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Originally Posted by clyde
Will fill in details later this evening, but I need to replace the Outback pretty much immediately. Short version is transmission is failing, doesn't seem to be cost effective to repair, and the cost of replacing is nuts (and the cost of used transmissions and the amount of time I'd need to find one, get it, then get it in the car makes it an unappealing path). There's a slim chance I can get Subaru to goodwill a replacement or eat enough of the cost that it would be worth doing, but I'm not counting on it.
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My wife texted me on Tuesday the check engine, an "AT Oil Temp" light, traction control, BRAKE, and cruise control lights went on, but it was driving fine. I put my scanner on and read two codes: P0700 and P2764 which suggests that a solenoid in the valve body has gone bad. Subaru doesn't make the solenoids easily accessible and the normal repair is to replace the valve body, a $600ish part. Clearing codes worked for about 3 seconds.
I took it to a mechanic Wednesday morning. I've gone to him for the few things I've needed over the past 15 years. He's inexpensive, seems honest, quick, doesn't do work if he doesn't think the car needs it. He said the transmission has issues and suggested taking it to a transmission shop or dealer. I did not know that he does not do transmission work.
Drove it home and found another shop I've never heard of but had a ton of good Yelp and Google reviews. Called and set it up for my wife to bring the car this morning. Guy called me while I was on the way home on the Subway and told me that the car needs a new transmission. It was throwing more codes than I had last seen that led him to believe that the trans will shortly be on its way out. He couldn't find any remans, only a few used that he thought were way too expensive and priced closely to what new ones from Subaru would cost. He doesn't think it's worth replacing in this situation. Said he could give me a recommendation for a couple good shops that do transmission overhauls, but is pretty sure that will be ridiculously expensive. He thought the best thing to do would be to drive it straight to Carmax and take whatever they offer.
The weird thing is that a couple years ago, Subaru extended the original transmission warranty from 5/60 to 10/100 (and I must have missed the notice in the mail). For cars that were already beyond the mileage or age limit when the warranty extension was announced, there was a calendar date end to qualifying:
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Vehicles that exceed the terms of this extended warranty are eligible for warranty repairs if inspections and repairs are completed prior to July 31, 2018. After that time, all inspections and repairs must be completed prior to the 10 year or 100,000 mile warranty extension limits.
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At the time this was announced, the car about four years old and had about 100k. It's kind of weird since the warranty extension would have covered me for just a few days since the original began in July 2013.
I'm going to call Subaru in the morning and see if they might be willing to goodwill a transmission or cover a substantial portion.
Without the transmission problem, I figure the car is worth $5000 tops (probably less). It's got a lot of miles, twice wrecked, looks like crap, etc. Mechanically sound until the other day. The only real problem we've had was a bad tank of gas about a year ago. I've had to replace control arms like crazy, but it's not the car's fault my wife treats curbs like I treat cones.
My wife will pick up the car in the morning and go get an offer from Carmax. I'm guessing they will offer $500-$1500. Hopefully, I'll have an answer from Subaru by then and we'll figure out what to do.