elborak

KBB values are generally quite inflated. You'll get a more accurate estimate at http://www.edmunds.com.

I would tend to agree. In another major accident (I've sadly totalled three cars, all from cars coming into my lane), I was driving a pre-airbag Honda Accord about 30mph through road construction when a drunk driver, confused by the cones and changing lanes, pulled directly into my lane. Car was totalled. I was unhurt except for bruised ribs that hurt like crazy for about 2-3 weeks. From the shoulder belt. I viewed it as a good trade-off: my face and teeth for a few weeks for discomfort.

Let me second that. In my accident, it happened so fast that I didn't initially realize that it had deployed. I was knocked off the road over a (luckily short) embankment and came to rest in about a second. After taking a couple of seconds to realize that I was unhurt, my next reaction was "what's that awful smell?" It was then I looked down to see the bag hanging from the steering wheel. No shocking impact, no glasses shattered into my face, just a stench. Now if I hadn't been wearing my belt and had hit the bag at full force, that may well have been a different story. I'm moderately tall (about 6ft) and sit at a fairly average distance from the wheel. It's close enough that my 5'6" wife can drive without automatically having to adjust the seat.

I guess we'll just disagree on this one. Some of their tests are good, some suck. But I'm quite familiar with the history of Consumers Union. They take their independence very seriously. They refuse to allow their name to be used in any advertising and have successfully sued on multiple occassions over the point. If you really think they'd bias an auto test costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and risk their credibility, over some "free booze and food", I'm glad you're not working for my company! I suggest you read about Consumers Union before judging them. I'm guessing you're just assuming everyone is for sale without actually knowing anything about CU. If I'm wrong in this opinion, sorry.

How does that disagree with my post? I said you may well disagree with their conclusions. Likewise you can question their testing methodology. But they are definitely not for sale. For example, they purchase all of their vehicles retail rather than accept donor vehicles from manufacturers specifically to avoid specially tuned "testing" cars. Go ahead and argue their results. I often do myself. But they are honest.

CR is independently published and does not accept advertising. You may not agree with their conclusions (and their surveys are obviously biased by the demographics of their readership), but they are not for sale.

I'd take Edmunds book value over KBB any day. KBB is almost always higher than the "real world". What does Edmunds say? Edit: Looks like Edmunds is about $3200 for the described vehicle. About what the folks here are saying.

This looks to be in your neck of the woods and more the price range you should be targetting: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=229125237

Just another price point for reference... Picked up an '02 Legacy L wagon (not an outback) with 130k miles in June. Timing belt & axles replaced by the dealer before selling. Minor nicks & a few interior problems (such as a missing cup holder) that I was able to repair for under $100 but otherwise in excellent shape. Cost me $5900 from a local used car dealer that specializes in higher mileage, late model Subarus. The price you quoted is over $1000 too high.

Your link has an extra "http//" in it.

'05. Like this: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=224770989

Is that R-12 or R-134a?

I'm pretty close to you and there are a pretty good number of affordable soobs. Picked up an '02 Legacy L wagon for under $6000 a couple of months back. High mileage (130k) but otherwise in great shape. I can highly recommend Mount Pleasant Auto Sales. Always at least a half dozen '00 and later soobs on the lot for under $10k. Too late for the present, but keep them in mind for down the road.

Do you perhaps mean '01? I don't own an outback, but have two L auto wagons from the same generation. Very happy with them but I don't have earlier gen experience to compare with. That 90/20 split sounds impressive though...

Unless there's another reference in there that I'm missing (and I doubt it as I searched the entire document for "octane"), the PDF Owner's Manual for my '02 Legacy simply states "The 2.5 Liter engine is designed to operate using unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 87 AKI or higher."

I certainly didn't intend to come across as harsh. If you took it that way, Loyale, my apologies.

No doubt that's why the plan is to use JB Weld.

I think part of the reason you are getting multiple suggestions (other than just the normal differences of opinion) is that your description seems to be changing. It's gone from "barely noticable" to "I can't help but think the tranny is just going to explode". That's quite a difference!

Given that the noise is, according to your description, "barely audible", and that you are considering either a refurb or a junkyard tranny (as opposed to having yours rebuilt), what's the hurry? What damage are you likely to do by just running it. I would probably just be diligent about fluid changes and run it until the problem becomes noticably worse. And that may never happen. But I'm a relative newcomer to Subaru's (just 2 years), so I'll defer to the experts.

#1 Cochran Subaru in Monroeville PA. Cochran is a huge line of dealerships and sell/service many makes, but the just recently took over Subaru in Monroeville.

Slightly long, but perhaps helpful, HG story... I purchased a used 2002 Legacy L wagon from a small used car lot about a month ago, 130k miles. Came with a 3rd party 6mo/6k warranty from the dealer (which as we know can work but can also be a major pain). Took it in to the local Subaru dealer after a couple of weeks for standard servicing & a thorough check. Dealer found a "small" head gasket leak. I'm taking this vehicle on a long trip on July 5th. Due to the end of month PA inspection rush and the 4th holiday, they couldn't handle the servicing until after the 4th. Found another dealer about a half hour away that could squeeze me in. Dropped it off. 3rd party warranty co. tried to stall/weasel on the warranty claiming the condition probably existed at the time of purchase and wanted the selling dealership to inspect/confirm/repair it. After many phone calls, I agreed to have the selling dealer service it, despite it being significantly farther away. When I contacted the Subaru dealer to arrange to pick up the car (they hadn't started work as the warranty approval hadn't come through), the service manager said he was getting pissed off at the warranty company run around and asked me to give him a bit of time to contact the regional office/manager. End result was that he called me back 10 minutes later and said that Subaru had agreed to pick up the entire HG tab. Also offered to do the timing belt as well, but that had already been done by the seller. Picked it up just last night, zero charge. So my personal guess (and that's all it is) is that Subaru will pick up HG charges in many cases, but likely only if the dealership is willing to lobby for it. So find a dealership you like & trust.