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General things to look for when buying....


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I did search around before posting this, including the threads suggested when I started the post and I didn't find what I was looking for. If I missed it, someone please point me there.

 

What I'm looking for are the "weak points" in the 1995 to 2000 era Legacys/Outbacks. As noted in my new member post, I'm a VW guy (admin on a VW/Audi site as a matter of fact) who will be looking for a used Subie wagon with a manual tranny. I had Subaru DL's in the 80's so it's not like I've never owned one, I just don't know the newer ones.

 

On VW's, weak points are ignition switches, strut tower rust, floor rust, gas filler rust, power window motor mounting clips, secondary air injection pumps, timing belt tensioner failures, you probably get the picture. This is what I'm looking for on the Legacy/Outback wagons...where do they tend to fail and what should I look for on the car and in the service records?

 

The older Subies tended to rust, hopefully they've fixed that problem. I hate rust and it can never really be fixed, that's why I'll probably go west or south to get one if I can (I'm in Ohio).

 

Anyhow, thanks in advance for any advice and information.

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Welcome,

 

This board is mainly focused on the MY05 + years of the Legacy. There are a few people with the older generation Legacy, but not many as in other boards.

 

I think the 2.2L in the year that you are looking for suffered from the head gasket going bad, but I am not 100% sure.

 

GL and I am sure someone else will chime in.

 

X

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I think you may be shooting for 95-99 Outback and Legacys the 2000 Model was a new body style that year.

 

From what I hear subarus are pretty bullet proof, but the one thing I have read I think is head gaskets on the 2.2L models, other then that haven't herd anything in particular.

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At the end of the day, you get it inspected by a really good mechanic before you buy it, and later on if something goes bad, you fix it. Can't imagine you will be able to see a darn thing on it just by poking around under the hood. Doesn't really work that way.
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Welcome,

 

This board is mainly focused on the MY05 + years of the Legacy. There are a few people with the older generation Legacy, but not many as in other boards.

 

I think the 2.2L in the year that you are looking for suffered from the head gasket going bad, but I am not 100% sure.

 

GL and I am sure someone else will chime in.

 

X

 

Thanks for the clarification. The guy who pointed me here had a newer Legacy so this may well be operator error on my part. I'm probably not going to be getting anything as new as an '05 anytime soon, unfortunately.

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At the end of the day, you get it inspected by a really good mechanic before you buy it, and later on if something goes bad, you fix it. Can't imagine you will be able to see a darn thing on it just by poking around under the hood. Doesn't really work that way.

 

Exactly, it's more a question of what you can't see unless you are looking specifically for it because someone else knows it's there. An example is the gas filler neck area on a VW. Who checks inside a gas filler neck for rust? Anyone looking at a 94-99 VW needs to check because the spray off of the rear wheel throws salt and slop against that stamping and it rots the body out. Also the front strut towers, they can rot too. I'm looking for things like that, things not seen unless you're looking specifically for them.

 

I can't find any independent Subaru wrenches in the area so I was hoping to find some info here.

 

thank you for the comment.

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I think you may be shooting for 95-99 Outback and Legacys the 2000 Model was a new body style that year.

 

From what I hear subarus are pretty bullet proof, but the one thing I have read I think is head gaskets on the 2.2L models, other then that haven't herd anything in particular.

 

Thanks for the HG information, that's the type of stuff I was looking for.

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