déjà vu all over again :Subaru
 

FREDO wrote:
Not to mention they do not get stuck in snow or ice!!!!!!!!
AWD the only way to drive!!!!


My sister bought the 2004 Forester 2.5X at my recommendation (against
her husband's wishes).
She loves it but he keeps calling it a 'piece of ****'. (base model)
What will she do...?
She has the same vehicle (2006 Premium model) on order but with the
leather seats...fancy interior etc. That might shut him up.
If not, I'll offer to buy it when she trades in a couple of years.

déjà vu all over again :Subaru
 

Don White wrote:
FREDO wrote:
Not to mention they do not get stuck in snow or ice!!!!!!!!
AWD the only way to drive!!!!


My sister bought the 2004 Forester 2.5X at my recommendation (against
her husband's wishes).
She loves it but he keeps calling it a 'piece of ****'. (base model)
What will she do...?
She has the same vehicle (2006 Premium model) on order but with the
leather seats...fancy interior etc. That might shut him up.
If not, I'll offer to buy it when she trades in a couple of years.

My wife drives a 2001 Subaru Forester. We have had no problem with it,
but it's an uncomfortable as can be. After about 150 miles in the front
seat (thinly upholstered slab of something), your butt is numb. After
300 non-stop miles I'm sure it would be permanently deformed.

We're in a position to upgrade her car. We live on the side of a very
steep hill, and really need at least 1 AWD car for the 3-5 days per
year it sometimes snows in Seattle, so we went out ot look at a new
Volvo XC90. Too big. We almost bought a leftover '05 XC70, but when the
smoke cleared we were about $2000 away from a "deal", and that was with
me writing a check for every last dime I thought the "difference"
should be and the sales manager pleading, almost on hands and knees,
for me to step up to his number. (might have, for an '06). Still
driving the Subaru.

Having sold Subarus and having owned Subarus for about 17 years, I have
formed an opinion that they are a very good car. (You want to see
something fold up in a wreck?
Try a Honda. We have owned a few and found them mechanically excellent,
but so lightly built that they are truly death traps in anything more
than a fender bender).

My little V40 contiues to scoot along without a hitch or hiccup. I'm
not sure what we'll replace her Subaru with, but it would be a Volvo
XC70 if we found the right deal on the right car and it's unlikely to
be another Subaru unless they have done something about
front seat comfort in the last few years. She keeps murmuring about
"Land Rover"...........
but I don't think so.

déjà vu all over again
 

Eisboch wrote:
"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...

6 liter diesel?


Yup. After the first breakdown I did a bunch of internet searching and
found that this engine, introduced in 2003 to replace the 7.3 L, has had
some serious teething issues but the 2005's (mine) are supposed to have the
problems resolved. It is, however, scheduled to be replaced with yet another
engine in 2007. I also searched GMC and Dodge diesel forums and found both
of them are full of horror stories of problems with the GM Duromax engines
and, in the case of Dodge, transmissions as well. BTW, Ford sells as many
diesel powered trucks as GMC and Dodge combined on a yearly basis.

I suspect a problem again with the high pressure oil pump that was replaced
when it died last month in Savannah. I noticed that there was a small pool
of very clear oil-like fluid under the engine. I am guessing, but I think
it may be the oil used in the high pressure pump that actuates the fuel
injectors.

Surprisingly the salesman that sold me the truck showed up at the dealership
as we were unloading it, even though they were closed. He has promised to
make it right, including a full price credit for another truck if I want. He
acknowledged that some of the 6.0 L engines had problems and he wanted to
check and record the build date of my truck, which turned out to be January,
2005. He then said they may replace the whole engine, depending on the
build date.

I am going to wait and see what the problem is. It may be something like a
connection to the pump that was not tightened properly when it was installed
in Savannah - or something like that. If it is another pump failure - then
I have to think about a replacement truck or replacement engine. Or a
bicycle.

It's been a hell of a week. The day the movers were packing up the Florida
house Mrs. E's car got run over by a Federal Express semi-trailer truck
just as the auto transport company showed up to take it to MA. Mrs. E's
fine, but her little BMW has a hood that looks like an accordian. The next
day when I went to pick up the Scout at the storage place I found the gate
chained and locked and the telephone service disconnected. They had gone
bankrupt the day before and were apparently in court receivership. I got
into the yard by following a guy who opened the gate and drove in. Turns
out he was a mechanic who used to work there and was picking up his tools.
When he opened the gate, I pulled up right behind him and blocked the gate
so they couldn't close it. It was quite a scene as I hooked up the boat
trailer while people were yelling at me that I couldn't take it. I did, but
it's quite a story.

Eisboch


Sometimes I think the more material things you have...the more trouble
you take on.
I believe in keeping it simple. own what you can keep on your
property....or in the case of a large boat...at a yacht club with proven
history.

déjà vu all over again
 

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:
"Skipper" wrote in message
...
Bert Robbins wrote:

Consumer Reports is a joke. They just do cursory evaluations of the
vehicles.
They're even worse with their boat reports. Many of the reports stoop to
the misleading superficial levels of a Chucky boat review.

--
Skipper

When did CR begin evaluating boats? There is nothing to that effect in
their index of reviews. Are you drunk again?
Many, many years ago, in the 1950s, CU used to evaluate outboard motors.
I'm not sure when that stopped. I don't recall any CU boat reviews, well,
maybe canoes.

No...nothing at all, at least as far back as their index goes, which is
quite a few years. It would be ridiculous anyway. Scupper's drunk again.

déjà vu all over again
 

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:
"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:
"Skipper" wrote in message
...
Bert Robbins wrote:

Consumer Reports is a joke. They just do cursory evaluations of the
vehicles.
They're even worse with their boat reports. Many of the reports stoop
to
the misleading superficial levels of a Chucky boat review.

--
Skipper
When did CR begin evaluating boats? There is nothing to that effect in
their index of reviews. Are you drunk again?
Many, many years ago, in the 1950s, CU used to evaluate outboard motors.
I'm not sure when that stopped. I don't recall any CU boat reviews,
well, maybe canoes.

No...nothing at all, at least as far back as their index goes, which is
quite a few years. It would be ridiculous anyway. Scupper's drunk again.

Maybe he's got that laser light pointed in the wrong direction.
You oughta zip down here to try out a variety of handguns before you buy
one...One of the local ranges has about 40 you can borrow and try out.

Harry, I won't even drive to certain parts of this city because commercial
strips disgust me so much. No way I'd drive that far to look at a gun! A
$3000.00 Alembic bass guitar....maybe. But not a gun.

déjà vu all over again
 

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...

6 liter diesel?

Yup. After the first breakdown I did a bunch of internet searching and
found that this engine, introduced in 2003 to replace the 7.3 L, has had
some serious teething issues but the 2005's (mine) are supposed to have
the problems resolved. It is, however, scheduled to be replaced with yet
another engine in 2007. I also searched GMC and Dodge diesel forums and
found both of them are full of horror stories of problems with the GM
Duromax engines and, in the case of Dodge, transmissions as well. BTW,
Ford sells as many diesel powered trucks as GMC and Dodge combined on a
yearly basis.


You sort of have to take what you read on the internet automotive forums
with a grain of salt. The number of people who take the time to praise
their vehicles on these forums is quite small when compared to the people
who are more than happy to take the time to bitch about whatever problems
they've had. In other words, it's hardly an unbiased sampling. I'm very
sorry to hear about the problems with your truck, Richard. I owned a 2000
7.3 F250 SuperDuty which was not a daily driver, but more of a tow vehicle
for the boat and weekend driver. In 5 years, I only put 50,000 miles on it,
but they were all trouble-free. In December 2004, I traded it for a 2005
model of the same truck with the 6.0 liter PowerStroke. Again, only about
10,000 miles since the trade, but they have all been trouble free. In fact,
the only work that's been done to it are oil and filter changes. As much as
I liked the 7.3, the 6.0 liter is so much more refined, as is the 2005 truck
over the 2000 model (both Lariats). The 6.0 liter behaves completely
different than the 7.3. It doesn't have near the low rpm grunt as the 7.3,
but get it above 1500 rpm and it's all there and then it winds almost like a
gasser. As a highway cruiser, the 6.0 is far superior. Much quieter and a
better powerband than the 7.3. As a stump puller, hard to beat the 7.3.
Much improved suspension on the 2005 model, as well as a much tighter
turning radius for the 4X4's. Point being, in spite of your troubles, it
might be premature to second-guess your purchase decision.

It was a smart move having the truck towed to the selling dealer. It sounds
like they will do whatever it takes to make things right and put your bad
luck behind you.

If you haven't found this place already, here's what I consider the best of
the Ford Truck forums:

http://forums.thedieselstop.com/ubbthreads/

And to a lesser extent:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/index.php

déjà vu all over again
 

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 13:41:22 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..

Actually, I had a ride in a Tundra the other day and was pleasantly
surprised - it seemed like a nice truck.

Not nice enough to replace my F-250 Super Duty 7.3 liter diesel 4x4,
but it was still nice.

I'm sure that if and when Toyota chooses to address that market niche,
they'll do so very nicely.

I'll tell you flat out - they build a truck the size of my F-250 with
a good solid diesel (that, I might add, they are fully capable of
making) with 4 wheel drive I would consider it. The only other
foreign car we've ever owned was a Corolla and that was a great little
car.

It's impossible to know why they haven't made such a truck. But, if I had to
take a guess, I'd say they think they cannot overcome the cultural inertia
that's still present in buyers for that type of vehicle. Cars are in a very
weird category of their own, compared with other products. I doubt many
people notice that their washing machine is made in Mexico, nor do they
really care. But cars occupy an almost religious place in the hearts of some
people.

déjà vu all over again :Subaru
 

On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 11:37:17 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

Hey, it works for me, that's all that counts.

=================================

How do you know?

déjà vu all over again
 

Harry Krause wrote:

I wouldn't buy a $500 piece of gear without trying it first.

Not sure we remember you relating tales of test rides in fab 36'
Zimmermanlike lobsta boats. I'm sure you would have told of such
adventures. Perhaps you can refresh our memories...

--
Skipper

déjà vu all over again
 

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 06:35:09 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

When I was actually in the market for a diesel truck, I almost bought a
Ford with the six liter engine, but I kept encountering tales of minor
and serious horror stories about the motor

That 6 liter has had a series of problems that the 7.3 never had.
Personally, I think it's way too small for the kind of torque it
produces and that's the major reason why it's having these kind of
problems.

I would have purchased a new diesel a couple of years ago, but I
wanted to stick with the 7.3 because I didn't think the 6 liter was
going to hold up - call it intuition I guess.

I'm glad I didn't.

The turbo is the problem. The high pressure pump on Eisboch, is not the
major source of the problem. Same Turbo as GM, but I understand GM uses
hydraulics to control the turbo (variable vane) and Ford uses electronics,
and the programming suxs.