any one with subaru experience?

[exbass94]

Some of them are known for head gaskets, can't remember which years or models though.

 

[dorian]

Yeah, I'd definitely have to agree with the couple of posts regarding underpowered engines. The cars are a little heavy for such a little 4-cylinder. A 6 is available as is the turbo-4.
And yeah, you could get the older ones in 2WD. I remember there was an Impreza model that was 2 only. It was an absolute base model. Aside from that, I can't think of any Subaru model that isn't AWD. On the latest ones, supposedly you can change the ratio of front to rear bias with a rotating dial.

Subarus get poor mileage but are among the safest cars ever built based on actual crash tests.

edit: and yeah, haha, for a time they were marketed directly to the gay community. Pretty smart if you ask me...untapped market in many respects. Although it did result in the Outback being known as the Lesbian Wagon. lol

 

[West]

Subaru's got standard AWD beginning in 1996 I believe. The cars with the headgasket issues were the "Phase 1" DOHC engines found in the 95-99 Legacies, and pre 98? Imprezas. I am not sure when the Forester changed. I think that they always had the SOHC. The "Phase 2" engines were SOHC and had 5 more hp. The HG issue was also solved.

With my 97 Legacy, I was constantly fixing it. But I did buy it with 175,000 on it. I believe that the engine will run for a long time yet, but everything else will break. I've had to replace things that, imo, should not break. I had a control arm rust in to two different pieces, having trouble with the anti-theft/ keyless entry/ alarm, almost all the brake calipers have had to be replaced because the piston was rusted inside. It had rust along the windshield/ A-pillar that leaked. The shifter for the manual tranny would rattle like it was its job going down the highway in 5h gear. And being a Subaru, parts were hard to find and expensive.

Sorry for the long rant. I just know that I am pretty much done with foreign vehicles.

 

[harriw]

My family's had a few of them over the years (they're everywhere here in Western NY as well, 'cause they unreal in the snow). I had an '02 Outback Sport for a few years - very fun car. I highly recommend the stick shift. I love my Ranger, but of all the CARS I've owned that Subie is easily my favorite.

I drove a co-worker's Forrester once too (same year as my outback sport I think), and LOVED it. It was practically the same vehicle, but was a bit taller, and had a lot more cargo room in the back. Same engine, which got almost the same gas mileage (around 28ish I think).

We've never been able to get one to go much past 150k miles though. They all needed a new cat right around then, so we got rid of them. I was always fighting with the check engine light for that stupid evap leak code too.

Maintenance/repairs were often a pain. Parts are a lot more difficult to find, and I found that most local shops had trouble with the engine codes (and obtaining parts) - I was forced to take it to a dealership for a lot of things. The dealership was generally more expensive, and wasn't very conveniently located at the time.

 

[MountainMike]

I'm guessing your going to use the truck money to buy the Soobie. The thing I see though is your Ranger is a decent workhorse that gets OK mileage. You already have it and 2500 isn't too too bad. Figure out how much the ground clearance is worth to you. I've known people that sold the car they got for something cheaper and hated it immediately. I know one guy that got a Focus from his family and just dopped his rusty Tercel off at the salvage yard and walked away, it was that bad. Plus I don't think there is a Subaru forum on TRS, a major swaying point in my books.

 

[snake]

I agree with the above few who had concerns about parts- my G/F has a 2000 legacy with 100K and so far so good... but the IAC is kinda frigged up. I priced one out to see if I should replace it or tolerate it, as cleaning it wasn't too successful. FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS for a damn IAC... that's not the whole throttle body my friend... I would run like hell. Honda parts are cheap and plentiful. Get a Honda...

 

[OilPatch197]

All Subarus are AWD. They are expensive to maintain compared to say, a Ranger, but compared to a German sports car, not so much. You can save money by doing everything yourself, of course. We own a 2005 Outback and it is a nice solid car with what appears to be intelligent engineering. As with any make or model, I would avoid a turbocharged engine. If you're looking at a Forester in a low price range, there won't be any turbos available anyway because the Forester XT (turbo) is a late model vintage. Everything before the XT uses the same HO 4-cylinder as is in the Outback. Subaru significantly upgraded their lineup in the mid-2000s as they attempted to go upmarket a bit. Hence, a later model car is going to be much nicer. They are doing it again with the 2010 cars.
Anyway, transmissions (not the transfer cases) seem to be a weak point in Subarus. Check the condition of the fluid.
Tires wear quickly because of the AWD and all four need to replaced at the same time. we just dropped $700 on Michelins. That's alot of cash.

Think about it.

Good luck!

BTW I built the headlamps for those Outbacks, I thought the 2004's and 5's are the best looking, as they have charcoal painted Bezels(sporty looking), in 2006 they went cheap by just leaving off the paint! Thus you had a wavy chrome bezel.

I REALLY like the looks of those '04's and '05's, the best looking outbacks ever desigend. The new 2010 outbacks are not as sexy.