anw Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Hi, I am looking into buying a 1999 Subaru Legacy L sedan. I have a few questions that hopefully someone here can help me with. The car has 165,000 miles on it, which is a concern for me. I have read of Subarus going well over 200k with little to no problems, but it still is a lot of miles. The car needs 1 head light (no big deal) and reportedly has a small oil leak (Which I will have my mechanic check out to see the extent). The car is selling wholesale for $4,200. The book value is around $7,000-$9,000. I'd appreciate any opinions/advice you could give me. Overall I drove it, and liked the car, I'm just worried about having a major fix to do after buying it. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. -Anw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzam Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Hi and welcome. If you are looking at a 2.2L and NOT a 2.5L, I'd say it's a reasonably good purchase. The oil leak should be minor if it originates in the front of the engine. Possibly a cam seal, oil pump seal or oil pump screw retightening. Not overly expensive to fix but you need to find out about the past maintenance if possible. If the timing belt was changed at every 60 miles as it should have been, your looking at a replacement in the next 15K, but if the mechanic is already in the front end you might as well have them replace the timing belt and install a new water pump. If it's an automatic make sure it doesn’t have torque bind in the AWD system, test drive it by turning in as tight a circle as the car can going both left and right. There should be no resistance or an alternating tight/loose feeling while the wheels are rolling. Do a search of the board for more info on this problem because it can also be caused by low tire pressure or mismatched diameter tires. Get your mechanic to give it a good going over, there are plenty of board members with well over 200k and still going strong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anw Posted October 28, 2003 Author Share Posted October 28, 2003 Thanks for your response, and yes, it is a 2.2L. When I drove it today, it seemed fine, but next time I'll be sure to check for torque bind (it is an automatic). I liked the car a lot in just limited driving, so I hope it all works out. -Anw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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