KRB64 Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Just thought I'd introduce myself now that I'm an owner. I'm a Dodge and Toyota man but my brother has had Subs for a long time and I have admired them. We just bought a 1997 Legacy sedan for my daughter's first car. At 16 she'll be mostly just driving local and with AWD and air bags I feel its safer than my 1990 Corolla wagon. She's a little too small to be comfortable in my 1992 W250 CTD. It has 284,XXX but I got it from a friend who kept up with all the maintenance and seems to be in great shape (the car, not my friend). She bought it from a friend years ago who bought it new so we know the whole history. I'll be coming here regular to get familiar with the Sooby and repairs. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Welcome! There's a wealth of knowledge far beyond what you can imagine here. The Soob will be a great car if you just keep fresh fluids in it and don't let the rust eat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Welcome - to your new obsession! LOL Keep up with the maintenance and the car should easily go a lot further (I have a 98 Forester in my yard that got 364,000+ on it before it gave up the ghost due to 2nd owner not taking care of it) At 284K you will want to think about doing a complete timing service fairly soon - 97 is an interference version, so a timing failure could mean internal damage = big $$. Preventive early service is a definite worthwhile expense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Welcome aboard..........Lots of good people here willing to give you good advise. As heartless said, replace the timing belt if records show that it has been 100k miles since it was last changed. Not keeping up with T/B replacement opens the door for the T/B to break. If that happens, it damages the valves, and that gets costly. Mostly keeping the oil changed on a regular basis, and inspecting the boots on the half shaft for tears is most of the maintenance. Subarus are well engineered, and well made. Just yesterday, I toured the manufacturing plant in Lafayette, IN to see Subies being made. I was impressed with the attention to detail, and the clean conditions during assembly. Subaru works hard to make a good car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRB64 Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 (edited) Thanks guys. She was meticulous about maintenance and notes. The timing belt was done 48K ago. This car has been loved and well maintained. She mentioned issues with torque bind but I've not experienced it yet. Only real issues is it needs a driver's door and fender from a deer collision. I'll try and get that fixed but my 16yo may add a few more body boo boos so I'm not real concerned - although she'd like it to be visually pleasing. Edited November 13, 2013 by KRB64 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 good to hear that timing was done fairly recently - you should be good for another 50K at least - but dont forget about it... keep a close check on the vital fluids - oil, coolant, tranny & diff - keeping them full, and clean, will help the car live longer. torque bind - there is a LOT of info on that subject here. a quick search will turn up more than you care to try to read! lol quick & easy test for torque bind - go to a large, paved parking lot with plenty of room - make some very slow, tight (full steering wheel crank - lock to lock) circles - 3 or 4 circles in each direction. Torque bind will feel like resistance to turning, may even buck a little while making those turns, depending on how advanced it is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Thanks guys. She was meticulous about maintenance and notes. The timing belt was done 48K ago. This car has been loved and well maintained. She mentioned issues with torque bind but I've not experienced it yet. Only real issues is it needs a driver's door and fender from a deer collision. I'll try and get that fixed but my 16yo may add a few more body boo boos so I'm not real concerned - although she'd like it to be visually pleasing. You can count on your 16 year old daughter adding a few more body boo boos to her car. When my daughters were new drivers, both had fender bender wrecks for dumb reasons. One ran into the back of the car in front of her's. The car in front slowed down for a traffic light, while my daughter began adjusting the radio.......result in a rear ender. Other daughter wasn't paying attention, and slowly drove off the pavement into a mail box. Kids do just dumb stuff as new drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRB64 Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 Mine's been driving since she was about 10. Driving a truck with a gooseneck while I loaded it with hay etc. Just not real experienced with traffic and other cars sharing the road... Once we get the car registered I'll investigate the torque bind in detail. Been reading posts about it for awhile since we've been considering this car for several months now. Thanks for the warm welcome and interest, Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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