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How long have you owned this car? If it’s a recent purchase number 2 is more likely. It sounds like you’re chasing oil leaks. “cam seal replaced”….not long after….”oil pan seal replaced”. This makes number 2 sound likely. Other than that missing info: 1. The pan doesn’t easily drop out like it looks like. It looks like it does but the sump won’t clear the pan baffles so the engine needs lifted. So if they’re used to some other easy cars/truck manufacturers that just unbolt and come off they could have wrestled the pan and damaged the sump. Pull the pan and check the sump. If it’s damaged then they wrestled it off. Given it a Midas that sees all makes and models it would be very easy to look at a Subaru and think it’s easy and try to rip the pan off and damage the sump. 2. If the cam seal, pan (and maybe other items) were leaking then it could have previously been run very low on oil which frequently comprises the lower end bearings. 3. They forgot to add oil. How much came out when they drained it?

Yes, but it could be a loose or corroded set of contacts in the ignition-key unit. Maybe you have an intermittent connection, that works sometimes and then cuts out. Next time you have a problem, jiggle the ignition-key and see what happens.

Just starting a car and idling doesn't help a battery stay charged very much. The amount of energy used for a cold start will take a pretty long time to recover by idling at low RPMs to get any benefit. Assuming the battery is in good shape, it would need a good 15-20 minutes of highway driving to keep the alternator amps up for charging, to keep it in top shape. As batteries age they lose the Cold Cranking Amps on their own. The colder weather just stresses them that much more

Subaru sells 120V AC battery blankets. This as well as a block heater. Plug all that in when it's parked. GD

i should mention this is the only car i’ve ever owned & how i’m trying to teach myself auto mechanics.

SOHC will be the only guarantee of noninterference. With DOHC, if only one cam slips timing, it could cause the valves to collide. Thicker headgaskets and more boost is asking for headgasket failure. Only pre96 sohc heads were noninterference. Change the timing belt and idlers at the service intervals. It's usually the cogged idler that fails and takes out the belt. Very rarely does the belt fail for no reason.

The H6's tend to blow HG's somewhere between 175k and 225k. At which point you just throw the engine away and get a JDM replacement - they are relatively inexpensive compared to replacing the HG's. Personally they are an avoid for me and anyone that asks my recommendation. Subaru already has a hard-on for discontinuing parts to make room in their warehouses and doubly so for anything they made relatively low numbers of (try to get a part for a Justy or an SVX). Stick with the basics (4 cylinder, non turbo) and you will be much better served for parts on cars that are approaching two decades old. Some of the H6 cars had VDC transmissions - which are exceptionally hard to find replacements for. You'll run into issues finding quality replacements for electrical stuff.... it's not worth the hassle to have a few more HP on a 20 year old station wagon IMO. And this situation will only get worse - going into ownership of one now is foolish in my opinion. Especially one that may have questionable HG's already. I wouldn't waste my time. GD

It's a job for sure. My experienced tech's can do one in about 6 hours give or take. Lots of plastic and hidden fasteners. There's not really a good way to describe how to do it - you just have to start taking it apart. You will have to discharge and recharge the AC - that is not optional to remove the HVAC box. I would recommend a pressure test of the system first. Test at 20 psi or so to push coolant out of any pinhole leaks or tiny cracks faster than it would at operating pressure. GD