98legacywv Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 I decided to sell my subaru.. I had a family interested in buying it.. This car has had the head gasket problems (2.5gt) and oil leaks. I have had them all fixed for a lot of $.... Now the only problems i was aware of (which i described to the couple looking at it, because I am an honest person..) were the rear left tailight gasket is letting water into the trunk.. and the clutch slave cylinder is making a ticking sound ( mechanic says its a little worn but fine.).. So the family decides the car looks excellent and runs excellent.. They ask to take it to their personal mechanic... I of course let them drive my car to their mechanic.. they bring the car back a day later.. not good news.. They told me the mechanic says it has some engine seal problems.. and the exhaust will need to be replaced.. yes exhausts need replaced eventually.. So I call up the mechanic and ask him what he found.. He tells me the catalytic converter is bad.. the exhaust is going to need replaced in a year or two.. THEN the good news.. the shop that did my headgasket work did a good job but somehow screwed up the lower section of the timing chain seal or something like that.. he said there is a 1/4 inch gap there and the bolt is cross threaded.. THEN the really good news... (this guy worked as a subaru mechanic for four years..) The "piston slap" that im hearing is worse than it should be.. He says its a wrist pin on the piston.. and that I have about 10-15k before i start having major problems... He is not a big fan of subaru.. his suggestion was to trade it in.. any other suggestions.. I have 3 months of a guardian warranty left on the car.. is it worth it to get this worked on.. it seams that it never ends with this car.. I have never regreted buying a car so much.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 on the engine noise. If there is a gap in the timing belt cover area it may not hurt anything. All old cars need an exhaust eventually, but you may not need it now. I had two Mercedes mechanics tell me my engine needed a rebuild and when I tore it down the only thing I needed at that point was a cam and a couple of followers. Unless this was diagnosed by God I might prefer to check somewhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swi66 Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 Nowadays any mechanic will not earn his days pay unless he sells repairs. A lot of them unnescessary. Recently used a gift certificate for a "free" oil and filter change. This was on a 2000 Jeep, with 50,000 miles. They triede to sell me a $112 motor flush, A $99 transmission drain and flush. $49 injector cleaner treatment, $77 new battery because mine tested slightly weak, also a power steering system drain and flush, as well as drain and change transfer case fluids, and differential fluids. Now normally I do all my own stuff, but hey, a free oil change, and it was pretty cold outside. Needless to say all I got was the "free" oil change..........but this guy was trying hard and I wonder what a naive person would have done........... swi66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rigfennid Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 hey swi66 - i can do you one better - i took my 86 Accord in for an oil change, and they swore to me that because of my mileage (and I admitted to never having had it done before) that I was in serious need of a fuel injection system cleaning for $120 (i think) one problem - that car had carburetors.... finding a good mechanic you can trust is incredibly hard, so using multiples is about the next best thing i'd say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNawd Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 That's all pretty funny, Well not funny for you 98leg. I just brought my 00OBW in for a "free oil change" at the dealership i bought it at. I couldn't make it back by the time they closed so i didn't get a chance to talk with them yet but on the invoice it said under the "recomendations" area: Head gasket has bad leak, and front seal needs replacement. What a joke. I bought this car 7 months ago from this dealer. Ive put 11K miles on it and they are now telling me that i need a complete head gasket and front seal! I just had it in 6K ago for the 90K maintenance at a different garage and he said every thing looked great on the car, including the gaskets! I don't trust the dealerships. Unless they can take me under my car and show me exactly what they are trying to sell me on, im not buying it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meeky Moose Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 what ya tryin to sell it for? personally i would find another mechanic.. he doesn't sound too good.. as a service writer, if the customer ever had any doubt about what i was saying, i'd bring them back in the shop and show them thier problems.. dones this with many subaru head gasket jobs.. the customer sees the leak, the customer 9 times out of 10 fixes the leak. btw wrist pins can slap for over 100k.. my yota did and its still running.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted May 16, 2005 Author Share Posted May 16, 2005 I took the car to other mechanic that I have met and talked to several times about the issues of this car.. neither mechanic that has looked at the car tried to sell me anything.. both told me to look into getting rid of it.. they both told me that they didnt know how bad it was but that the issue was there.. The second mechanic did not hear the problem at first but as the car became heat soaked he could hear it and got out his stethascope and i could hear it too.. I have a personal loan on this car for way more than the trade in value of this car.. I have a 2 1/2 month gaurdian warranty left on this car.. I could get the motor replaced for about 1,000$ with the warranty or the warranty is transferable for 100$ i would have to get atleast 6500 out of the car.. email me at stultus@hotmail.com for questions.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT95 Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Slam that baby in neutral, floor it, and blow that motor, then collect on the warranty replacement. Okay, maybe that's not a good idea. Sorry to hear about your woes with the car. A troublesome car(especially one you owe money on) is one of life's great frustrations. Witha debt greater than trade-in value, there may be no easy way out of this. Is the car a looker? If it is clean and sharp, you may want to find a car that is a little older or a little less valuable than this one (but a more reliable drivetrain) on a used lot and see if they will swap you. If it's a not-as-popular model car as your Sube, most lots would be happy to deal with you. You're still stuck with a payment, but at least you're paying on a car that works. Or, foot the $1,000 and get the engine replaced (would they do a 2.2 swap for ya?) and then sell the car to get what you can of your money back. If they'll do a 2.2 swap for you, keep that baby and drive forever... Either way, you'll probably wind up on the losing side of the dollar. Sorry about your bad luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted May 18, 2005 Author Share Posted May 18, 2005 Im trying to work a deal with the place that did the original headgasket work for me.. to have the engine and tranny fixed ( it now pops out of first gear) under warranty then trade the car in.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.