swc7916

The warantee is 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. It looks to me like the car is still under warantee. Take it to a dealer.

I don't consider it to be such a big problem. You remove the three fasteners at the front and slide the door out. Now the one on my 2005 WRX is a REAL pain in the butt - it doesn't have a door, so the whole cover has to be removed.

A Dodge Magnum for a grocer-getter? You've got to be kidding. Besides, the resale value of most American cars takes a nose-dive after the warrantee expires.

I pretty much concur with this analysis. I think that our Baja rides and handles better than our Outbacks - I like the stiffer suspension. If you need to carry more than two people and have luggage, the station wagon is better. Since the Baja has such a short roof, the usefulness of the roof racks is limited.

The headgasket in my 2001 went at 47,000 miles. Anyway, if you like itand the price is right, buy it and don't worry about the headgasket issues.

I said that I got 70k from a set of MICHELINS. Right now I have 25k on the Potenzas on my 2004 Outback and they have plenty of life left.

Of course he is; the insurance company was only going to give him $3500 for it.

I have driven both a 2005 Outback and a 2005 Legacy wagon and thought that the Outback was noisier. I think that it may have been because of the carrier that was on the roof. Anyway, I liked the Legacy wagon better. We had 2005 Impreza Outback and now have a 2005 WRX wagon (the Impreza Outback was totalled with only 3,000 miles on it) and the WRX is a much quieter car. It's mostly because the engine is smoother.

I'm of the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" mentality. Replace them when they wear out. I got 70k miles out of the Michelins on my 1996 Outback and expect to get about the same with the Potenzas. Sure, they may not be the best tires out there, but the Potenzas seem OK to me and I have never had reason to complain about traction or tread life.

If the car has gone 136k miles without headgasket problems I would expect that it probably won't. If it has already been done, you're good to go. When the headgasket on my 2001 went (at about 47k miles) the only indication that I had was the smell of coolant when I sat at a stopsign. So, if you ever smell coolant, get it checked right away. I agree about the timing belt. It should have been replaced at 105,000 miles and if it hasn't, it's overdue and should be replaced right away.

A stolen blue Subaru that appeared on television last week as its driver led police on a chase around the Eastside is now for sale on eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4581483986&fromMakeTrack=true

All of my Legacys have been automatics and I have had no problems with them; I have had more problems with clutches than I have had with automatics. The only automatic that failed on me was in a 1990 Chevy Astro van. I you want one with an automatic, buy one; don't worry about these warnings.

Having had 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003 (Baja), and 2004 models, I would recommend a 2003 or newer. The 2000-2004 models ride better than the 1995-1999 models. The 2003 and up have some features (heated mirrors, hidden antenna, etc.) that the 2000-2002's don't have. That having been said, our 2002 is the best Outback that we have owned.

I towed a 5X8 U-Haul covered trailer filled with furniture between Seattle and San Fransisco - a distance of about 800 miles - behind a 2003 Baja and had no problems. Of course there were times in the mountains where we couldn't maintain the speed limit and rough roads are doubly bad when pulling a trailer.

I had one of these cars that I purchased new and owned until it was totalled out last year. I didn't have keyless entry, so I can't address problem 1. Problem 2 is a non-problem; mine always shifted abrupty on the shift from first to second gear. This was a strong transmission that I preferred to the automatic in my newer cars. Frankly, I prefer a hard-shifting automatic to a soft-shifting one.

In the past wax was all we had. Now newer polishes such as Zainos are easier to apply, last longer, and have UV inhibitors that plain wax doesn't have. I've never gotten the results with wax that I have gotten with Zainos. Not knowing what Simoniz System 5 is, I wouldn't know how good it is; but considering that it's Simoniz, it's probably crap. To say that carnuba wax is the best paint preservation product available is just pure nonsense (IMHO).

I can't agree more, Zaino is an amazing product; forget Meguiar's or any wax-based polish.

Extended warantees are big moneymakers for dealer, that's why they push them so hard. I've never bought one.

It may not be necessary, but I change my oil and filter every 3k because my cars cost me a lot of money and additional cost of frequent oil changes is pretty cheap insurance. I figure that all oils are good and if I'm going to run it for only 3k miles and then throw it away, why not just get whatever's on sale?

Take it to the dealer. They fixed mine at no cost to me and the car was out of warantee (2001 Outback).

Head gasket. It happened to me.

Ok, he didn't get fired; he got an e-mail that said "Effective immediately, The San Francisco Chronicle will no longer be using your automotive columns." I understand and agree, but I do love this statement: "And then there’s the small matter of the rump, where some Suba-guru epoxied a park bench to the decklid".

The dealer replaced the head gaskets on my 2001 Outback at 47k miles at no cost to me.

I think that's what got him fired.

Auto reviewer Robert Farago was fired by the San Francisco Chronicle for this review of the Subaru Tribeca: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/content/11236156021648489006/index.php He also has a review of the WRX STI here: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/content/11229894261642707008/index.php