Starter killed itself.

[Betsytheanimal]

Put a new driver side axle in the 09 1.8l vibe and it worked fine for a test drive. Parked it came inside had a nap went to go home and the darn thing wouldnt start. Taking the starter out now but i think this might be the last straw for me. Put a new alternator and a new rad in it within the last month. Had to do brakes and replace a caliber but thats just wear and tear. It also needs a new clutch and at this point i dont want to drop 290 on the clutch kit and then labour. i love the old vibe but i dont love working on it every weekend after work

[andrewclaus]

Old cars are always going to have an expensive year once in a while. Then they cruise along for years with nothing but oil changes and low registration fees. Some actually enjoy the mechanical challenges of keeping an old car running.

Of course, others would rather pay more for a newer car and have more time away from maintenance. It depends on what your time is worth, how much extra money you have, and on your tolerance for reliability.

[Caretaker]

OP: I hear ya. I've given mine the "don't you dare let me down one more time" talk as well. I just gave mine a sip of bourbon (oil) this morning to get him through the day. Burned just a bit on the 4 hour drive each way to Miami. While I know mine is slowly dying of liver damage from all this consumption, I'll keep feeding its habit until one or the other happens:
1. it requires another $1,000+ repair on something stupid (like lifting my engine out to replace a $3 rubber gasket in the timing chain cover), or
2. Subaru redesigns the Crosstrek taking cues from the Viziv concept (and putting the 2.5 liter in it next year as they have already published doesn't count).

[Betsytheanimal]

I might find a car for a week and throw the vibe in the garage and pick away at getting the clutch in. Could probably do it in a day but i dont want to be rushed with it where as i have no sweet clue how to do it. Its only 290 Canadian but the labor is probably terrifying. She is solid underneath so id hate to see it die over a clutch. The starter was 300$but i was at a different dealer than my usual so i didnt get hooked up with the good price. Oh well hopefully she will take me to work for another month or so. Its hard on the head lol. All the (removed) ive replaced should be fine for years to come but god knows what will fail next.

[zbyers]

What you've replaced are simple maintenance items, really. Sometimes they're back-to-back-to-back, and other times it takes a while.

As for replacing the clutch, including parts, most garages in the US quote around $900USD to do the job. Book calls for like 10 hours or so of labor. It's not overly difficult, just tedious and time consuming. As always, you need to pay meticulous attention when installing and torquing the new clutch down.