creep_nu

As for the justification for a beater (or another car to reduce miles), my decision would depends on what your plans are for the Legacy.

 

 

 

 

I’ll be curious to see if the head gasket issues die with the EJ series. After sixteen years and two Outbacks a friend abandoned the Subaru brand two years ago after her second OB needed head gaskets and wheel bearings. Her first one also had HG issues. She switched to a BMW X3....I suspect she’ll be back.

 

 

since owning it my commute has been about 7 miles each way, until 9 months ago where it changed to about 4, next month it's going to be jumping up to 30 miles each way, and that's just too many miles to put on the car considering gas costs and fuel mileage, so the beater idea really is swirling around in my head. I'd keep the leggy for long cruises(which i do with relative frequency) and fun driving etc. it needs more work(new suspension mainly) than just the HGs, so it'd be nice to be able to work on that stuff too without having to rush through everything...so in my mind it makes a bit of sense to explore the beater route.

 

i bought the 2nd car knowing it needed head gaskets, it was a 2001 outback(5 speed, so good) that i got for $300 with 190k miles, so that one i went in to knowing what the problems were, but from what I had read the turbo engines were pretty stout as far as the gaskets went, so I wasn't fully planning on doing them...left a pretty sour taste at the moment. i still owe a couple grand on the car too, which is what's *really* annoying me the most at the moment...dunno...lots of stuff to think about.

If the miles aren’t too crazy, I highly recommend you call or email Subaru and ask for goodwill assistance. However that would limit you to getting it fixed at a dealer.

 

yeah, thought about that, but it's just a tick over 150k miles...if it were under a hundred then i could see that being possible, but 150k is...high.

 

got a couple quotes around 3200 from some subaru specialists which i think is high but fair. i also think i could buy a beater car for 2k, parts for 1k or less, do the work myself, and come out with a beater car at the end of the day so i can keep some miles off the leggy.

 

decisions decisions.....

 

and i hate to say it, but this is probably going to be my last subaru. I've had 3, all 3 have needed head gaskets. The price of admission just isn't worth it to keep these cars anymore...

got some quotes on getting my head gaskets done....ugh

just rolled over 150k miles!! so that's fun. changed the oil(as well as the oil in my parents 3 cars and my brother's car because somehow we all needed oil changes at the same time...) and did a full brake job on my parents acura. hooray for a long day. i used the RX-8 2009+ oil filter for a bit extra oil capacity(looks to be about double the size of the OEM filter), but it hangs so low and close to the exhaust manifold that i'm unsure if i'll be using it again...we'll see.

Chevy SS, but badge un-engineered to look like it's Aussie counterpart, the Holden Commodore.

 

Come to think of it, I saw a red SS with Holden badges on the road near me a couple years ago- took me a second to figure out what I was looking at.

 

the holden badges were actually a dealer option

Today I changed my car’s map lights out for LEDs, later i’m changing the dome too. I’m also thinking about adding LEDs to the interior trunk lights and the light under the driver’s door.

 

Definitely worthwhile to do all of them, especially if you bought one of those kits that has all of em in there. It's one of those simple upgrades that makes a big difference. I keep halfheartedly thinking about a way to wire up a 2nd light in to the trunk so I can actually see what's in there too...

i can't say anything about it being tough to get out, *but* that blue stuff they put on there is common from oil change places--it's evidence that the drain plug was put back on and tightened.

do you ever just look at your car and think "god damn you're gorgeous"?

 

i work in a quarry, so it gets uh...dirty...quite quickly. i just washed and half ass waxed it this afternoon, and now it's just sitting in front of the house. I keep looking at it and just absolutely love how these cars look. it's not the boldest styling, but it's got a great profile, the lines are just wonderful on it, and the whole package just looks great, even bone stock. maybe it's because a friend is trading in his car and i'm just thinking back to when i bought it and how much i loved this car, but jeez i love this car.

MCM getting on the safari train

sway bar end links. getting a bit of clunk out of them...being delivered from amazon today(moog parts...) and putting them on this evening. fun times.

I was disappointed by the 2013 CTS-V manual that I test drove. Keep in mind that the redesign was in 2008, so the tech is over 10 years old, and it's pretty small inside. Plus the non Recaro seats suck, the moonroof sunshade is translucent, and even with only 13k on it, the one I drove was full of creaks and rattles. All this for $43k!

 

yeah, typical GM. the one i got to drive was chintzy, just like any c6 or older corvette, you're just paying for the engine and drive. i'd still take an ATS-V sedan all things said if i had to stick with caddy, but damn do i love a hot wagon

There's a cts-v wagon here on recent trade in. I'll know details on it once it goes through detailing. Highly considering it

 

do it do it do it do it. i'm assuming it's not a unicorn and manual too, but even still how can you go wrong with a 550hp wagon?

I'm surprised you could find one in stock at all. I only found a couple parts in stock for my entire build... the cam seals and exhaust camshaft sprocket, everything else had at least a two day lead time on it.

 

Yeah, everywhere was saying 2-3 days lead time, but this one auto zone(uuuugh) had one. Was talking to the guy there, whose STI was parked out front, and he said that he makes sure to stock all of the Subaru parts he can even if they're, lets just say, slow sellers. Apparently the starter is the same as the 2.5i manuals, which are also not exactly common, so that at least made my life a bit easier. aside from suspension bits and regular maintenance stuff that's the same as the rest of the legacy lineup, everything is always custom order--even from the dealer around here. hooray!

okay, so maybe it was saturday and not today, but replaced my starter. after a 30 mile tow home, an hour calling all of the stores in the area to find the *only* starter in the entire metropolitan area for my car, and an hour round trip to pick it up, the removal and install took an hour. super easy to do, just gotta rip the intercooler off first which is always fun.

I'm sure it depends on your dealer, but when they replaced my airbag they actually *fixed* a rattle i had in my dash.

kicking myself for not ponying up for one of them. friggin priorities...

getting ready to order a wrx rear sway bar, picking up some '13 springs to go over some new struts eventually and some mevotech lower control arms to get some uprated bushings up front. get the tired suspension out of the way and get the car driving like i want it to.

 

now i just need a place that isn't a city street to install this stuff...

darn cheap--2010 with ~150k, $7,500. Ohio so it's probably rusty underneath, but cheap.

 

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePageModel&newSearchFromOverviewPage=true&inventorySearchWidgetType=AUTO&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d378&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=&zip=23220&distance=500&searchChanged=true&transmission=M&modelChanged=false&filtersModified=true#listing=199383758

yeah those trucks were insane. I'm not a truck guy in the slightest, but god i'd rock the crap out of one of those beasts in a second.

I've had friends have issues with aftermarket serpentine belts on the 2.5, they tend to squeal since they're just a short and curly too long. Going OEM always fixes the problem, so I'd recommend just hitting the dealership or grabbing an OE one online. Just my experience...

you're right scuba, the sonoma gt was the 2wd version, though considerably toned down since it wasn't turbo'd

nothing fun, just an oil change and tire rotation and overall inspection. everything's in good nick, but i'm starting to see some weeping from the oil pan. i'll be damned if i'm changing that at this point, using less than a quart of oil per 3750//oil change so not a huge deal.

 

need to do a brake fluid flush, but i hate doing that...inspection's up in November, might just have the shop do that while they're doing the inspection...closing in on 30k miles since i bought her, time sure does fly.

I think you are on your way to starting your own YouTube channel along the lines of Hoovies Garage.

 

oh hoovie..he's getting jay leno status here, except with sh*t boxes...and a rolls...

if you're going to do that why not find an outback tank that's got 2 pump, you can run one for the intercooler and one for regular

god those are still such good looking wagons. need to get one in my life...