DD woes

[Fast One]

My POS 2004 Rendezvous radiator sprung a leak on my way home from mom's 98th birthday party up in Warroad. Went through nearly 5 gal of 50/50 antifreeze in ~360 mi to get home. Cheap-ass throw-away radiator with a tinfoil-thin aluminum core & cheap plastic side tanks. Fucking 2-core POS is so thin, it looks like a 1-core aluminum job from the old days!

Got an appt on Tues morning at the Steve's Tire & Auto on 46th & Nicollet. Fuck, I bought it for $500 in 2020 after I had a seizure while driving my 2002 GTP Special Edition & totaled it, and I've dumped nearly $3k into the turdmobile since then. Had ~215k on the clock when I bought it & now it's ~225k. Guess that's what I get for buying a $500 rust-free runner w/AWD.

[MR.hp]

My POS 2004 Rendezvous radiator sprung a leak on my way home from mom's 98th birthday party up in Warroad. Went through nearly 5 gal of 50/50 antifreeze in ~360 mi to get home. Cheap-ass throw-away radiator with a tinfoil-thin aluminum core & cheap plastic side tanks. Fucking 2-core POS is so thin, it looks like a 1-core aluminum job from the old days!

Got an appt on Tues morning at the Steve's Tire & Auto on 46th & Nicollet. Fuck, I bought it for $500 in 2020 after I had a seizure while driving my 2002 GTP Special Edition & totaled it, and I've dumped nearly $3k into the turdmobile since then. Had ~215k on the clock when I bought it & now it's ~225k. Guess that's what I get for buying a $500 rust-free runner w/AWD.

Ya that sucks Joel, that's why I stopped driving GM cars years ago. I drive an old 05 Hyundai Accent with 173K on the meter. Bought it with 128K and ya I have had to fix things but damn this car has been pretty much trouble free. I like working on the Hyundai cars, pretty easy. Now I want to find one of those newer ones that the cranks go bad on for cheap and rebuild the engine myself. I really like the 2011-2014 Sonata, my Son has a 2015 Sonata with 36K on it and has only has one failure happen in that time period. My wife's 2011 Silverado has never been in the shop for anything but piddly stuff when it was under warranty. There is an open air bag recall on it, but I found that the dash has to come apart to fix it, which means some dumb fuck tech will screw it up and we will have a truck full of rattles. No thanks.

[Fast One]

Hunting for Subie Outbacks. Looking at a 2011 & a 2012 with the 255 HP 3.6L engine, heated seats, mirrors & wipers, 440W HK 5.1 surround audio system, Bluetooth, the navigation system, plus a bunch of other options. Going test-drives tomorrow @ Cornerstone Auto in Elk River & @ Quinn Motors in Shakopee.

[Fast One]

Well...I test-drove both of the 3.6L Outbacks. Nice 'n perky with the torquey, 256 HP flat-6 - but both have issues.

The 2011 w/140k miles is a rust-belt job. No exterior rust, but all of the exposed nuts & bolts under the hood & the alternator have plenty of corrosion. Also has one rusted-out muffler, which they said they'll replace. It also a pretty significant lifter tick on a cold startup. That went away after a couple minutes - but after my rather spirited test-drive, the engine sounded "busy" & I could smell burnt oil under the hood. Sales rep admitted that their mechanic had noted some seepage from the oil pan & one of the valve-covers. I know that the Subie 3.6 uses timing-chains w/automatic hydraulic tensioners instead of belts. The "busy" sound reminds me a lot of a loose/bad timing-chain in an old-school V8. Not gonna pay over $12k for a 2012 Subie that's rusty underneath & will also probably need some engine work soon.

The 2012 w/179k miles is a Florida car. Definitely in better shape when it comes to rust & the engine doesn't have any noticeable issues - but it has a bad steering-wheel shake at certain turn angles & the front tires are seriously cupped. They did replace all 4 rotors & pads. They also put a new heater fan in it, but the fucker howls like a banshee on anything lower than high speed. That one's $9k, but I told 'em that they'll have to fix the heater noise & also fix the front-end issue before I'll buy it.

Got a feeling that I'll still be on the hunt next week. I'm not married to Subies - just want a reliable AWD vehicle that can haul large RC planes (need ~70" from the ass to the back of the front seats) that also has a decent symmetrical AWD system instead of the crappy mainly FWD bullshit, has decent handling, decent acceleration, and gets at least 25 MPG or so on the highway.

[Fast One]

Both of the 3.6L Outbacks had serious issues. Bought this 2012 2.5L Outback Limited yesterday. Only 79k miles. Fully-decked, including the 440W HK 5.1 surround audio system, heated seats/mirrors/wipers, posi rear end, leather, 10-way pwr driver's seat, navigation, etc! With only 170 HP & the CVT tranny, it's slower than old people screw - but it should last me for a couple decades if I live that long!




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[MR.hp]

Looks like a nice SUV Joel

[Fast One]

Thanks! Just got it home today. Runs like it's new! 440W HK 5.1 surround audio kicks ass! Got my phone paired to the Bluetooth. Trying to figure out how to download my phone's contact list to the car. Modern problems, right?

[Fast One]

Update...

The car developed a serious steering-wheel shake above ~70 MPH. Didn't notice it during the test drive, but then I didn't get it up to interstate speed for more than a couple miles. It also developed a fucking scary brake-shake! Brought it in to Walser Experienced Autos (where I bought it). Turned out that a wheel weight had fallen off one of the front wheels, plus the left-front caliper stuck & toasted the rotor. They installed a new LF caliper, rotor & pads, and re-balanced the tires for free, under their certified used auto policy, Now it's smooth as silk up to 90+ MPH - and with 10" of ground clearance, a limited-slip real end & limited-slip center diff, it can plow snow up to the headlights.

[Fast One]

Now I've had a chance to put some miles on it after they replaced the LF brake assy & rebalanced the front tires. Drives great! Gas mileage is up to ~30 MPG on the highway & ~24 MPG in town. Much better than the ~21 MPG on the highway & ~18 MPG in town that I was getting when the LF caliper was stuck.

Only complaint I have is that it is really, really slow. 0-60 MPH in ~10 sec. Knew that before & looked for a 3.6R version, which has 256 net HP & a real 5-speed auto instead of the CVT. They do 0-60 MPH in ~6 sec. But I couldn't find one within 50 mi of the metro area that didn't have serious issues. So I went for a lower-mile 170 HP 2.5L version with the power-robbing CVT.
Did I mention that it's slower than old people screw?