First Subaru

[SkimmerBob]

My son wanted an Outback, which was very hard for me growwing up in an American Auto Workers house and living here in the Detroit suburbs ,so the wife worked on me for a few months and I softened. I did quite a bit of research on these and it took awhile but I was finally able to buy a decesnt one. Its a 99 Outback , looks like a soccer mom car to me , but if he's happy i'm happy.I hope it lives up to their reputation. I consider myself a car guy and an open minded person, so we will see. So far I've bought cv shafts for the front and the Wwiper shaft came off the ww motor(pretty easy fix).

Edited May 17, 2015 by SkimmerBob

[TheLoyale]

You'll probably be surprised by Subaru. they will never quit, thats for sure. Just keep in mind, The EJ25D that is in that Outback is a Quad-cam motor and is also an interference motor (So if the timing belt breaks, or is timed wrong if a new belt is installed, the valves will clash with the piston and you'll have bent valves on your hand.

 

Also, the EJ25D is known for blowing HGs in higher milage, or if the Previous owner(s) overheated it for whatever reasoning. If you end up replacing the HGs get the genuine Subaru ones, they have improved the design since then. Also, if you end up getting the Fel-pro kit, there is a good chance they will be genuine gaskets (They will have the little Fuji Heavy Industries stamping on them) also factory seals should be NTN manufactured and most of the time Fel-pro will put those in their kits.

 

First thing I would do is inspect the timing belt and probably replace it depending on mileage and if has been replaced once or not. preventative maintenance will keep this car alive past 300k. I have seen these motors apart well after 300k and you will still find the manufactures cross-hatching on the cylinder walls. 

Once thing to remember about Subarus, they are like Legos, you can put them together anyway you like. by that I mean, all 90s/2000s era Subarus share the same driveline (More or less) and everything can pretty much be swapped between models. Swapping driveline from newer Subarus into Subarus from the 70s-80s has become the new thing for us diehard Subaru folk Haha.

 

Cheers and good luck with it! If you have any questions you have come to the right place! Feel free to give me a holler if you need anything.

 

-Tom

 

PS: I see you got the Limited version, fully loaded with heated leather, heated mirrors and the cold weather package.

[TheLoyale]

Oh, you'd probably been keen to know when this car was made, GM owned stock in Fuji Heavy Industries/Subaru. You can definitely feel General Motors in the mid/late 90s Subarus thats for sure.

[Scooner]

 

I really miss my 99'. That car was incredible, rebuilt the engine and had such a great time. Mine was a 5 speed which made it fun.

 

These limited outbacks are nice and he should get great use out of it. I was raised as a Ford guy, which I still love old Fords but I will chose Subaru any day (mostly because of the need for AWD) but still they are fun to work on, cheap parts, super reliable but best of all I like the subaru community! Welcome to the board, please let us know of any help you may need.