Bye Bye SVX
 

Well, it looks like the SVX is going to get scrapped.

A few weeks ago, I was told by an official Subaru mechanic to keep driving the car since no problems could be found. Now I am being told by a mechanic that I trust, that I need 4000 Swiss francs or about 3,200 USD to fix the car. And that is on top of the 700 euro or 870 USD that we already spent on the new radiator last month.

A simple gas test showed with no doubt that the head gaskets are bad.... very bad. I was told I was lucky that nothing happened on the way down, a tribute to my decent driving skills or/and pure dumb luck. He also easily got the car to start overheating just by taking it out for a short drive and going up a steeper hill a bit more aggressively. Really makes me wonder just what the other guy did with our car for a whole week!

The transmission is leaking a bit, which also must be fixed. The brakes are totally shot - actually blue and need new rotors. Mechanic would try to salvage them to save a bit of money for us but is not very hopeful. There are a few other minor items which might as well be all done at the same time. And then we would still need new winter tires in a few months.

(please insert your favourite swear words here now)

Sorry to hear of your misfortune with your car. Have you perhaps considered a used or perhaps new Subaru WRX as a replacement? With the cars long history of reliability and advanced 4-wheel drive system along with good all season radials it should be able to handle even more adverse weather than your SVX and be far more reliable.


http://www.jpdirect.co.uk/images/cars/wrx/impreza2.jpg

:(

sorry to hear this...

Way sorry... I felt how much you love your car from your previous posts.... can you donate her to one of the many SVX salvage groups? We need them...

I am so sorry to hear that. I have been following your repair adventure from the start. I hope everything works out. :(

Having been stationed in Germany-having owned a couple Porsches while living there and driven MANY other touring sedans (in that area BTW):

Now wondering what it would be like being back with my SVX- I am so truely sorry for you.

Damn, I hope you find a good replacement car. :(

Man!!! is that our SVX you are talking about? I am sorry for that... can't you locate another SVX over there? or another used engine in good condition... :confused: + brakes? I dunno I hope you will keep on the SVX either Fix or Replace...

yours would be the JDM right hand drive correct?
were those the ones with the 4ws?

if so, it might be worthwile to ebay it or someting, as opposed to getting it scrapped and wasted.

just a thought

sorry to hear about your loss though, :(

Right hand drive? In Germany? Oh no!, they are lefties same as USA, Canada, France, Italy.......And Lebanon :D ;)

Please put your car on E-bay.
Even if you get next to no money it will give the car a second chance.
The next owner might be able to fix it and give it new life.

Or, you could take your time and do the repair yourself.
I am sure someone could walk you through it. Tom

Why don't we all help him for the sake of a fellow SVX'er? ;)

Bipa,
 

Subaru for years sold a product to seal the steel cylinder liners to the aluminum engine block.
The stuff worked GREAT!
The way it works is, you break up these 1/2" thick, 3/4" in diameter gold colored discs into the open radiator neck, while the engine is running.
Do this when you first start the car, so you don't burn yourself.
The material flows through the cooling system like a liquid untill it hits air.
When it contacts air it forms a water proof "scab' and seals the leak.
I have seen this work on a 1/4" stream of water in a car radiator.

General Motors sells a similar product;Cooling System Seal Tabs
part#12378254

I agree that actually fixing the leaking headgasket is best.
But how bad could it be, if you did not know you had a problem, untill the mechanic told you?
Give it a shot, you have nothing to lose!
If you cannot find the product, I'll mail it to you. Tom.

Put me down for $20 :D :D ;)

Send your car over to me. I will swap out the entire driveline from my car into yours and have a Jspec 5mt!!

Tom

Err.. I think that for the cost of shipping this car over, you could get quite a few parts locally, eh? :p

Well, first of all, I'd like to thank everyone for their responses and thoughts and advice. They are much appreciated. It is nice to know that there is somebody out there who understands. Most of my friends here are saying that it should be a no-brainer and I should simply get rid of the car. Easier said than done, at least for me.

I just got back this evening after 5 hours and three changes by train. Not my favourite mode of travel, but I must admit the trains here are efficient. I spent about three hours chatting with a German woman who works at an addiction rehab centre. We got to talking about cars, naturally, and she admitted that she also has a problem in letting go of old yet much loved cars. I suppose you could say I got a bit of free therapy. :rolleyes: Guess I am addicted to my SVX. :p

I left the car back in Switzerland since we haven’t made any final decision. I’m about 99% certain that we won’t fix the car, though. The Swiss mechanic told me that there’s a glut of SVXs on the market right now in Germany, so I wouldn’t get much for parting it out. You see, the taxes and registration fees went up a lot as of January 1 this year, so many folks are getting rid of their SVXs. The price of gas also isn’t helping. Last time I filled up, it was 1.38 euro for premium gasoline. Now it is over 1.40 euro per litre at some places. That’s about $6.47 US per US gallon! :eek:

For just a teeny bit more than the cost of repairing our car, someone could buy a newer model with less mileage already in running condition. Obviously there could be hidden faults that would need repairs. But that's how it goes.