K9Leader

I have a rust problem on my '03 Baja in the driver side rear door well: The other side appears to be okay and the problem has not shown up on my '00 Outback. My body shop guy had never seen this before, but a Google search indicates it is not an uncommon problem. Seems that welds/seams are not quite right, which allows the dread water in. Only fix I have seen is to cut out the affected area and weld in a section scavenged from another Baja/Legacy/Outback. However, I'm not sure this will permanently resolve the problem. Anyone with first-hand experience with this issue and its resolution? K9Leader Newark, Delaware

The whole process whereby insurance companies determine whether to total a vehicle perplexes me. My 2000 OBS Ltd. has been fixed by the insurance company twice when I was sure it would be totaled. In 2011, my son rear-ended someone and trashed the whole front end - $4800 in repairs and they didn't total it. Unfortunately, I live in Delaware and he was in Virginia at the time and the shop in Virginia that did the repairs did a great job on the body repairs but a lousy job on the mechanicals - I had to redo the radiator and other underhood components only a few months later. Then in August 2012, a tree fell on the cargo area - right front quarter, tailgate,bumper, etc. Again, big repair - $4,000+ but they didn't total it. Ah, well, it has had most of the body panels replaced/repaired & repainted between the two incidents. Looks like new . . . until you see the cracks in the driver's seat cushion and the coating of dog hair in the cargo area. I agree on minimal repair and bank the extra cash. Good luck!

I have a 2000 OBW Ltd., automatic (with the 2.5L H-4). I have had it 15 months since March '03 and have put 17,000 miles on it. My overall fuel mileage during that time is 19.8 MPG, mostly suburban driving, some highway/long trips. The best it has done was on a long trip, all interstate, was 26 MPG. Around town it is in the 18 - 19 range. Somewhat disappointing but not surprising when you consider: -It is a relatively heavy car for its external size -- 3600 lbs. (due to lots of features, heavy duty components as part of AWD/offroad function) -Automatic tranny -Laws of Economics (relatively low gas prices in U.S. compared to rest of world and U.S. public demand for big, heavy, feature-laden vehicles with fuel economy being of minimal concern, and regulatory climate of diminishing federal pressure on automakers to improve overall MPG) resulting in automakers not making fuel efficiency a priority in R&D But it is better than the Explorers, Durangos, and Trailblazers that all my neighbors and coworkers are driving. And it does pretty much all the same things and holds all the same passengers and cargo, but is safer in addition to being more fuel efficient. Life is a series of compromises. --K9Leader, Newark DE

I tried the search function but am having trouble finding that thread. Can you provide a little more information? What is the full name of the product (303)? Thanks! K9Leader Update: Okay, I googled a little and found the web site: http://www.303products.com/main.php?infopage=protectant

The problem is that a large percentage of the population fails to make this choice even when it is necessary. Whenever I am out in darkened, overcast, rainy conditions, I see many, many vehicles without lights on. Correction, I don't see them, and that is the problem. These people failed to make the choice to turn on their lights when it was necessary for safety. And their failure to make this choice directly threatens my safety and the safety of my children. They may have the right to make dumb decisions that threaten their own lives and safety, but they don't have the right to make dumb decisions that threaten my safety and my children's safety. --K9Leader

There are a few thousand (tens of thousands?) of Ford Windstar (mostly 1995) owners who would beg to differ. --K9Leader, who knew enough not to own a 1995 Ford Windstar

You need to elaborate -- what did you plug in that blew a fuse? Was it cell phone power cord/charger? A mini-vac? An air pump? Which outlet are you talking about -- the one on the dashboard (which should be able to handle more than a cigarette lighter) or the one in the cargo area (which is definitely intended for things other than a cigarette lighter)? I find it hard to believe that the usual suspects (cell phone charger, inverter w/laptop, etc.) would blow a fuse when a regular cigarette lighter would not -- cig lighter's take a lot of juice to get heated up. I have my cell phone power cord/charger plugged in all the time to the dashboard (don't think I've ever used the one in the back). --K9Leader, 2000 OBW Ltd., 46K miles

Yes, GM owns all or part of Subaru, Suzuki, Isuzu, Fiat, Opel, Saab, and several other "foreign" makes. Ford owns Mazda, Jaguar, and others. Chrysler is owned by Daimler-Chrysler, which means it is owned by Mercedes. The whole domestic vs. foreign thing is gone, is never coming back, and we need to stop thinking in the limiting "foreign vs. domestic" terms. My 2000 OBW was built in Lafayette, Indiana, by people named, Becky, Mark, and Jose. It was sold to its first owner by a car dealer in West Chester, Pennsylvania, by a salesman named Howard assisted by Lissa from finance, and I have it serviced in Delaware by guys named Ed, Tim, and Anthony. Same for my wife's Toyota Sienna (substitute Georgetown, Kentucky, for Lafayette, Indiana). And if these vehicles were not satisfactory to me, I have no problem buying something made elsewhere -- Mexico, Japan, Korea, England, Germany, wherever. That's economics and the whole "foreign vs. domestic" argument ignores the realities of economics. --K9Leader

DMc-DE: I would rather repeatedly jab very sharp, red-hot, foot-long needles in my eyes than have anything to do with the incompetent liars and thieves at Matt Slap. They got three strikes before I declared them out -- sales was terrible, service was terrible, parts was terrible. Incompetent and dishonest -- the daily double! It is a shame, as that dealer is the closest to my home (I'm in North Star). I have had much better luck with Castle Subaru in New Castle -- further from home (but it is close to my office), and seem to have some level of competence and integrity. If/when I get to the point of painting the bumper, I will check out a few body shops. Since moving to Delaware in 1996, I have only needed a shop once (for a fender on an Acura Integra), and used one on Newport-Gap Pike, sort of across from Delcastle HS (can't remember the name of the shop, although I drive past it regularly!). The work was good, so I will check them out as one possibility. --K9Leader

MJB: Is the "240Z" part of your name a reference to a certain legendary Japanese sports car? I had a 1975 280Z -- wonderful car, but I sold it in 1987 when my first child was on the way (no room for the car seat). Plus it needed a new transmission, new rear end, and the driver's side floor pan was just a memory. --K9Leader

I am the second owner of my OB. It's a 2000 that I bought in March 2003 with 32K on it. I did report the ownership change to Subaru and registered on My.Subaru.com. The 3 year/36K miles b2b warranty was up but the 5 year/60K powertrain is still in effect. If you contact Subaru of America customer service (1-800-Subaru3) and report the HG issue, they should cover you for the 8 year/100K extended coverage. Good luck! --K9Leader

MJB240Z: Let's say that the Bars Stop Leak is essentially the same as the coolant conditioner being used by Subaru, does the same job, works equally well, has the same effects (whether beneficial or detrimental), etc. Bars, though, does not extend the warranty for the head gaskets to 8 years/100K miles. Using the Subaru coolant conditioner does. You indicated when you first posted several months ago that you were at 65K, so you probably still have 20 - 25K before you hit the 100K point. A flush and refill with the Subaru stuff added in would be worth it to extend the coverage. Just my $.02. --K9Leader

This is a reprise and update of my posting on another thread soon after my 2000 OBW with 44K miles had the HG leak dealt with via the conditioner. Mine was done just a few days before word of this as an official SOA procedure was out. If this really does fix the problem and does no damage to other components, then I have no problem: --Offering to extend the warranty to 8 years/100K miles does show good faith on Subaru's part and indicates a high level of confidence that it will work. In my case, that gives me another 4 years/55K miles. --Every $600-800 head gasket repair under warranty will show itself in the higher sticker price of the next Subaru I buy. I'm not out to screw Subaru just because it's a big, bad corporation. Besides, through my various mutual funds, I probably have some sort of ownership shares in Fuji/Subaru and/or GM (which owns, what?, 40% of Subaru). --The head gasket replacement is a major job, and who knows what else could be screwed up, continuing the problem or creating new ones. Yes, I know all mechanics should be competent and do the job perfectly every time. But this is the real world. Just as major surgery is the last resort to other less invasive treatments . . . --I had the car back in a day instead of in three or four or however long it would have taken to get the parts in and do the job. My initial reservations were that, when it was explained to me, the service manager didn't tell me that this was an official Subaru thing and that I would get a letter officially extending the warranty. It sounded like it was a deal that he and the district rep were offering just to me and in just this one instance. Even though I got it in writing on the receipt, I was a little concerned that if there were a problem down the road no other Subaru dealership would honor it or, even, that this dealership would renege on the basis of "it's not in our records" and/or "he didn't have the authority" and/or "he hasn't worked here in X years and we don't honor anything he promised anymore." If it is an official Subaru of America policy/program, I am confident that is unlikely to happen. I am willing to give it a try. It has been several weeks now, and things seem okay -- no odor, no smoking, no visible leaking. Yes, I know, if something bad is going to result from this, it will be down the road a ways. Back when I took it in to the dealer and the initial take was that they would replace the gaskets, I posted my concerns on another site (as well as on this one) and an SOA customer service supervisor who frequents that other board responded. She e-mailed me with a case number and the name and number of one of her reps who would work with me. The rep called me and the dealership service manager, and kept in touch during the entire process. In addition to explaining the coolant conditioner fix and the extended warranty, after it was done, she offered that SOA would pay for my next major servicing. So, when I have the 60K servicing done, SOA will reimburse me. At this point, I am satisfied. Subaru acted in good faith. However, I do understand everyone's concerns, but having been through it, my concerns are alleviated. And, I am usually one who sees the glass as half empty. Well, actually, I don't see it as half-full nor do I see it as half-empty; I just see a dirty glass one of my kids left lying around that I now have to clean up. --K9Leader

The paint on the front bumper of my 2000 OBW Ltd. has started peeling over the past few months. It is doing it in several places, particularly along the indented line along the upper half, but in other places as well. The flakes that are coming off are the metallic titanium. Underneath is paint that is almost the same color, but not quite, and seems to have a "grainier" metallic flake to it. Does anyone know if that "grainier" paint is some sort of underlayer, perhaps a paint layer between primer and the titanium color layer? Or, perhaps, it is the primer? If the flakes are just the clearcoat flaking off, would the flakes look like I have described or would they actually be clear? I bought this car in March 2003 from the original owner -- the paperwork and a Carfax confirm that he was the only owner. But is it possible this is a replacement bumper (or the original that was repainted) and the new paint is now flaking off? He didn't tell me anything like that was done, and did not mention any accidents, and Carfax would not note any accidents that did not result in a title change (i.e., car was totalled by insurance). And, no other parts of the car show even the slightest indication of any accident, although it is possible something happened just to the front bumper. The rest of the car is in excellent condition. There are some chips in the rear bumper, but those are chips due to getting nicked or hit (teenage son and his Scout buddies loading and unloading gear into or out of the car) or along the edge of the unpainted black ribbed section, and not the same type of flaking as on the front. If the front bumper flaking continues, it will soon look pretty bad and will need repainting or replacement. But the entire layer of flaking paint would have to come off or be taken off or else repainting would not work. As for replacement, do the replacement bumper covers come already painted? Unlikely, but since all OBs have the titanium painted bumpers (before going to the monochrome look this year), I thought they might come painted. I suspect that this is a replacement bumper pulled off of an Outback where the titanium paint was slightly different (a 2001/2/3?) and that the previous/original owner had it repainted to match. I could contact him, and maybe he would level with me (even though it appears he may not have when I was buying it). Any ideas or words of wisdom? K9Leader

I take it this particular Legacy has the time-machine option and you have traveled to 2006 . . .? Ok, ok, how about this: I did a 36-hour charity dance marathon once. I thought 36 hours was tough, so I can imagine how tough it was to do 14 years in the driver's seat. At least we got 10-minute potty breaks every other hour. Sorry. I just had to. --K9Leader