Cars

A year and a half ago our Envoy lease was up, so we had to find a car to buy. We couldn't afford an Envoy and the price of gas was beginning to rise at that time. I loved that Envoy. I felt like I owned the world when I drove it - I was up so high!! Guess that's important to short people. It was so roomy and comfortable. Whenever I see an Envoy, I miss ours more.

We bought a Subaru. We had great reports from people who have owned them. My husband researched them and found they rank at the top for safety. And, they get good gas mileage. So, we bought an Outback. At first I was happy with our purchase (but still would have rather had an Envoy!). Then the demons showed up. We could be driving along quietly and the radio would come on! Once we turned it off three times and each time it came back on. The overhead light didn't work, which really annoys me. When I called the dealership service department, they asked what we needed done. I said an exorcism. No response. Makes me think that a lot of Subarus have them!

Now it's the tires. We had about 28,000 miles on the car and the tread was worn was down. We asked about it and got a question back - had we rotated the tires as we should? Gee, I thought the service department would know the answer to that question! A few weeks later, we noticed that the outside edge of one tire was bald. Back we go. They say we have to contact the tire people as there is nothing with the car that caused it.

Here comes the vent! My husband called the tire people who just can't understand this. Must be they don't look on the internet about their products! DH found many complaints about this tire. He asked to talk to a higher up who put him on a conference call with a tire store in our area. The manager said that there are two different tires with the same product number - one they sell at the store and one that Subaru orders for their cars. The one you can purchase should last for 70,000 miles; the one that comes on the car should last 40,000.

The owner's manual says to contact the tire people.
The tire people say to contact Subaru.
The salesman told us to contact the dealership owner.
The owner says he's surprised and will try to find out something.

I say it's time to contact Eliot Spitzer - our state attorney general.