Wife wants a Subaru wagon; used is fine. Anyone have anything to say about these cars?
regards,
Mark

My only experience with them was my 4WD Loyale wagon. I don't remember the year, it was the last year of the carbureted engines. The thing was a bear in the snow (even had a 4WD Low). I even used it to tow a 2 place snowmobile trailer to VT. After putting about 30K on it, I had persistent carburetor problems that the dealer couldn't even figure out.

There was some electronic connection on the carb that when connected the car would start fine, but run like crap, smoke, foul plugs and got real bad mileage. When disconnected it was a royal pain to start, but ran a lot smoother and got decent mileage. I just put a switch on the dash for start or run and drove it like that for awhile. I suspect it was electronic choke related but not sure. It got progressively worse so I gave it to my sister-nice guy huh? . She and her boyfriend patched it together and made it into a "camper" for following Phish around for a few summers until it finally died.

I suspect you're looking at a Legacy/Outback or Imprezza, though. Good cars from everything I've heard from owners. No pesky carb problems either

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Outback was voted #1 favorite of Lesbians. (it was their vote).

__________________
BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

Most years up to 2003 I believe have head Gasket issues. I have a 96 and had mine replaced at 130K. Refer to consumer report before buying.

__________________
72 280SE His Majesty

I can only speak of the earlier models (70's-80's-90's). I have had several Legacy wagons. I learned from experience that the early 90's AWD AUTO transmission was pure junk. The safest bet in AWD is always the manual transmission. However, that was the early 90's and I am sure they have it figured out by now. They are much better at fighting rust now also. My cousin also has had several Soobs and now owns a late 90's and an '01. He doesn't like them(2.5L) as much as the 2.2L motors of the early to mid 90's.

I have a '91 AWD wagon I bought in January of '97 with 112,000 miles. I now have around 255,000 miles. I have replaced a few things but have never replaced the motor or cracked it open for anything. It only uses about 1/2 qt between changes.

__________________
'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

I believe that the head gasket issue was limited to certain models of the 2.5 litre engine.

I haven't kept up with Subarus for a few years, but my wife's 1997 Impreza was one of the best cars I've ever driven. We'd still be driving it, but it got smashed by an inattentive SUV driver.

I got a lot of good info from this website: http://forums.nasioc.com/

I haven't spent any time on it since the Impreza got wrecked, but I bet it will have some good stuff for you.

I have a 1995 Outback wagon and it is great for all around use and light snow in the winter. The little 2.2L boxer engine is pretty thrifty but the car won't climb steep hills particularly readily, but wasn't meant to. The new 2.5L Outback Turbo GT though is another matter - supposed to be real fast and luxurious (those terms being relative, of course).


The thing has no charisma but is anvil reliable at 122,000 miles. Just normal maintenance like any car and it seems like it will run forever. The seats are not as comfortable as the Mercedes S class, but it sure is versatile and reliable and gets the job done, with the reliability of a wagon

The subject of SUbaru has come up recently and discussions had:

for those remarks, see:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=193685&highlight=subaru+outback

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=195602&highlight=subaru+outback

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I am not a fan. Some people love them, but some people love Fiats also. As was said definitely do not get one with a carberetor. Just stay away from the old ones. I drove a Outback and it handled like a bathtub IMHO. But some people love them. Go figure.

Mike

__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Recently sold my '98 Outback. It was a lemon. Replaced the alternator at 60k, repaired a horrendous front main seal leak at 90k, renewed the clutch at 110k and found a bent clutch fork -- this had worn out the first gear synchro. The original engine finally bit the dust at 120k when the thermostat stuck shut -- repaired it but it wouldn't drive a mile before overheating after that.

The 2.5 DOHC 4 valve engine had good torque and climbed hills well, but it was not for off-road -- the clutch is too weak, gearing is not right and there is no clearance. The overhanging nose on that thing will not even allow you to drive the car up on ramps.

__________________
'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

We have a used 01 Outback limited with a 5 speed MT. 2.5 liter, non turbo.
We had the head gaskets replaced under warranty at 48K miles. That said, it's a good car. Great AWD system, always 50/50 from what I read.
Used if off road, and kept up with Tahoe 4WD, Mitsubitshi Montero, GMC 4x4.
We went off road, rock and trails, in Nevada, through a river bed, never got stuck. Great in the snow too.
Seats 5, and back seats fold down, for larger stuff. I think it handles good, due to low center of gravity (pancake engine), 4wheel disc brakes are great.
Good luck in your decision.

""We had the head gaskets replaced under warranty at 48K miles. That said, it's a good car.""




Whoa!!!!!!!!!...yeah maybe in the 1950's............ "What a POS"....by today's standard's.........................

__________________
Matt (SD,CA)

1984 300SD.. White/Chrome Bunts..Green

1997 2500 Dodge Ram 5.9 Cummins 12 Valve 36 PSI of Boost = 400+hp & 800+tQ .. ..Greenspeed

2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 Quad Cab Cummins 5.9 H.O "596hp/1225tq" 6 spd. Man. Leather Heated seats/Loaded..Flame Red....GREENSPEED

Global warming...Doing my part, Smokin da hippies..

Fight the good fight!......

That 50/50 power distribution is only the case on the manual transmission cars. On the older automatic models of the Legacy, it is more like 75/25. Which wasn't as good an arrangement.

My experience with the old-model Outbacks wasn't as happy as yours. I purchased a 2000 Legacy Outback wagon new, and drove it for 7 years and about 86K.

I did not like the car. I thought it had very uncomfortable seats -- I used to get terrible backaches if I drove in it for more than an hour. And besides being sluggish and underpowered -- at least up here at high altitudes in Colorado -- the car was expensive to maintain, got mediocre gas mileage, and was not particularly reliable.

The AWD system was good at keeping the car out of trouble on the highways, but it was NOT good at getting the car out of snow and ice. Notoriously, our car get stuck in an icy parking space at a ski lodge -- it was nose-down on slight downhill slope, with its front wheels on ice. The rear wheels didn't have enough power to even budge the car an inch.

Our Subaru had a number of annoying recurring problems. Like the electrical glitch that kept blowing out the right front headlight over and over again, or the leaky rubber door seals that emitted wind noise.

Four months ago, we finally had enough. All at once, the car developed a coolant leak and an oil leak on the 2.5L engine, bad front ball joints, bad CV joints, and needed new brakes ... and it was also due for another expensive service on the AWD system. Instead of pouring in more money, we traded the Subaru in for a Hyundai Santa Fe (which we like much better).

The new Subarus are better than the old ones, but I still find them expensive for what you get.

-- Bokonon

One word, excellent, if maintained, they last long, they are built well generally, few of my friends have the WRX, STI as well as Wagons and are extremely satisfied, they are certainly priced well.

__________________
99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT

I have a 95 Impreza Wagon with the 2.2L engine and Automatic 4WD. It has been absolutely reliable for the past 160K. The interior accouterments have always reminded me of a base model Tercel and the way Subaru designed its 4WD around clutch to kick in the rear wheels as needed is just cheezy.

__________________
1984 300TD

I woudn't I would much rather have a RWD Volvo wagon.

This is my wagon of choice.

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y206/mrbrickdriver/?action=view&current=Picture011.jpg

or even a old 240 turbo wagon

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y206/mrbrickdriver/?action=view&current=latestfiles072.jpg

TOO BAD VOLVO FORGORT HOW TO BUILD A RWD CAR!


I find this to be a very durable, and stury utiltiy camping vehicle and nice daily driver. I will lickly at a LSD to it when given a chance apparently using parts from a jeep. These have much more room then a subie, nicer seats and in my opinion are just better looking.