Who here has/had a justy?

[jonas]

And what do you think?

[Uberoo]

I had a 91 (I think) subaru justy 4x4 RS(13" wheels vs 12").I loved it was the the most nimble little thing I have ever driven.within 2 days of owning I drove it down "old spiral highway" in lewiston at an average speed of 65 mph.

 

 

that is the fastest ive been down it because everything else would wash out on the corners up top and I would have to slow way down..

 

However the justy has a fatal flaw.The shaft that drives the oil pump passes though an aluminum housing with NO BUSHING.As a result of that most justy engines died a quick death.I picked up mine with a thrown rod.I replaced the engine with one I got from the junkyard and it lasted a week.I was actually driving it down to the parts store to get an oil pressure gauge to monitor it.Oil pressure light flickered at a stop light,and a block latter it was siezed.

 

its a great car,handles great,sips fuel-just you need to fix that bushing before you expect it to last long.

[johnceggleston]

nipper picked one up last year, a 92 i think. i would be driving one around town if i could find one in decent shape and didn't have 3 other cars on my to do list.

 

i hear the auto trans is crap, unless it was well maintained. and i hear they don't really have the long life we are used to in other subarus, but i don't really know. but other than that what's not to like.

 

i don't think i would drive it on the hi-way a lot and compete with 18 wheelers and the like. this of course lessens it's usefulness, but doubling? my mileage around town would be good enough. save energy and hopefully save money. but if it was a third car the cost of owning may off set the savings.

 

i'm also interested in those gas powered ''golf carts'' that can go on roads up to 35 mph. for me, driving to work - 2 miles, getting groceries - 2 miles, dropping the kid a school - 3 miles and visiting friends, < 1 mile, it's a no-brainer. but the justy is probably cheaper to buy.

Edited July 30, 2011 by johnceggleston

[themoneypit]

i had two back in the day and loved them. the first one i picked up for $100 when i worked at a junkyard, and someone called wanting to sell it to the owner for $100 (1988 justy fwd 5spd 200+k on the clock). the owner didnt want it, so i called the guy back after work and bought it. drove the heck out of it with no problems for about 6 months, then my sister got her license and i gave it to her. she drove it for a couple years then sold it for $300

 

later i picked up an 89 4wd 5spd, and it ran great until i lent it to a friend, who overheated it and instead of stopping and getting it towed continued driving it until it just quit... (id still like to kick their azz) i put a new head gasket on it, drove it a couple months, and it started knocking... sold it with a bad motor and never looked back.

[jonas]

I have thought about picking one up for a work car (100 mile round trip) so i don't have to drive the Brat so much.

[zyewdall]

I have one.... 1991 4wd 4 door. It's awesome... in certain ways. It definitely does not quite feel like driving a car... more like a big go-cart. Does really well in the snow (I was following my friend's FJ40 through snowdrifts), but doesn't have low range, and will bog and stall the engine if you get in deep enough stuff. Not as durable or long lived as the GL's and EJ22's and all, but I like it. Highway driving is interesting.... it's at about 4,000rpm at 70mph, with the gearing, so that's about it.... having said that, I have taken mine down to southern CO alot, and Utah once or twice, and no issues... gets about 38mpg on the highway, and 32mpg in the mountains -- dropped a bit on the last trip, so I've got new injectors for it (it's acting like it has at least one leaky injector, that occasionally floods it).

[nipper]

nipper picked one up last year, a 92 i think. i would be driving one around town if i could find one in decent shape and didn't have 3 other cars on my to do list.

 

i hear the auto trans is crap, unless it was well maintained. and i hear they don't really have the long life we are used to in other subarus, but i don't really know. but other than that what's not to like.

 

 

I have an 89. The problem with these cars are two things. Subaru says to change the oil at 7500 miles which is INSANE on a little over 3 qts of oil. 3000 mile changes and anything you can do to add capacity is great. I added a external filter (Ford truck holds 1 qt) I also added an engine oil cooler with a thermostat. That bought it up to over 5 qts. You really need an oilpressure gauge. The press switch is set at 3 psi which is incredibly low. The weak

 

 

 

The auto tranny is a wonderful tranny IF it was not abused. There are CVTs out there with over 100K on them and Justys over 200K. What will kill the CVT - an owner who never read the owners manual.

 

You must come to a full stop when chainging directions. A rolling direction change will split the main pressure drum. This is repairable by opening the tranny and welding the drum. There are not a lot of parts in these, so they can easily be rebuilt.

 

There are two forward "gears" on the selector. There is D and Ds. IN Ds this is amazingly little car. From 0 to 30 it will beat anything off the line. Ds is drive sport. This lowers the starting ratio, This is used for stop and go traffic, going up hills and for engine braking. If this is not used people cook the electric clutch which is how they got a bad rep.

 

At the time it was the most exp car in this group, but alos the largest and most powerful. It passed all the crash tests with flying colors.

 

There are very few parts that can not be had new or used. The exhaust system must be made, but the mufflers ar available. The main exhuats hange always breaks, but a solid pipe takes care of that instead of the flexjoint. The stickers are only available in white (hey im trying to do a restoration so dont laugh). The rear struts are really hard to find I think subaru has them still but they are not cheap.

 

The holy grail to find is the digital clock, and the most in demand option is the pass side mirror.

 

The car is easy to work on. The important parts are available new and the others used. All the paint is available.

 

Mine is going on the road shortly

 

 

 

 

 

 

He also only has 30000 miles on him