What does not live...

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Yet will not die!!!
Just got my '05 Subaru Forrester back from the shop.
The service manager has been sending his kids to private school (abroad) since we bought this thing.
In the past 4 years (3 years and six months after we bought it) it's been in 18 times for any number of niggling, drastic or potentially lethal faults - all of which are unrelated.
Always it soldiers on for about three months then develops some other defect that was usually found only in North Korean cars of the 70s.
It always sets me back too much money, yet not enough to justify sending it over a cliff or paying some yobbo to steal it. It has the trade-in value of a log and my insurer is gonna know I'm trying to pull a fast one if it catches fire.
So its probably with me until one of us dies.

My question is:
What have you got that fits this criterion?
Something so faulty or rubbish that you wish someone would steal it, yet you must hang onto it because there's no realistic alternative.

Idle teenagers and defective spouses not eligible .

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

My match stick house in Brisbane! Small, costly repairs, hard to renovate due to weird period council laws.....but it is home!

[Astro_Bot]

A Telstra T-Box. Buggiest piece of **** I've ever had the displeasure to own.

Regarding the Forrester: clearly you were bad in a past life and this is your punishment.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Astro_Bot

A Telstra T-Box. Buggiest piece of **** I've ever had the displeasure to own.

Regarding the Forrester: clearly you were bad in a past life and this is your punishment.

You know, I'm beginning to wonder......

[DavidU (Dave)]

Pete, that sounds worse than my Jag, and that's bad !

[blink138 (Pat)]

it sounds like you got a "friday afternoon" car there mate.... unfortunately can still happen!
pat

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

I've got an 86 Navarra - hasn't been in the shop since 1990 (when I got it)


Forester eh? Well there ya go bud.

[Barrykgerdes]

I will have my first car expense in six years today. A new set of tyres, my garage man says I will need them for rego this year.

Incidently the amount of tread is still at a level we would have called new new in 1952 when tyres were very expensive and in short supply.

Barry

[Baddad (Marty)]

Hi Peter,

Write a letter listing the repair details and problems to Subaru Customer Services.

It may not achieve anything but then again it may.
I personally know first hand where a friend/owner of a Kawasaki M/C had the bike rebuilt.

Companies do not like to have their products instigate negative exposure.
A car of that age, you'd expect to be more reliable.

Hope it goes well for you.

Cheers

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by Baddad

Hi Peter,

Write a letter listing the repair details and problems to Subaru Customer Services.

It may not achieve anything but then again it may.
I personally know first hand where a friend/owner of a Kawasaki M/C had the bike rebuilt.

Companies do not like to have their products instigate negative exposure.
A car of that age, you'd expect to be more reliable.

Hope it goes well for you.

Cheers

I used to walk past a house (on a fairly busy road) that had a near-new Merc A-Class in the drive. They had lemon stickers on it and stickers which read 'This A-Class is a Lemon'. Their tale of woe (I forget the details) made it into the local paper. I don't know what happened in the end but you can see how Merc may have been a bit touchy. To be fair, you should try to get satisfaction through more appropriate channels before going the public humiliation route.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Marty
Alas, we boght it second-hand and off warranty.
It does seem to be a 'Friday Arvo' vehicle though as all the other Subarus around here seem to function well enough.

On the up-side, my 17 year-old Hilux and 20 year old 911 function flawlessly (praise God, touch wood, cross fingers).

We also had a Nissan Pulsar that we drove from Melbourne to Cape York over some of the skankiest roads in the country.
It was my company car and could therefore be thrashed mercilessly!
It never missed a beat, though the seats were chronically uncomfortable after about 200 miles.

[gregbradley]

Regarding the Forrester: clearly you were bad in a past life and this is your punishment. [/QUOTE]


Funniest post I have read in a long time!!

Greg.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Unusual, Subies are normally pretty good. I had an Outback for 4 years and other than tyres, battery and the cam belt it never let me down. Saved my 'life' once when it got tail ended by a taxi ( Ford !! ) Between the towbar and the rear bumper the taxi was dead, radiator punctured, front cross member bent and his front bumper fell off !! I just drove off with a slightly bent rear door and bumper brackets. The boot well was a bit distorted but that was it...
We've got Mitsi VR4's with twin turbos etc now and they are pretty good although they need servicing every 5000 km. Turbos need GOOD oil at the bearings !!
Reliable, go Toyota or Nissan, my first company car went for 240,000 km and the engine bay was still clean. Did 180,000 on the old 2.2 Camry and never touched it.
I do think that your service history is unusual though.

[lacad01 (Adam)]

That's a bummer Peter . I had a mid 80's Subaru Leone which I bought from a friend about 15 years ago. Apart from new clutch and brakes, the beast just kept going and going.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

SHMBO had a Liberty which would simply cut out at random times. For instance while waiting to turn right at the very busy lights on the way to school.

A few Subaru dealers looked at it and could never fix it. Left to cool for a few minutes, or tipping a bottle of water over something or other (forget what bit it was) and it would start and probably run for the rest of the day.

She gave up and traded it for an Elantra which never had a problem in 7 years.

[clive milne]

Peter... buy a Ducati (preferably one of the old bevel drives) and ride it for a year.
You will see your Forrester in a whole new light after enduring such punishment.

[ourkind (Carlos)]

Originally Posted by Astro_Bot

A Telstra T-Box. Buggiest piece of **** I've ever had the displeasure to own.

Why on earth did I ever I agree to this

Car-wise owned a BMW, Saab (don't even start) and now a Merc and I've never had an issue + all were non expensive to service, all those stories about it being so are just that, stories.

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Have never thought highly of Subarus

The old fellow I look after has an 04 Forester. Developed a thud-thud on acceleration. Centre diff gone. Over $2000 in repairs. Car has only done 150k. Believe this is a "common problem" - Look out if this has not happened to yours yet.

Now our Toyota Prado 180k. Never been in a professional shop except for tyres and broken windscreens. Off road all the time. Still going strong. Can't kill it with a stick.

[RB (Andrew)]

We were under the assumption that the Subarus were fairly reliable until we did some checking. Stayed right away from them.

We recently replaced our Toyota Sahara '92 model with a newer Toyota Landcruiser.
The old Sahara has done over 500,000 km and going well, but time to sell her.

Glad I didn't go the Subaru route.

Andrew

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Originally Posted by clive milne

Peter... buy a Ducati (preferably one of the old bevel drives) and ride it for a year.
You will see your Forrester in a whole new light after enduring such punishment.

Been there, done that.
Weirdly enough, it - a 1979 750 - was one of the most reliable vehicles I ever owned. Only had one electrical fault which was fixed with some silicone sealer.
Another almost fault-free vehicle was a 1980 Alfa-Romeo Spyder I bought at a police auction!!
Actually, I seem to luck-out on all the supposedly dodgy cars and bikes.
So if anyone is thinking of buying an exotic something-or-other, give me a call and I'll "douse" it for you.