1998 legacy outback head gaskets w/rant

[98outbackpdx]

Hi i am new to this forum and subaru lingo but have finally gotten a subaru for myself. i bought a 1998 subaru legacy outback wagon 2.5, at. 4 days after purchace found out that the head gaskets are going, suprising since i baught the car from royal moore subaru in hillsboro oregon, they said it went through their shop with flying colors.

not even 24 hours after purchace i got a flat in the tire and had to but 4 new tires. that started the sinking feeling that this was going to not be a good car. went on a highway drive ~200 miles, got home and the car started to heat up took it to my local mechanic and he found oil leaks from nearly every seal, the rf ball joint was so bad it was about to break off also the front wheel bearings are bad. so Royal moore subaru made me drive ~125 miles ONE WAY to take the car into their shop.

they fixed the ball joint at no cost but said that the head gaskets needed to be replaced and would knock ~$600 off the price of the head gaskets. so i am stuck with the car. eather pay at the same dealership (royal moore) more money for another car or take a loss since they would not refund me my money. their is no used car lemon law in the state of oregon and no other options for getting my money back (talked to lawyer.)

so now tomarrow saturday june 12 i will be picking up the car and taking it to another subaru dealership to have the head gaskets done. anyways sorry about the rant, but the new dealership i am taking it to is going to replace the head gaskets all other motor gaskets, timing belt, thermostat, hoses and fluids pertaining to the engine, for $1750.

i think that that is a pretty good price, or am i just getting ripped off. by the way the new dealer is wentworth subaru. scooby has 183xxx miles, havent even driven it for 1k miles and all this had happened.

PLEASE DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM ROYAL MOORE DEALERSHIPS NEW OR USED they will screw you over.

wow... shitty deal, man

sorry to hear that... $1750?! you could buy a new, bigger motor for less.. how much did you pay for the car

[98outbackpdx]

paid $4500, the sub is in really nice condition (clean title) and (drove) like new and stupidly i did not have it checked out by a mechanic before purchace. also where can you get a new bigger motor for less not that i need it too many tickets in an astro van all for doing over 80 mph, in 60/65 zones. i am gonna drive the car until the wheels falles off fix it and keep on driving it.

[98outbackpdx]

found a guy who will pull the motor and do the head gaskets for $800

[hallowpoint]

$1750 is a little steep but not bad considering its a dealer. wentworth is were my legacy was originally purchased. sorry to hear about the car i hope it only gets better once you get it fixed.

[RedEvilWgn]

um that is steep for a dealership, where I work (a subie dealer) we usually get 1300-1400$$

[rudgers73]

Mine was about $1700 at the dealer. Then again, I had the car for 3 yrs and put 40k miles on it and 2 seasons of autocross before I needed it done, so I don't feel so bad. What bad luck man, sorry to hear the news.

On a good note, after all the work is done, there isn't much more that could go wrong with it for a long while. You're pretty much buying a car for $6500 that should be reliable for a few years. If it wasn't a Subaru, I would tell you to ditch it, but it'll pay you back after enough time.

Good luck with it and keep right up with all of the maintenance and you will end up really happy with it.

[98outbackpdx]

Bob Stone subaru in the dalles oregon wanted $2000 for the head gaskets, and $2300 for an engine regasket. it leaks oil in numerious places, more worried about the head gaskets, especially since it has been about 110 degrees for about 2 weeks now.

[Grafton]

wow talk about your bad luck (the tires thing happened to me get one flat grrr...) but gl with the head gasket & re-sealing of your motor

[Bdubs]

There are risks to buying an 11 year old car. You should research any car, not just a subaru, up and down before your purchase. Seals, ball joints, HG are all items prone to wear on these vehicles.
Generally all the dealers don't know crap about when any of that was changed, so when I go in naming off stuff questioning if it had ever been replaced or not, and they refuse to move on the price, I walk out. More times than not, they are willing to negotiate a much better price than what they ask.

[98outbackpdx]

i know i should have had it looked at, getting bitched at by pretty much everyone i know because i didn't have it looked at. i did not have $10k for a car i barely had enough for this one. i actually asked if they had any service records but they said that they had none. i called 2x and when i was purchasing the Subaru i asked to see the hard copy of the technicians report, but all they would tell me is that it had an oil and filter change, (what they saw off the computer) which i know is bs because i have been checking the oil and it is pretty black. also the air filter was filthy and jammed in there.

should have just gone to an insurance auction, and bought a car there and paid someone or do it myself to fix it up. probably could have gotten the same car or a newer car and spend $1k in parts

now i have a car that was supposed to be the gas saver but it is not because it is broken down (obviously.) i put a lot of miles on my cars and do an oil change about once a month, i haven't even gotten 3k on the car because i cannot take it out of town, or it will overheat it also leaks the coolant pretty quickly, so i am always adding coolant and praying that the gasket doesn't finally blow when i am driving somewhere.

[bAbYbEcKy]

that just sucks.

[Huffer]

found a guy who will pull the motor and do the head gaskets for $800

What was wrong with this?

[LGT97]

since i dont have the tools anymore or the time im paying my buddy $300(im buying the parts from a subaru dealership for $324) to do the head gaskets and any other gaskets that are leaking, thats if it is the hg's. thing will run hot and over heat every 2-3 days so im not sure. every other day the gauge doesnt move above half way and its not leaking a/f or burning it, no oil in a/f and no a/f in the oil.

[jey]

Are you sure you're not overheating because of a bad thermostat or air trapped in the cooling system?

[LGT97]

im very positive that its not a t-stat or air. i replaced the t-stat with a subaru replacement and spent 2 hours making sure there was no air trapped in the system.

[98outbackpdx]

i did finally end up getting my HG's done about a month ago, already put about 2k miles on it. $955, not bad total engine reseal. it was HG #2. i cannot believe that a HG kit costs $240, it all adds up quick.

[jospgut]

if you guys need a a mechanic, my friend is a really good one, his shop is in milwaukie, i did my hg he charged me cheap, but i had to buy my parts from subaru dealership, i payed the total of 850

[ouch1011]

i did finally end up getting my HG's done about a month ago, already put about 2k miles on it. $955, not bad total engine reseal. it was HG #2. i cannot believe that a HG kit costs $240, it all adds up quick.

That's about what I paid for an overhaul gasket set (i.e. every gasket and seal in or on the engine) from the local Subaru dealer.

[98outbackpdx]

if you guys need a a mechanic, my friend is a really good one, his shop is in milwaukie, i did my hg he charged me cheap, but i had to buy my parts from subaru dealership, i payed the total of 850

is it the guy from agape motors? i didn't get a real good vibe from this guy. if it is the same guy he quoted me $1,000 for a HG job. so idk. i am happy with the service i got. glad i had my OBK today driving through the gorge, and in portland. i was on airport way, and there was FOUR (4) intersections that were flooded. people were turning around, and i just forged through (slowly, i am not an idiot) the water was over the sidewalks in all four intersections.

[jospgut]

no, is not that guy, this one has his own shop, but if you are happy thats good, and if they did a good job is even better,


if you guys need a a mechanic, my friend is a really good one, his shop is in milwaukie, i did my hg he charged me cheap, but i had to buy my parts from subaru dealership, i payed the total of 850

is it the guy from agape motors? i didn't get a real good vibe from this guy. if it is the same guy he quoted me $1,000 for a HG job. so idk. i am happy with the service i got. glad i had my OBK today driving through the gorge, and in portland. i was on airport way, and there was FOUR (4) intersections that were flooded. people were turning around, and i just forged through (slowly, i am not an idiot) the water was over the sidewalks in all four intersections.