Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Pensacola, Florida

You should get a car that is "in stock" on dealer's lot at previously advertised prices. Alternatively, you can shop around at different dealerships within 100 or 200 miles radius or more. Another option is to buy "used" Subaru that is still under warranty with options that you want. As far as I know, Forester is still made in Japan. Most others are assembled at SIA's plant in Indiana. Some dealers may be asking for "sticker" prices due to this shortage and may not be willing to give customers any discounts. Most other dealers selling Japanese brands that are truly made in Japan may do the same. But most of them also sell Japanese brands that are assembled in the U.S. and Canada where there are sporadic shortages, mostly of parts or components that are made in Japan. How did you "total" your Forester? What prompted your insurance company to total your car? How many miles you had on yours and how much did you get for it?

Sorry for the delay. Re: the dealer, sorry but I really don't remember which one it was. At that time I was going back and forth from Arkansas to the Florida panhandle and/or Southern Alabama. I think I had the service (100,000miles) done when I was in Arkansas, but I know I had several VW dealers from Arkansas to Florida try to resolve the problems during that time frame, including a few specialized diesel pump "specialists" that were sure they could fix it. After several months and $$$$$ more than I could afford, I sold it, told the guy that bought it what-all was involved and he wanted it anyway. So he got it. I really loved that little rabbit anyway up to that point. van

Forgive my ignorance, but what is RUG ? The only experience I have had with passenger diesel is a 1979 VW Rabbit that I used for over 125,000 miles before selling. I never had a problem with it until I had some unscrupulous dealer "service" it at about 100,000 mi. Whatever they did ruined the car, I tried every service agency I could find to repair it, and finally I gave up. There was some sort of injector (?) pump problem that no one was able to solve. I really loved the car, and got around the 50mpg mark for the 1st 100,000 mi. Then the bottom fell out and I never got near 40mpg again.

Lic.plate lights stop working most likely because you were closing your rear hatch with those lights on. It is a common knowledge, for example, when investigating airplane crashes, those bulbs, that have their filaments broken, indicate that those bulbs where on at time of impact. You may have noticed that most cars (no all though) that have lights with bulbs on their rear lids or hatches are designed in such a way that those lights and bulb are not on, when lids or hatches are being closed (like back-up lights, for example - those would not be on, when you are closing the hatch). You can judge the well thought-design of any cars, if they are properly designed, that these lights or bulbs are not on, when those hatches or lids are being closed. I don't think it is an issue with the latch mechanism sticking. They are designed and assembled with exact tolerances and torques so that other components (such as air bags sensors and car body flex) are not compromised.

Actually, if your car comes with rear cargo tray it does have a non-slip carpet-like pad under the cargo tray. Alternatively, you can go to Home Depot or Lowes and buy the same non-slip kitchen drawer liner, cut it in size and put it under the rear cargo tray. It's like a rubber mesh looking non-slip liner. I have it all over my storage places in my car to prevent stuff from sliding around.