thinking about buying a 2001 Outback Limited with 44K miles from a co-worker who has leased the car for three years. He hasn't had any problems and has had the car serviced regularly. Are there any major gotcha's I should know about coming up in the next 15-20K miles?
Thanks Dennis
None other than the expiration of the powertrain warranty.
Extended warranties are available from Subaru. Best prices I've seen have been via subaruwarranty.com
Noisty timing belt tensioners and piston slap are two common complaints. It wouldn't hurt to make sure it has the latest ECU code in it either.
Best Regards,
-- Todd H.
2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USA
Agree with ECU recoding. Great choice. Ours is three years old and we have been relatively troublefree.
Ron
what is ECU code ?
The ECU is the engine control unit, engine controller.
In the context we're speaking of we're talking about microcode for it--the software that the engine controller runs. It's been improved quite a bit over time, and it's worth going to the dealer to have them load the latest.
In other discussions an "ECU code" can also be an error code the ECU can output to say with more precision what caused a check engine light (CEL) to illuminate.
-- Todd H.
2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USAWhat's a Limited? Did they do a 30K checkup? I just paid ~$300 for that on our regular 2001 Outback. AND the clutch was replaced under warrantee!! It was very choppy and I think they said the pressure plate had high spots? Replaced with "improved" parts... is this a redesign?
Previously we had a bad valve in the Fuel system that turned on the Check Engine Light and started emitting raw gas smell before it was fixed.
What is piston slap?
-D
Todd H. wrote:
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