NHTSA Complaint #11311985 — 1999 SUBARU FORESTER

(PARTIAL COPY OF MESSAGE I SENT TO SUBARU EARLIER THIS WEEK.) [MY] FORESTER IS OLD, BUT I WOULDN'T BE REPLACING IT IF I DIDN'T NEED ANOTHER HEAD GASKET. YOU SURELY ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM YOUR 4 CYL. ENGINES HAVE HAD WITH FAILING HEAD GASKETS. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS IS THE SECOND ONE EXPERIENCING SUCH FAILURE. I REPLACED THE ORIGINAL ONE SEVERAL YEARS BACK AT MY OWN EXPENSE. LET ME STATE MY UNQUALIFIED CASE THAT I SHOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO PAY FOR THIS REPLACEMENT, AS YOU--SUBARU--KNEW WELL THAT GASKET FAILURE WAS IN THIS CAR'S FUTURE. HOW DO I MAKE THIS CLAIM? WELL, WHEN I BOUGHT THE CAR, IT CAME WITH AN ADDITIVE IN THE RADIATOR. SOMETHING YOU CALL "COOLANT CONDITIONER." NOBODY TOLD ME WHY THIS WAS NECESSARY. I FOUND OUT ONE DAY WHEN MY TEMPERATURE GAUGE RED-LINED AND MY RADIATOR RAN DRY. I QUICKLY MADE MY WAY TO THE NEAREST SUBARU DEALERSHIP SO, RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM, THE MECHANIC THERE TOLD ME ABOUT THIS COOLANT CONDITIONER AND HOW IT WOULD HAVE BEEN INSTALLED IN MY FORESTER THE DAY I DROVE IT FROM THE DEALERSHIP. HE SOLD ME ANOTHER BOTTLEAND ADVISED ME TO POUR IT INTO THE RADIATOR IMMEDIATELY. I THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE THE END OF THE PROBLEM, AND I DROVE ANOTHER, SAY 30,000 OR SO CARE-FREE MILES, UNTIL THE GASKET AGAIN BROKE DOWN. TIME FOR A REPLACEMENT, MY PERSONAL MECHANIC ADVISED ME. I RELENTED AND DROVE ABOUT 40,000 MILES ON THE NEW GASKET...UNTIL EXPERIENCING FAILURE AGAIN. AS I INDICATED BEFORE, FROM A LEGAL STANDPOINT, YOU--SUBARU--MUST HAVE KNOWN IT HAD A BIG PROBLEM ON ITS HANDS. WHY YOU FAILED TO INITIATE A RECALL AND WERE NEVER CALLED TO TASK FOR IT IS A MYSTERY TO ME. RECALL WHAT HAPPENED TO VOLKSWAGEN ONLY A FEW YEARS BACK. THEY KNEW ABOUT THEIR "PROBLEM" AS WELL. LET ME ADD THAT I KNOW OF SCORES OF OTHER SUBARU OWNERS MORE RECENT THAN 1999 THAT FEEL THE SAME WAY.