Two years prior I purchased my first sports car, a 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STI in World Rally Blue with the Silver BBS Wheels (I could not get my wife to agree to the Goldie's no matter how badly I wanted them). I first fell in love with the idea of an AWD 300HP Sports Car a few years before that when a fellow gear head work mate showed me the 22B and the kind of numbers and times it was capable of. I needed to get rid of my slow little truck and get a fast car, something with soul and this car had it.
I had been looking at the WRX since it first came to the states in 2002 and while I still to this day love the looks of the 2002-2003 "Bug Eye" Rexes, I really wanted the STI Variant. 2004 was the first year of the "blob eye" Impreza and with it came the first Generation of the USDM STI.
To purchase new was a bit out of the question for my means at the time, so in September of 2005 I bought a slightly used one with only 10,400 miles on the clock, it was just barely broken in and sitting at Bob Baker Subaru down in El Cajon, CA. The man who only drove it less than a year and 10k miles needed a larger family vehicle and had traded it in on a Mini-van, something I vowed to never do. While my wife knew I wanted one and had sorta given her blessing for me to get a car, she was not aware of this particular purchase until I met her driving in on her way home from visiting family for the weekend. She was all frowns until I put her in the drivers seat and I instantly saw that crazy driving 17 year old girl I fell in love with 10 years prior. I was 28 years old and finally owned a car with soul.
This was going to be my main driver and did a lot of driving for work. I knew the modding scene was hot and followed what the trends were, but I had made the decision to keep the car stock because the performance was more than I needed for street driving and the occasional canyon run. I was not taking this car to the track.
This car had SOUL. The boxer grumble, the stiff clutch and 6 speed gear box, the whoosh of the intake when the turbo spun up, the continuous grip, even in the wet. I was smitten, and I got to drive it every day and loved every min of it. My wife never fully understood why I was happy as a clam to drive a loud vehicle with stiff suspension and a clutch every single day, even in traffic. But I love it.
On the weekends I took every opportunity drive it if I could. We took it on a few road trips to Arizona to visit family, loving the huge power to pass slower traffic and set minor land speed records in the middle of the desert. We even took it up to the speed governor once in the middle of the night on a Christmas Eve with no other cars around for miles. It was glorious.
Then one horrible day, May 30, 2010, just another day on my way into work I was not paying attention, entered an on-ramp turn too fast and went into a un-powered 4 wheel drift. The car hopped a few times and ended up going down a small embankment, ran over a small tree and busted the front up a bit. I was not racing anyone, I was not late, it was just a stupid mistake. I was very angry with myself.
The Insurance company claimed the cost of repairs would be too high, even though the cost would not surpass the actual value. Even after my pleading they decided to "salvage" the vehicle, but this car had too much SOUL to let it go to the crusher or auction or to be parted out. It would of broke my heart, so I purchased the car back from the Insurance company who agreed to keep it on my policy with liability only if I could prove that it had been made road worthy. I got this done, though I would not have the cash to get it fully fixed for a while longer, it still needed some more work. It now had 102k miles and I went ahead and had the timing belt replaced for good measure, it was worth doing while the front of the car was sorta off it and led to a small discount on the work.
It sat in my garage for at least a year before I could afford to get it running again and I drove it for a few more years on occasion with no front bumper cover and a dinged hood. At this point it was our third vehicle and no longer needed to be a daily driver, so this was fine, I was fine with a slow re-build. I was never going to sell this car, it would be a forever project. It had Soul.
Eventually I started to notice the car was sipping coolant leading me to believe the head gasket had started to go in at least one location, something these motors are know for due to a multi-layer gasket and no head studs to torque down super tight. The car now had 132k miles and the clutch was probably due to be replaced, the AC Condenser had finally failed, it had been bent up a bit in the crash, but held pressure for a few years and had worked fine after a re-charge. My wife and I discussed it and put aside some money to get this big work done with the thought that spending some money now meant we could keep the car as a reliable runner for many years and miles to come, and with a new baby in our life, our first, a son, my goal was to eventually give the car to him and have it be the vehicle he learned to drive manual on. This car has Soul.
This is where the story takes a dark turn. Two months ago we decide to go through with the work, I had a mechanic I had been using for nine years who has worked on many of my cars including this STI and they were certain they could do the work. I also had a local Subaru Specialist quote me the work, and they were $200 cheaper, but I knew the first guys and I liked them and knew their work, so I brought the car in for the overhaul. $4800 later I had a fresh top end, new rubber hoses everywhere, new Clutch, new AC Condenser, new Battery, new Plugs New Head Gaskets and a Stud Kit so the head Gaskets would last for life. Life was good. The car felt good under boost and no longer leaked coolant. I was happy as a clam, especially because there was no report of anything else being wrong from my mechanic. I had addressed all his concerns I had not originally planned for while the motor was out, Battery, plugs and new Hoses. But it was worth it I justified, the car had soul and needed these things.
I drove it to work a few times because this has been the wettest year I can recall here in San Diego (my normal daily ride is a motorcycle), and put a few hundred miles on the car.
On one of these days I get a check engine light on the dash, so I drive directly back to the shop and they find it is a VVT Solenoid, the motor work was under a warranty so the shop ordered a new one and just replaced it for me. I did not know and the shop did not know this was possibly a sign of something worse.
Two days later I need to take it to work again and as I exited the freeway near my work I heard an odd noise from the turbo. I parked it and called my shop to tell them I was bringing it back in to be looked at that afternoon.
On the drive to the shop the turbo stopped making boost and threw a check engine light. I nursed it to the shop with the realization that shortly after having this work done the Turbo failed.
Shop tells me, No Problem, they work on Turbo Diesels all the time and have done many turbo replacements, they even had a few turbo diesels in the shop when I dropped it off. When I get the quote for the Turbo, I see the OEM model is $1300. I thought about getting a $400 turbo elsewhere, but my shop convinced me to get the OEM model since it would come with a 1 year warranty from Subaru and they would warranty the work for 1 year. It was worth it, the car had soul.
Then I get a disheartening call, the new turbo failed during testing. He tells me something about Banjo Bolts being clogged with metal bits... I had never heard of a Banjo Bolt before. What the shop did not realize is the Turbo on a Subaru, at least on this model, can produce small metal fibers when a turbo fails that can get into the oil supply and the bajo bolt filters are designed to catch any bits that are not caught by the oil filter so they do not get into the turbo and cause further failure. Well, the shop had apparently not changed the oil when the first turbo was replaced. They also did not do enough research to find that it would of been prudent to change the Oil Cooler and the Oil Pump and get the Oil Gallies cleaned at the same time. They replace this turbo under warranty and tell me this second time they are pretty sure it is good to go. I come and pay the $2280 for the turbo replacement. The car has soul, it was worth it.
Right before I drive off the main mechanic who worked on the car mentioned that he noticed play in the turbo shaft back when they first pulled the motor out for the head gasket change, but he "did not want to tell me back then because he did not think I would want to spend more money on it since I was doing so much work right then and there". I did not show it, but this angered me very much, I could have avoided all this turbo failing nonsense if they had told me that before and then I could have made the decision to replace the turbo then.... BEFORE IT FAILED.
Whatever, the car was running, and I was happy to drive it home. I only live about 5 miles from the shop and less than a mile from home I hear a nasty whine coming from the turbo..... oh crap, it is starting to fail yet again.
I park it and call the shop and let them know the car is coming back in a few days when I can get a tow truck to come get it. It has soul, it is worth it. My wife is starting to seriously doubt there is any soul worth saving, but I still believe.
Shop has it a week or so and they have been communicating with the Subie Shop to get advice on what to do with the car(They guys I did not take it to the first time and whom I should have taken it to...). They ask me if they have permission to tow the truck over to the Subie Shop and I grant it. I am under the impression they are planning to pay for the tow as well as the work the Subie Shop is recommending.
NOPE.
This is a huge slap in the face, here I have spent over $7,000 with them in the last two months and they are handing me off to another shop because they cannot do the work correctly and failed to do some key things when the turbo failed. And they are claiming they "did everything right" and this is not their fault. After nine years of being a loyal customer and talking them up to everyone I know as a reliable trustworthy shop, I am getting the shaft and the soul of my car is starting to die....
At this point my wife and I have a conversation, it felt like we were discussion putting the dog down, I was probably going to lose my friend, my car, though it still has soul, is starting to become a place to throw money and not see much in return.
I am literally dreaming of this at night in anguish.
Perhaps it is time to let it go, to get a more family friendly vehicle, something to just get the job done. Something without soul.
I end up paying the Subie Shop for the tow and inspection work and limp the car home, trying to keep the vehicle out of boost and cringing at the scraping noise anytime the turbo does spin up a bit.
I have convinced the first shop to return the $2280 I paid for the failed turbo replacement by threatening litigation, something I really do not want to do at all. I still like those people, they are just not seeing this situation the same way I am and it disappoints me to no end.
I am now faced with a few options;
- Try to get a dealer to take the car on a trade-in, I am not sure what they will give me and I won't be able to fool anyone that the car is in good running shape. With the noises it is making the turbo that has less than 30 miles on it sounds like it could fail at any time.
- Try a fix with the Subie Shop that involves rebuilding the turbo, getting the oil galleys cleaned to make sure all the metal bits are out, new oil cooler, new oil pump, put it back together and hope that all the metal bits are gone and the car has new life, this is another $2000 option, and carries not warranty or guarantees.
- Complete new bottom end replacement, new oil cooler, new oil pump and turbo rebuild. This would be a guaranteed fix and runs $7100. This is not something I can afford right now.
- Sell the car as it sits now, bring a trailer or risk driving it home, but no test drives, I have no idea what the car is worth in it's current state, and I might not get enough to have any decent down payment on something else....
- Non-op the car and park it until we can afford a major fix or figure out what to do with it....
I know it's got soul..... and it is ripping me apart.......
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