1999 Legacy

[scoobes182]

I am looking for a good used car and found a 99 legacy with 81xxx miles on it.  Has a H4 engine and the body looks clean no rust.  They want 3995 for it.  I know nothing about these cars and was hoping for some input about what to look for and how much to spend.  I have a company vehicle so this car might get driven 3000 miles a year and kept in a garage the rest of the time.  

[Rooster2]

I have a 99 Legacy Outback for the past 10 years. 81K miles is very low, so prolly why the asking price is somewhat high. The engine is prone to blowing its head gaskets during its life time. Not a big deal, but always keep an eye on the temp gauge. If temp spikes up, then be concerned about the head gaskets. The timing belt needs to be replaced about every 65K miles. Ask if there are receipts, and if so, has the timing belt been replaced on this car. If there is no record, then have the timing belt replaced. Failure to do so, invites a broken belt, which will bend the valves. That is an expensive repair. I negotiated with the dealer for a new timing belt at time of purchase.

 

The 99's sometime have an issue with the auto tranny not shifting properly. It is known as "delayed forward engagement," which affects some of the 99 and 00 models. This can be corrected by using Trans-X in the tranny. This product has kept my 99 on the road for the past 6 years.

 

Overall the car is very reliable, and relatively easy to work on, and satisfying to drive. I have 236K miles on my car, and motor is still going strong. My head gasket blew out at about 175K miles, but by reputation the head gaskets can blow out with less then 100K on the odometer. Newer revised Subaru head gaskets are better then the originals.

 

Just my imho advise, hope it helps

[1 Lucky Texan]

if it wasn't done - that car is WAY overdue for timing belt service - 105k miles OR 105 months, whichever is first.

[DaveT]

I'll add that using the temperature gauge as an indication that the coolant system needs attention is how to guarantee that you will be doing a headgasket job. If the temperature guage goes above normal, (not even into red) while the system is low on coolant, the headgaskets get damaged.

 

Routinely checking the coolant levels and condition of all of the several hoses and the radiator is what needs to be done.

 

Check for air bubbles in the upper radiator hose by sharply squeezing it and listen for gurgles and the giggle pin. Check the level in the recovery tank. Monitor changes closely. Don't routinely open the radiator cap, as you let more air in. If you begin to see a trend of coolant dissappearing, start looking for a sneaky leak.

[Rooster2]

if it wasn't done - that car is WAY overdue for timing belt service - 105k miles OR 105 months, whichever is first.

I seem to remember on the 96-99 2.5 motor, that the recommended timing belt change is at 65K miles. Later with the single over head cam 2.5 motor, the recommended timing belt change was increased to 105K miles. Do I have this info correct??

[alpop]

I live in the PNW and this would  be a good price for the car with those low miles and excellent condition. 

 

If the H4 is the 2.5L engine then as above with head gaskets.

 

The 2.2 engine is almost bulletproof and was standard in some 99s.  Correct me if I'm wrong (subaru gurus) but I believe the 2.2 engine is also non-interference so no damage if the timing belt breaks?

 

Ok, I have a 99 and I specifically found one with the 2.2 engine.  A local independent shop quotes $3000 for the head gaskets replacement on the 2.5 (they're making a killing because the Subaru dealer closed up in town), although I know there are probably cheaper options esp. in bigger cities.

 

I bought the car for my daughter in good shape (I thought) with 150k and here are some of the things I have dealt with:

 

CV boot/shaft replacement - check all 8 CV boots

All door/hatch lock cylinders shot, real pain to replace - I only did the driver door, check key works easily in all doors

new starter - intermittent problem with starting

Light bulb burned out in automatic shifter console, can't see what gear you're in at night - not good

Wiper mechanism bushings shot (wipers travel too far and thump loudly), replacement not fun.

As mentioned above transmission slow to shift from 2nd to 3rd but only 1st time on each drive, TransX didn't really fix it

Other little things

 

Oh yeah, terrible acceleration until about 3500 rpm then like a rocket, turned out to be the ecu over-reacting to the knock sensor - new knock sensors didn't correct it so I finally had to fool the ecu by unplugging the knock sensor and hooking up the right resistors to make the ecu think it was still plugged in but everything was fine.  The PO had burned up the original 2.2 engine and had a new, used 2.2 engine dropped in, don't know if somehow this caused the problem.

[Olnick]

FYI, the 2.2 liter (EJ22) engine was NON-interference from its introduction through the '96 model year.  From '97 MY on, it was an INTERFERENCE design.

[1 Lucky Texan]

I seem to remember on the 96-99 2.5 motor, that the recommended timing belt change is at 65K miles. Later with the single over head cam 2.5 motor, the recommended timing belt change was increased to 105K miles. Do I have this info correct??

 

 

You are correct - at cars101.com , it seems 1999 was the last year of 60K miles or 60 MONTHS for timing belt service - after that it seems it went to 105. Not sure about Legacy vs Impreza - but both the 2.2 and the 2.5 in 99 are shown as 60.

[scoobes182]

Thanks for all of the info.  Says h4 and when I look up engine its the 2.2l.  I called the local Subaru dealer and going by the VIN it has never been worked on at their dealership.  The people selling this car have no records of what has been done.    Is replacing the timing belt only required on the 2.5l engine? The dealer said if they replace just the belt it would be around $650.  Does that seem reasonable? I am kind of nervous to buy such a old car but the body is very clean and has low miles.  this is a link to the car

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePage_false_0&formSourceTag=112&newSearchFromOverviewPage=true&inventorySearchWidgetType=AUTO&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d378&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=&zip=49441&distance=10&searchChanged=true&modelChanged=false&filtersModified=true#listing=138278627

[alpop]

Wow, sure looks nice - except the corrosion in the engine compartment looks a little funny.  We use rock on the roads out here not salt, so guess I'm not used to that, just broken windshields.

 

I thought my 99 owners manual for the 2.2 said 85 or 90k for the timing belt, will look at tonight to be sure. Usually they replace the water pump at the same time, no idea if $650 is reasonable, probably if they do both.

 

You're getting the good engine, surprising amount of power considering its only rated at 142hp I think.  I would find something wrong with it and offer him $3500

[DaveT]

If you replace the timing belt, replace all of the idlers and tensioner. When one of those fails, the new belt won't help. Oem only for those parts if long term reliability is a concern.

[Rooster2]

Thanks for all of the info.  Says h4 and when I look up engine its the 2.2l.  I called the local Subaru dealer and going by the VIN it has never been worked on at their dealership.  The people selling this car have no records of what has been done.    Is replacing the timing belt only required on the 2.5l engine? The dealer said if they replace just the belt it would be around $650.  Does that seem reasonable? I am kind of nervous to buy such a old car but the body is very clean and has low miles.  this is a link to the car

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePage_false_0&formSourceTag=112&newSearchFromOverviewPage=true&inventorySearchWidgetType=AUTO&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d378&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=&zip=49441&distance=10&searchChanged=true&modelChanged=false&filtersModified=true#listing=138278627

Pretty sure since it has an automatic tranny, that the car has the 2.5 motor. All Subarus from the 1990's have timing belts that must periodically need replacing. For your peace of mind, since there is no info on if, and when the timing belt was changed, then it really needs to be changed. Otherwise, you gamble, and could possibly drive this car as few as 100 miles, have the timing belt break, or one of the pulleys, or idlers lock up, and your valves are broken. If that happens, you will feel like the world's biggest dummy for buying a car that just let you down.

 

It does look like a very well kept car, but it is 17 years old, and old cars need attention not only because of miles driven, but because age deteriorates parts over time. $650 is reasonable if work includes a new timing belt, all new pulleys, tensioners, and a new water pump.

[Caboobaroo]

The one major issue the 1999 has is the speedometer heads are known to go bad. Says it had 80k miles but could be 120k miles. I've tried a few fixes for it including soldering a wire on the circut board over the original tracer on the board but that only worked for a few months.

 

If the car is an L model, it will have the phase 2, EJ222 in it. Those are a single cam version of the single cam 2.5 models from 2000 and up. If it's an Outback or a GT, it will have the EJ25D, 2.5 liter dual cam engine which are the same from 97-99 but the 99 EJ25D utilizes the larger rob bearings like the newer 2.5. 1996 EJ25D works in place of the 97-99 but they run a one year only hydraulic lifter setup inside the heads which can be noisy.

[alpop]

Well my owner's manual doesn't have a maintenance schedule but both the Haynes Manual and a site I found online say 60k miles for the 2.2 engine and 100 or 105k miles for the 2.5 engine, so there's an advantage of the 2.5

[Olnick]

Not worth the disadvantages of the 2.5!!!

[alpop]

well, I won't argue with that.