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How rustprone are Legacy III and IV?


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Hi guys!

 

I own a 99 Legacy Sedan with 180.000 miles on the clock and it is still almost rustfree. Our winters here in Austria are comparable to them you have on the east coast (rust-belt), so I am really surprised.

 

The first two generations tend to rust on the rear arches, the sills, the doors and the complete undercarriage, but the third and fourth generation Legacy seem to be rust-protected very good. How´s this in the US? Do you have rustproblems with you Legacys from 1999 on?

 

Lukas

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I live in Indiana, USA, and own both a 98 & 99 Outbacks. Some salt is used on the roads here, however, both Subarus are holding up well. The 98 is showing a little rust starting around the rear arches, but not bad.

 

Earlier, we owned a 91 Legacy, that rusted on the doors, arches and sills.

 

Subaru has made progress against rusting.

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Our '95 just starting showing rust last year, after 16 years of winter road salt abuse. I'm pretty bummed about it, as it has performed nearly flawlessly over that time period.

 

Our '03 Forester X shows no body rust, but the undercarriage is another story...

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i have a 99 outback wagon which looks like 96 up, and is mechanically very similar to 00 to 04. Many 96 to 99 in this area are starting to rust in the rear quarters behind the rear wheels. other than a little around the license plate holder, the one's in this area see pretty clean otherwise. The secret to the rear quarter panels is they rust a small hole on the inside of the fender all the way up, just outboard of the strut mounts. This allows dirt and water to enter the fender and then the external rusting starts. I welded tiny little patch panels on the inside of my rear fenders a year ago, (they were soft in those two spots, but still intact). So far so good all the way around.

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The Legacy line since 1992 style is pretty solid, especially the Japan made stuff. The outback line from 99 up seems good.

The impreza stuff until 2002 was rust prone, thinner lighter metals.

The SVX was a really high quality metal so not much rusting, same goes for the turbo legacy.

 

There is a night and day difference in the steel quality of the legacy, outback etc lineup vs the older GL /Loyale stuff.

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Rear wheels wells are where the rust starts on pre 2000 legacys. The back end of the rocker panel, the corner of the wheel arch above the bumper, and the strut tower in the rear all rust out. The fuel tanks and filler necks rust out, as do all the brake lines and fuel lines under the car in back.

 

2000-04 legacys seem to rust through on the top of the rocker panel inside the back door opening.

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Rear quarters are all rusty on anything older than a 2005 up here, subframes are getting rusty/replaced in anything that old as well (I've seen both front and rear rust through). I've seen some newer (00-04 and older) legacys have holes in the floor around where the rear trailing arm mounts to the body.

 

Did I mention I hate salt?

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