jeanie26

You bring up an interesting point... When I brought the car in last fall for what I thought was a CV boot problem, I was told that the noise I was hearing was due to the u-joints. The mechanic suggested waiting it out until the noise was unbearable. The car never really had a vibration and it still hasn't developed one. I would have expected the car to get much worse sound-wise over the winter due to the extreme cold but it hasn't. I have gotten some leads for a reasonably priced u-joint in town and I will be getting a second opinion before I commit to fixing it.

You all have been very helpful... I do smell oil and that makes me nervous to not fix the gasket that is dripping oil. I am a graduate student at the university so I don't really have the funds to get a brand new car and reliable used cars are hard to come by. I think that I might just go head with some of the repairs because I tend to trust the mechanic that has been working on my car for the past couple of years. What I am really concerned with is the suggestion that I will need to replace the driveshaft. I wasn't certain what exactly needed to be fixed, but as Gossgary pointed out, it was in fact a worn u-joint that needs to be replaced. Is this something that occasionally happens? Or is this very rare? A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a rattle sound that I first thought was the CV joint. But, the CV joint (not the boot) was ok and the mechanic diagnosed that the u-joint was bad. Apparently, he doesn't know of anyone in town that he would be able to purchase a used u-joint alone so the entire driveshaft would need to be purchased and that Subaru only sells parts for the entire driveshaft. Does this sound correct? Is it possible to purchase and replace only the bad u-joints or does the entire driveshaft need to be replaced?

The quote is from an independent shop. Before I was familiar with the town, I went to the dealership and was told I needed a number of things done. This shop was my second opinion shop and I have had nothing but good experience with them.

I am looking for some advice in regards to my situation... I have a 1997 Subaru Legacy/Outback wagon. It has 155K miles and the body is in good shape. The problem is that during a routine oil change, I was told that I needed ~$1700 worth of work done. This includes replacing the drive shaft, CV boot, and various gasket seals. It has been a great car so far... but I keep thinking that maybe I should try to trade it in for a new Subaru. I had a 30,000 mile tune-up at the dealership ~18 months ago and I undergo routine oil changes and miner repairs - including a knock sensor replacement. Has anyone been in this situation before? What did you decide to do? I can't do any of the work on my own. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska so the labor and parts might be a little bit more expensive than in the lower 48. Thank you in advance for any suggestions or words of experience.