Question about value...

[Dehayrf]

My elderly aunt recently passed away, and she had a 5-speed, 98 Subaru Legacy Outback Limited, with, get this....79,000 miles on it. This thing is a time capsule! I've always thought Subaru's were solid cars. My uncle offered it to me at what I thought was a very reasonable price, and I thought it would make a great baseball car (I coach my son's baseball team and I am tired or red mud getting all over my regular car).

 

Anyway, I put a set of tires on it, changed the leaky valve cover gaskets, and did a few other deferred maintenance items. As it turns out, my kids aren't as thrilled to be riding around in a 20 year old station wagon, but I know Subaru's have a great following, so my question to the group is, how much is a 20 year old time-capsule Subaru Legacy Outback Limited worth?

 

Your input would be greatly appreciated! TIA

[Das Ninjabot]

Location and condition are going to play a big part in the valuation. Is there any rust, specifically around the rear wheel wells?

 

I paid $3500 for my 90k mile '98 Legacy GT two years ago, but that was because up here in MN we don't get rust free 20 year old cars very often.

[Brighton96]

+1 on the area and condition. If that body was free of rust and major issues and had a typical amount of wear both interior and exterior then I'd say $2500 in my area. There are lots of 150k+ beat up ones going for $1k ish and they usually sell easily. I don't think you could break $3k for it in my area though.

 

 

Also, if you are really curious, put it up on Craigslist and see what happens. Write it up as you would if it were for sale and just pick a price and see if you get any interest in it.

[Setnev]

I bought my 99, one owner, low miles (120k) for $1,100. Thing is, I bought it for so cheap because I know these cars and the dealer who had it listed for $2,500 didn't. It showed signs of a head gasket failure, which is common from 75,000 miles on up, power steering rack and pump were starting to leak, both front axles had damaged boots, and the front tires were mismatched tread wear due to the dealer replacing 2 tires no knowing all 4 need to be replaced, needed ball joints and end links, and needs to have all of it's differential fluids replaced. Cosmetically, the car looked brand new inside and out and you'd never know taking it around the block. Sure enough, after 2,000 miles of driving it, the head gasket blew and warped the block. I replaced the engine with one I was building that came out of a 97 Legacy GT with only 43,000 miles on it that had a blown head gasket.

 

Thing is, you're talking about a 20 year old car, and to an enthusiast like myself and others on this board, we know what we're in for with cars of these vintage. Even if you have a well documented history of service maintenance and a mechanic checks it out a gives it a clean bill of health, the head gasket is the achilles heel of these cars. Once it's been changed, you're golden, that is a $3,000 car all day. And it's not a measure of if the head gasket will fail, it's when. That car has less than 4,000 a year drive time. You start putting 12,000-15,000 on it a year for someone who thinks they're getting a reliable car because it's less than 100k miles and it'll fail in a few months time. Combine that with the fact that rubber seals, gaskets, and bushings that sits stagnant with weight on it and fluids in constant contact with it wear faster than rubber frequently used.

[Stevo F]

I think some of the headgaskets are going due to age, even with low miles. This was also the case on our '98 GT. The previous owner had to do the headgaskets at 92K miles when the car was 16 years old. I would probably proactively replace them even with 79K miles on the car.

[Setnev]

I think some of the headgaskets are going due to age, even with low miles. This was also the case on our '98 GT. The previous owner had to do the headgaskets at 92K miles when the car was 16 years old. I would probably proactively replace them even with 79K miles on the car.

 

Whenever I buy one of these oldies, I check the protruding part of the head gasket. If I can see a good gasket in there, I leave it. If I don't see anything protruding, I know its never been done and will do it. I just picked up a 98 OBW Limited a few months ago that I am sure the motor has never been out of the car. It was full of coolant when I drove it home, after 96 miles, the radiator was low and it smells like coolant from the tailpipe. I'm planning on rebuilding the motor soon any how.