99 Outback Head Gasket question

[michelle]

I've read a bit about this...I have a 99 Outback I'm trying to sell (to get a smaller car w/ better mileage). My question is:

Has anyone replace a head gasket on their Subaru and what did it cost? I'm thinking $1000-$1500 but want to get an idea. I need to decide what I will disclose to the buyer...no problems as of now, but the car has overheated a couple times. Replaced the thermostat. Only overheated one time since then and in 3 days, the check engine light has NOT come back on and the car has NOT overheated (knock on wood). My mech. has put some coloration in some fluid in there so if it's a head gasket leak, he'd see it and would know if it's just that and which of the 4 it'd be. If it turns out to need a new head gasket, I feel like I should tell the buyer, even though it's driving fine right now. Just wanted to get a sense of cost and how much to drop the price for someone if it looks likely to need a new gasket. It has 152K miles, bluebookes for $5210-$6025 (Kelley: fair/good) and I originally was asking $5800 and now am asking $3800 to get it sold and move on. What are anyone's thoughts? Thx.

[operose]

try the newer gen forum... I'm sure there are tons of posts about this there