[Steve Carlton]

What is it with Subaru? I used to think they were on a par with Toyota, Honda, and Mazda, but I don't think so anymore. I have a 2007 Legacy with the 2.5L non-turbo and just found out both of the head gaskets and the oil pan gasket are leaking. The dealer wants $3,200 for it all, so I called Subaru customer assistance and asked for some goodwill love. They said they needed a week to get back to me and took two. They offered me $500 towards the repairs, so I called back, asked for a supervisor and got it up to $1,500. Still not reasonable for a failure that should never happen at 71K miles, in my opinion. I do appreciate the help, but I'm going to wholesale the car and move on. I just don't feel like putting $1,700 into a car for something it shouldn't need. And I'm done with Subaru as well. I had a 2004 WRX which was fine, but this Legacy had trouble right after the 36K warranty ran out as well, and has a weak clutch that generates a burning smell with a bit of a slip. Subaru helped me with the clutch at the time, but I still had to pay a good bit. Looking online I see that head gasket problems have plagued Subaru for many years and a lot of customers have been burned by it. I realize no manufacturer is problem-free, but this just isn't in keeping with Subaru's rather sterling reputation which seems undeserved to me.