologies to those poor souls who have never read the book "A Confederacy of Dunces". Steve

Ummm... you guys do realize this thread was started in 2004, right? I doubt the original poster is still around, it was their only post ever. But while I'm here, I'll offer my opinion that a dealer is sometimes a horrible place to get keyless entry / security stuff added. I was quoted something like $400 to just add keyless entry to my wife's TS... I did it myself by ordering the module online for around $65 and it took me about five minutes to install while I was waiting in the line at the carwash. Remove three screws, plug in module, done. Steve

good find, thanks nipper. frag, google found me this on tumble generator valves: http://www.drivesubaru.com/Win03_Manifold.htm ...and over 38,000 other links too Steve

I can't believe no one has said, "OMG Head Gaskets!!!! Stay away from 98!!!!" I'd get the 98 too. Steve

Sounds like it's time to find a different dealer, one that will take her problem seriously and fix it. Steve

Welcome to the USMB. I think you're looking for a "waist spoiler", that's what I've seen them called, and that's what I'd search for. You're looking for this, right? Steve

This has been discussed before: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=28600 And here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?p=69951#post69951 I was pretty excited to read about it because it sounded interesting and plausible... but some other pretty knowledgeable folks here were pretty skeptical of the idea. I don't know, I just keep driving my Phase 1 2.5 hoping for the best but being prepared for the worst. Steve

FWIW I recently did most all the 120K mile stuff on my car, the only thing I haven't done is the plugs, I'm shying away from that. Front and rear differential and AT fluids are very easy to DIY, I'd recommend doing those yourself, unless there's something radically different on the XT vs. my 97 and 03 Impreza, it's quite simple. That will save you some bucks. Even though it just says "inspect" these fluids, IMO they should be changed at 30K... I think that under "severe" driving conditions (which is most vehicles most of the time) they say to change the fluid. Steve

Sounds cool, any pictures of the new setup? Your 215/65/16 tire is almost exactly equal in diameter to my 205/75/15 setup on my Outback. It would be a good tire size for me if I were starting from scratch and had to buy wheels and tires, and probably better handling than my 75 series. How do you like the tires? I think I'd have a little more room to go bigger on mine w/r/t the strut but would start having problems with rubbing on the fenders / mudflap area. Where have you seen people successfully using 29"? I think that'd be way too big (our tires are around 27") but am not familiar with Foresters, do they have that much more fender room? Steve

My two cents on more aggressive tires: I have Firestone Destination A/T's on my car, and like them. They're not a LT designation tire but they seem more solidly built for "off-road" use and less prone to sidewall damage than my old Michelin regular all season tires. I have driven them in snow, gravel(with sharp rocks), dirt and sand and they do very well. No opportunity yet for mud, it's pretty dry here most of the time (except snow in the winter). The vast majority of my car's miles though are unfortunately driving me back and forth to work. These tires do that well also. Here's some drawbacks: I went with 205/75/15 tires, one step up from stock. Now I cannot fit a tire of that size in the spare well. I have probably lost some hwy mileage, around town seems not to be affected. There is more road noise than a typical quiet all season tire, I don't find it objectionable though. And the higher sidewall flexes a bit more in hard turning. There was *very* slight rubbing on compression and sharp turning but that went away when I installed Scorpion springs to lift the car slightly. For those with 16" wheels, you'll unfortunately have a much harder time finding tires that fit, or at least you'll have fewer options. There's not much room for larger without rubbing. Steve

It's a minor point but I think the difference in size between 21mm and 13/16" is actually around .4mm, the standard size is smaller than the metric. But the 13/16" does indeed fit on the front diff drain plug with some minor wiggling, note post #5 in this recent thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=60184&highlight=front+diff+drain+plug Steve Oh, I have a suggestion when draining the front: Take some aluminum foil and form it to use it as a shield for the y-pipe, which sits very close to the drain. This way you won't get the drained oil on the exhaust and you won't be smelling hot gear oil for the next two weeks whenever you warm up the car. Ask me how I know that.

And some good info here: http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4054 You have some choices as to the color and whether you want an open pocket or one with a flip down door. Steve

Welcome, Dennis! I don't have a Forester, but I'm assuming that yours has a double height DIN stereo and the new stereo is a single height DIN. You do need a DIN pocket to fill the space, and you can get that from a dealer or an online Subaru parts vendor, which is often cheaper. Do you have the wiring harness(es) too? They make the installation SO much easier. Typically you need two, a Brand X to Universal, and Universal to Subaru. There's probably a good writeup at www.scoobymods.com for the install, these cars are very easy to do this kind of work on, I think it took me about 15 minutes to put my wife's new stereo in. Steve

I did the front last night, yay, no more stinky gear oil for another 30K miles! You know what else stinks? When you get all set up to drain and fill the front differential, then you realize that you need a 21mm socket and the largest you have is 19 . So don't assume like I did that the front plug is 19, it is in fact 21mm. I understand the newer models use a large "torx" bit. Sears didn't have any 6 point 21mm sockets (they appeared to be running themselves out of a *lot* of sockets) so a 13/16", which is about 20.5mm, will fit with a little persuasion... and it was only $.97. Thanks to places like the USMB I've saved hundreds of dollars by doing this work myself instead of at the shop. A big thank you to you guys! Steve

Thanks, still need to do front diff (it's also pretty easy) and then my 120K mile fluid changes are done Steve

Wait, so the claimed 35-40 MPG is *after* he revised it down? Maybe those are Imperial gallons Buyer beware indeed. Steve

This weekend I drained / filled my rear differential fluid without driving the car around to warm it up first. It drained fine, probably took a little bit longer though since the fluid was just ambient temp (which was around 85-90 so not exactly cold). Was this a bad idea? I searched for writeups about changing the fluid and found some but none specifically addressed this. I had been working outside most of the day and didn't feel like subjecting myself to any extra heat or potential burns from the muffler or exhaust so that's why I decided to just do it "cold". Steve

If he's overstating MPG by the same amount as the original purchase price of the car... ... then I believe it I don't think any Subaru model (except SVX?) was over $25K in 1995. Our personal best MPG was around 35... with a *huge* tailwind and travelling at 55-60 MPH most of the tank. 35 is possible. I doubt consistent 35-40 sans ever present tailwinds. Sorry, I doubt some of these statements in the ad. Very nice clean wagon though. Steve

Sounds like you already made a decision, but I think that price was too high anyway. In '03 we paid $17K for a brand new no miles 03 TS (basically same car). Now at 25K miles it has developed the tapping noise on cold startup that pretty much all Subies have, not necessarily a cause for concern. My 97 has done it for years. I think you can find a better deal, consider the TS too as they'll be cheaper and are 95% the same car, yet more aesthetically pleasing IMO. My two pennies. Steve

Nipper: In searching for that I came across some forums that talked about the real world gas mileage, you may want to check into that as I saw a lot of people stating mid to high 20's rather than the high 30's claimed by Ford. But, as they say, your mileage may vary. That being said, I had an Escape as a rental and liked it better than I expected to. Drove it on some back roads in northern WI and the UP of MI and in some bad rain but not really anything that could have tested the traction. Mileage was not too good (it wasn't the hybrid of course) and handling was decent for what kind of vehicle it was, but... it was no Subaru. My $.02. Steve

Per this link: http://www.gulfcoastnews.com/RT2005FordEscapeHybrid.htm That was the only info I found on it, maybe someone else here has more. Steve

We were snowshoeing up one of the local canyons, and it was snowing *hard* and accumulating. Coming back down, the trail overlooks the parking area and I watched a guy in a Volvo XC90 (the bigger SUV thingy) trying to get out of where he was parked, he barely made it after a lot of spinning and slipping around. I started to worry if we'd get stuck. We got back to our car (snow was about a foot deep) and we backed right out with no problems. Steve