Small world. On the Suby front, sort of went through the same thing with a 02 Outback. After my engine fragged itself, I see that the 02 consumer report for Subaru engines that year is a solid, black dot. Everything improved in the following years, but it would have been nice to know that. No excuse for your tech's lack of basic wrenching skills. You wonder how and why someone like that would decide to become a mechanic. Of course it is the money, but you would think they would have some touch of hot rodder in them.
I wonder what is being done to promote the Torvec CVT for real off road work. Something like the Baja race or that hill climb they do in Tenn, would be perfect for it. Not only does the Torvec CVT give trucks and regular cars better durability, but it really has advantages for the high horsepower and extreme angles that are part of racing. I really hope the new personnel have plans for moving Torvec tech into manufacturing lines or specialty racing parts ASAP. eom