WagonsOnly

Betty FORD?! Try Betty Fuji ;-) And no, I don't know what I'd do if I had one for every day of the week...my life would be so empty...one per day of the month is SO much more my style

I do believe Skip was making them for a while, could have been downpipes only though. You may want to search the forums...

There is a world of difference between the '99s (mine was also a lemon and had experienced similar unscheduled maintenance by that mileage) and the '03s. If you live in Vermont, parts and dealer service shouldn't be a problem; I hear Auto Creek is very good. Go for it if you can get proof of maintenance and if there's still factory coverage left (or it's just out).

I think posting the most unreliable models would be better than the good ones--there are much fewer to list :-) That said: '85-'86 EA82 turbos with Gen 1 heads '96-'01 Foresters, Outbacks, Legacies and 2.5RSes with Phase I EJ25s Anything (read: Justy) with an EF12 unless you really want your car (and driveway) coated in 10W40... '73-'74 1400cc models Of this list I have had at least one of each and even then couldn't be happier with the car (excepting the Forester). For sheer bulletproof reliability, a low-mileage 2.2L Legacy, an EA81 or even EA71, or my personal favorite XT6 with coilover suspension should fit the bill nicely. Otherwise, wait a couple years for Subaru to recover from GM parts-bin sharing and the learning curve that's going to improve their quality (hopefully) from hooking up with Toyota.

And...if you don't have possession of the car yet--might be a good idea to look under the hood for milkshake/air bubbles before you pick it up.

OK, for any of you who happen to have a Gen II (1989-1994) US market Justy, or access to one: A couple of days ago I lent my '94 4-dr Justy to a friend. Seems yesterday she went grocery shopping and either a shopping carriage or an Excursion hit the back of the car. The strip that goes across the hatch, over the license plate holder, was completely shattered. My question: Does the strip screw, glue or clip in? How hard is it to replace or should I just save myself the bother and get a new hatch with a good strip; and, if this is the case, will a hatch from a (much more common) two-door Justy fit? The dealer had no idea what I was talking about, but then I didn't have the car with me (and the local dealer is notoriously bad at servicing anything older than a '99 or so). Any input would be appreciated. (if you have this part, please PM me with shipping and installation info before I double-post this to the Marketplace.) Thanks,Andrew

Unless you have as receipt for a timing belt change, do it now and every 60K miles thereafter. If it breaks you'll be left stranded but the engine will be fine (non-interference). But it's better to do it now than wait for AAA in a snowstorm.

How long ago to join to get a Charter button anyway? I'm pretty sure I don't qualify, joined EZBoard spring '02...

Asking for post-'85 parts isn't always a picnic, either--I had to have the parts guy come out to my car because he refused to sell me ONE windshield wiper (even though they're packaged individually) for my XT6. The local dealer was great at tracking down parts for my '73 though...

Ummm...no. Sorry, but head gaskets and cooling issues on these cars (1400cc and earlier) are major pains. Yours should be okay with a reseal and a new gasket, if that's what it even needs, for many miles; they worked out the bugs around 1974-75 and didn't see many gremlins return 'til the mid '80s. My 1973 wagon, though, has service records for 2 new sets of heads and a head gasket change, with 83K original miles! Early automatic transmissions can be very problematic; just make sure you baby it and come to a complete stop before shifting or parking. This is not a car you want to cruise for hours at highway speed in. It wasn't built for it, and though it will do it in a pinch, it's much more fun and more rewarding to drive these babies around town for the rest of their lives. Signed sincerely, The idiot who drove a '73 wagon back from Georgia in 24 hours this past summer.

no, trust me, shorter roof, less leg room. Much more comfortable in front but for some twisted reason the Justy is just as much fun to drive (to me)...but I like tin cans like that (and my current XT6 is an autospastic...)

To the best of my knowledge only the 2006 STI and B9 Tribeca are using the 5 X 114.3 lug pattern. I'm certain all Imps and Bajas are still 5 X 100 and pretty sure the rest are the older style too.

As long as we're on the subject of how great our cars are running...my Justy is running like it's missing a cylinder (down to 2) and I'm still getting 35+mpg Connie, sorry, please apologize to him for me.

I imagine you could top off the coolant, run it capless until it warms up and try the coolant temp with a meat thermometer.

How cold is it running? Your engine coolant must be well under 100ºF if the heater isn't working to the degree you've described--which I find rather improbable. I'd have to guess that it's a clogged line to or from the heater core, or a plugged core. The heater in my Justy has always worked like a charm, and I've never seen the gauge go over 1/3 of the way; same for my old XT6. EDIT: Have you tried changing to a hotter spark plug? http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/installation.asp?nav=31300&country=US

grumblegrumblegrumble...don't need low range in a Justy...grumble... Seriously, for a car that does 4K RPMs at 60MPH, I don't think the gearing is as much a problem as the length. If this thing's just going over light terrain, a little mud and such, or even beach duty, it's a great concept. Steep hills would be the only problem (or getting stuck and not having the grunt, gearing aside, to get out). Also...Jeff...ever ridden in the back of a Justy? I am NOT knocking your car in any way--but I can say for absolutely certain that my '94 Justy seats 4 people a heck of a lot more comfortably than any XT or XT6 I've ever owned. The front seats might not be great, and the back seats aren't very well formed--but comparatively speaking the XT has NO legroom (I'm only 5'9" but have fairly long legs, so the seat in my car is always all the way back) and very limited headroom. No, it's not a wagon, but it's a far cry from an XT too. (now if they just coulda put an H6 in it...)

US models do NOT have a separate reservoir for the fluid. They run off the same bottle the windshield washer does. They work very well for road salt, totally ineffective for mud. OK on dust/grime but not great. Subaru should have installed wipers, like Mercedes, Saab and Volvo. Washers were available on EA82 wagons and sedans in export markets; most upmarket models in New Zealand and Australia have washers. If they were available on EA81s I've never seen one. Not sure about Legacies. And finally they were available not only on the XT6 but also on the 1987.5 XT GL-10. (They may have been offered in previous years but I'm not sure. I'm going by my own experience here--I have an XT GL-10 with washers--but I wouldn't say whether they were offered before that without proof because of the different front end and bumper in 1985-87.0.) Hope this helps. Andrew

Well, Connie, what did you expect? You've only got 191K on her! My GLF would get around 29-31 highway mileage, but that's with the cruise at 55 and the air off/sunroof closed. So I'd say Matt has something seriously wrong with his...or a lead foot

For eBay past auctions, go to Advanced Searches in eBay Motors, and click on "Current Auctions" and tab down to "Completed Auctions". I feel for you, I really do...that was a pristine wagon.

I agree with Todd and Paul on this. My '75 wagon has only 60K and NO rust ANYWHERE on the body except the front fenders. Both fenders have been replaced and the foam spray-on has been removed. The original fenders had holes on top large enough for me to put my hand through, yet there is no rust anywhere else on the car.

Ed's email address is subaru360nut@aol.com . There are a couple in Australia--a board member was advertising them here; user ID was maudsland . There's also at least one 1969 FF-1 still running around in New Zealand.

At the very very worst you have a leak at the top of your heater core somewhere that's letting air in--but you'd notice you were running low on coolant and/or have water/coolant dripping onto the passenger floorboard. Or--this is a long shot--sloshing around in your washer fluid tank? It's mounted on the passenger fender, so that's a possibility if you're not low on coolant.

He would have started a bidding war, perhaps, but that's about all I have never had a Gen One 4WD. The only ones I've driven are Paul's '78 wagon, and a '78 Brat that went to a very worthy caretaker in the center of Pennsylvania. I'll stick with my FWD 1400s for now :cool:

But not all the automatics since there was no 1600 engine before 1976.

Thanks, but I don't want to deal with (1) the hassles of shipping and importing and (2) looking like I'm a member of the Postal Service, trapped in the 1970s...