Subie's Big Day!

Subie Feeling New and Improved!

Today was a big day for the Silver Bullet Subaru.   He got his airbag replaced!  It has been a long time coming and the threatening letters for getting it done were piling up.   With work, money, cats, stockings, Flooding, Colds, Running, Races, and the impossible distance to the nearest Subaru Dealer...  It looked like we were never going to get it done.

Cheryl says, "FIX EVERYTHING!"

But that little run in with the Tornado ( Or as Cheryl calls it:  "The Subie Rocker.") got Cheryl thinking about all the millions of ways that we could die.   And ONE of those ways... was the Takata Airbag.

Does this seem dangerous?

My best way to avoid dying is to drive safely.  But apparently,  other drivers feel differently about that.   And thus:   The Airbag was born. 

Hmm,  This might be.... 

The Special thing about the Tanaka Airbag is that it EXPLODES!  Right into your face... or in this case,  the passengers.    For this reason, Subaru has issued that there should be no one in the passenger side until that airbag has been replaced.     They also  says shrapnel will come out.  And since Cheryl has no life insurance, if she dies or is horribly disfigured,  this could be a problem for me.

Testing out the new Subaru  Outback.

How do you turn it on?

Drive to Moline Illinois...  Because there is only one other Subaru dealer closer, and those guys never returned our calls.   McLaughlin Subaru was Nice enough to allow us to drive a "loaner" Subaru Outback.   I say Loaner in quotes because it really was a sales pitch/test drive.   It's ok... I'll drive it.

Where is the key?

Key fob goes here, I guess. 

First thing was figuring out how the darn thing starts!   There was no key... only this Fob.  The only place to put the Fob was in this little tray.

A Start Button?  How does it work?

I find the Big Start Button... and Push.   Nothing happens.    Apparently,  you have to have your foot on the brake if you want it to start.  ( Park is no longer good enough, I guess.)

Instructions on how to drive?
How Thoughtful!

We pause a moment to figure out the new features.  Most everything was were it should be.  The biggest addition was the huge touch screen in the center of the console.  Cheryl navigates the navigation.

Cheryl taps in the destination .

Little blue line showing the way.

We drive around for a few.   It was nice... but I like Old Silver Bullet better.   It is the way things should be, after all. 

You are where the Little arrow points.

Look out behind you.
Too bad rear cameras don't stop people
from hitting you. 

Upon returning to pic up Silver Bullet,  the Mechanics tell us that the belts are showing on one of our tires!   We had just purchased 4 new tires and were planning on getting them installed on Monday.   The revelation causes us to push up our plans.   Luckily, Reggie was available and was able to install them today.  Yeah! 

Time to get new tires.  

Other than that and the Oil Change,  I replaced the Brakes two days ago.  I might have been able to get a few more miles out of them, but I believe "preventative" maintenance is in order with Subie pushing 18 years and coming up on the Big 300!

The Flooding is narrowing our
training runs lately. 

It continues to rain today.   And I'm hoping it calms down a bit for tomorrow.   Cheryl is planning on running this weekend and does not want anything to mess with it.  I think she needs it because all this craziness has been messing with her mental health.  ( I always say that.... because it is true!)