Ongoing car advice

[RobertInOntario]

Rob, not positive since I never worked on a subaru engine before but if it's leaking at the plugs/valve cover then it should be the gaskets that go from the valve cover to plug hole.

One of the spark plug wires was so bad, that they had to replace it with a non-Subaru wire

This worries me, are wire works or it doesnt, its not like you'd even need a thicker wire since the same current will travel through it since it's computer controlled

Good point. I wondered if they just said that to get me back.

One of our neighbors is an avid car enthusiast -- owns 6 cars including two classic cars. He's already been giving me advice and I might run these latest findings by him this weekend.

At any rate they (4th garage) showed me the oil problem around the ignition wires and you could see it.