Newbie considering a subaru

Jan 12, 2004 2 Replies
M

New to the forum so hope my questions haven't been talked to death.



Have been considering purchasing a late 90's wagon and was wondering.


  • any changes to drive train, suspension or brakes that would make one year more or less desirable than another?


  • what does the outback model offer over the std Legacy other than larger wheel size?

  • any recommendations of manual Vs auto for the transmission? Have been a manual trans kind of person but have no real objections to the auto.


  • what kind of mileage can one expect from one of these? Auto Vs manual? Live in smaller town if that would be of importance over BIG city, heavy traffic. Lots of opportunity to drive at highway speeds without having to stop ever couple mins but wouldn't consider this as highway (freeways, interstate) driving.

  • what are the typ kinds of problems these cars have?


  • anything specific to watch out for?



TIA



Mickey


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H

Thought I'd answer at least a couple of your questions:)

Huge mileage. I just rolled past 160k with no severe problems recently or on the horizon... Actually no severe problems ever. Just normal wear and tear/maintenence stuff.

Every type of vehicle has its quirks... Subies seem to be weak in the engine oil seals, CV joints, and the wheel bearings. On my '95 model, aside from the alternator, those are the only things I've replaced. The engine itself is essentially bulletproof, in fact there are people who use Subaru engines in homemade aircraft.

-Matt

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M

Thanks for you comments Matt.

Mickey

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