Subaru_dude

My dad's first Subaru was a standard hatch EA81, then he sold it for a Ford Tempo (hated himself for it). Bought an '88 EA82T sedan. Loved the car, didn't like the digi-dash. Would cut out sometimes... he put 200,000 miles on it and didn't have any trouble with the engine. Clutch went out and he just got rid of it. Then he had to go and get a '93 Loyale with the 3AT. Hated it so much he hasn't bought once since. That's the car he gave me as my first car. Leaked quite a bit of oil, underpowered, and ran horrible. My second car was an '87 Subaru GL d/r wagon. Ran beautifully and didn't hardly leak at all. Was reliable until I wrecked it a year later. Then I got an '89 5spd 2wd sedan. Leaked quite a bit but ran great. Overheated it multiple times on one trip and decided I'd better do the headgaskets when I got back. Gave it a shot and 10,000 miles later they were leaking again. Got an '89 EA82T 4EAT wagon, was an awesome car. THEN I bought my '93 Impreza. Doesn't leak, doesn't burn oil, GREAT running little motor. 60 miles one way to work 4 days a week. Last job was 56 miles 7 days a week. Have put 30,000 miles on it so far and it's never even showed a hint of trouble whatsoever. Now I've got my '89 Touring wagon which leaks some oil from the driver side headgasket, but other than that doesn't leak anywhere else. Runs pretty good, but not nearly as well as my EJ18 (of course, the EJ18 has a coil pack and is MPFI). So here's the list: EA81 standard hatch- 200,000ish miles (dad's, he loved it) EA82T '88 Sedan- 200,000ish miles (dad's, he liked it) EA82 3at wagon- 200,000ish miles (dad's, then mine, hated it) '93 Accord(crap)- 165,000ish miles (parents/mine, hated it) '87 EA82 wagon- 175,000ish miles (mine, loved it) '89 EA82 sedan- 211,000 miles (mine, loved it) '89 EA82T 4EAT wag- 175,000 miles (mine, awesome car) '93 EJ18 Imp wag- 250,000 miles (mine, love it) '89 EA82 touring wag-165,000 miles (mine, love it) My dad's been considering a Subaru lately. He may go to Canada to work for the winter and would like a wagon to take all his stuff in, and the AWD wouldn't hurt either. Man that was a long post.

164,000 is nothing. You'll be much happier with the versatility and room of the Legacy wagon. The 5 speed is geared quite low though, if you do alot of interstate driving you may want to consider the Impreza.

Oh yeah I'm aware of that. Not going to Grayson. Doing my homework on some other dealerships (including the one in Crossville) so I can have more than one dealership at my disposal lol.

These cars are great. I have a '93 that just turned over 250,000 on the original engine and trans LAST NIGHT. Doesn't burn oil, starts up every time. The only concern you might have is the lack of cargo room. Well, the rear hatch opening is more of a problem than the room itself. It's an awkward shape, not like the gaping cravass of your '87 GL. Impreza: 64 cubic feet of cargo space GL: a whopping 74 cubic feet Do the timing belt, thermostat, radiator hoses, and change fluids and you'll be good to go for a long time.

I want an '09 preferably just because it'd be alot cheaper and essentially the same thing. 5-speed, white or at least a light color. Might go '10 because I'd like to test drive one with nearly no miles and break it in properly . That way I'll know I won't be burning any oil anytime within 300,000 miles. Going to test drive one today at Grayson just to see how I like it though.

Does anybody own one? I'm doing so much driving, I'd like to just get rid of all 3 of my old Soobies and just buy a new one. I'm going to be working 7/12's soon and I just won't have time if anything goes wrong. Impreza's starting to show it's age (I abuse it too much). The new Imprezas sit too low, but I love the look of the new Foresters. Plenty of room too. Out of all of the newer stuff, I think I'm the most fond of the new Foresters. So I have a few Q's, most of which could probably simply be answered by a test drive but here goes anyway. How does it handle? They say it handles like a car, but how much like a car? Is the ride quiet? How's acceleration with a 5 speed? I know it's something like 0-60 in 10 secs with the auto (yuk:-\). I saw in a review that it easily beats the EPA estimates on mileage and they averaged something like 30.3?mpg on the highway with an auto. 60 more horses, 8 cubic feet more room, AWD, and it still matches my Imprezas mileage. It sucks filling up every 350 miles:rolleyes: (Imprezas had small tanks). Are there any mantainance items that it wears out faster than normal like brakes? Wind noise? Stuff like that. And let me know what you were accustomed to driving BEFORE buying the Forester. Obviously if you previously owned a Cadillac, the Subaru will probably be hoarse and rough.

Subarus have always been very characteristic. I've always been able to spot any EA or EJ from miles away. I passed a 2010 Outback today and thought it was a Lexus. Those taillights are DIRECT clones.

Say Kyle that car looks familiar . Kyle can attest to the die-hard attitude of the older Imprezas. All that shifter slop and STILL SHIFTING!!! hahaha. I love mine. It's a '93 fwd 5spd. A little underpowered, but I'm getting 33-34mpg hwy (consider you COULD be driving an '08 2.5i with AWD and really it's kind of pitiful haha). The newer ones are far more aerodynamic, geared better for highway driving, and are interference. I will never buy one however. 44 cubic feet of cargo space? Kiss my A$$. The older Impreza wagons have 64 cubic feet of space. Roughly 45% more room than the new ones. But nothing beats the EA82, 74 cubic feet of cargo space. My Impreza FEELS cheaply put together. Choppy ride, rattles, squeaks, creaks, bumps, and it doesn't feel like it handles well but feels great when pushed to the limit. But I will tell you this... this car has seen some air, some hard landings, and some ditches. But it just keeps taking it and keeps going. The things I do to my DD.

This Subaru will serve you better than that damn Ford ever could.

I saw one at our dealer too. Don't care about styling myself, it's what inside that counts. LOVED the room. Even with the front seat all the way back, I had PLENTY of leg room in the rear. Very comfortable too. Cubic feet is important to me also, 71 cubic feet of cargo space with seats down is impressive (pretty pitiful when compared to the tiny EA82s that had 74 cubic feet of cargo space though). Good clearance and it seems like it would be great for backwoods excursions. Didn't drive it so can't comment on that part. I personally prefer a higher profile, but I can see shorter people (I'm 6'3") having trouble using the roof rack. But overall... even with all that extra room, it should have more given it's size. It is officially a crossover now. They're heading the way of Honda and Toyota it seems. SELL SELL SELL!!!!!

More than half the Subarus I've seen were manuals. I've heard emissions, the gearing of the manuals, not being able to make an automatic that can handle that kind of torque... so many reasons. I hope they can work it all out. The 2010 Outback (according to a brochure) has a towing capacity of 2,700lbs. But it does not specify which transmission. Seems to me like a CVT would be an excellent transmission for towing being that the gear ratios are infinite.... but there's alot more to a trans than ratios.

Now why in the hell would Subaru have trouble getting the 2.0TD to pass emissions? Are they idiots? Volkswagon did it with an inline 4. Surely to The Powers That Be, the boxer design (which from my understanding is naturally cleaner running) would make it even easier to get it to pass emissions. This is BS.

It's awesome to hear the coupe's running beautifully! That's such a gorgeous car. You're so lucky to have one in such nice shape. Really excited about seeing it after the restore. Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to see it in person. I saw a coupe at the JY yesterday and that's why I'm so excited about yours running. Never realized how awesome they were until I finally saw one up close and personal.

Proper mantainance would prevent all that.

Be sure you look up how to properly break in a freshly rebuilt engine. A properly broke in EJ22 should last well past half a million miles.

I really don't know anything about the cooling systems in the newer cars, but it seems to me they're so reliable nowadays that it's almost unecessary to have a temp gauge. As long as the hoses, thermostat, coolant flushes, and water pump are done at proper intervals there should NEVER be any issues with cooling. Early EJs (EJ22s, EJ18s) could have gotten by without temp gauges. It is, however, a necessity on an EJ25 or an EA82.

I have 4 junkyard struts off an early model Legacy on my Impreza and they work just fine. Got them off a low mileage car.

Awww shucks... you're nicer than I am. I think you may have said one cuss word the entire time we talked haha. Man that pisses me off about the CV... the last time I checked the boot looked intact but the metal band seemed loose and I thought it was just seeping out. Explains why the odor of grease got so bad all of a sudden... lol. "Hey Jordan, are you aware of your CV joint?" "Yeah it's not the boot it's just the.... #*&%@!:mad:"

More like 3, lol. Yes I'm pretty happy with it. So far it's handling being a DD pretty well, but it's only been in commission for a couple of weeks. Hoping the overheat didn't do any real damage, hoping those timing belts hold out too.

The ticking is caused by either the oil pump seals needing replaced or the cam tower o-rings needing replaced. The oil pressure sending unit is probably to blame for the oil pressure fluctuations. That's a very common cause for low readings.

Finally got pics up. Advance Auto thermostat for now and new radiator. Have a Subaru thermostat on standby. Right now it's my dad's ride to work and back (80 mile round trip). Throwing a code 34 CEL and gets 24mpg. That will be fixed someday... maybe. Or I'll say the hell with it and go EJ22 or EA81. http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/SMASHmySOOByDONTya/Subarus/Picture006.jpg http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/SMASHmySOOByDONTya/Subarus/Picture004.jpg http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/SMASHmySOOByDONTya/Subarus/Picture013.jpg http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/SMASHmySOOByDONTya/Subarus/Picture012.jpg http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/SMASHmySOOByDONTya/Subarus/Picture009.jpg Has some surface rust but that's about it. Engine bay is nice and clean but is leaking oil from driver side headgasket. Leaks about a quart every week. Can't wait to ditch the EA82. Runs good, just a trash engine in my opinion. So far I've: Replaced passenger side axle, installed CD player, replaced radiator, replaced thermostat, changed oil and coolant. What it needs: DIFFERENT engine, shocks, right front ball-joint, a good cleaning.

Does anyone know if an Outback nudge bar would fit a '93 Impreza? Or if there is a nudge bar that fits this model? And if so where could I find it besides the dealership?

EA81 rad will fix your problems. That ***************ty single core is junk even if it's not clogged.

Don't know yet, haven't even gotten it home. When I get the Impreza coupe out of the yard, I'll bring it home. Giving the coupe to my nephew who's about to go to college in Virginia. As soon as these headgaskets let go (probably won't be too long from what I've read about EA82 headgaskets) I may swap everything in the sedan (EJ22, rear discs, rear subframe with swaybar) to the wagon. I think I would be a little more motivated to get the EJ22 running if it was in a d/r touring wagon.

I would LOVE to go EJ, but I'm lazy and would rather drop it in, bolt it up, and crank.