Hey all, I'm here in Bellingham, Wa with my 1999 Legacy Outback. She only has 125,000 miles on it but it means that it is about that time to have the head gaskets replaced. I noticed my car was losing 15-20% efficiency in fuel burned so I brought it to the shop that my father brings his (non-soob) car to.

The mechanic there diagnosed the problem as being a head gasket issue and quoted the job at $3,000. He also advised against moving forward with the work because it might reveal that something more serious could have resulted in my head gaskets being bad. After digging around though I have become unsure of his advice as my car has not had any overheating issues, which I've been told is a tell-tale sign of bad heads. I've also been told that $3,000 for a h/g replacement is ridiculous.

So what I'm looking from you is some advice on how I should move forward and if any of you know of a trustworthy, honest mechanic/shop here in my neck of the woods?

There are so many "specialty Subaru shops"... They do head gaskets regularly (as well as other services). Trust someone that deals exclusively (or at least mainly) with Subarus. By the way, my 1999 Outback has nearly 200,000 miles... no headgaskets replaced.

Look in the Meet and Greet for a Subaru Shop in your area.

 

Use a Subaru Shop that has a good rep!

What that shop might be trying to tell you is that the repair is "too risky" in their eyes to take on, or that they can't justify putting a tech on it unless they make good money on it and won't get it back.  I have done this same job with a proper MLS head machine, T/B, W/P,  idlers, T/Stat, Tune up, etc for about $1800 or so on a phase 2.  I'm not sure what a phase 1 2.5 goes for off of the top of my head, but I agree. You can probably do much better price wise. 

 

With the last few that I have had in for clutches or head gaskets I find it easier working by myself to pull the engine and do it all at once.

Edited October 15, 201411 yr by Crazyeights