Recent content by Rob_S

Loosen up your tin-foil hat, OP.

I've had a total of three Subarus personally; a close family member had one. My 98 Outback leaked so much oil it wasn't even possible to diag where the leak was coming from; the whole front portion of the subframe was rust-free where it had been preserved by oil leaking for who knows how long...

^ You forgot to mention chain smoke in the car. I rented a Hyundai Elantra recently that was essentially an ash tray; thick film on the windshield and all. It was trashed for a car with 14k miles. The floormats were missing and the carpet had a hole worn through it near the brake pedal.

I've personally bought cars that were several model years old with low mileage. In each instance, those cars developed oil leaks. I'm under the impression this is due to sitting for long periods of time; I'm not the only who believes this either. It would be best to drive it occasionally on an...

Originally Posted By: jigen We have one in our 2014 Focus ST. 20k on it and no engine related problems whatsoever, but again this is a very new car to us. It's a very fun and responsive engine. Good power, and good MPG for what it is. We average 26-27 MPG a tank. Granted that's a good amount of...

Originally Posted By: SirTanon Use the ramps to get the car up, then put jack stands under the jack points. I don't care how strong the ramps are - you cannot rely on just them. Yep. I've done many oil changes and other undercar processes using ramps; I always leave stands at a proper place...

Vibration during braking is almost certainly run-out on the rotors. As far as I'm aware, very few shops machine rotors any longer. Possible at the dealer they do, but most indys by me just replace them; rotors are cheap enough to justify this move, in their eyes. A good friend of mine is a tech...

Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel Originally Posted By: demarpaint Originally Posted By: KrisZ I don't think all dealers are bad. Only the bad ones are. LOL Only about 99.9% of them are bad. Indeed. From all the experiences I and others I know have had with a very rare exception all have...

Appreciate the input; thanks all.

Intuitively, if a seal or gasket is failing and allowing oil to seep or leak past it, wouldn't it also be true that the compromised section allows dirt etc. to make it's way in to the engine itself? Wouldn't this reduce the oil's lifespan? Also, does poor maintenance habits (excessive OCIs)...

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd Originally Posted By: dishdude I think he's talking about that really low pile carpet that is similar to what they use in the trunk being used on the passenger compartment floor. It's almost like felt. Cheap felt-like carpet wouldn't bother me, as long as they...

"The rotating seals are strongly affected by the oil condition" I always suspected this; I've never been able to confirm it. I have noticed cars with the worst oil leaks tend to be the most neglected examples. Also, from what I've read, the leading cause of turbocharger failure is FOD...

Originally Posted By: dishdude Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel Originally Posted By: Rob_S Oh, and the first dealer sold me a CPO car with significant refinishing work on it; indicating that it had been in some sort of accident. They denied this. . CPO is just marketing, buying ANY used...

My mother purchased one recently; for her, it's a great car. Plenty utilitarian, with ample trunk space, the fold up/down seats etc. It's generally a good car, from my experience. Not unpleasant to drive. It is louder than I thought; you can feel the Fit's roots. However, that 'we didn't even...

I've taken, and passed, the A3. Despite having several NATEF books on the subject, and borrowing several others, the sample questions weren't representative of the material on the test; it was significantly more difficult. With that said, I'd still recommend picking up a book or six to prepare...