heartless

Welcome to the insanity!! 51,000 km = 31,670 mi = a MAJOR score! (even with the auto tranny) Yes the 1.8 can handle the rpms, but if it really bothers you it can be converted over to a 5 spd manual which would lower the rpms quite a bit. Take good care of your fantastic find and it will last a lifetime.

great work on the hatch!! love the look! now to get out the cutting tourch and welder......

89 GL Wagon, 5 spd frt whl dr, getting 30-32 mpg average. slightly lower in cold weather with warm up time.

Have to say a Huge "THANK YOU!" to whoever it was that put this into pdf format - a large undertaking to be sure! And Another Huge "THANK YOU!" to the guys that are hosting the file for download!! I have looked into trying to get my hands on this book, and as others have found out, it was hard to come by and not cheap when you did find one. Now i finally have a copy!!! And even tho it only goes thru '88 - I should still be able to benefit from it for my '89 since little was changed between those model years. Again - THANK YOU!!!!

actually, matching front to rear isnt as critical as matching right to left on the same axle. keep tread depth as close as possible on same axle: fronts the same right and left...rears the same... yes, ideally you would like them all to be the same, but real world doesnt always allow it...needed tires a while back, but couldnt afford to go all around at once. bought a pair, had them mounted up front, about a month later had enough to buy another pair, had the first set rotated to back and new set up front...works just fine.

oh yeah, forgot about the little car display in the dash - gotta love that. also LOVE the full compliment of guages!!! Not too many cars, old or new, have the full guage package. I know some of you have had problems with the oil pressure guage, but mine has been pretty good so far (now watch - it will quit next week!! LOL) yup, love that too, and the looks on thier faces when they realize the engine is only about 13" from from to back!! and then, when ya leave the station (or where ever) give the tires a little squawk...

not too shabby - wanna sell it? wish i could find one in that kind of shape, but not gonna happen around here. (salt eats them)

yes! pictures!! must have pictures!!! sounds like a fun project - keep us posted and most importantly, post PICTURES!!!

pretty much everything! biggest plus = RELIABILITY!!!! Have owned a LOT of vehicles over the years and my Subaru is by far the MOST reliable car I have EVER owned. (next in line would be my old '67 F250!! ) bought the car with 142K on the clock...now at 223K and counting. it may not be the prettiest car on the road (has severe body panel cancer - salt belt ya know) but it is dependable, handles well - even on crappy snowy/slushy/icy roads (and it is a 2 whl drive!) gets great gas mileage, and is just generally fun to drive. the cherry bomb exhaust makes it sound great too!! in the 4 yrs i have owned this car, i have only gotten it "stuck" once - trying to back over a snowdrift in the driveway...got unstuck by myself (put in first gear, let clutch out, open door and push with left foot!) and drove it forward thru the yard (over other drifts about the same size) to get out!! moral of story - as long as I can go forward, not too much is gonna stop the ol girl! great cargo space as well, if it wont fit inside, it will strap down on the roof!!! hauled three, six foot tall pine trees - with root balls - inside with NO problem...well, maybe just the tips tickling my ear.... then there are the ammenaties - power windows, power locks, power mirrors, etc - for a "cheap" car it has tons of "luxuries". only thing mine doesnt have is cruise control, which would be nice, but it is easy enough to drive that it really isnt a big issue. and last, but definitely not least, is ease of maintenence. pretty much the easiest car I have ever worked on. (altho madkow's has a power window issue that we cant seem to resolve short of running a separate switch directly from the battery) I HATE having to work on my mothers car cause it is such a pain to do anything - '91 Chevy Caprice Classic...but i do it anyway - i'm such a good daughter! keep trying to talk her into a Subaru, but she likes the bigger cars - more comfortable she says - especially on a long trip. oh well, i tried. Subaru's are just all around great cars - not the best at any one thing ('cept maybe handling crappy weather/roads) but good at just about everything!

If you honestly think that getting a different car will bring you respect, then by all means, go for it. But - REAL respect comes from within. you need to respect yourself, and who you are before others will respect you - regardless of what car you drive. anyone that judges you for the car you drive is an insecure person themselves, and i feel sorry for them. I drive an 89 GL wagon with pretty severe cancer of the body panels (front fenders flap in the wind!) - it certainly isnt a pretty car to look at, but I really dont care what others think of it, it serves me well & has been THE most reliable car I have EVER owned - and I have had my share of them. I am secure enough with myself that others can say what they want about my car, it makes no difference to me. I just smile, tell them "I paid $150 for it 4 yrs ago, it handles great in the snow, and I get 30+ miles per gallon, what do you get??", that usually shuts them up. You need to really think about your "reasons" for wanting to get a new car, as well as all the related expenses involved...good luck with your decision

for converter at reasonable price try http://www.discountconverter.com/ new, direct fit for my car - 89 GL wagon, 2 whl dr, part no 4027 = $198.63 any good muffler shop can get you the studs if needed, they may need to order so check around - had a local shop do an estimate for replacing manifold gaskets on my car and he wrote up the studs as part of the cost, turns out I didnt need them, but he would have been able to get them if I did. best advice I can give ya, Shop around!

I am no mechanic, never claimed to be, never will....that being said, IMHO, this sounds like a vacuum issue to me... read this thread this morning, had to go into town later and actually paid attention to my brake pedal when i started the car - absolutely NO change in height. call me an idiot if you like, but that is my 2 cents worth. Hope you can get it sorted out soon, Hank. and just for informational purposes, let us know what it turns out to be when you do.

And what would it it take to get one of those??? I sort of have custom body work - if you can count the rusted out fenders and stuff as custom!! have a set of "new" fenders to go on, but really need the lower valance - or something else - to make it look decent again. Still, all in all, for a $150 beater car (bought 4 yrs ago) i cant complain one bit - been the best $150 i ever spent. Now if I could just learn to quit doing burnouts.... naw, what fun would that be????

Hey all!! been a while since i have been here - working really long hours at a new job and usually just too darn tired to fire up the 'puter. Anyway, I have just recently logged a 34.7 mpg!!! the highest i had gotten before this was 31.9 - that was running the freeway at 70-75 mph, putting around 100 miles a day on. Still running about 100 miles a day, but using back roads and running around 60-65 mph. Not too shabby for a 16 yr old car with 215,000 on the clock and counting!!

would have to second the switch being the problem - not the motor. on the other half's car, drivers side window would not work at all till we swapped in a "new" old switch and ran the wires direct, bypassing the relays. nothing wrong with his motor, just wasnt getting a good enough connection thru the switch.

wash regularly, with special attention to the wheel wells and undercarraige - use the do-it-yurself wash bays, the drive thru carwashes dont do that good a job.

have a set of reman's in my car - 3 and a half years now and no problems....and have been putting about 100 miles a day, 5 days a week on them for just over a year now. prior to that it was about 150-250 miles a week....

bump

during a recent very cold spell (minus degree temps), my wipers would barely work (very s-l-o-w) and the washers wouldnt work at all - fliud was not frozen however - the pump just wouldnt work. weather finally warmed up a bit and everything works properly again....but it is going to get colder again soon and trying to spray windex on the windshield thru an open window at 70mph aint my idea of fun....soooo where should I be looking for problems??? at the switch on the column?? at the electrical connections at the motor and pump??? maybe clean and lube the wiper motor??? Do the guys in alaska have these kinds of problems???? this is a new issue - everything worked fine last winter, even when temps dropped into the minus degrees....

Had a similar problem last year - thought I had a ball joint or something going - took the car in to get it checked out and they found out one wheel was bent - slightly - but enough that it couldnt be balanced properly. Thank goodness for parts cars, traded out that wheel and problem solved!

the other half's car didnt even have horns when we got it, somebody, for some unknown reason, removed them - bought a set of aftermarket horns - about $30 for a decent set - and mounted them on the passenger side strut tower - work great! (and louder than the stock ones)we tapped into the original wiring to make them work - and there was quite a bit of corrosion on the original terminals - cut off the nasties and ran extensions to the new horns.

yupper, I know what to look for and know these cars can go for darn near ever, and 100K is barely broken in...have an 89 GL wagon myself, but not as familiar with the newer models. paid a paltry $150 for my wagon over three years ago, she had 142K on her then - now has just over 200K and still goin strong. Plan on printing up a checklist for Mom to give to the freind that will be doing the looking for her - he has a small used car lot, and can get to the auctions that she cant. Thanks again for all the replies and great info. Now to find the right car for the right money!!

Thank you all for the info! very helpful. We will be looking for a mid to late 90's car with the 2.2 and the 4 spd auto! And if/when she does get a Subie, I will insist that she join the board!! LOL right now she justs asks me to ask the board! Thanks again, everybody!!

Thank you, rcousins!! just what I wanted to hear.

thanks for the replies so far! Sounds like the 90 - 94 Legacy w/2.2 may be the ticket..... But, no one has said anything about the auto trannies...good, bad, or otherwise? If it was for me, I would have the 5 speed, but....it isnt for me and could really use the info here. thanks again!