pwoens Posted October 16, 2004 Share Posted October 16, 2004 Alright, here is the scoop. Its a 98 fully loaded with heated leather, 5spd, 68k, non-smoker, original owners (mature older retired couple), power everything, cc, tilt, air, power heated mirrors, ect.. They towed it on 4-5 trips, the furthest being 400 miles round trip. I have looked at a few used ones now and this one is only $9500, which in comparison to the others, is a really good deal (for the PNW that is). Would this being a "towed vehicle" cause any issues?? The owner said he took it in for a little oil leak and the subaru service fixed it. While it was in there he had the timing belts done also. Im leaning towards this rig as the others I have looked at have not compared. And for the price difference I dont want to jump to the 99's or newer. I have read and understand that the Head Gaskets may at some point become an issue. I have some mechanical inclination and am not pushed away by the HG issue. However this will be my wifes car and she will be driving my two young daughters. Would this concern anyone?? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 16, 2004 Share Posted October 16, 2004 to disconnect the driveshafts it would be OK, but did they? I would have it checked for damage by a dealer or good indie garage before putting out the bucks. If you are rpepared to pay for a gasket job the 98 may be OK. On advice from the board I bought a 99 myself and I am glad I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwoens Posted October 17, 2004 Author Share Posted October 17, 2004 to disconnect the driveshafts it would be OK, but did they? what would be damaged by not disconnecting the driveshafts if its a manual tranny? Just curious, not questioning the concern:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burke615 Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Hi, Patrick, My understanding is that if it was towed with all four wheels on the ground (in neutral, obviously ) there should be no problem. But towing it up on two wheels is seriously bad mojo. Caveat: the only time I've ever had my old Legacy towed, it was on a flatbed. To give yourself a warm fuzzy about this info, check out Subaru's page on towing. Cheers! Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 coupling that can be easily damaged by towing. Do you have a manual for the car? There have been a number of folks who have had to replace the coupling after towing. If you do a search on the board you should locate some. It seems to fail in a couple of modes if I recall, one of which is to lose drive to the rear wheels. Seems like the part is around $300 and relpaceing it is about $700 all up. Somebody with a better memory than mine might be more help. I would stay away from a 98 anyway because of the head gasket problems myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canajun2eh Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 I don't see that there would be a problem with towing the car if the owner was careful about it being in neutral for the whole trip. It's no different from coasting down a very long hill in neutral. There's nothing in the manual to say that you shouldn't do it. It sounds as if the owner cared about the car. Go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 compared to fixing it. Another worry for me would be transmission lubrication while towing. This should be easy to see if it was a problem though as they tend to blow sky high if they were towed without lube. If it is lubricated from the gears spinning on the input shaft this would be readily apparent as I have seen Jeeps nearly cut in half. A good question is how was it towed as I have seen a Forester on a dolly behind a motorhome with two wheels down.This is fairly stupid unless the driveshaft is disconnected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwoens Posted October 17, 2004 Author Share Posted October 17, 2004 compared to fixing it. Another worry for me would be transmission lubrication while towing. This should be easy to see if it was a problem though as they tend to blow sky high if they were towed without lube. If it is lubricated from the gears spinning on the input shaft this would be readily apparent as I have seen Jeeps nearly cut in half. A good question is how was it towed as I have seen a Forester on a dolly behind a motorhome with two wheels down.This is fairly stupid unless the driveshaft is disconnected. It has a tow mount under the front bumper with a light plug in also. It was towed on all 4 wheels in neutral. The owner is fairly addiment that it wasnt towed that much and when it was it was for short distances. He says he consulted with Subaru and his manual prior to towing and that they got the 5 spd for that reason, over the automatic. It was towed on all 4's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 I agree with Charles. I tow my MY00 2.5 RS 5 speed "4 down" for thousands of miles. It to is my "dingy" behind my motor coach. I have had no transmission related problems. As stated, the automatic 4EAT 4wd trannys are the ones that will not tolerate towing. As Cookie says, 4 down or no down even with manual trannys. *************************** I would be far more concerned with the head gaskets but you say they are not a prime concern. Maybe you are factoring the 1000 plus dollars for the repair in with the purchase price?? I say... See numerous recent posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 and that he consulted his manual first. Still, if it was going to be my car it would get a thourough inspection from some one I trusted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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