Fido

Don't have a choice, unless I wanna borrow my mom's '06 Sienna....

Which I don't.

If you're prepared to have it done, just have it done! It WILL fail sooner than later, why not drop it off and have the gaskets done when it's convenient for you. Rather than 1AM when you're coming home with a hot date, and suddenly your engine is hotter...

It isn't a normal engine, you won't see a significant enough compression loss to give any warning. The best test is hydrocarbon in coolant test. What happens is the gasket gets little tiny leaks from the combustion chamber into the coolant. Not enough to cause a compression problem (unless run until the motor is cooked...), but enough to blow out all the coolant, make air pockets, and overheat the motor.

Well, I don't want to drop the money on it if I don't know it's necessary. I bought it used a few months ago and for all I know it's already had them replaced. It'd be a shame to spend a grand without needing to, especially considering I'm your typical broke college student.

The Subie dealership I take it to know how paranoid I am. I've been going to them for a long time, they've never once tried to rip me off and their prices are very reasonable. I trust them to be knowledgeable enough to find the problem. And if the engine blows, well, then, I guess I gotta find another engine.

Wish I knew more about engines and cars in general so I could do all this stuff myself. This forum has been an incredible help already, though. I've practically tripled my knowledge of engines and random little things on the car since I got here, but I wouldn't say I'm comfortable doing anything on my own.

What's funny is that most people assume (rightfully) that we only say good things about our cars because we own them. It's only when someone actually spends some time in it that they realize what we're on about. The second generation has a lot going for it. The styling is nice, yet not overstated. That means a car that doesn't necessarily look crazy futuristic, but also won't look crazy dated in the future. Our cars still look fine. They definitely don't look quite as old as other cars from the same years.

 

The vehicles themselves are well put together. On that there is no arguing. You can ask any mechanic, any tow operator... anyone who would have any sort of intelligent, informed opinion and they will agree. There is no arguing that they are reliable. A good example of that would be how much value they hold. My shitty Civic-owning friend refused to believe my car was worth more than 1500 on KBB. He was shocked to see it listed for 4k in excellent shape.

 

Lastly, they actually are very well appointed. It's not that all the panels fit perfectly, or that the entire interior is lined in Alcantra. However, the fit and finish isn't any worse than more modern GM vehicles (a horrible benchmark, I know.) In addition, they have quite a few features that will surprise people. When people first get in my car, half the time the first thing they say is, "Oh, leather. Nice! And two moonroofs!" to which I reply, "Yup! And heated seats, and heated mirrors, and heated wipers..."

 

And perhaps that's what I like most about these cars. They are understated. Inconspicuous. People might not think much about them. They aren't showy or obnoxious. People don't know they are nice cars. I kind of like that.

THIS is how I feel, exactly. They're like stock sleepers. Not that they're superperforming, but they don't look too in-your-face and they give a serious bang for the buck. I still see so many of the early 90s models on the road, too. I've never heard a Legacy owner complain about his car other than the head gasket issue.

And honestly, I'm prepared for a head gasket failure. I've accepted that it's likely to happen. I check for signs regularly and have them do a compression test every time I bring it in. That way as soon as I see some symptoms, I can drop the thousand bucks and get them replaced and fixed for good. I won't even be angry.

I see so many people with well over 200k miles on their 2nd Gen Legacy that it just makes me smile. I don't drive mine excessively so I know I have many more years of enjoyment left.