No More Subaru

No More Subaru - AND THERE WAS MUCH REJOICING!!!!!

Well last night we turned in the old Subaru for a new Pontiac G5. I have to say it was mixed emotions to part with it. It hurt a bit as it was Dad’s car and all but what hurt more was that it was paid for. Of course the fact that the car was paid for was the only reason I kept it since it was a Subaru and SUCKED as a car but for the most part it ran and was paid off.

Now it finally will cost more to fix than a new car so it is toast. I took it to a non Subaru mechanic I trust and was told that if I was thinking of a new car now would be a good time. . . The ox sensor was gone and the catalytic converter was gone (both have already been replaced once in the three years I have had the car. He also told me the catalytic converters in these car tend to fail ever few years due to the gas additives or something, so I can expect to keep replacing them every few years for big $$. Those two things were $900 to fix (don’t want to think about what the dealer would have wanted for it). Then you can add the water pump and timing belt were over due and could fail any time $1200 bucks in the next few months. Add to that breaks and tiers that are worn and I was looking at $2500 to $3K in the next six months assuming nothing else died on that piece of crap. Not to mention that I have already had to change the alternator twice, Spark plug wires, took an act of god to replace the air filter, and a number of other things (usually they wanted a grand to fix things every time it went in the shop for an oil change or sticker) and I don’t know what Dad fixed while he had it. . . .

So it is gone. Don’t ever buy a Subaru, they suck. My GM cars have all gone over 100K mile with none of these problems. My S-10 Blazer had 180K on it when I traded it in after 8 years on the road. My pick up has 110K miles on it now and the only repair other than tires on it has been break lines after 10 years on the road and a fuel pump and alternator at 9 year on the road. Now that is a good car.

Add to that the fact that I work for a Japanese company and know how they screw the workers so if I am spending that kind of money I want to spend it with a US firm. I want to keep the money here in the US. I don’t care if Toyota or whoever build the cars here, the money goes there to corporate so sorry folks, can’t do. . . .

I will post a photo tonight or in the next few days when I can, rather booked for the next day or so.

Thoughts on the G5 so far? Great car for what it is. It is a 4 cylinder econo box. Not a lot of pick up but the ride is smooth and she handles well. OnStar seems cool and I like the fact it can play MP3 CDs and I can also tie in my MP3 player to the stereo. It came with XM Satellite too but I can’t see paying for that when I can put in a cd or listen to local radio. I would have killed for XM years ago when I traveled a lot and lost radio stations but that is not an issue now. OnStar does a bunch of cool stuff beyond just unlocking doors or calling 911 for you. They also check the car monthly and send me a report by email on anything it needs like air in the tier or an oil change – now that is cool. . . I will post more in it as I drive it and believe me you will hear the good and bad if there is anything worth posting. . .