Anything bad about the 97 Legacy Outback (engine, etc)?

I've got a 98 2.5L legacy\liberty with 110,000Km and have had no problems. It has always had synthetic oil in it after the break in period though

I've owned, bought new, a 96' OBW and 98' OBW (also a 91 Legacy and an 02 Impreza and 04 OBW). The 96' slid on black ice and rolled down an embankment ending up on it's roof with no collapsed panels and only the windshield broken due to a tree stump poking thru it. It had about 50k miles, only a leaking front seal (common) repaired under warranty. The 98' was traded in last year with 110k miles, several issues with it but nothing major. Front wheel bearing (dealer screwed up on that repair), 3 recalls (alternator master cylinder and center differential seal), leaking front seal, drivers door would not turn on interior dome light (dealer really screwed up this repair). I would not hesitate to buy a 96 or newer Subaru as a used car if it checked out good and had service records. I would not take a Subaru to any of my local Subaru dealers for repair.

I have this car and the ENGINE has been quite reliable, except for:

-alternator, fixed under warranty

-leaking front crank seal at about 90K miles, which I had fixed (along with camshaft seals) at minimal cost as part of an almost-due timing belt replacement

I've also had grief with the clutch, which began after getting a new one at about 85K miles. I'm optimistic the dealer who did the clutch job will make it right when I finally get off my ass and take it in.

John

The 97 you say??? My 97 OB with the 2.5 just blew head gaskets. It's got 140K on it and has been ok until now. All the typical signs, mucky overflow container water, overheats... . I'm trying to figure out whether to do it myself or where I can have it done somewhere nearby (southern california). This is the first major problem I've had since I bought it at 28K. I think my problems began with a slow oil leak somewhere. My wife and I noticed a oil burning smell for sometime beforehand that in retrospect I should have paid more attention to.

If I can get past this problem I would admit I've been pretty happy with the car. A lot better than my sister's 525i on the snow in Mammoth that's for sure. I'm not feeling very happy about it getting it fixed. It broke just after I paid it off and just after I got laid off. Now I'm relying on our 87 CRX... that car just goes and goes and goes.

My local independant Subaru shop, Super-Rupair, here in Boulder has checked out all the cars that I have bought (3 used Subarus so far). Their experience has been that the 2.5 engine needs meticulous attention when it comes to servicing on a regular basis. If everything is kept up according to schedule, it should be fine, but the older 2.2 engine has a reputation for going forever. Thus, instead of getting another Outback when mine got totalled (idiot 20 year old driver taking a left into oncoming traffic, but that's another story), I got a '95 Legacy instead. It's got the 2.2 engine and should go to 250k, if I take reasonable care of it. Plus, it was only $4,600, so it was easy on the wallet.

Edwin