I am not a fan of leasing but 8000.00 would have made quite a few lease payments on a new car . A better idea then throwing money at this thing that no one can seem to fix. There comes a time to just move on .
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That is a possibility, I think.
I was on very friendly terms with Dagmar, the woman who sold me all of my Outbacks, and she related an incident with a woman who was looking at the six-cylinder '01 Outback that I had recently traded-in. First, the woman wanted to know if it had “enough power to climb the Kingston hill”. This was a particularly bizarre question because that “hill” is just a moderate rise in the road. But, the saleswoman allowed the customer to take a very extended test drive in order to assess the car’s “hill-climbing” ability.
When she returned several hours later, she acknowledged that it had a whole lot more power than her ancient Corolla, and she stated that she would buy my old Outback. Dagmar began preparing the paperwork, but just before she finished that task, the woman told her that she preferred the seats in a Lexus that was also sitting on the used car lot, and that she would only buy my old car if they swapped seats with that Lexus. At that point, Dagmar pointed to the Volvo dealership just down the road, and told her, “I think you will like doing business with them… Goodbye!”.
As Dagmar said to me, “I’d rather lose a sale than continue to deal with that woman”.
I totally agree with you. I don’t think I’m the town crazy yet, but I might get there if I keep it up.
I would’ve just sold it when the first major repair showed up, because I’ve definitely wasted a ton of money, but this turned into a multi-year wild goose chase that I never could’ve predicted.
Would someone take cupped tires? I’ve been thinking of stripping this thing and selling the parts. Other than what’s directly exposed to the road, the rest of the car is in pretty good shape. It seems to be a very popular year and model too, and it has the nav system.
You might only sell a few parts and then be left with a pile of dead vehicle that might cost you money to get rid of . Someone might take the cupped tire for free but them you will have wheels that you will have setting in your way . Do you really want something in your drive or yard that will just attract critters ?
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Yeah, I don’t really know what I’m doing. I should just cut my losses and trade it in so I don’t have to deal with it anymore. 
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I don’t think I have heard you say what I would do. I would take the car to a shop that specializes in four-wheel alignments, and let them know your issues and drive your car. It sounds like you are quite sensitive to the problems (not necessarily over-sensitive). Thus, it could be a problem that is the combination of a couple subtle problems, such as one bad shock and a slight misalignment.
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I wouldn’t put any more money into the car, personally.
I’m fully aware of the concept of sunk costs…but you’ve already put $8000 into a 15 year old car that’s worth around $2500 (per Edmunds).
This situation is not going to improve, at least not with this car.
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Mecha has another thread asking for help choosing a vehicle so I guess this one is not going to have anymore money wasted on it.