Check Engine Light and Warranty

If it is still under warranty, then keep bringing it in. If you live in a Lemon Law state, threaten to use it. The codes don't always point to the part causing the problem. Sometimes they are just along the lines of "Excess HCO emissions". If there is no other code to point them to the exact part, they are just guesstimating.

Yeah, you're kinda stuck. You gotta keep bringing it in. They can't solve the problem without the car. The lemon law threat is a very good idea--that's what it's for.

"Alan" writes:

There was a recall on the O2 sensor that will cause the cel light as will a bad gasket on the gas cap. eddie

I found lemon law in Delaware useless. Ended up suing Ford and the dealer that wanted me to split the cost of a new engine since I was not deligent enough in letting the low oil light come one. (Tou don't expect to run out of oil 3 days out of the shop.) They settled out of court and paid all costs plus but this was the experience that drove me to Japanese cars. Here you can go into small claims court (magistrate) for now maybe up to $10,000. You can represent yourself but dealers and manufacturers use lawyers which cost them plenty and they will usually yield to a small claim. Hopefully SOA will not treat you like Ford did me. Make sure you save all receipts and keep records. My Ford dealer had a nasty habit of not giving me receipts, returning car when office was closed, no charge - so no record. They know the law and a bad dealer will use it to his advantage. Frank

I also left Ford because of bad dealers (three of them!) and lack of support from Ford. I had all receipts. On my last visit to fix a repeating problem, they re-routed a wire incorrectly through the sub frame, and the wire broke. The dealer denied responsibility and Ford said to take it up with the dealer. I was in a new Toyota the next week. They lost me as a customer forever.

Thanks to all for the input... today the light has stayed off... has been intermittent all along.... But I WILL wield the lemon law if need be... love the Subaru otherwise... (neglected to say its a 2002 outback wagon 5 speed with almost 60K miles)

So... aside from Subaru Bashing, I must point out that I had 2 memorable occasions... pulling a pickup truck out of a snow bank, and a slithering sliding SUV out of trouble at a nearby ski park... neither were anything but sheepish that my little outback helped 'em out!

peter > I also left Ford because of bad dealers (three of them!) and lack of support