New 09' LGT - already major problems...

Hi all, I've been browsing these forums for a while when deciding which car to purchase as my 96 Chevy Blazer has been clinging to life and now that I'm working full time and commuting 75+ miles a day, I needed a new reliable car.

 

I came across the LGT and it was the perfect mix of AWD for where I live and commute (northern NJ), speed, comfort, and looks. It seemed like Subaru has fairly good reliability and good enough gas mileage for me. Long story short, I found a nice 09' LGT, Black, 33K miles, Automatic (wanted a stick, but I settled), w/ nav for just under 21K. I was looking to spend between 15-20 and I decided to go a little over when I found this one because it had everything I wanted. I also got the 100K, 5yr bumper to bumper for around 2K more.

 

Fast forward a month later - I loved the car since the day I drove it off the lot, but one morning I get in and feel it idling a little rough. I was forced to stop at a no-name gas station (due to the recent storm and closed roads) so I hoped it was just a bad tank of gas and would work itself out. Next day car sounds even worse and eventually throws a CEL for P0301 - Cylinder #1 misfire. I talk to the dealership and take it in and they tell me its probably nothing and it should be an easy fix. I had read online that this is a common problem usually with the spark plug or coil pack so I wasn't too worried...

 

After 3 hours of waiting I was told that they didn't know what it was, the cylinder was leaking some fluid but they couldn't determine what, and I needed to wait until this week for their "specialist" to look at it. I'm planning on talking to them later today or tomorrow to find out exactly what they believe the problem is.

 

Now, the day I took it to them was 28 days after I bought it so I was still able to get a full refund if I wanted too. Since is going to take at least a week, I got them to add another 30 days to the return so I can see what got fixed/how it runs after I get it back. I'm really looking for some recommendations on whether I should dump this car since it's having problems like this so early or whether I should stick with it (worst case I have 100K bumper to bumper). What do you guys think?

 

BTW, I will update once I talk to them and find out definitively what the problem actually is.

Wait until you get info.

 

Something leaking would indicate to me that it's a headgasket that has gone. The alternative is a ringland failure. Of course - it can also be the oil seal around the spark plug well, in which case it's not bad at all, just annoying.

 

And if you are in warranty you shouldn't worry too much.

Well I heard from the dealership and they need to replace both the intake valves on the first cylinder. I'm so torn on whether or not to keep this car. I have ~3 weeks if I want to return it for my money back, so I'm going to take it and drive it for a little while, but everyone I spoke to told me my best bet is to return it.

 

I asked the Service Tech why they thought this happened and they answered that they didn't know how the person before me drove the car. So I said your basically telling me that this happened because the person before me beat on this car and they tried to save face and convince me it would be fine but I'm quickly losing confidence. If I'm having intake valves replaced this early, I find it hard to believe that I'm not going to hit more problems after this.

 

I'm still really torn though, because it's a black, 4th gen, LGT Limited w/ Nav and I'm having no luck finding anything comparable in my area. Closest would be a 2010 but I'm not crazy about the new look and I heard those have a lot of problems from the model change.

 

What do you guys think, is it possible that this engine can have a relatively trouble free life if it needed a repair like this so early? I really don't want to give it up but I don't want to be constantly taking it to get fixed...

Can of worms and you have a get out of jail free card. Walk away. There are cars all over the country just waiting to be purchased with better mechanical service histories.

Can of worms and you have a get out of jail free card. Walk away. There are cars all over the country just waiting to be purchased with better mechanical service histories.

 

This + infinity.

You're lucky to discover the problem so early. make a logical choice. return it

Walk,no run away. When I bought mine I got lucky b/c I got mine from an anal maintainence freak like me. Recently 2 of my buddies have purchased one wagon LGT and one sedan Limited lgt and have had nothing but issues. Both cars had turbo failure,and the wagon's auto trani starting slipping. When buying one of these I suggest A.-carfax report,B.-documented maintainence(especially oil change intervals),C.-see if they will allow you to check the turbo for shaft play and/or bent impeller fins.

Can of worms and you have a get out of jail free card. Walk away. There are cars all over the country just waiting to be purchased with better mechanical service histories.

 

 

 

Very wise suggestion here, just don't do anything stupid to screw your credit!

Agreeing with the rest, walk away from that one UNLESS:

 

This is a Subaru service center (and a reputable one) - and they are going to completely tear down the block and heads, go over, and repair *everything*.

 

There's plenty more 4th gens out there, and for sale here. If you want one you can definitely get another.

 

Do you have the service history on the car? You can get it from Subaru I believe.

If you get out of that one, post the vin number up so no one else here gets a lemon

Run away, get the manual you wanted. Autos are boring

Agreeing with the rest, walk away from that one UNLESS:

 

This is a Subaru service center (and a reputable one) - and they are going to completely tear down the block and heads, go over, and repair *everything*.

 

There's plenty more 4th gens out there, and for sale here. If you want one you can definitely get another.

 

Do you have the service history on the car? You can get it from Subaru I believe.

 

+1 this

is even better

Thanks everyone for the quick responses, kinda what I figured... Anyone know of a nice, well maintained LGT for sale in the northern NJ area ?

 

ShadowIMG - To the best of my knowledge it is a reputable service center, Bill Kolb Jr. Subaru, if anyone has had any experience with them. I'm sure they're going to know what needs to be repaired to bring it back to 100%, but I feel like they'll just fix it enough to get it to run normal and tell me it's fine. I think they'd probably rather give me my money back and push it on someone else who hopefully won't get lucky enough to see a problem in 30 days. I'll see what happens when I talk to them and get the service report for what they did.

 

The carfax for the car was clean and since it was originally bought from the same dealership, I believe I have the service records; although since it was returned at 30K, I think it only got serviced once at 15K - I'll have to check this again tonight when I get out of work.

 

Will definitely update, I should get it back tonight or tomorrow and I'll have about 2 more weeks to make a decision. If I do decide to return it, I'll definitely post the VIN so no one else here gets stuck with it.

Don't know the dealer, but I'd talk with the service master tech about it. It's very very suspicious, and I'd want to know why they think it just needs intake valves replaced. If you get any sort of uneasy feeling about it, walk. Ask them if they're going to throw an extended warranty on all of the parts/work for free after doing it. If they're really confident, they shouldn't have issues with it.

Also, in case you doubt availability of them: http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresults.action?sf1Dir=DESC&mkId=20041&mdId=21378&crSrtFlds=stkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-mdId-yrId-trId&rd=100000&zc=60201&PMmt=1-1-0&stkTypId=28881&sf2Dir=ASC&sf1Nm=price&yrId=20201&sf2Nm=miles&isDealerGrouping=false&rpp=50&feedSegId=28705&trId=22582&trId=22583&trId=29632&searchSource=GN_REFINEMENT&pgId=2102

Bill Kolb?

 

Aren't they the ones that make "special editions" of cars, which aren't special at all?

 

Return it. It should take you 2 minutes to make that decision.

Bill Kolb has a reputation for screwing people over.

 

There are numerous threads about them on here and on NASIOC

Bill Kolb?

 

Aren't they the ones that make "special editions" of cars, which aren't special at all?

 

Return it. It should take you 2 minutes to make that decision.

 

Ha, I remember asking them what a Legacy "Elite" version was. It has the premium trim with a few options and their own badge on it. I passed on that.

 

Bill Kolb has a reputation for screwing people over.

 

There are numerous threads about them on here and on NASIOC

 

Does anyone know a quality dealership in the Northern NJ area or can point me to a thread where this is addressed? Thanks.

http://legacygt.com/forums/search.php?searchid=9331411

 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/search.php?searchid=24072615

 

That's not all of them either.

Does anyone know a quality dealership in the Northern NJ area or can point me to a thread where this is addressed? Thanks.

 

Ramsey Subaru or Wayne Subaru

I would walk away and not even second guess yourself..... There are plenty more out there without issues.

Ramsey Subaru or Wayne Subaru

 

Ramsey had one used Legacy which was garbage and I'm looking at Wayne Subaru's inventory and it looks like they have nothing either. Unless I go to a private seller, I honestly can't find another LGT within 100 miles of me (07450).

 

Honestly my opinion of Subaru's reliability has taken such a huge dip that I'm not sure if I should even go for another one... With no mods, an automatic trans, only 30K on it, how much damage could have been done even if the driver before me pushed it hard? Everyone I talked to and essentially everyone who has responded has said to dump it without question. Is Subaru reliability really that hit or miss? I even spent a little more than I had intended to because I know the turbo puts extra stress on the engine so I wanted something closer to ~30K in miles than the ones I was originally looking at with 60K to 90K.

 

I bought a GT to go fast, plain and simple. I never even got a chance to push it hard because it broke down on me so fast. I'm getting the impression that this engine has a hard time handling the power boost from the turbo and once you see any signs of part failure, its a slippery slope downward until your engine is gone. That was not the kind of car I thought I was buying.

 

I have no problem taking car of my car, maintaining my engine, and getting under the hood every week or two and making sure everything's running fine. I did it for both cars I had since I got my license and I can do it again. That being said, I expect to be able to push it when I want to - that's why I paid the money for a faster car.

 

Just as an update, yesterday I was told that when they were putting the engine back together, they noticed the exhaust valves on the same cylinder had to be replaced and they ordered them as well. This means they have now replaced all 4 valves on cylinder 1. They also asked if I minded if the shop foreman test drove it overnight, so that just makes me think they still question whether it's fixed. Also, the service tech told me the valve failure was from carbon build-up because the previous owner "didn't drive the car hard enough". Seems like another BS excuse since he was putting over 10K miles a year on it. I'll most likely get it back tomorrow.

I don't know, what can happen in 30k miles if you don't ever change the oil, do any maintenance, and run 87 octane the whole time?

 

Without knowing the entire maintenance history of the car, it's not fair to say it has anything to do with Subaru reliability. Nobody is really saying that, they're just saying that cars require proper maintenance.

 

The reason we're saying walk away is because the driveline in the car is expensive. If it's trashed, it's big $ to fix, which means the service center will be reluctant to go all in and replace it all.

Don't blame the car. Blame the previous owner. Also, with it breaking down so quickly, I would imagine BK had some idea of the problems it had.

 

92k on my car. Probably close to 200 autox runs and 0 issues all b/c I keep up with the maintenance.

Ramsey had one used Legacy which was garbage and I'm looking at Wayne Subaru's inventory and it looks like they have nothing either. Unless I go to a private seller, I honestly can't find another LGT within 100 miles of me (07450).

 

Honestly my opinion of Subaru's reliability has taken such a huge dip that I'm not sure if I should even go for another one... With no mods, an automatic trans, only 30K on it, how much damage could have been done even if the driver before me pushed it hard? Everyone I talked to and essentially everyone who has responded has said to dump it without question. Is Subaru reliability really that hit or miss? I even spent a little more than I had intended to because I know the turbo puts extra stress on the engine so I wanted something closer to ~30K in miles than the ones I was originally looking at with 60K to 90K.

 

I bought a GT to go fast, plain and simple. I never even got a chance to push it hard because it broke down on me so fast. I'm getting the impression that this engine has a hard time handling the power boost from the turbo and once you see any signs of part failure, its a slippery slope downward until your engine is gone. That was not the kind of car I thought I was buying.

 

I have no problem taking car of my car, maintaining my engine, and getting under the hood every week or two and making sure everything's running fine. I did it for both cars I had since I got my license and I can do it again. That being said, I expect to be able to push it when I want to - that's why I paid the money for a faster car.

 

Just as an update, yesterday I was told that when they were putting the engine back together, they noticed the exhaust valves on the same cylinder had to be replaced and they ordered them as well. This means they have now replaced all 4 valves on cylinder 1. They also asked if I minded if the shop foreman test drove it overnight, so that just makes me think they still question whether it's fixed. Also, the service tech told me the valve failure was from carbon build-up because the previous owner "didn't drive the car hard enough". Seems like another BS excuse since he was putting over 10K miles a year on it. I'll most likely get it back tomorrow.

 

Huge difference between pushing a car and abusing it. A lot can happen to any car in 30k if it's abused.