I've got a 99 Legacy Outback wagon (4-cylinder).
Three weeks ago, at 78,000 miles, the clutch failed. The car was across the street from a service station, so I pushed the car into their parking lot and had them replace the clutch. ($689 including tax.)
When the work was finished, I picked up the car. I had no speedo, and the Check Engine light was on, so I returned the car the next morning. While the car was there, the shop gave me an oil change. They plugged in the speedo cable, fixing the speedometer problem and turning off the CE light, and I was on my way.
The following week I heard some frightening, clunking noises from under the car (sounded like suspension noises to me). I didn't know what the noise was, didn't know if it was related to the clutch, and was nervous driving the car, so I returned to the same service station with it. They investigated, said it was coming from the brakes, and I needed 2 new rotors. So, I got a front-brake job ($291 including tax). The new brakes worked great, and the noise was gone.
Now, not quite 3 weeks from the start of this adventure, my Check Engine light is on again. I was driving the car last night, in the rain, behind many slow and annoying drivers, while I was in a hurry to get somewhere. Once the road emptied in front of me, I started driving fast and hard. Almost immediately, the car started 'stuttering'. It sort of felt like the wheels or the clutch were sporadically slipping. It was weird. A few seconds later the Check Engine light began quickly blinking on and off, erratically. Another few seconds later, the car began driving perfectly again, and the light stopped blinking, simply staying lit.
So now the CE light is on steady, and the car is running just fine.
I'm leery of returning to the Service Station, as I think they have me pegged as an easy mark at this point and I honestly haven't even figured out how to pay for the previous work they've done yet - the clutch wiped out my bank account, and I had to charge the brakes.
Do these symptoms point to any 'most-likely' explanation? I saw another post mention the 'CarChip'. I read up on it a little, and it definitely sounds like something I'd like, but if it's going to tell me I need some $1000 job that I can't do myself, I'd be wasting the $139. (On my old Saturn I could read the codes with a paper clip, and that was very useful.)
I've loved this car so far, but this Fall it's bankrupting me.
Thanks, Steve