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Mt Isa service options

zippo

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Interested if anyone here has experience with any of the Isa shops on a Subaru. Will be likely to want a service there in July as we pass through, and would appreciate tips on the good and the bad. Only name I have at hand is Miners Mate.
 
Back in 2009 (? I think) I had occasion to visit the stealership in Mt Isa with a right rear
suspension problem. The mechanic diagnosed the SLS failure as a broken spring. Even I knew that was not correct.
I drove back to Brizbanal trouble free and had the problem fixed by someone who knew what they were about.
However that was a few years ago so now...............?
 
does Mt Isa have a Supercheap?
Oil + FIlter and a bucket.
DIY in the Motel carpark
 
DIY in the Motel carpark
Nah, not that way inclined on a hol. And was definitely intent on avoiding any stealership, the nearest thing to which appears to be Pickerings (Ford/Mitsi/Suzuki/Nissan) - reminds me of Peter "All-brands" Kittle in Alice.
 
Just get the service done early/late in Darwin, Alice, Rocky or Townsville depending on which way you are going. Someone will have a suggestion in those big cities.
 
That was our Plan B. We approach Isa from the top corner of SA and from Isa we eventually reach Darwin. The others we don't visit.
 
I was in Mt Isa with my Leone for work for just over a year. Took it to miners mate for a tune and front driveshafts. Service was alright, price wise I honestly don't remember.
 
Went to Marree as a 10 year old back in 1977. Then headed to Alice and back home to Perth via The Great Central Rd in an XY Fairmont Wagon. Bent the axle on the trailer we were towing and left it in the desert. That trip was 38 years ago and I still remember it with great delight. Wish we had Subaru back then. Would have saved a bit of digging. You will have a great trip.
 
Back in 72 a mate and I did Alice To Perth via part of the Great Central Road, deviating after Docker River via the Blackstone Mining Camp (Wingellina) and rejoining at Warburton. That was in a Fiat 125.

SWMBO & I did the GCR last year in the Foz, and going that way again as I absolutely HATE going across the Nullarboring. Besides, anywhere up into SA virtually means Pt Augusta and then doing a hard left backtrack. GCR is much better, less chance of nodding off.
 
Ah, not exactly to plan. Last things first, used Miner's Mate in Mt Isa for an oil/filter job. Pretty happy with the job, being fitted in at short notice at a time to suit us, and the price (~$120) considering the stealership alternative.

Plan was to go up the GCR to Yulara, Erldunda and then down the Stuart to do the Oodnadatta and Birdsville tracks and then to other places of interest in SW Qld. When we left Perth on 8 June, unseasonal rain in the previous couple of days had crossed from Pt Hedland area across to northern SA and into the back-blocks of NSW. Both tracks were closed to all traffic, as was the GCR east of Warakurna/Giles (i.e. the rough-as-guts NT bit). Fortunately the NT-GCR was "open with cautions" when we needed to traverse that bit. Meanwhile, people down in William Creek were "trapped" for a week and whinging loudly via the ABC that they were faced with pub food as their only option. Sheesh.

Now recall that we are not camping/towing but using existing facilities (hotels/motels/dongas/whatever) along the way, so forward bookings are essential in low-capacity places such as along the tracks, and this sort of ties you to a timetable. Headed down the Stuart, having been watching as the tracks were being progressively opened to classes of vehicles. Yay, looking good.

Nope, more unseasonal rain - this time down from SW Qld - washed out those hopes as we reached Marla, our planned point of departure from the highway. Bummer. Made a horde of apologetic phone calls to Oodnadatta, William Creek, Marree, Mungerannie and Birdsville (may have left someone out, working from memory), all of which were taken in an understanding way by the establishments - I guess they had captives overstaying anyway.

If you look at the northern half of SA and remove those two tracks, you'll quickly realise there are bugger-all other roads to get from Marla to SW Qld. So we had to go down to Pt Augusta and across through Broken Hill to get to Qld. The tracks remain on our to-do list.

Rest of the trip was relatively uneventful. Did a tyre on the Leopold Downs road (from GNHwy to Tunnel Creek) which we had to traverse twice as there was a creek in flood with >60cms depth - up to the top of the wheel arch on a Toyota traytop. I'm not fitted out for aquatic stuff like Nachaluva so I baulked at that. Later in Derby we discovered a fast leak and that proved to be a cut through the tread. Local Bridgie dealer had a replacement in the right size, all good there.

Also the rain on last Thursday and Friday caused all unsealed roads in the Sandstone shire to be closed (which only leaves the east-west Magnet-Leinster road!) and GNHwy had about a dozen sections under significant water south of Magnet late Saturday - a guy in an F-truck lost his HID's to water coming through there. Sunday there were some sections that had lost a bit of seal, with standing water still covering half the road in a number of places both east and south of Magnet, while the "dip" at Magnet (100m east of the main junction) had lost half the road completely.

Overall 17,000 kms. Vehicle ran like clockwork, and fuel consumption for the trip was 8.37 L/100.
 
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