Watch me make this trasmission fluid disappear

2,386 miles after the last repair I notice a rough shift into 2nd gear, so I checked the fluid and it seemed very low, so I added about 4 quarts. It still seemed low, but during a test drive around the block it was much quieter, so I thought it was fixed until the drive to work the next day. Very smokey. I had it towed to the dealership. They checked the ATF and saw that it was 2 quarts high. Which means that it was originally 2 quarts low before I added fluid. So in the two years between their replacement of the transmission and now 2 quarts have magically disappeared. So they drained the fluid to the appropriate level, but found no problems or leaks. They did notice however an oil leak, so it's back to the rebuild shop for repair.

Repair after repair

Remember what I said about each fix being the last one? After the rebuild it took a mere 3,412 miles for the check engine light to come on. Turns out I needed new front and rear catalytic convertors and two new oxygen sensors. Apparently the gallons and gallons of oil I was burning was clogging the cats.

2,488 miles after that the AC belt decides to start squeaking, so I try to fix it myself. How hard caan replacing a belt be. Well eventually it needed to be cut off because ater I had adjusted the tensioner to what I thought was correct, unknown to me it it was starting to jump off the pulley. Eventually the belt gets cut off and it's off to the dealership to replace a tensioner with strpped threads.

A Brief Shining Moment

You may be thinking this guy isn't very bright, he should have dumped that car long ago. You'd be right. You may also be thinking that this guy is pretty negative. Again, you'd be right. Which is why I'm making a positive entry about this car. I tore out the deck in my back yard and decided to recycle the wood instead of sending it to a landfill. Two loads to the recycler was all it took, and for one brief shining moment I actually liked the car.

Every Fix Is The Last Fix (or Now It's Done)

At this point I decide to begin keeping a log on this car: recording mileage, oil changes, repairs. Unfortunatly the log book only contains tales of woe, but at least now I can get really detailed with the problems. It's worth mentioning at this point that I have owned the car almost five years now and my average monthly payment so far is around $440.00.

Open Air Therapy

Having a car that's a lemon isn't too bad when your in-laws let you borrow a car for the duration of the repairs. 2003 Convertable Mustang GT. Three weeks of one hour sessions of open air therapy during the summer isn't so bad.

It Seemed Like a Good Plan

Because I don't know when to give up on a cursed car I send it over to the local engine rebuild shop. It seemed like a good plan at the time. The rebuild came with a 100,000 mile warranty, the body was in good shape, etc... The rebuild is done, more problems were discovered and fixed and now I've got a car that should last a good long time... right?

"It's Just You"

During my visit to the dealership to pick up the car, just after they told me the latest fix was "there is no fix, you need a new engine," I asked the tech if all 1999 Subaru's were like this. His response was "no, unfortunatly it's just you."