Im looking to buy a subaru in the late 90's. Should I be looking for one that has already had head gaskets and such replaced? That repair seems inevitable of all subarus...? Found a 99 Forester with 228,000 on the car and 165,000 on used motor which has new gaskets, pump, etc. Any feedback on this would be helpful.

Maybe not. Maybe a one-owner car with otherwise good maintenance records would be the best buy.

There's no silver bullet. 26 owners, rebuilt title, tons of rust, shady guy that doesn't know anything about the car....but hey it's got another motor in it

 

Like previous poster said in some ways a one owner vehicle that's never had the headgaskets replaced is a really nice buy for the long term and lesser risk...sort of. no worries about overheat or how long the bottom end is going to last. A multiple owner vehicle that's already had the headgaskets replaced begs the question "How bad was it overheated?" When these early EJ25's blow they overheat quick, but some folks try to limp them somewhere or drive them a few miles before deciding what to do.

 

One that's been EJ22 swapped is a good bet too.

There are also some late 90's models that have the EJ22 but unfortunately they usually come on lesser optioned and less desirable models.

So what you're saying is find one with a 2.2 L engine? Avoid the greater power to save on problems? A lesser model or amount of luxuries is no worry for me.

Buy an Outback with crapped-out 2.5 (for $500 to $1000) and swap in a '95 to '98 EJ22 (direct bolt-in). Perfect combo of feature-rich and reliable.

 

The 2.2 does NOT have the head gasket issues. It's a common mis-conception that this is a Subaru-wide problem but it was actually only a couple engines and all of then were 2.5's.

 

You lose 20 to 30 HP. It's not that big of a deal. The car's still do just fine. Outback's came with the same tires and gearing in '96 with the 2.2. The 2.5's extra power is mostly something that people *think* they need but soon find out that it's just a money pit. Some are good but why gamble?

 

GD

So what you're saying is find one with a 2.2 L engine? Avoid the greater power to save on problems? A lesser model or amount of luxuries is no worry for me.

no, i'm saying there's no "single" thing to look for. i wouldn't focus on buying "only one with an EJ22" any more than I'd focus on buying "only one with HG's replaced" . there's no magic formula, keep your options open as wide as possible and make a good decision.

 

less owners, maintenance records, private sellers, etc are all a good thing.

 

like GD said, many of us can just buy one cheap with a blown motor and fix it, that's the cheapest option if you can do that. but not everyone can or wants to play that game.