RE: All wheel drive question

[Treacherous]

If going Subaru you might want to go with '15 or later. These reported ring issues and oil consumption lawsuits would make me nervous if you planned to keep the car long term. I have no idea how well the (high compression 13:1 on regular unleaded) Mazda SkyActiv motors are going to be over 100K miles. My fingers are crossed for no oil consumption but time will tell.

 

[Ashful]

If we didn't need the room, there would be a Forester in the garage.

He really doesn't look like he'd take up that much space...

 

[firefighterjake]

New update . . .

Sold the 2003 Subaru Legacy Outback in record time. I mean within the first half hour I had several offers . . . all unseen . . . and none of those crazy "will you trade my 1976 mobile home for it" type of offers. First guy up offered the full amount in cash.

He stopped by last night . . . literally took 5 minutes looking at the engine and frame . . . and said he would take it for the full amount. Thinking I could have got a bit more, but then again I might have had to deal with the whack jobs as well . . . in the end . . . I was happy with the price and he was happy . . . so all is good.

Test drove a 2015 Legacy and my wife (and I) liked it . . . CVT was nice . . . pick up was decent . . . much more comfortable a ride (plus vs. the buckboard ride) from the old to new Legacy . . . quieter as well. Soliciting bids today . . . financing is already in place . . . may be coming home today with a new ride for my wife.

 

[Swedishchef]

Congratulations Jake! You'll enjoy the new Legacy, they are nice machines. Like you said, the CVT is nice, it's quiet and a smooth ride. Did you get one with Eyesight? If so, let me know how it works. I am not a fan of a vehicle driving itself but more and more companies are installing safety features to "help" drivers.

Subaru is the fastest growing car company in the Western world (% sales). They sold more Legacy models in August than Mazda sold Mazda 6s. They have 33 consecutive months of year-over-year growth. Heck, 5 years ago they had 200 000 sales in the US and this year they are forecasting 500 000 which will be more than VW USA. It's a growing company, can't be all that bad.

Andrew

 

[NE WOOD BURNER]

Test drove a 2015 Legacy and my wife (and I) liked it . . . CVT was nice

I would steer clear of a CVT-IMHO
extended warranty coverage would be advisable also.
"Fluid film" under coating and it won't rot out so fast.
negotiate extra set of steel wheels and snow tires. if you can't get them cheap enough call tirerack and put the price on the financing. save a ton not switching tires every year.

 

[firefighterjake]

It's a done deal . . . did a whole lot of e-mailing and calling yesterday afternoon and around 5 p.m. I came up with a very good deal . . . that actually got a bit better.

Had one dealer willing to go to 3.3% below invoice . . . then another dealer matched the price and then had to call back to say the color combination we liked had been sold . . . called back 10 minutes later to offer 4.5% below invoice (a little over $1,000 off invoice). Gave the first dealer a chance to match it, but it didn't happen.

Test drove the other Legacy . . . liked it enough so my wife came up and we did the paperwork. I had pre-approval for 2.39% financing for 60 months (Subaru had 1.9% for up to 48 months but I like having a little more of a lower monthly payment in case another vehicle craps out). Got to financing and they offered up 1.84% for 60 months.

While going through the process we also faced another dilemna . . . the Legacy my wife liked . . . became available when the customer who was trying to lease it left after getting in a huff over the price. My wife who is usually very decisive hemmed and hawed . . . in the end she chose the silver colored Legacy with the better discount over the black car . . . also because she figured it will show the dirt more.

We did end up with an extended warranty purchase . . . something I rarely if ever do . . . it was through Subaru and the price was right -- about $900 . . . figured we would try it out this one time . . . new model year and a lot of newer tech . . . really buying peace of mind here for 8 years.

No EyeSight . . . although that tech is pretty interesting . . . just a little too expensive for my tastes still. I'm not too worried about the CVT -- Subaru has been using CVT for some time now on and off . . . and I found it to be quite smooth. A lot of folks much smarter than me have also commented on how this CVT is quite refined (of course time may tell.)

Model didn't have a lot of extra options, but truthfully it already came with quite a bit and there were only a few options that really interested my wife. Came with fog lights and a rear bumper applique, but they agreed to put on a remote car starter which my wife really wanted. Only other thing that interested her a bit was the body side molding.

We will most likely get some snow tires . . . last time around I bought a set of used alloy rims . . . this time around I may go with a local company that sells the tires quite cheaply and offers free mounting/dismounting of the tires. Only other planned addition is a set of all season floor mats.

 

[NE WOOD BURNER]

A lot of folks much smarter than me have also commented on how this CVT is quite refined (of course time may tell.)

Good luck with this. send some feed back in a few years.

My snowmobile has a CVT-LOL

 

[NE WOOD BURNER]

FYI-http://www.planetsubaru.com/lineartronic-continuously-variable-transmission.htm

 

[Ashful]

Great deal, Jake!

 

[Retired Guy]

Congrats Jake.

 

[Swedishchef]

Congrats buddy! You are happy and that is what counts.

Andrew

 

[firefighterjake]

It's alive . . . although I'm not really sure how old a thread has to be to qualify as a "zombie thread."

Thought I would give a couple of updates.

First off . . . wow . . . love my wife's Legacy. I realize there is a huge difference between a 2003 and 2015 model of a vehicle, but this is really a night and day difference. I think perhaps the best thing I can say about her new car is that I often forget it's AWD. What I mean to say is that her old car was slow, felt heavy and did not get the best gas mileage -- but was a tank in the snow. Her new car on the other hand to me feels relatively zippy and more like an Accord or similar family sedans that I have been in or recently drove . . . and it is getting great gas mileage with a 29-30 mpg. No issues so far . . . but she has also only had it since late September and it has less than 3,000 miles on it.

New update . . . my plan to keep driving my Honda Accord may or may not be thwarted though. I'm now at 198,400 or so miles. Yesterday while in western Maine I put it in gear (it's a manual) and I heard a small popping sound and then nothing . . . could not move at all in any gear. Managed to get it off the road and after a long wait and many calls (and dead cell phones) ended up renting a U-haul car dolly and having a friend come rescue us (us being a friend and I who were in Brighton geocaching.) Now I still haven't checked with my mechanic, but a few folks who have heard about my predicament ventured it could be the clutch or something in that vicinity which they said may be pricey -- not so much in the part, but in the labor to access it. If this is the case I'll be back to making the same decision as before -- keep the car and pay for the repair or start looking for another vehicle.

 

[bobdog2o02]

Keep and fix it. A clutch job should run about $1,000 and as long as the car has been reliable its money well spent

 

[Swedishchef]

I love cars...and hate them for reasons like this. lol.

Glad to see your wife is happy with her Subaru. And glad to see you like it as well. As stated before, I am part of the Subaru cult.

What year is the Accord?

Andrew

 

[bobdog2o02]

Subie cult is right. I love that kool aid.

 

[firefighterjake]

I love cars...and hate them for reasons like this. lol.

Glad to see your wife is happy with her Subaru. And glad to see you like it as well. As stated before, I am part of the Subaru cult.

What year is the Accord?

Andrew

2003.

I must confess ... if I opt to sell the Honda I will be taking a hard look at either the wrx or brz.

 

[spirilis]

Bought a '08 Forester brand new 7 years ago, 158K on the odometer and many winters with zero problems getting around

Fwiw I changed O2 sensors recently on a whim... dealer said it's not usually a routine replacement but I insisted. Holy hell the engine runs like brand new after! I always recall 105K for a replacement interval in older cars I had.

 

[velvetfoot]

Broken clutch cable?

 

[Ashful]

Broken clutch cable?

Geez, haven't seen a cable clutch in decades. But on that note, and considering the probable vintage of your clutch hydraulics, can you move the stick thru the gears with engine running?

 

[velvetfoot]

Geez, haven't seen a cable clutch in decades.

Actually, me neither. Maybe I was thinking of the shifter cable, like you seem to be alluding to.

 

[firefighterjake]

Geez, haven't seen a cable clutch in decades. But on that note, and considering the probable vintage of your clutch hydraulics, can you move the stick thru the gears with engine running?

Yes . . . I haven't tried doing this without the clutch pedal depressed though.

Mechanic at work also suggested rowing through the gears with the engine not running to see if that does anything.

 

[firefighterjake]

The car starts fine.

With the clutch pedal depressed . . . everything sounds normal.

With the clutch pedal in its normal position and the car in neutral and running I can hear a rhythmic clunk/grinding sound . . . it's actually kind of soothing to listen to it clunking away.

 

[spirilis]

The car starts fine.

With the clutch pedal depressed . . . everything sounds normal.

With the clutch pedal in its normal position and the car in neutral and running I can hear a rhythmic clunk/grinding sound . . . it's actually kind of soothing to listen to it clunking away.

Toasted throwout bearing and/or clutch fork?

Side vent - I actually had to replace the clutch in my Subaru last winter, not because the clutch wore out but because the throwout bearing wore out and was chattering the clutch pedal (along with a rhythmic high-pitched metal grinding/machining sound) when lifting the pedal under <10F temps. It got really bad so I took it in, some $1200 later .... new clutch.
The speculative theory as to why this happened is that I never got the clutch hydraulic fluid changed, but since it's just brake fluid, it will absorb water over time and with sub-10F temps, likely froze (and expanded as water likes to do when it freezes), causing the clutch slave cylinder to hold the clutch fork just slightly applied against the throwout bearing over time, wearing it out. Moral of the story: CHANGE YOUR CLUTCH FLUID! Every time you have the brakes bled.

 

[Ashful]

Actually, me neither. Maybe I was thinking of the shifter cable, like you seem to be alluding to.

I was trying to determine if the described "pop" was a hydraulic cylinder losing it's seal, or a plastic hydraulic line failing. Since he can run it thru gears with the engine running, it's obviously not a hydraulic clutch issue. I agree it's an internal issue, pilot bearing, throwout bearing, etc. Almost doesn't matter what the exact cause is, since the repair is the same for any of those components.

If you do a clutch rebuild, do be sure they actually swap out your pilot bearing. I had a truck with a roller type pilot bearing, and had a broken shoulder at the time my clutch failed. I had to take it to a mechanic, who swapped the clutch, but apparently didn't feel like pulling the old pilot bearing. It failed a year later, forcing me to take the whole damn thing apart again. I didn't even know how it had failed so quickly, until I noticed the pilot bearing in the truck was still OEM, and a different style than would have been supplied with the new clutch kit he installed.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Moral of the story: CHANGE YOUR CLUTCH FLUID! Every time you have the brakes bled.

I've never done it, with no problems in a variety of long-lived Subarus, but hey, why not, as long as you're doing the brakes anyhow, and especially if you install Speedbleeders. I assume there's a bleed valve on the slave cylinder somewhere ?