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So my 05 Outback with 200+K is nearing retirement. (not a bad thing since I retried last year myself and highly recommend it) Roaming around the Subaru lot I came across a 2018 with 25K miles so then commenced the salesman's dance: "well if you like the 2018 you'll be impressed with the 2020 MY for just a few thou more, you get the 3/36 warranty and a complimentary smile with purchase..." CVT is now unavoidable and the 2020s introduced the automatic stop/start function which needs to be manually disabled at each restart. The darn OBs keep getting bigger and bigger, while my aging eyesight might lead me to bumping into things more and more, and the "Infotainment" display grew along with the MYs. That fingerprint magnet has grown to the size of a small computer monitor and unless the car is parked, the controls are no longer touchy, feely as on my 05 and 08 and could prove a distraction while in motion (see aging eyes above). Since I intend on driving it till the wheels fall off, the electronic doo-dads feel like they are a long term weak link in the machine. Subscription services for features like wifi, forever tied to ATT, and other recurring software upgrading costs make these cars seem like a Microsoft deal where you are buying the hardware but lease the software to keep it running. I personally prefer open source Linux over MS or Apple for that very reason and rightfully fear that hacking into that baby to install Linux might brick the car completely. I guess this rant might be better placed in the "discussions" area than here in the "fixit" section so mods please move it if I am out of place. Any input or caveats appreciated. In the meantime, as an old foggie, let me just say... "Get off my lawn!"

Thanks to everyone responding to this post. We figured it out! I replaced the single wire sending unit, that was not the problem. The gauge itself was the issue. I pulled the cluster, and then pulled the temp gauge off. Swapped it with my other '99 Legacy and did tests with those gauges. The gauge from the '95 was bad. Went to the wreckers and snagged a gauge off a 95 Legacy, cost me $10 and about 4 hours trouble shooting.

Mine have been 50/50. They are normally changed if it's an emissions state, as they help the cat last longer.

Last I saw Subaru’s 0% financing ends Sept 30. Maybe Sales people stiffen up close to that, Knowing that some people want that rate and will sign rather than loose it. In some areas, and outside of known excellent urban dealers, the more rural or less high ended communities around, the better your chances are at getting away from cash flushed places that see so many people with open wallets that you’re just a nuisance. I’ve seen this play out in a number of locales in different states around high priced communities which NY has plenty of. They see so many customers that pay whatever and some tire kicking lowballers, most who know little about cars, that they unfortunately treat you poorly if you don’t fit one of those molds. I don’t know your dealer but I’ve seen this before and heard from long time dealership staff (not just Subaru) that this is the case.

Since you are still probing for clues, I would do a fuel pressure check. The tank may have sludged up the feed line to the pump. Also, when the engine is idling, I would stick a vacuum gage on it and see if you can learn anything.

If you’re in a good Subaru market, start at a Subaru dealer. They have a Subaru specific clientele and may like have one that new to offer for sale in their used inventory, which may mean a better offer. Whatever offer you get will probably seem low unless the car you’re buying has more profit built into it. You’ll loose either way, just depends whether you want to feel like you got a smoking deal on the trade in or the new car purchase. The smoking trade in deal is much more likely to happen if you’re in person as well and they know you’re serious. The national crisis may also be impacting volumes in a variety of ways and sowing down demand for trade ins. Id also suggest trying now but don’t hesitate to try again this summer. You don’t want to sell it outright via private sale - so they’re providing you a service, it makes sense you’re going to pay for it one way or another - either with a lower trade or higher price tag on the new purchase.