Legacy Build Quality

[Fat Charlie]

Huh. My hook came off, too. It's still in the carpeting and still holds the mat in place, but it's only attached to the carpet now. I guess I've driven so many beaters that it never occurred to me to mention it the couple of times it's been to the dealer. It's way out of warranty now, so I'm going to do what I've been doing- not notice it much. Still, it would have been nice to have thought to mention it to them. Oh, well. I still love the car.

 

On a different note, we had an 05 OB wagon in the shop that needed plugs and wires. I gave the Sub shop the VIN and answered his questions, then sent my driver to get the parts. The wires were wrong. We called back (and another shop to verify) and it turned out that the 06 has a different part number for its wires- not only that, but they're visibly different. I've seen older cars that were flaky like that as far as what gets installed at the factory, but I never expected to see it happening today.

[rjundi]

Interestingly enough the current consumer reports online with reliability info lists the 2005 LGT as average based on their reader feedback. Average in body intergrety (aka rattles) and climate control system. Below average in electrical (fan issue???). The balance of items are above average - well above average however they weight the car overall at average reliability. Interestingly enough the 2006 is well above average in reliability.

 

Lastly owner satisfication is well above average and I believe highest in the family car category they put it in....

[LongHiway]

Interestingly enough the current consumer reports online with reliability info lists the 2005 LGT as average based on their reader feedback. Average in body intergrety (aka rattles) and climate control system. Below average in electrical (fan issue???). The balance of items are above average - well above average however they weight the car overall at average reliability. Interestingly enough the 2006 is well above average in reliability.

 

Lastly owner satisfication is well above average and I believe highest in the family car category they put it in....

 

Folks here seem to hate CR but, the list of issues on CY05 cars seems accurate from my perspective.

 

And, owner loyalty (satisfaction?) as you can read through the posts here are incredibly high.

[Vimy101]

First model years always have some teething problems that are addressed in subsequent runs.

[kingdomGT]

31K on my '05 GT MT, Base model.

 

So happy with the cloth seats. No squeaking or moaning there, and they grip in turns.

 

Only rattles are on the drivers side of the dash as many have mentioned. I've pin-pointed mine to be the wheel that opens/closes the vent. It too happens to be more noticeable in cold weather, slight to non-existent when hot. Tried to have it replaced at dealer, but they "couldn't duplicate the concern". Now approaching the end of warranty I'll take it in on a cold day...

 

Had to replace the windshield wipers early in the cars life, and even the new ones sometimes "hydroplane" in bad weather and don's completely clear. Almost as if the windsheild isn't uniform.

 

Both headlamps out by 30K. Warrantied of course, but not a great sign...

 

Other than these minor things, SOOOOOO satisfied with my car. 100% stock although I'm considering a Blitz Dual Turbo Timer (Timer and Boost Gauge) and performance pads/SS brake lines. I've considered lots of aftermarket options, but issues like the SPT intake make me take a step back and remember that I have a very quick, beautifully performing car and don't want to jeapordize the durability/reliability/performance of the car. Any input on the turbo timer and brake upgrades?

[SubieLuv]

I am not sure how many 2005 Legacy owners are out there (it has been a little while since I've been on the forum). I was wondering how you all felt about the building quality of your Legacy.

 

I've had mine (2005 LGT wagon) for 7 months now, about 9.5k miles on it. Generally, I'm quite satisfied with the overall build quality, with the exception of two or three "nits":

 

1. Glove compartment door often will not latch properly unless the closing force is applied directly to the center of the door (i.e. in line with the latch).

2. Engine hood latch has come unlatched on rough bumpy roads (lots of those where I live). Never so bad that the safety catch has failed, but alarming nonetheless. After adjusting the OEM latch once, the dealer installed a new one, and that seemed to have mostly solved this problem (only happened once in 4 months since then). Still, I'm beginning to think that Subaru just dosen't understand how latches are supposed to work...

3. The Subaru engine "thrum"; the first few times I experienced this, I'm looking around for some punk kid to cast a dirty look towards (apologies to all who think 900 Watt car audio is a must have). Finally, I realized that it wasn't someone else's honking subwoofer that I was hearing/feeling, but rather the thrumming of my own engine in idle. The curious thing about this thrum is that after owning the car for a few months, it seems to have gone away on its own, hopefully never to return.

 

Other than the above, I've had no complaints. The LGT is hands-down the nicest car I've ever owned, and given the price I paid, it pretty much has/had no equal.

[Sidney07]

Well now...I've had an 00 Legacy wagon, traded in with 83K...no rattles, no problems whatsoever. Had and 03 Legacy SE wagon with 112K...again, no rattles, no problems whatsoever.

 

Now I have an 07 2.5i Ltd wagon. It only has 1200 miles on it, but I'm grinning from ear to ear so far...nice ride!!!