buying a 1995 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon

There are a couple of potential problems that might happen with this transaction that you can prevent with a little effort.

1. use Carfax to make sure this is not a flood car or a salvage title.
2. Make sure that the buyer has a clear title and can sell it to you.

4 years ago in 2000 I bought a 91 Legacy Wagon with 140,000 miles on it. I had it for a year, put about $200 into it and drove another 20,000 miles. I liked it so much I bought a new Legacy Wagon.

Sorry for toppost

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Price "smells" high to me, it's more then I paid for my 95 L Sedan four years ago.

That being said, other then routine maintainance I have done little with the car since I bought it. Replaced one of the two fuel tank sensors and the engine coolant sensor

I've got one. Outback package actually, which boosted the price of it somewhat, but for '95 there was no lift kit so it was basically identical to the standard Legacy. I've put over 50K on it myself, which totals up to just over 160,000 miles on the vehicle. Nothing's really "broken" in the past several years... I've had part failures but they are more due to abuse/neglect on my part as I don't have the cash to maintain the Subie as I would like, and I treat it rather harshly. Even through all that though, it's been the best car I've ever had and I plan to take my mom's Forester in a couple years when she upgrades to one of the new models.

Check the CV joints. The rubber was weak on my front ones, and I tore them on rocks while off roading. Oil leaks are also common on the older engines, but they are usually pretty slow and a small one wouldn't stop me from buying the car. Other than replacing CV joints, I've changed an oxygen sensor, a knock sensor, and I killed my alternator from jumpstarting too many people. We had a cold, cold week last winter and I'd get out of work and there'd be two or even three cars that wouldn't start, so I'd take care of them. Turns out that being a nice guy put a strain on the alternator and blew it to kingdom come. Go figure. :)

The price seems a little high, I didn't pay much more than that several years back and mine had slightly less miles on it at the time.

-Matt

I'd buy it.

Do not ever boost another car with your engine running! You will ruin any alternator, especially upon a cold winter. The starter litterally shorts the battery output, and your alternator at the same time. The diodes in the alternator do not sustain a short-circuit. Wait until your own car gets warm, then shut off the engine before boosting your friends. Or get ready for another $350. lessson.

But the alternator on your Legacy can fail even without boosting others. It is weak. There's been a recall on them.

Nonetheless a Legacy 95 is an excellent car to buy. I have one, I did virtually nothing on it. I would not buy a 2003 model though. Quality went down.

Felix