Arvex

I picked up a 2001 Outback VDC recently and find that I'm not at all fond of the leather seats. I'd have tolerated if my dog didn't slide off the back seat and hit his head on the center console while braking to make a turn. I'm not the type for throwing seat covers over and would rather just find some good cloth seats to replace them with. I wanted to know if there was any option for heated/powered cloth seats on that model or if it was possible to mix and match pieces of the leather seats and the cloth seats to make one that will work with both the heated seat controls and powered seat controls. If OEM options existed, I just need part numbers and I can go from there.

My daily was recently wrecked in an accident and I couldn't find anything I wanted to drive long term in my price range, so I am trying to do something with a little more of a long term plan in mind to eventually get myself into the car I want. I picked up a rusty 2001 Subaru Outback wagon with the EZ30 motor at a cheap price with the plans to daily it until the rust makes it unsafe. Meanwhile, save up money. Once rust claims it, pull the engine out and swap that into a rust-free Baja as soon as I can afford one (if I haven't managed to daily it long enough to save up that much.) Seemed like a good plan until I realized I bought a VDC wagon without knowing the engine harness and ECU were different and dependent on having a VDC transmission installed. Is the engine itself different from a non-VDC Outback? Or can I salvage this plan by buying an engine loom and ECU from a non-VDC H6 Outback?

I recently picked up a 2001 Outback VDC Wagon and there were a few things I wanted to replace on it. I thought I'd ask here for help getting the right parts and finding out which problems are harder to fix than just grabbing parts from another Subaru. First one is the seats. I am not fond of leather seats (I just don't find them comfortable and prefer cloth) and would like to replace them with cloth seats. Did the third generation Legacy/Outback or Baja have any options for cloth seats that were both powered and heated that I could swap in? Or is there any way I can retrofit the cloth seats onto the powered/heated seats of the VDC Wagon? The next is installing the bug deflector on the hood. I just wanted to check that E2310LS101 is the right part number for all models in the 01-04 Legacy/Outback and Baja group before ordering one, making sure that there wasn't any changes to that number. In the long term, I am considering a manual swap, but I have been reading that VDC makes this trickier and that it might be tied to ABS as well? I was hoping to get some clarification.

I'm not really worried about towing, anymore. I've pretty much decided I'm going to buy a Baja after I sell the Passat. The problem is that I can't find anyone who wants it.

Good to know. That alone tells me I should avoid '01 models unless I'm buying them with the intent to fix/replace the transmission at some point.

What I meant by "not being able to sell it enough for an Outback" was meant to mean "Outback of similar condition." The Outback they're offering is listed at $2,000 while I'm listing my Passat at $3,000. I'm feeling like I'm giving myself the short end of the stick on this trade based on how it sounds like it might need expensive work done soon. $3,000 is more than enough for a solid down payment on a Baja or H6 Outback at a reputable dealer's lot, maybe even put some of that money into fixing up the SVX. So, selling the Passat is likely my best bet, even if it takes a while.

I believe they do advertise much lower towing capacities here in the US. I don't know if it's because they don't have faith in US drivers or because of the mountains and hills some regions here have or design differences in US models. And, yes, you can remove the driveshaft on an SVX. Take it out and you can tow the SVX on a dolly with the rear wheels on the ground. It's not that I don't want a car that is maintenance intensive. I just want every car I own to feel like it's worth the work and money I put into it. My Jetta is that way, but I can't exactly carry an engine in the back of it.* I'm actually in the middle of swapping my Jetta to manual after the automatic broke down (well... still saving up for the tools to get the transmission out of its donor which is sitting right behind it.) If I got my hands on a clean silver or dark grey Baja (turbo or NA,) I'd be willing to deal with the problems. I'm aware of the common problems, both on the NA and turbo models. My dad owned three NA Bajas over the years and I did my research before considering a turbo Baja. I learned to drive in an NA Baja and I want my own now. Heck, I feel like a turbo Baja could possibly replace my Jetta as a fun to drive daily that is also more practical. Admittedly, they are very expensive. My best bet would be to get one in decent shape that someone is dumping for head gasket issues and replacing the engine with something more reliable. Even then, I don't expect it to be cheap. Yet, all the money I put into that Passat could have easily bought me a decent condition Baja. Sadly, I don't have the money I did back then. Between decent paying jobs right now, working delivery until I can find something better. As for the Outback I am looking at this weekend, I'm going to ask them a few more questions, see what else has been done to it and what will need done soon. I think I'm most likely going to walk before I've even looked at it in person. It's at 219k and I don't have the tools to pull an engine out to do a head gasket, yet. And I feel I should get my other projects out of the way before buying something that will need major work soon. I'm going to re-iterate. I do not intend to tow often enough to justify owning a truck, even a cheap one. Driveway space is limited. Plus riding/driving trucks terrifies me. Even a compact SUV is higher off the ground than I'm comfortable with. Maybe trading the Passat at all is a bad idea and I should just sell it for cash then buy what I want later. I was just worried what I got for it wouldn't be enough to buy a Subaru, which is why I offered trades for one. *Okay, not entirely true... *Also, my Jetta parts car had its cylinder head and valve cover in the trunk when I bought it. EDIT: All this thread is doing now is making me want to give up on searching for an Outback and go straight for a Baja.

The Passat is actually in pretty good shape. It just isn't the car I need. I spent a lot of money saving it from the junkyard (overpaid every step of the way.) The engine I had put in only has 55k miles total and the body/interior is in great shape, minus a dent or two, for a 14 year old car. Honestly, I wish I could get more out of it, but no one is willing to pay what I want for it unless it comes off a dealer's lot. The Passat just doesn't have enough extra storage space to justify the tradeoff in how fun it is to drive my Jetta. So I'm looking to put a little more distance between my fun car and my daily car. I'm dead set on eventually buying an Outback or Baja, whether it can tow an SVX or not. I don't plan to tow any of my cars often enough to justify a truck. And I can strip a car down before towing in order to get it closer to safe towing weight ranges. Across the life of the SVX, I have only a pair of two way trips planned; a body shop and a fabrication shop. Those trips aren't enough to justify buying a full truck, I'd be better off renting or paying someone to tow it for me. What I'm looking for is a station wagon for the extra storage space for carrying parts for my project cars while still having more leg room than my Jetta (my roommate is a big guy.) On a related note to an above post, a 4EAT Subaru can be dolly towed if you disconnect the driveshaft from the rear differential. Thank you, everyone. I'm still going to look at the Outback if I hear back from the seller, but I am doubtful I'll be trading for it. They probably are looking to dump it on someone instead of getting the repair work done, but you never know. I think I'll be better off waiting for someone to buy the Passat then put that money towards an Outback or Baja. I'm still annoyed with hindsight reminding me that how much I put into the Passat could have EASILY bought me a low mileage Outback or turbo Baja.

Sounds like I won't be using it for towing the SVX then. I may even back off this one, based on what I've been told and wait until someone buys the Passat so I can just buy, a lower mileage one, go for an EJ25 Outback or even save up for a Baja.

The heaviest thing I ever intend to tow with it is an SVX (3500 pounds) and the routes I plan to tow it along are free of hills. In a previous thread I had going, I was given the impression that an H6 Outback could manage under the following circumstances: -Occasional towing, not frequent trips. -Few hills, nothing steeper than an on-ramp for a highway (even then, I'd plan my route to use ones I know are gentler sloping than others.) -Upgrading transmission cooling and brakes. -Class two hitch and trailer brakes. -Possibly even leave parts that are not relevant behind (towing would likely be to body shop and fabrication shops, parts not relevant to required service can be left in the garage.) Honestly, if I'm not able to manage it with an Outback, I'd rather just pay someone to tow it for me when I need it towed than own a truck. I won't tow often enough nor be carrying large items often enough to justify it as a daily. Plus, me and large vehicles do not get along. And the one pseudo-truck I would consider is still far outside my price range (at a quick glance, still above $10k for 2006 Ridgeline.) Even if I weren't using it for towing, I am still dead set on an automatic all wheel drive station wagon or a Baja (which I know cannot tow what I need) to replace the Passat as my daily.

I am after the H6 because I'll be using this for occasional towing and the EJ25 equipped ones do not quite have the towing capacity I need. The one I'm looking at is at 219k miles in the listing. If "300k and throw it away" is the stance on these, I'll see if it's cheaper getting the timing belt and head gasket done together vs. replacing the engine with a used one. Shoot. While I was typing this, I found out the pre-03 H6 third generation Outbacks are only rated to tow 2,000 lbs. apparently. Are they different between those years? Or did they just up the rating? EDIT: Okay. I'm finding mixed information across all years...

After nearly two years of watching Craigslist and Subaru forums, I have finally found a 2001 Legacy Outback H6 wagon for trade whose owner is willing to consider my Passat 4motion 1.8T as a possible trade (since selling the Passat is hard despite all the work/money I put into it.) I'm supposed to go look at it this Saturday and it has had a lot of work done recently, according to the listing, despite being listed for $2,000. It's got some rust on the body, but it didn't sound major. I'm looking to hear from people who own third generation H6 Legacy Outbacks. What should I be keeping an eye/ear out for while looking at and test driving an H6 Outback. What sort of things should tell me that I should walk away and wait until I sell the Passat to straight up buy an Outback? Are head gasket problems as bad as the EJ25s of similar years? Is it possible they're trying to sell it because it's time for a new head gasket and they don't want to deal with it? EDIT: Shoot. The title could be worded so much better and I didn't realize you couldn't edit it until now.

That makes sense to me, actually. So, an automatic Outback would be a wise choice. EDIT: Which means the EZ30 is an option now.

I've read of people talking about the transmission affecting towing ability, but they don't say which way it goes. They say it in such a way that suggests I'm supposed to know which way it affects it. The route in question is flat as can be. The only real hills/slopes are the on and off ramps from the highways. Common sense tells me the automatic transmissions can't tow as much because of the general consensus among car enthusiasts that automatics are junk. At the same time I'm not very experienced in driving manual, so towing with manual seems a bad idea for me. I know how to operate manual, but my overall driving experience in the year since my friend taught me is probably five hours of driving.

Thank you for the responses. I believe that answers all of my questions very well. The reason I was asking was because I'm planning to take the SVX to a shop about three hours away for some custom fabrication work later this year and don't know how long it would be up there. I figure that if I tow it up there, I can spend time with family and friends in the area and take up a guest room while I wait or drive back home and pick it up later if it takes longer and work starts calling. I'm somewhat doubtful as to the 2004 and earlier Outbacks now, given what I've read. It looks like a 2005 or newer could handle it, one with the H6 more likely than not. I will keep cooling upgrades in mind if I do this.