Car trouble

[KiaKat]

Back in January, Husband hit an ice patch and totaled the car. We bought an 05 Subaru Outback. Good car, good reviews, seemed like a good dealer.

Currently, I'm sitting in a service station over an hour from home, where my car was towed, because it lost acceleration on the highway. I'm waiting to hear from the service manager to tell me if it's the transmission, at which point I'm going to call the dealer and ask them to cover repairs...even though I'm just barely out of the 30 day warranty.

The tow guy was very nice, and the office people are swapping stories that remind me of Argabarga's. However, all the customers have been polite, even the ones who are being screwed by the state. And this state is very good at screwing people. Stupid turnpike authority.

I'm now trying to calm myself so I can deal with the problem of getting home and fixing the car.

[Tyg3rW01f]

yeah... my 99 Subaru Legacy SUS is still possessed...
on it's FOURTH thermostat in TWO YEARS, (two after market, two OEM) its 3rd water pump, 2n intake cam pulley, third timing belt, second radiator...

...and it still overheats.

No water or coolant in the oil, far as I can tell... no white exhaust or extreme oil usage to indicate cracked heads... no overheats in traffic (so far as I can tell) to indicate fan failure... no leakage into the floorboards to indicate problems with the heater core...

...but she'll be puttin' out heat like she's trying to broil a steak, then the heater will just "I quit" start blowing cold, and the gauge will start climbing. I pull over, the reservoir is 3/4 full, the radiator and cap are cool to the touch, and the upper hose is HOT!!! I've never really paid too close attention to the fans, so I'm NOT certain it isn't them.

[Seraph]

oh noooooooo

My mom drives that exact model, and its horrible. Constantly breaking down and stuff. ><

[KiaKat]

Heh, I never updated this.

Transmission guys replaced the fluid. No one has been able to recreate the problem, so we're working under the assumption that it had something to do with the fluid, barring future issues. Another suggestion is that a spark plug wire might be loose, but there was no sign of that.

I will say that after the flush, it drives like a different car. Much smoother, better acceleration, less random vibration.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Yeah, my 1999 Honda Civic is probably on its last legs. Back during the polar vortex, the "check engine" light came on one day, and it was real sluggish getting the car to move at first. The "check engine" light went out a couple weeks later (don't judge me, I didn't have time to get it to the shop to be looked at, and the car worked fine after the polar vortex went away), but now (a couple months later still) I've got other problems.

I can feel the car starting to make a juttering motion sometimes when it idles. Even the electrics fade slightly while this is going on. I'm not looking forward to taking it to Honda for service soon, because the bill to fix whatever's fixing it may come to more than the car's worth.

I may be replacing this car sooner than I thought.

[Ophbalance]

Yeah, my 1999 Honda Civic is probably on its last legs. Back during the polar vortex, the "check engine" light came on one day, and it was real sluggish getting the car to move at first. The "check engine" light went out a couple weeks later (don't judge me, I didn't have time to get it to the shop to be looked at, and the car worked fine after the polar vortex went away), but now (a couple months later still) I've got other problems.

I can feel the car starting to make a juttering motion sometimes when it idles. Even the electrics fade slightly while this is going on. I'm not looking forward to taking it to Honda for service soon, because the bill to fix whatever's fixing it may come to more than the car's worth.

I may be replacing this car sooner than I thought.

How much you want to bet you you've either cracked the intake header/exhaust downpipe? Or, your upstream 02 sensor is on its way out the door? That'd account for both the check engine light and the rough idle.

[mathnerd]

My 99 civic just went to the great garage in the sky. The list of issues was just too long to keep repairing it, given that I no longer have access to a proper garage.

[Jay 2K Winger]

How much you want to bet you you've either cracked the intake header/exhaust downpipe? Or, your upstream 02 sensor is on its way out the door? That'd account for both the check engine light and the rough idle.

It's possible. But the last repair I had cost more than twice what the car is worth. If it turns out the problem's with the transmission, I'm just going to say "fuck it" and replace it, because the fixes are only going to get more expensive as the car gets older.

[mathnerd]

I don't know how the market is where you are, Jay, but I was shocked at how much my civic sold for, especially since it wasn't running and had substantial body damage. Getting that much out of it made replacing it a lot less painful.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I don't know how the market is where you are, Jay, but I was shocked at how much my civic sold for, especially since it wasn't running and had substantial body damage. Getting that much out of it made replacing it a lot less painful.

My Civic has upwards of 160K miles. Last time I checked, KBB value for a 1999 Civic LX was something like $1000.

Regardless, though, repairs for it do get expensive. When I had to get one of the steering rack boots replaced to pass inspection, it took them a couple of days to order the part in because they just don't keep the parts for a '99 Civic in the shop, and I can't blame them.

It's long overdue for replacing anyway. It's had a good run, and I was going to replace it later this year as it was.

[mathnerd]

I felt the same way. I'd already decided that when the clutch went, I was replacing it, but other issues killed it before the clutch went. And it sounds like you drive exactly what I had (is your green? 4 door? manual?). I got exactly $1000 out of it despite its condition. I was expecting maybe a few hundred bucks since it wasn't running and the body damage was substantial.