Preexisting Conditions

This is a venting post. And it is about my car. I hate that it is about my car because it seems that all I have been able to think about for the past month is car stuff. There are much more important things, but this is at the forefront of my mind lately. At least I got a break this weekend at a youth rally because I didn't think it was a problem anymore. But it is. Poor Betty is sick, and its making me blue. And here is the story. It is one of those cases (temporarily hopefully) of finding a deal that is too good to be true.

So Thursday October 26 I went to St. Louis to buy the exact car I wanted at an excellent price. I found it on Autotrader, and the Carfax checked out. I went there, test drove the car, and it was excellent. It ran smooth, had very good power, shifted very smooth, looked great, had new belts, hoses, wires, battery. The only thing wrong was cruise didn't work, but the dealer committed in writing that he would take care of the cost to fix it. I bought it as is, knowing Subaru's reputation and knowing how good my old one ran. I knew at around 160,000 I would likely have some major engine repair, but then it would keep running for another 160,000. I was very happy with my purchase. I drove it home, which is over 200 miles. It ran great. When I got home, I did smell some antifreeze. However, there is engine detailing stuff that smells an awful lot like antifreeze. I saw no leak, and I would keep tabs on it. It went away for a couple days. Must have been the detailing stuff. I am enjoying my new car.

I was driving last Wednesday and the engine started having a peculiar hum. Actually I thought it was kind of cool. I wasn't use to how an Outback engine ran with so few miles. Then I looked down at my dashboard. My engine heat was nearly topped out (a problem I never had with Alice). I was close enough to the church that I figured I could get it back there. On the way, the temperature leveled back out, very quickly. Then it overheated again. I looked when I got to the church, and engine coolant had spilled from the reserve tank. No leaks, plenty of fluid. It must be the thermostat. I decided I would try to drive it the 15 minutes home to Martin that night, and no overheating. It was fine for short trips. I got the thermostat replaced Friday, and had a radiator flush just in case there was a blockage. It was great on Friday. I went to the youth rally focused on what I should have been focused on, which was keeping the guys away from the girls cabins.

Sunday, after coming back from the youth rally I am going to lunch. Right as I am getting close to my destination, about 15 minutes away from the church, it starts overheating, cooling down, overheating. I drive it home to Martin, about 15 minutes away, and it starts overheating a half mile from home. As I get close to my home, I hear something dragging. Grrrrr. I get home and the look under the car. The bubbling coolant melted a plastic guard under the car.

This morning I call the Subaru Specialist in California (Barsotti's Auto Care if you own a Subaru in northern California. This guy is outstanding. He gives me free advice even though I can't really be his customer anymore.) I explain it. He tells me 99 Outbacks apparantly don't have very good head gaskets, and the replacements are a redesigned version. He replaced the one in Alice when I had to get my valves cleaned out, since he already had the engine apart, but that was at 170,000 miles, and the engine gasket was worn, but not yet bad. Betty's head gasket is bad. That is a $1,500-$2,000 repair, and one that I expected AT 170,000 MILES! But the problem has sporatic symptoms. It doesn't react like a normal engine with a bad head gasket. First, Subarus have two head gaskets and second Subarus have a symmetrically opposed boxer engine (the cylinders move sideways, Porche is the only other company that makes these type of engines) it reacts much differently. The overheating problem will come and go. If the engine is running at normal temperature, there are no symptoms. And it is not something that a 40 point or 140 point inspection will reveal if it doesn't happen while its tested. The only way to test for it is do a hydrocarbon emissions test (not part of regular state emission testing) or to take the cap off the radiator and see if the fluid starts bubbling after the car runs for awhile. The symptoms might show up on a 15 minute drive and not show up on a 200 mile drive.

Okay, that is really annoying. I call the Subaru of America hotline mostly to complain about there not being a recall since the redesign admits guilt, and to mention that I have had to have this repair done on two Subarus, conviently leaving out that it never was a problem with the old car of course. They say they are aware of the problem. They say they extended a warranty to cover this problem, sort of. Anyways, I'm not elgible, because their warranty covers something that will keep the coolant from spitting out the reserve tank, but not fix the engine problem. Huh? But they might consider doing the work at a discount if a Subaru dealership identifies the problem. But I would have to prove that all the maintenance was kept up. I have no maintenance records. Since the nearest Subaru dealership is 100 miles away, I am not in position to drive it to one. So I would have to tow it to a dealership, have them officially diagnose the problem, and hope that the review board will approve my repair. Not likely. I'm annoyed and wondering how I will pay for the repair. A supervisor from Subaru is supposed to call me tomorrow.

I decided to call the Subaru dealership in St. Louis to see if they had repairs on record. It was a local St. Louis car. They had all the records. It was very well maintained. Then the service told me something very interesting. At 65,000, the car was found to have a BAD HEAD GASKET and a CLUTCH PROBLEM (which I haven't experienced yet and am much less concerned about since it is a "wear out" item.) So instead of fixing it, the previous owner traded it in, and they moved it to their wholesale lot, not fixing the problem (this was told to me by the service guy, I wish I had recorded it). There is a record of this being bad. I have those records being mailed to me at least. I call the guy I bought the car from. He tells me that if the gasket was bad, it wouldn't have been able to drive it home. I tell him that isn't true for this type of engine, because I called Barsotti (I had him call Barsotti about the cruise). I tell him it is on record at the dealership and the problem only shows up sometimes. He knew nothing about the problem and it never happened the 75 miles he had it and he will talk to the dealership.

Next call is placed to a lawyer friend of mine (one of the few good ones) and he tells me the best I can do is call the Missouri consumer protection government thingy, or whatever you call it, and register a complaint and hope for the best. I call and the lady just tells me there is an "as is" law in Missouri and tells me it is impossible to not know a car has a bad head gasket, so it happened in my possession and I am screwed. She didn't bother to listen about the "different type of engine" part, ignored the thing about it being on record at the dealership, called me an idiot basically, and gave me another number to call. Fine, I'd rather talk to someone that will listen when its obvious I do know what I am talking about.

The guy I bought the car from calls me back and the dealership isn't really being helpful to him, and he wants me to call the dealership back and find out if the car was traded in the same day the problem was diagnosed. I hope I can get the information tomorrow, but I am afraid the department will not tell me tomorrow in an attempt to cover their butt. But this is really good information to know when the Subaru of America supervisor calls tomorrow.

So right now Betty Blue is sitting in the driveway and I will not drive her until the problem is fixed. I am determined short of a lawsuit (only because the cost of that would be higher than paying for the repair myself) to not pay for the repair. And if it is the dealership that didn't disclose the information (and that is what I am inclined to believe at the moment, but I could be wrong) I might have them look at the clutch while they fix my engine, and replace that plastic piece of course. I'll bite to $38.00 bullet on the thermostat. The problem was a documented preexisting condition.

So it might be the dealership, or the guy I bought it from, or both. But somebody knew it was bad and sold it without disclosing that information. And I'm upset about it, because I was advertised and promised a car in excellent condition.

Now, in all this, I realize that I am a spoiled American consumer that can have these expectations. But since I can have them, I'll use them.

Current form of transporation-a 200? Ford Econoline called the church van.

If you are buying a 99 Subaru, I can tell you what problems to look for, but overall, they really are excellent cars, and I know no discontent owners. I may now be the most discontent one I know.

In the medical insurance world, I can be rejected for preexisting conditions. Let's see if that goes the other way against a business.

I'll be happy when I can focus on people again and get my head out of the stuff world. It feels very stuffy and stressful.

Written to "Spin This" which is a sample CD of some indie Christian alternative that is quite good. Edited to "Time-Life Treasury of Bluegrass Music."