Ease of maintenance?

[viceversa]

Mid 90's Legacy vs early 90's Loyale?

 

Easier/harder? Which things are easy and which are hard? Typical stuff which goes wrong, water pump, spark plugs, etc.

[Setright]

Legacies are very reliable, and in that sense: Less work means easier.

 

If something does go wrong, you can rest assured that we'll help you out

[Legacy777]

IMO the early legacies are easier to work on then the 80's style subarus

[DerFahrer]

Night and day difference. The Legacies are MUCH easier to work on than any 80's Scoob.

 

A few examples in favor of the Legacy:

1) One timing belt

2) Axles slide right in and out of hub

3) Electronic ignition

4) Wiring is MUCH simpler

5) Window regulators are gear-driven, not cable

 

There are plenty more I'm sure. But keep in mind the Legacy was not only designed to be tough as nails; should something go wrong, it was also designed to be easy to fix. In fact, in 1991, the Legacy received an award for being the easiest car in America to work on!

 

Now the 80's Scoobs still are a lot easier than other cars. I really don't have a great experience with working on all types of cars because I'm so spoiled with my Scoobs. Don't think for one solitary second that I would DARE attempt doing a timing belt on a DOHC transverse V6

[viceversa]

Mine [i.e. Loyale] is a '92, so it has EFI, and other 90's aspects. Still too many vacuum lines.

 

Could you post a link to the award? I would love to see that. I found these awards, which one is it?

 

http://www.subaru.co.nz/news/news_awards/

[hawksoob]

Yeah, I'm a total newbie to car repair, and I've been pleasantly surprised with what I've been able to do myself on my '96 Legacy OBW. General maintenance items are a snap. I was able to buy a Haynes manual and a small set of basic tools for less than what it was going to cost to have Pep Boys replace my fuel filter, including the cost of the filter. From then on, anything I need to have done, I refer to the Haynes or (more frequently) get on this website to get some clue about the job. If it looks like I can do it, I just go ahead and give it a shot. Sensors, filters, fluid changes, even some electrical, all seem to be very intuitive. Some things can be a little weird. Spark plugs, for one. Being horizontally opposed, some of the sparks can be tough to get to, requiring removal of some stuff to get to them easily. Still, doesn't seem to be too much of a challenge.

 

Not quite confident enough to deal with timing belt and oil pump and other major or complicated stuff, but for general maintenance, I'm a devoted DIYer!

[viceversa]

Thanks for sharing that, - like you I do lots of minor repairs like sensor swapping, alternator, etc. but major stuff I stay away from. Well, once I removed an engine, - took me 3 days however.

 

For me, ease of repair is one of the major criteria.

 

If it is hard to fix, I don't buy it!

 

I drove a full size V8 RWD domestic car for a while, which has been very nice and pretty easy to fix, but I longer need all the space or low mpg.

[scubaroo]

I'M A NEW USER BUT NO STRANGER TO SOOBS. THIS IS MY THIRD A 90 LEGACY AWD WAGON. OUR FIRST WAS A 79 4WD WAGON AND WAS USED AND ABUSED. OUR SECOND WAS A 86 GL WAGON 4X4 DUEL RANGE LOTS OF FUN. GOT IT STUCK IN JOHN DAY OREGON. THIS LEGACY IS VERY EASY TO WORK ON. WE HAD A 88 NISSAN PULSAR NX 1.8 DOHC. THE BEST WAY TO WORK ON THE ENGINE WAS TO PULL IT.