Dear Tom and Ray: I am in the process of buying a new Subaru Outback. My question is: Do I need to get the six-cylinder model, or does the four-cylinder engine in this year’s models have enough get-up-and-go to be sufficient? I hate to spend the extra money for gasoline – plus, it is supposed to be fed premium gasoline, so the cost continues after the purchase. Thanks.
– Anne
Tom: Anne, don’t do it! It’s a scam.
Ray: Carmakers keep trying to convince us that we need more power. Why? Well, they say, what if you need to pass someone on the highway? OK, when’s the last time you drove a car that had trouble passing someone on the highway? 1973? In your Datsun 210? In terms of the Outback, Anne, there’s even one more reason to avoid the bigger engine. It’s a pain in the tuchus to work on.
Tom: It’s shoehorned into the engine compartment, and you have to be Flat-armed Frank to reach anything that’s not right on top. That costs you money, because mechanics charge by the hour.
Ray: And we won’t even get into the additional weight of the engine over the front wheels, which makes the handling worse, or the premium-fuel requirement, which is a good reason in itself not to buy a car, in our humble opinion.
Tom: For almost all driving conditions, the four-cylinder, double overhead cam engine in the Outback is perfect for this car. It’s got 175 horsepower, plenty for a 3,300-pound vehicle.
Ray: Unless you’re pulling a horse trailer. In which case, you should be looking at a Ford F-250 pickup truck. And even then, I’d get a smaller engine, put the horses in the front and let them pull the F-250 AND the horse trailer.
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Dear Tom and Ray: When my daughter arrived home from college, she came home with a terrible odor in her car. She said that the week before school was out, she went to class and when she came out and got into her car, she smelled a terrible odor. It was a 90-degree day. We have cleaned out the car, taken it to our mechanic, who has pretty much taken out everything he could to check out the car. We’ve tried everything from baking soda, Oust and Febreze to Ozium, but the car still stinks.
There is really no other description except to say that it smells like vomit. Any suggestions? We are desperate!
– Linda
Ray: Actually, it sounds like mold. That’s exactly how it presents. First water gets into the car from a window left open, a leak in a windshield, door or sunroof, or from a plugged-up air-conditioner drain. And once water gets into the carpet, mold spores start to grow.
Tom: If you want to try to attack it yourself, pull the carpet out, including the pad underneath, and put it all out in the sun. Vacuum both sides as best you can, and then toss out the vacuum bag.
Ray: Then turn the carpet over, and spray the back side of it with bleach, or some other fungicide made to kill mold spores. Then let it sit in the sun as long as you can.
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