Received: from MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU by K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU; 19 Sep 87 21:26:07 EDT Date: Saturday, 19 September 1987 21:21:43 EDT From: Dave.McKeown@maps.cs.cmu.edu To: bovik@k.gp.cs.cmu.edu cc: dmm@maps.cs.cmu.edu Subject: suburu cars Message-ID: <1987.9.20.1.15.41.Dave.McKeown@MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU> Harry, Here is the info I accumulated on my post concerning Yenko suburu service, and info regarding Suburu 4WD Wagons with turbo. We ended up buying one, and found that the Suburu turbo is water cooled rather than oil cooled, and thus is less prone to melt down. The performance is great. Sad to see our 1979 Honda go, however. Hope this is useful for others. -Dave ps. I hope you will create a Suburu message class. There are several other suburu messages hidden in dealers and repairs, but most are at least 2 years old. - - - - Begin forwarded messages - - - - Received: from SPICE.CS.CMU.EDU by MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU; 13 Sep 87 11:01:18 EDT Date: 13 Sep 1987 10:46-EDT From: James.Healy@SPICE.CS.CMU.EDU To: Dave.McKeown@MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: suburu wagons Message-Id: <558542775/healy@SPICE.CS.CMU.EDU> In-Reply-To: Dave.McKeown's bboard message of 12-Sep-87 16:48 Dave, I have a 1984 Suburu GL wagon (not 4WD) that I bought used about a year ago. At that time, it had about 50,000 miles on it. I bought it because I had heard that Subaru's were little angels when it came to giving you mechanical trouble. (Very infrequent breakdowns and minimum preventive maintenance.) So far, that has been true. The body is in great shape and hasn't shown any signs of rust (at least on the outside). Also, it gets good gas mileage (30+ mpg). In terms of performance and handling, it's no Ferrari, but I'd rather sacrifice that for the maintainability. I've heard that the quality of newer model Subaru's (post-1984 vintage) has declined somewhat but that may have been just a nasty rumor. -- Jim. - - - - - - - - Received: from ROVER.RI.CMU.EDU by MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU; 13 Sep 87 13:10:53 EDT Date: 13 Sep 1987 13:03-EDT From: Mike.Blackwell@rover.ri.cmu.edu To: Dave.McKeown@MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: suburu wagons Message-Id: <558551015/mkb@rover.ri.cmu.edu> Dave - I've had two Subaru wagons (a '78 5-speed and an '82 4-speed w/ 4WD which I have now). They're great cars - both have close to 100K miles. No rust problems at all, and very reliable. I brought the '78 out from California, and last year bought the '82 used from a local (so it's lived all its life in Pgh salt). 4WD is great in the snow - I do a lot of XC skiing. I've gotten service at North Hills Subaru - they seem like pretty reasonable people. I'm not sure about the new cars, but you used to have a choice between 1400 and 1600 cc's. The bigger engine is definitely worth it - the smaller seems a little under-powered (I test drove some when I was looking last year). I don't know anything about the Turbo's, though. Paul Fussell (@me) has one (84 I think) - you could ask him. cheers, -m- - - - - - - - - Received: from K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU by MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU; 14 Sep 87 10:53:00 EDT Date: 14 Sep 1987 10:43-EDT From: Barbara.Staudt@K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU To: Dave.McKeown@MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: suburu wagons Message-Id: <558628995/bjs@K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU> In-Reply-To: Dave.McKeown's bboard message of 12-Sep-87 16:53 Dave, I bought a Subaru sedan from Yenko. I have been very pleased with the car. It is now 1.5 years old. All repairs so far have been done under warranty. They have all been minor and non-mechanical (sticking switches, that sort of thing). I had one mechanical problem. The thermosensor went bad. The result was that the computer always mixed the fuel as if the car was already warmed up, causing a lot of hesitation when the car was cold. That was fixed as part of the 3 year emissions warranty. In general, I have been pleased with the service at Yenko, at least while it's under warranty. They're courteous and willing to explain things. However, I generally take my car elsewhere for things like oil changes because Yenko is quite expensive and far away. I've had no problems with rust, but the car isn't very old. Barb - - - - - - - - Received: from P.SEI.CMU.EDU by MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU; 14 Sep 87 11:29:04 EDT Date: Monday, 14 September 1987 11:24:42 EDT From: Miles.Barel@sei.cmu.edu To: dave.mckeown@maps.cs.cmu.edu Subject: Subaru Message-Id: <1987.9.14.15.12.9.Miles.Barel@sei.cmu.edu> Dave, I've had 2 4x4 Subaru wagons. The 1st was an '81 that I bought used from Ted McWilliams. It had some minor rust along the rocker panels when I sold it in late '85. Other than that, it always ran great. Maintenance was simple ordinary stuff (tune ups, oil changes, brakes, etc). I was rear ended once, and took it to Yenko. Their body shop does great work. I traded this one in on a new one ('85) from Yenko. Their sales staff was real good as well as all my experiences with their service department. The only concern I might raise is how the turbo will affect the longevity and reliability of the car. I don't know enough about turbos, but from what I do, I might be concerned. I generally found that I ran my engine at higher rpm's than other cars that I've owned. This would tend to engage the turbo fairly often. Since turbos need a cool down period (so I've been told) before shutting down the engine, I think you might be in for trouble as I would expect the turbo to be fairly active in local traffic. Hope all this helps. If you'd like to discuss the subject in greater detail, give me a call (x6506). Miles - - - - - - - - Received: from FAS.RI.CMU.EDU by MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU; 15 Sep 87 10:32:39 EDT Date: 15 Sep 1987 08:51-EDT From: Phyllis.Pomerantz@FAS.RI.CMU.EDU To: Dave.McKeown@MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: suburu wagons Message-Id: <558708692/plp@FAS.RI.CMU.EDU> In-Reply-To: Dave.McKeown's bboard message of 12-Sep-87 16:47 Dave, I just purchased a Subaru GL 4 door sedan from Bowser Pontiac-Subaru in West Mifflin, near Century III. I have had excellent experience with the salesman. His name is Bill Hurley, 655-3388. If he doesn't have one on the lot, he will go to the trouble of looking for the one you want. Bill is young, thirtyish - more or less and goes to great lengths to keep the customer happy even after the sale; like calling to remind you about new car check-ups, etc. I first intended to buy a car at Yenko, but the salesman was a jerk, and then I heard some bad things about them, so decided to go with Bowser. Give him a call (only speak to Bill Hurley - you could say I recommended you) and see what he has for you. I am sure you'll be satisfied if you decide to go with them. ...No, I do not do PR for them. I'm just a satisfied customer. Phyllis - - - - - - - - Received: from ME.RI.CMU.EDU by MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU; 15 Sep 87 10:43:05 EDT Date: Tue, 15 Sep 87 09:14:11 EDT From: Paul.Fussell@ME.RI.CMU.EDU To: Dave.McKeown@MAPS.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: suburu turbo Dave, Actually I've only thought about turbos... My Subaru is an 85 (50K miles), 4wd, GL wagon. I have been quite pleased, except for a rattle that seems to originate from the catalytic converter. (Pleased: it hasn't broken.) Turbos are tricky -- they turn real fast, and they live in the exhaust stream. Are you a type A personality? If your life style objects to sitting in the car at the end of a drive for a few minutes and letting the engine idle so oil is circulated through the turbo, you might want to think twice about it. My boss has a turbo, and it is quite amusing to watch him fume at the end of a quick drive waiting for the turbo to cool; he has also eaten one turbo, I assume by not waiting on occasion. My car is definitely under-powered, and a turbo would be handy. Especially at the Squirrel Hill entrance to the ParkWay East (eastbound). I drove one once, though, and discovered that there is a noticeable pause between my foot action on the accelerator and the acceleration boost. I think it would be pretty easy to get used to this, but it would slightly reduce my ability to give my passengers a smooth ride. If you elect to get one, and then have interesting experiences with it, I would love to hear about -- maybe my next car should have a turbo! -Paul Oh, Subaru has been putting turbos on cars for some time now, so I assume they understand how to design the things by now. Its a tricky enough mechanical design that I would not buy a new design, one untested in the marketplace -- I would be afraid of getting something like the GM automotive diesel (RIP). If you do your own work on the car, you might ask how much the turbo complicates matters. It may be nothing worse than, say, an air conditioner compressor. But it might mean more complexity for the home mechanic. Certainly the need for regular oil changes is Greatly Increased -- as well as a need for a high grade of oil. Vanilla year round 10/40 SF would shorten the life of the engine (at least SF/CC, and best would be SF/CC/CD). - - - - End forwarded messages - - - -