Bucky92 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 While driving home today I realized I have had a terrific partnership with my Loyale for over 3 years now. I remember the day I chose him...his beautiful almost rust free self sitting in the used car lot...for months taunting me...he would be there then disappear..then come back. When I first looked at him they wanted $1295 for him...too much for someone who lives below poverty level..so I walked away and bought a $700 Toyota truck from another dealer...3 months later the Toy died outside of Roanoke VA..so here I am carless. Going by that same dealer 3 days later the price was off the window...I stopped and asked again..." Dude ..Come on ..its me..I bought 2 other cars from you..the Civic with the bad ignition switch and the Justy that needed axles"..Finally he caves and tells me $600..what he paid for it....Sold!! I have never been as happy with a car as I am with this one. Bucky has been more then a car...but a trusting friend..always takes care of me ..even when I can't take care of him.Bucky has been my partner for over 3 years now..through all sorts of ups and down. I bought him with 160,000 miles and as of today he is at 197,055 miles. But He is going to need a rest soon..some time to get himself together...his brakes are shot ..fronts and rears...down to the rotors..and his throw -out bearing is making noise.Bucky has a mechanic friend who he loves (Rory) and needs to take a vacation with him for awhile...Once I find something super cheap to drive while he is in Rorys awesome mechanical hands. Anyway...here's to hopefully another 3 happy years with my Loyale.... EA82s Rule!!! so many posts about this and that being broke and wrong..I thought we needed an I Love My Car thread:brow: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rllywgn Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 im with ya there.. funny how a car can become part of the family.. although I've had my sedan for 6 months it has been by far the most loyal of my chain of subaru's.. 700 brought it home from a already caring previous owner. The car has taken the las vegas heat now like a champ! 115 degrees outside and the a/c blasting inside and the running temp is like the rock of gibralter... stable.. 192 all day.. freeways dont taunt me nor does stop and go traffic.. at 175K on the ticker I switched to rotella T full synthetic oil and it hasn't spilled its guts. So as this car continues to be a blast of a daily driver I will do my best to keep it happy.. an ej20 turbo motor will replace its still virile heart in the coming months and the fun should last for many years.. rllywgn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgd73 Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 That is a good note about poverty and loyales -- that is where I find them undying after years and years of neglect-- STILL RUNNING. I've also been personal with my old sube through a life's extreme (very) that left me with nothing in a DL wagon that wouldn't ever pass inspection again without serious help.The law could have hauled it away if I were pulled over. It is strange to say I cried over a car after I got what I needed (9 years later) and let it go. I am far from an emotional person. With times better now and to be-- I still seek the Loyales. There are imprezas and legacys out there that I still pass by to go for the EA82. Incredible engine/durability/economy that never got truly glorified like the other subes.All people need a car more than once- I will never prejudice the sounds and sights that go with a neglected old sube ever again. If a car were a saint saving a few impoverished lives.....A loyale would no doubt be one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Amen. I got my GL-10 two years ago, when just after hurricane jeanne my landlord somehow caused a short in my datsun that wound up burning the fusible link block (read: open flames under hood) because of an oversized fusible link.. me brudder had the soob for a couple years, complete with "0-60 in five minutes" bumper sticker and awful rust holes that i fear will never be repaired.. so i determined to get the next 300,000 miles out of her while shes here. she needed timing belts, which was a simple job, and my brother gave her to me with the caveat that he gets half the cash if the car is ever sold. fair enough. no problems at all until i did rear drum brakes.. then the bearings died. Ive replaced front brakes, rear brakes and bearings, a radiator, a water pump, an alternator, i did a "backwoods rebuild" on my starter (it died the day i got my pizza job, after 3 months of no work..... so i couldnt replace it, i just clenaed and lubed it and it worked great! still sounds like a new starter.) when my first summer came, i recharged the AC and it was barely working.. finally replaced the little pulse sender on the front of the compressor, works great... so anyhow, i got her at 106K in october of 2004. the odo just rolled over 138K two days ago, and there was a 7 1/2 month period where i had no license/tag/insurance, so the car saw maybe ten miles in that time. (driving laundry down to my buddys house two blocks away.. and i actually got pulled and ticketed once doing it!! two blocks, in a NEIGHBORHOOD, with me being TOTALLY honest, sitting next to my basket of wet laundry..... and i got a ticket..) so ive had her registered for a total of 14 1/2 months.. and put 32,000 miles on her. thru TOD and starter problems, after burning an alternator in boca raton when i SWORE to my friend that my soob was just as reliable as her honda if not moreso, after seeing the heat guage rise when it shouldnt, and failing to see the AC cool when it should, this car started out as being a joke for me.. wheels until i could get the datsun to the shop. now, im contemplating a fivespeed swap, putting a stereo in, and reconditioning the air conditioning.... I would say that those jap engineers forty years ago who said to themselves "Hey, those VW boys have a couple of good ideas.. maybe we should go make some new friends?" had a pretty good idea... VW abandoned their cash cow decades ago and soob took it, refined it, and made themselves into without a doubt, the best japcar company there is these days. Most importantly, though, they allowed for the FANTASTIC group of people that used to be collectively known as "volkswagen guys" to transmute and survive in a new mechanical environment that we call "Soob." Of course, the gender connotations are disappearing rapidly, but i think my point still holds... Even Jesse James made a comment about "volkswagen guys" on monster garage once.. and it was true. when i found this site, within 24 hours that was my conclusion... all of the old volkswagen ppl, and the type of ppl that became volkswagen ppl, had simply taken a bath in propylene glycol and become soob folks! Oh yah, we got a good dose of 4wd and turbocharging too... and THATS the best part!! Soob stole the ferdinand porsche boxer idea.... and then put it in AWD vehicles... and then Audi shows up and steals THAT idea back from subaru into the VW camp, and look at Audi these days.... bloody pretentious krauts.. Someone needs to do something about those germans one of these days... (and if my german joke was in poor taste, im sorry, but i couldnt resist..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Soob stole the ferdinand porsche boxer idea.... and then put it in AWD vehicles... and then Audi shows up and steals THAT idea back from subaru into the VW camp, and look at Audi these days.... bloody pretentious krauts.. Someone needs to do something about those germans one of these days... Not entirely true. Audi came with AWD in '80 (subaru didn't add the center diff till mid 80's), and the transaxle design was descended from the 4WD Kubelwagon of German army fame circa WWII. And in defense of Audi - they are still the first king of rally, and having worked on some of their newer stuff - it's amazing. The new S4 makes an STi look slow. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 yah i know... im just a datsun guy, who was raised my some porsche-hating datsun guys.... who actually loved aircooled volkswagens, but not the porsche people.. and it seems (to me) that audi is really just porsche in sheeps' clothing.... and im bitter about it. so finding the soob as the poor mans audi, as it were, fit perfectly well into me having the datsun 280Z as the poor mans porsche. i honestly have to say that audi and porsche rank among my least favorite car manufacturers... porsche mainly for the "mystique" that they have that i frankly dont get. Im the underdog fan anyhow, so hating porsche is just part of my psychological makeup in a sense, you know? and i thought the first quattro came in about 86? was that just the first quattro, not first audi AWD then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Hey Connie,when did you start driving an Audi?:-p Think positive thoughts,I'm going for emissions on the white PA eBay wagon tomorrow.It stopped smoking (see desperation/panic "Need SPFI")post.If it passes and I can afford to register it you'll get Lucky back very soon,if you still want it. I drove Lucky tonight to go see my dad in the hospital.It ran fine,and my dad is doing good too.Hang tight and I'll be in touch soon. Meanwhile,Mr.Wonderful Rory hasn't gotten back to me,apparently does not have the same cell phone or isn't using it,so if you can tap him on the shoulder maybe he'll come grab those turbo wagons.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeefaRu Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 While driving home today I realized I have had a terrific partnership with my Loyale for over 3 years now. ....But He is going to need a rest soon....Anyway...here's to hopefully another 3 happy years with my Loyale.... so many posts about this and that being broke and wrong..I thought we needed an I Love My Car thread:brow: I agree. 10 years of living broke with the Beefaru doing just enough to keep it happy on the road. Made some $ last year and had this done a few weeks ago. The thread of the overhaul is here. http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61405&highlight=overhaulin and a web page with info on the Beefaru is in my profile. An "official" reveal photo will go into the thread when I get the thule back on, but I though you'd appreciate a "leaked" photo.....ha ha. Here's to buying more time to keep an old friend around. --E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgd73 Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 And in defense of Audi - they are still the first king of rally, and having worked on some of their newer stuff - it's amazing. The new S4 makes an STi look slow. GD Not to doubt subes -- but I saw a 1.8T logo on the back of a newer Audi as it blew by me in a whisper of wind- left me frowning and what sube could have done on a perfectly balanced equivalent. I am willing to bet the 1.8 sube would outrun the audi in longevity (of course) but it did get me thinking on what performance could be acheived, modern like, on the ea82 - that I can't seem to kill even in my own lack of discipline at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Back on topic. I purchased my 1982 Subie back in 1983. It was not new but about 6months old and my guess is it was a repo. I'll never know, or care. At the time I was shopping for a Subaru. I didn't care which model as they all would have worked for what I needed. I purchased it for $6,500 six months old with 6k on it. I have never looked back! Many a friend asked me when I was going to get a new car during those 20+ years. My thoughts were always the same. This is the car I want to be driving! The only reason I'm not still driving it daily is because rust finally took it's toll on my old friend. Not willing to give up, I put a new body on my car. Summer, my SubaruHummer was born (again) in 2003/2004. On the day I retired my old friend from daily (on road) service, I took it out, just my car and me for a last drive. On that day we set a new land speed record! Seventy six miles a hour! I had never taken the car over 74 mph in all those years. Not that it couldn't do it, it's just that the gearing is so low that I just felt it was not good for the car. At the end of our drive I officially retired my Subie from service and began the transformation to it's new life. True I don't drive my old friend everyday now but I still admire it/laugh at what I have done and dream of the places we will still go! I love my Subie, Glenn 82 SubaruHummer 84 GL Mad Max 01 Forester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted August 18, 2006 Author Share Posted August 18, 2006 Beefaru..it looks beautiful!! I am planning a re-paint on mine..maybe next year or so..we will see...Its funny ..I hear alot of bad talk about having a FWD EA82..but I can't see myself not having THIS wagon: I have thought about selling him to a better owner (someone who could take care of him better them me) But then I become selfish...Isn't it wierd how certain cars will have a mental bond with you...you sware they are alive. Now another future plan may be a 4WD conversion if I can find a doner car.. I also have some plans possibly in the works if I deside to keep Lucky when she comes back ( Thanks Paulyburger)..cough5 spdswap cough!!. I am loving these storys about why you love your car....keep them coming...brings a smile to my beyond stressed,over-worked self right now....but then again...every time I get behind the wheel of the Buckster I smile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubastreet Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Sorry, but veering off topic again: I really admire porsche for sticking with the 911. They took a format that everyone was saying was ridiculous (rear engine, RWD) and have stuck with it for so many years. Sure, the engine's gained watercooling, the car's now got traction control, brakes that WORK etc., but after more than 40 years, it is still recognisable by the non nar enthusiast as the same car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubastreet Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 OK, better get it back on topic! Still not sure why I love my brumby. A mate saw it for the first time and as he always calls a spade a spade he just came out and said: "so what's so special about that car then?" Nothing's that special about it really, it's just great to drive. it's not fast, it doesn't stick to the road like an MR2, the seats aren't all that comfy, but you really feel in touch with the vehicle and the road when you're driving. when the going gets rough you slip into 4WD. When the going gets rougher it's 4WD low. Awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsubaru Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Bought my Loyale wagon new in 1991 so my wife could haul little kids and groceries. I pretty much ignored it, took it for granted for years. Then one day I realized it had not only done those things, but had also moved my family across country several times, driven mountains and deserts, backroads, creeks and and trails in West Virginia, Arizona, and Louisiana, and handled well while driving in some really severe weather - all without ever once letting me down. And it was surprisingly comfortable for a 6 footer like me to drive on those long trips, too. (I also looked around about that time and realized my daughters were suddenly bigger than their mom - when did that happen?!) In 2002 I was suddenly unemployed, so I started a handyman business and ran it out of the Loyale for a couple years. Friends said I should get a pickup, but I never needed one - even hauled sheetrock in it. I went back to the regular work grind in 2004, and simply cleaned it out and now use it as my daily driver/hobby. The interior still looks excellent and there's NO rust. I'm envious of you guys with the great looking paint jobs. The AZ sun has cooked my exterior, but if I can figure out how to get it repainted properly, I'll do that and keep it another 16 years. Loyale - I think it was named right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 well see, they had to change the name after a couple years because the old ones never lost resale value... GL>loyale... that, or people were joking about GL meaning "Godawful Looking" and they decided to make the new name reflect the positive aspects of the car... It would look so much better with a nice air dam on the front! nothing too fancy, just give it a chin! the car looks like a slackjawed version of Goofy from the disney cartoons.... it just needs something to cure that overbite in my eyes, and it would REALLY look sharp.. but as it is stock, it looks like someone ripped the jawbone off... sorry to bash our cars in a thread designed to glorify them, but its only fair to point out the drawbacks too... edit BTW BeefaRu.. i HAVE to say that your two tone paint job, with the roof rack, on a wagon, makes the look of the car much MUCH more appropriate than my stock gl10 sedan missing half the luggage rack on the trunklid... obviously SOME of the cars that get the TLC they deserve will look alot nicer than my beatup rustbox. 2nd edit, after post below well live and learn. thanks GD, i hadnt come across that tidbit yet. now i will feel much more comfortable using the term loyale as a general purpose name for all things loyale. I had thought the opposite the case, that the name was an affectation in the US market later on to avoid confusion... and was just a more recent thing. that was just some idea i got somewhere though, i never put much money on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 well see, they had to change the name after a couple years because the old ones never lost resale value... GL>loyale... that, or people were joking about GL meaning "Godawful Looking" and they decided to make the new name reflect the positive aspects of the car... They didn't change the name - the EA82 GL series was always known as the Loyale from day 1. In fact the rest of the world called them Loyale - it was just in the US that they didn't receive this badge. The name change was to facilitate the introduction of the Legacy in 1990. They didn't want any confusion of people thinking a Loyale was really a "Legacy GL" or something. EA81's were known as the Leone. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 ( Thanks Paulyburger)..cough5 spdswap cough!!. Soon,very soon I hope.Registered the white wagon today,passed emissions,but it's leaking and getting too hot at times.Have to work tomorrow,so give me some time.We'll talk over the weekend. What about Rory and my turbo wagons?Any word?They'll be moved to Andrew's this weekend or next because it's CRUNCH time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted August 19, 2006 Author Share Posted August 19, 2006 Soon,very soon I hope.Registered the white wagon today,passed emissions,but it's leaking and getting too hot at times.Have to work tomorrow,so give me some time.We'll talk over the weekend. What about Rory and my turbo wagons?Any word?They'll be moved to Andrew's this weekend or next because it's CRUNCH time. I have to work too...to much OT right now..burnt out. Then I think Tommy and me are going to the Bridgewater fair.After we pick up another load of pavers ( putting a walkway from front to back..free pavers from sis's pool suround). I have that good used radiator if you need it...still in the box it was shipped to me in. As for Rory..I tapped him on shoulder but he has alot on plate right now ( we all know how that is...he was supposed to get hold of you...and yes his cell number has been changed) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Fred Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 This is a great thread. I love Subes and can't wait to start working on my Loyale. She sits quietly under a tree waiting for me to get some free time to spin a few wrenches on her. I have owned an '88 DL in the past and loved it too. That car took all the punishment I dished out and still came back for more. There is no doubt in my mind that with a little work it would still be running today; but alas that car is long gone. Now that I have another vehicle in which to get my Sube fix and I'll never let it go. AWD conversion, EA82T upgrade, autocross race modifications; I want to do it all. Long live the Loyale! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 Good show old sport! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted August 19, 2006 Author Share Posted August 19, 2006 You know ..its funny about the Loyale...you either love them or hate them....I read alot of hate for them ...lacking power,nothing special interiors,the reference to them looking like a slack-jawed yokel....But in reality...what about them is truely horrible??? How can anyone complain?? I would rather have my dependability then leather interior...Do the oil leaks hurt its functionality???NO..it just leaves stains in the driveway....I lovingly call it "marking territory. I would rather have my power lacking, low compression, non interference motor then a STI....cause I will still be passing you at the gas station and in another 14 years..if rust doesnt take over...still be driving this old Loyale. I still love this thread and want to read more ..why you love your Sube!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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