Tell me how good your soob is

[rezmutt]

I've been reading this message board since May, when I was researching the purchase of my 98 OBW in June. This is an excellent forum for sharing information on mechanical issues and repairs. Thanks to this forum, I successfuly changed the timing belt in my Outback, as well as cleared up the torque grab it was experiencing. Thanks.

 

However, when I first started reading the various threads, I got apprehensive about buying a Subaru. Nearly all of them are about problems. Intellectually, I knew that a Subaru is a machine, and that no machine is perfect, but I still wanted to hear more positive things about the car I was about to buy.

 

So, I would like to hear about some of the fantastic things your Subaru has been through: Very high mileage? Great mpg? Done some serious off roading? Driven to far away places? Hauled large loads?

 

I'll start: I live on an Apache reservation in Eastern Arizona, where there are plenty of unpaved, washboard mountain roads to explore. My car, with over 102,000 miles, performs perfectly. I bought it from a Hopi woman, who had driven thousands of miles to and from her family's home on the Hopi resevation, where there is a lot of sand and even more washboard. It performed pefectly for her, too.

 

What say you?

[Hocrest]

This is a good thread. One of the problems with boards like these is that they seem to show a majority of problems rather than praise. Generally people seek out the board and post when there is something that needs fixed. Not as many people are going to go through the effort of finding the board, registering and posting to say that everything is great.

I originally found the board when I had a CEL issue, and have solved the problem plus learned so much more valuable information.

 

Now back to topic. My current Soob is a 97 Legacy Sedan, 2.2 w 4AT. I bought it in 99 with 40K miles and now have over 160K. Over the past week I have been trying to recollect the total service costs over these 120K that I have owned it. I haven’t kept good records but I would guess that including oil changes, timing belts, brakes, an oil pump, tune-ups, and everything else other than tires and gas I have spent around $1000. And most of that bill was paying other people to do the timing belts, oil pump.

 

I drive my car hard, quick acceleration, hard braking, tight turns. My employees call my car the “Company Jet”. I have hauled all sorts of medical equipment, through all sorts of conditions. It pulled me through the blizzard last winter when we got the 2-3 feet of snow, only getting stuck when I got cocky and tried to power through a plowed drift. I have done some mild off road driving through brush and water. Here is a link to a picture of a Brat driving through a stream/marsh that I also drove through. (this was with the East Coast/ New Jersey Pine Barrens meet, there is another coming up in Oct-Nov if anyone is interested.

Other than a dead battery it has never left me set. It has at times been neglected going 7K between oil changes. I don’t burn or leak oil. And there is only a slight decrease in power over that time. I have never done anything to the AT and it still shifts like it did 4 years ago, at this point, I’m afraid to change the fluid and let the “magic” out.

 

I don’t want to take up more space praising my 5 previous Soobs, but the stories would be similar.

 

I love my Soob and have talked friends and family into buying them. I will be buying another one before too long. (May wait for the turbo legacy)

[Martinjmpr]

I'm a relative newbie, both here and to the Subie world, but I love mine (99 OBW, Auto). Bought it in April with 42k, and have driven it all over Wyoming, Colorado, and parts of Nebraska and South Dakota. I've put nearly 20,000 miles on it in the 5 months I've owned it. I love it! Have had no problems with it, mileage has varied between a low of 26mpg, and a high of nearly 31. Handling on graded dirt roads is awesome - feels like a rally car!

 

Subarus are all over the place in this part of the US, and now I know why.

[biffbradford]

I've got TWO Subarus ... an '87 XT turbo coupe 4wd with 157k miles and a '92 Legacy L wagon AWD with 208k miles that still runs great and still looks pretty good (doing some rust repair). I'm getting about 28mpg on the wagon, mixed city/highway, and the XT ... well, I don't drive that for good milage. :-p Haven't had any major repairs and have had to have the XT towed twice ... once for a timing belt failure and the other when it lost a boxing match with a pickup truck (fixed it myself for $500). No tows on the wagon.

 

I'm quite pleased with my Subaru's.

 

 

 

 

John Wilke

Milwaukee

[applegump]

I love my Legacy , I bought it new, and now, 14 years and 130,000 miles later, it still runs perfectly. I have had no issues with the engine whatsoever . The auto tranny is the only major repair and the rust in the front wheelwell is my only concern.

 

Subys rule!

[ScoobySchmitty]

I had an old 90 Legacy that was a real bear. The problem, I found out later, was that it kept throwing manual tranny's, because someone forgot to check the differential ratio, before installing a replacement. Probably an independent mech. Anyway, since then I have become more cautious when purchasing cars, making sure parts match up. Sure enough, I bought a white 91 Legacy Wagon last December, that just needed some TLC (and new tires). Since then, all I have had to replace was a CRACKED clutch fork (don't know my own strength), and a clutch. Other than that, and usual maintenance items, such as belts, filters & oil, it has been a dream! Always starts, always runs well, and has the best ride of any other car I've driven! I just installed a cold-air intake, and not only did my milage shoot up, my throttle-ups and down-shifts became much smoother! I can't say enough good things about my Scoob, so I'll just say one thing: I don't think I will EVER buy anything but a Scoob. Rock on!

 

ScoobySchmitty

[stant093]

ive had multiple legacy's and most with very little repairs....

my first was a 90 legacy 5mt AWD i traded for a computer...that thing had 250k when i got it, rusty as all hell..i only fixed the rust, never changed to oil and it still ran with a blown clutch 4 flat tires and side swiped by a 95 legacy when i got rid of it w/268k miles...it was looking extremely bad....actually i have some pic's....

 

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stant093/vwp?.dir=/subaru&.dnm=sideswiped.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stant093/lst%3f%26.dir=/subaru%26.src=ph%26.view=t

 

 

 

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stant093/vwp?.dir=/subaru&.dnm=this+was+my+daily+driver-260k.jpg&.view=t

 

i still have some strong feeling for this scooby as it was my first....

 

since then ive had a 91 L sedan, 90 L wagon, a 93 5mt turbo and now i have a 91 LSi and a 93 impreza....

 

ive done alot of work to the 91 LSi (my daily driver)

the turbo rolled one snowy day so i pulled all the interior, the 2 pot calipers, rims and tires off and put them on the LSI, and also bought 4 KYB-GR2's...changed the engine in the LSi so the chassis has 130k but the drive train has 80K and runs baeautifully...

im never driving anything else...unless i HAVE TO....

[MorganM]

Oh how great they are...

 

My first gent 1990 Legacy wagon was awsome! It only gave me minor problems here and there. Mostly funny electrical quirks in the cabin. The worst problems I had with it was a fuel injector (that was hard beucase I had never diagnosed an MPFI engine nor worked on an MPFI system! but man did I learn alot) and a wheel bearing went out.

 

I gave that thing hell. Put on around 100 miles a day, every day for months at a time. Drove it hard! She loved to be manualy shifted Pulled hard and snaped your neck a bit when shifting her by hand. Gave her away to a friend with 178,000 miles or so on it. He broke it a week later, moved back to texas and left it for the city.

 

My 1988 GL wagon has been kind of a lemon. Its a weird little car. Something will break, I pull it in and fix it, go to drive her and something completly irrelivent has broke just sitting there. I dont get it.

 

I orginaly bought the car as a winter beater so I could park my hot rod (1981 Buick Regal w/ 472ci engine + TH350 tranny) By the time winter was over I was IN LOVE Even when I cracked a head, started pissing coolant everywhere, and mixing oil with coolant the whole way I said "No way can I sell this! I'm rebuilding it!"

 

They all thought I was crazy... and still do

 

ANyway Subarus rule!

[gbhrps]

I'm on my second OB LTD and have enjoyed them both. The 97 OB LTDwas a terrific addition to my stables and did all of the work horse daily driving chores. Some minor teething problems under warranty didn't phase the ownership enjoyment. With ice grip tires and all wheel drive this baby took all of the white-knuckled driving out of winter. Alas, it did get the annoying piston slap problem, which was more of a nuisance than a real problem. My 02 OB LTD is so much more refined than the first and shines in almost every department. This one is a keeper, unless Subaru really pulls out the stops on some future model that puts my drool factor into high gear. Why everyone doesn't drive a Subaru is a puzzle to me, but I kind of like it this way. I like the fact that it doesn't look like every other car on the road (they're rather scarce in my area) and it attracts admiring stares wherever it goes.

[DerFahrer]

I have had my Legacy for 3 years now, and even though it has done some peculiar things on the way, it has always gotten me where I need to go. For no reason whatsoever has my Legacy EVER failed to get me home, not even a dead battery or a flat tire.

 

I have gotten unhealthily angry at it before, so much so that I would take it to 7000rpm when the redline is 6500, but even with such abusive driving, the engine still runs flawlessly and has never failed.

 

I have maintained it very meticulously, everything is up to date, except the brakes. The car has never driven more than 4000 miles on the same oil, it has fresh coolant, the air filter is new, as are the plugs, the fuel filter, tranny and diff oil are new, etc etc... So I take partial credit for its fine reliability by maintaining it properly...

 

My XT has not been in my possession for 3 weeks yet, but I'm quickly falling in love with it. It has the familiar growl and torque of a Subaru boxer engine, but the handling and interior design are refreshingly different from the Legacy. It too has performed flawlessly since its purchase...

 

All these fine experiences and the fact that I have ridden in an STi, which was literally a dream come true, should have me pretty much stuck on Subies for life...

[Setright]

Where do I begin??

 

Well, I have spent money equivalent to the cost of the car (used 2yrs ago) so it hasn't been dirt cheap. However, some of the things I have done weren't strictly necessary, but I like everything to be in tip top order - like new springs and dampers all round: KER-Ching!

 

The sound this engine makes, from the race car rush of air through my modified intake, to the turbine whine of the crankshaft, ending at the off-beat growl from the exhaust...well, let's just say that every tunnel is a chance to drop a gear and floor the throttle

 

The way it will still pull 130mph even with 290,000km on the odometer, and cruise very quietly at 90mph ALL day. Okay, so the 4WD slows it down a bit, could be quicker for a car with 100KW, but that same 4WD lets me put to shame many faster cars in Denmark's wet weather Including a motorcycle recently!!

 

Mine has never left me stranded either. (Knock on wood)

 

The anonimty of the elegant design. Many passengers gawp wide-eyed when the throttle valve is snapped open: "Oh, when you see this car you don't think it will be this fast."

 

 

But the real clincher is the way this car HANDLES! WOW! Sometimes when I throw it into a bend I swear I can tell it's trying to proctect me! No matter how much either end is sliding there is always a way to influence the path. All the while the steering wheel is alive with information about the road surface beneath the front wheels! SO few new cars display this sort of forgiveness and feedback.

 

[Sweet82]

I have an 82 Subaru Hatchback. I have been driving it since........82! that's 21 years and I love it!

It has been a great car and if it weren't for rust holes on the belly pan I would continue to drive it daily. It is now going to become an off-road buggy for the family.

 

Guess what we replaced the old Subaru with?.......another Subaru! without a question.

 

We just purchased a used 01 Forester and I love it too!

 

Maybe in another 20 years I'll buy another?

 

For what it's worth,

Glenn

82 Hatch, transforming....:temper:

01 Forester, jealous...:madder:

[northguy]

...good enough to drive the AlCan highway (approx. 2,500 miles) averaging 25 mpg, and good enough to drive it back down if I choose to. ...good enough to drive in Alaska in the winter, and climb my driveway, which is steep enough to have caused some people to literally (I kid you not) defacate in their pants. Snowman and Batle wagon medic, you should give it a try in the middle of winter just for fun.

[outback_97]

As stated before, people tend to talk about the problems more than the positives, and they come to places like this because the advice and information on problem solving is very good and the folks are helpful.

 

I've had my OB for over 50K miles, and I bought it used with over 40K. While I have had a few things repaired, it's NEVER stranded me. It's taken me on adventures from the deserts to the mountain here in Utah, and done so very capably. It's great in the snow. It's gone off-pavement places no "normal" passenger car would want to go, and yet handles better than many cars I have driven.

 

We bought my fiancee an '03 Impreza TS this year, and she loves it. I love to drive it as well, very fun and responsive. We like this car enough that we're using it to drive to CA and OR for our honeymoon in two weeks. I'm looking forward to years of enjoyable driving in this car as well... when she lets me drive it

 

Thanks for starting this thread, it's good to see people sharing their stories about these cars that we love!

 

Steve

[DaveWV]

We have 53K miles on our 99 legacy GT 2.5. Our car suffers from the folowing:

The infamous hesitation cause by an over sensitve knock sensor(most likely)

An engine vibration at 1500-3000 RPM(seems like a miss)

Exhaust leak that I can't find.

 

 

All of these problems have been diagnosed as "normal" by the dealer. They suck.

 

Other than that I like the way the car handles and rides. The AWD is great. Other than the problems above, the car is pretty much flawless.

 

I probably would buy another Subaru, just not with the 2.5 motor.

 

Dave

[kevinsUBARU]

I have a 95 Impreza L that I bought in the winter of 99 with 44K on it. It has 91,xxx now, and its usually well behaved

 

It failed state inspection once (steering rack), siezed calipers, waterpump left me stranded on the side of the road at 60K...and thats about it

 

The car also had $3500 in body damage when it was crushed by snow that fell off of a roof in the winter of 2002, and suffered another $700 when someone kicked my trunk in a few months ago.

 

Its one tough car though. It has brought be through incredible snowstorms, it can drive through 3 feet of snow no problem (yeah, its deep when its up to your hood), its been through stream crossings, rough rocky trails, and even one rally cross event. I put on over 2K miles a month this past summer, and its still chuggin...I cant wait for a replacemt though once I graduate college in the spring. I want this one to get well over 100K and then I am getting a manual tranny Subaru Trying to convince the gf to get a mini cooper though:D

[Albamadave]

I own a '97 OB with 100K miles and a '01 Forester with 35K miles. The only significant problem was a front crank seal oil leak on the OB that was fixed under warranty. I do most of the routine maintenance myself. I love the way these cars drive!

[86subaru]

we love our 2000 outback wagon , also have 86 brat, 87 turbo wagon, 86 sedan , 87 4wd xt ,

[elmwood22]

I bought a 99 outback with 28,500miles in Oct. 03 and it currently has 80,000 miles on it. I have driven all over out west, oregon, washington, utah, colorado, wyoming, montana,north dakota, south dakota and now we are driving to minnesota in march. We haven't had any problems with it thus far. I have replaced the tires, changed oil every 3,000 miles, changed ATF, awd, and front and rear diffs fluid, replacing with synthetic about 20,000miles ago, it is almost due for another change. I enjoy it. I bought this car after selling a 95 legacy wagon with 211,000 miles- I often wonder how many more miles on it. I enjoyed and trusted this car so much that I bought another with 99,000 miles on it. I plan on replacing the water pump on it soon. It also has a rear main leak, it currently seeps, it worries me, but I check the oil religously and it is fine. I plan on driving this until it no longer runs, I am hoping to get 250,000+ out of it. Both 95 suffered from torque binding, I had the dealership change the ATF and awd system fluids and it took care of it. It first occurred in the original 95 I owned at 135,000miles, I never had a problem with it after that.

[jamal]

I've had my 93 Legacy for 6 years now and I'm up to 160k. Overall it's been fantastic. Lately I've started doing road rallies so I put on new wheels, new suspension, and some big lights (big brakes coming soon). I thought it handled decently before I put on the STi suspension and rear sway bar, and now it's amazing. I've driven it 90 for hours at a time, off roaded, jumped the car, and generally drive it very spiritedly. Although at the moment it's throwing codes so I'm going to have to replace a sensor or two. I suppose you can't expect that stuff to last forever.

[vic/se]

Maybe I should not replay to this tread??!! I have an 03 wagon 5mt/ se edition. 46k miles all i can say it drives like new......and i did route 66 last summer a 10k miles round trip loaded, very loaded and under 120f temperatures sometimes.

It was great

[bart2546]

I have a 95 Impreza L 1.8 liter. I bought it with 99,000 miles for 3,000 dollars in January of 05. I have the milage up to 117,500 miles right now, so in one year I have put 18,500 miles on the car. Aside from oil changes, and CV boots, I have done nothing to the car until now. My CV joints themselves were making some clunking, and I had the whole halfshafts replaced on her. (Keep in mind this was preventive maintenance, they had not fallen apart or anything of the sort.) I can't complain about it what-so-ever. Best car I have owned, and this is my 7th car since I have been 16 years old (am now 19). I will make my pledge known to the internet world as of now: I will never buy another car that is not a Subaru. I have messed with the wiring of the vehicle myself to put in an audio system and done my own plugs and wires one time. I have a smooth idle and no noises while driving. I couldn't tell you enough how, as long as you shop and buy from a trustworthy seller, dependaple and awsome a Subaru will be for you. If you'd like to see mine, here is the link to my site on car domain:

 

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/446451

 

Regards,

Brandon Bartolomucci

[gbrand]

Owned 2 subes, 80 4wd wagon EA71, and 91 Legacy FWD EJ22 MT. The 80 wagon was a good car, got in 88 and finally sold in 2001. It was not without its share of problems, but the best damn ice car I ever owned or drove. And I put a lot of miles on it.

 

The Legacy I got in 1998, with 110K on it, and has been prolly the best car I've ever owned. Ive done some work on it, mostly normal maintainance, things like alternator, brakes, CV boots, clutches, A/C. Still going strong at almost 257K as my wifes daily driver. I haver never touched the engine or transmission except for manitainance items(timing belt, plugs, fluid changes, water pump). Was a good roadtrip car for many years(now replaced by a 99 LeSabre), still would not hesitate to go for a long road trip in it.

 

Sister bought new 96 Legacy AWD EJ22 5MT in snow country, and loves it. Before buying the LeSabre, I inquired if she might be "getting tired of it after 120K"-no such luck!

[the_bard]

I gotta throw my two cents in:

 

Go back a few years. Wife was driving a '96 Saturn SL1 sedan. I bought a '92 (I think) Loyale Wagon with the pushbutton 4WD. At the time, we lived in Troy,NY... that city has a problem with plowing their streets during the winter. Add in a new mayor that refused to declare a snow emergency, and there was as much as six inches of snow right where we needed to park on the street. Wife's Saturn would constantly need to be pushed in or out of the parking spot, or have it shoveled clear. I took her out one day in my Loyale, and as we were coming back, I simply hit the 4wd button and parked in the six inches or so of snow. Wife's jaw dropped, and asked "How'd you do that?"

 

Suddenly that "ugly wagon" became something in her eyes .

 

My Loyale rusted out, and it was a while before I could get back into a Subaru. When the Cougar I was using for a temporary ride wasn't worth repairing, I started looking for another car. The tranny was starting to act up on the wife's Saturn, so she started looking too... and found an '00 Outback Wagon that she fell in love with. Chalk up another converted another one .

 

I ended up finding a '97 Outback Wagon, though I really wanted a '96 Outback Sport (couldn't find a single one in NY state for sale, 'cept one with over 200k miles for $3,000 that was looser than a 25 cent... well... um... yeah...).

 

Major problems? Wife's OBW started up an external headgasket leak, which was covered by Subaru under warranty. Had a timing belt tensioner replaced at the same time, not under warranty. I was very impressed by the Subaru dealership we had the work done under, enough so that I'll be considering them first for my next Subie. My '97 has had a plugged radiator that my used car sales/garage refused to diagnose correctly, so it's on its third engine. Finally swapped in a 2.2L instead of a Phase 1 2.5L, and I'm not looking back.

 

The wife's OBW has been nothing but reliable so far, and she loves it. Feels secure in it because of the size and weight, and that it's not prone to rolling like her friends' SUVs. I caught her actually playing with it in the snow the other day... this coming from a woman who used to hate driving in snow .

 

My '97 has got a lot of "character"... and things that need to be fixed. I still need to swap out that radiator, along with an oxygen sensor with a bad heater. Most of the rear defroster lines are broken. There are a couple indicator lights that are burned out, and need to be replaced. All of this is "tiddly stuff", though... I can replace/repair it as it bugs me, and it's extremely easy. A $15 Haynes manual gives me most of the info I need, along with the community on this wonderful board . In contrast, I hated working on that '93 Mercury Cougar, since everything was just a pain in the arse to get to, remove, and put back in. My OBW just makes sense to me.

[NorthLight]

I really enjoyed reading this thread, I'm glad it was brought back from 2003.

 

I got my 96 2.2L OBW with 58,000 miles on it back in 2000. It now has over 150,000 miles on it. I'm about to put the third set of Michelin tires the car has ever seen. The tires and the awd have kept me on the road in "cat's-n-dog's" rain where I couldn't see 20 feet in front of me, dirt road corners sideways, snow 2 feet deep, and squeeling around dry pavement 20mph suggested corners at 45. I've had to replace a torn cv boot at about 135,000, replaced a seized rear brake caliper at about 140,000. Those are the only "major" repairs done, and I was able to do both the repairs myself with the shop manual. I've also done the normal maintenance stuff like oil changes, spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter, radiator flushes, manual tranny oil, brake pads, brake hoses, and replacing the plastic fog lights as they get broken by flying rocks on the road(that's one of the things I wish my roo had, is a better fog light protectors). I've used my roo to haul about 1300 lbs of stuff in a u-haul trailer up and down the mountains from Wisconsin to Seattle a couple of times. I'm a big roo fan, because the car handles very well in a lot of conditions, and with a 5speed, I can feel what the car is going to do in any situation. Not to meantion that it has very high marks in crash test results, so I'm not afraid to find the edge of it's capabilities.

 

I'll be driving this roo for at least another 100,000 as I understand the 2.2L will most likely go that and some. I'll probably need to swap in a rebuilt manual transmission here in the next 20,000, but other than that, she's still going strong.

 

I've been eyeing the new outback wagons. I like their styling, and they don't have the B9 nose yet. I'll probably upgrade to the 3.0L, as it's always fun to have more displacement and I need a little more towing power. But that may not be for another 4-5 years.

 

Mark