I’m in the PNW. I have a 2012 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited edition with 108k miles. I dropped it at an OEM Subaru shop the Friday after thanksgiving to have the heads repaired.

It’s now mid-February and they still have it. They claim the machine shop had to ‘special order the valves from a place on the east coast since nobody local just keeps them around.’ I am convinced the shop has either screwed up my car or something else happened while they were fixing it.

Thank goodness I’ve got a friend with an extra car for me to borrow or I would be SOL.

Has anyone with a 3.6R EVER had their head gasket issue take this long to fix?

Edit: I would rather not out the shop totally online. I am happy to send PMs. I used them in fall 2021 to replace a transmission valve body when that computer chip went out. They were significantly cheaper than the dealership, and were able to get the work done quicker (even though the repair still took 2 months due to that part being backordered). They have universally great reviews, have been totally fair otherwise. I did get a different quote from another shop in town and they told me the same issues and the price was a lot more money--based on mark-up of parts and labor being significantly more.

At this point, I just want the car back so I can clean it up and sell it. It's a relatively low mileage car for the year, in good shape. It just feels completely cursed to me. It's been sitting idle waiting for repairs for close to 6 of the past 24 months. I can't depend on the thing at this point.