'08 Spec-B issues
 

Anyone been having issues with theirs? In the past year or so I've had some pretty expensive repairs that I'm not thrilled about.

2010 - front strut mount and stabilizing bar bushings replaced (that was covered under warranty and dealer was kind)
2011 - Head unit for my stereo and A/C was flickering and needed replacing (dealer kind as well adn took care of it though I didn't have ext warranty)
2012 - June went in for 60k tune up which I knew was expensive and ended up costing double as a strut mount or bushing again was cracked and needed to be replaced.
2012 Oct - power steering pump and rack needed replacing

Can't say I'm a happy subie owner at the moment with the amount of money I've had to pour into my car of late and just wondering if others have had the same or similar issues.

I got this car brand new Dec of '08, barely have 65k miles on it and less than 4 years old.

Plan on writing SOA a big letter and botching about all this stuff. My '05 Legacy hardly had any issues, think maybe the AC blower went out around 40k when my lease was about to be up, but that wasn't too expensive.

Anyone else have issues?

why would both the rack and pump need replacement?

leaked until it ran dry?

for the pump, ok, but not the rack.

and as for the strut mount bushing thing, did the OP complain about an issue or did the dealer just say it needed replacing?

Well I was thinking the rack was what was leaking, the pump died as a result, but yeah. Very weird.

Strut mount is even more weird -- I've done some awful things to the stock mounts/suspension on an AutoX course, and I've never managed to damage a top mount.

It wasn't dry yet, but it was leaking lots of steering fluid and draining. Rack was damaged causing the fluid to leak and damage, the pump didn't go bad yet and replacing the rack should have fixed it.
As for the bushing, I noticed a thunk while driving and when it was on the rack could see it cracked.

Also the 60k shouldn't have cost a ton of money.

In the realm of things, they haven't been major issues IMO, but worth a nice letter to SOA explaining how happy ou were with your 05 and would to bring it to their attention.

-Mike Paisan

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11+ Years Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Subaru Enthusiasts.
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I'd be really surprised if the top mount was damaged while driving.

I'd be less surprised if they damaged the new one while re-assembling the strut assembly, and threw it on the car anyhow.

@AZP - One thing I've noticed is the dealers push a LOT of extra shit in the 30k/60k/90k/etc maintenances. Things that Subaru doesn't recommend. Additionally, they tend to leave things out that I personally feel SHOULD be done (inspect and top off transmission fluid instead of replace it, etc).

If you go by the dealer service menu, you probably got screwed.

Agree 100%. That's why we took the Subaru recommended stuff and edited it for our area, most of our drivers needs. Check em out at.

http://azpinstalls.com/index.php?opt...d=62&Itemid=80

-Mike Paisan

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11+ Years Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Subaru Enthusiasts.
Call directly as We carry almost every manufacturer now, so before you buy parts call us.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) | T-1 Certified Amsoil Direct Jobber |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

I have a slow leak on the drivers side of the steering rack, not bad enough to need replacing tho (yet)....cost of replacing the passenger side is pretty cheap, the drivers side however is about $700 IIRC :(

Only other issue I had was the sssstttutter which required an ECU replacement under warranty. Something about the ECU being '07 but the car actually being an early '08 (causing the dealer reflash fix not to take)