Soobadooba

Regardless, I'm pretty sure he got his money's worth...as did I, and then some. Despite having apparently spent most of it's life in New England, it didn't have very much rust, so I figure he can get a few more years out of it at least. Seems like the EA82s take a lot of flack here and the Loyales in particular. My motor didn't smoke, tick, leak, overheat and started every time I turned the key (with the exception of the original fuel pump failing). They don't have a lot of power, but will keep up with traffic and drag racing wasn't why I bought it to begin with. He got 32mpg consistanly on this trip, BTW. Towards the end, I didn't "need" this car anymore, but I kept it because I liked it and it was handy (and reliable). It was great to haul the dogs around in and take garbage to the dump. It was great to have when I knew I was going to get dirty helping a friend or whatever. It was the "mule" so to speak. It was also my daily driver in winter because (as everyone knows), it was awesome in the snow. I probably won't replace it...at least not right away. Gotta admit I've been scanning the papers and ebay as well as the classifieds here. But, I've really got to many projects going to bring in another old Subie. I just have to keep telling myself that.

Background: I bought my '91 Loyale Wagon two years ago on Ebay. It was in Maine and it didn't run. The owner said a timing belt broke. He took it to a mechanic who replaced the timing belts and the water pump, but it still wouldn't start. It had been sitting in his parking lot for about a year. I took a gamble and won it...for $200. It was a little farther drive (250 miles) than I thought. But, I drove up with some tools and reset the passenger side timing belt in the owner's parking lot. It started and I drove it around the lot to see that everything worked. I would have to leave it there for another week because my wife was going to have to bring me up and drive my other car home. The next weekend my wife and I drove up and picked up the car. I drove it the 250 miles home without incident. I did notice that it was making a racket from the driver's side rear wheel. Turns out the castle nut was loose and the brake dum splines were worn to nothing. A friend gave me a used drum and I put it on and that was that. Got a CEL code that turned out to be the EGR solenoid. I repaired the wires and it was fine. The 4wd didn't work at first, but I found a vacuum line off at a fitting at the firewall. I also replaced the thermostat and the spark plugs. Later in the year it wouldn't start one morning. I replaced the fuel pump and never had another problem. Up until this point, I had spent a grand total of about $25 for repair parts. Fast forward to about a month ago. A friends brother was coming our way from Alaska. He wanted to know if we had a car he could use while he visited family and friends. I volunteered the Loyale. When he arrived, I turned it over to him and watched him drive it away. At that time, it had about 179,000 miles on it. Next thing I knew, he was wanting to buy it. I told him I'd take what I paid for it...$200. This afternoon I got a call from him. He had arrived back home in Alaska after driving up and down the east coast visiting family and friends. The mileage he drove was approximately 7500 miles totally trouble-free. Who says you can't buy a good car for $200 anymore!

Awsome! Old Datsuns are cool! I had a '66 pickup that I sold just before I moved up here and am still kicking myself for it. I also had a '67 RL411 wagon (automatic!) and a '69 510. Amazing cars for their time. I say go for it.

Sorry, Buffalosubaru. We heard about problems with the automatic XTs shortly after we bought our Forester. We have nearly 32,000 on our '04 5speed XT and no troubles (knock on wood) so the XT seems to be a pretty sound car other than the auto-tranny issues. I hope you are keeping all this well documented...you may need it later. If nothing else, push for extended warranty coverage. Keep after 'em!

Dunno if you have a/c or not but my idler pulley for the a/c squawked intermittantly until it finally locked up at 2 a.m. on the highway with a carload of people:rolleyes:

We have an '04 Forester and get no rotten egg smell. It is the turbo model, though. I don't know how much of a difference that would make. I also have no idea what the sulfur content of the gas is here to compare to yours.

Yeah, my old Loyale does that when it is zeroish (F) outside. It seem pretty superficial and seals itself back up once it starts to warm up. Subes aren't the only ones to do this BTW.

We bought our '04 Forester XT last April and had no driveability issues...until last week when my wife took it in for our 15,000 mile service. I noticed the exact symptoms between 2,000 and 2,500 RPMs when we got it back. I also believe (as Tim G. mentioned) that it has to do with ECU mapping, and I may wait to see if it sorts itself out before I take it back. My wife hasn't even noticed it, but her driving habits are very different from mine.

Not sure where the turbo comes in on the Forester. All I know is when you step on the gas, it takes off like a scalded rat with very little lag. I'll have to take it out and check tomorrow. I do know the Forester is quicker than the Outback. It has also been said that despite the HP rating of 210 by SOA, many people have dynoed them considerably higher. That and the lighter weight and (I think) different gearing makes for a real eye-opening experience. If you don't like the ride height of the Forester, WRX suspension parts swap in easily. So if you want a vehicle that is quicker than a WRX, but can carry bikes, dogs etc. yet still doesn't really catch the eye of police, I'd give the Forester a close look if I were you.

And only about $5900 U.S dollars! ...but shippings gotta be a killer:dead:

I bought a cheap flux welder a few years ago to play with and I have gotten more "serious" with a new Lincoln MIG. So, yep, I'm infected. Now you have made it worse with the idea of welding "custom tools". Now I REALLY got the fever.

Hehe, never thought of mine as looking like a refrigerator either, but I guess it is "appliance white"

Also, you might want to check the castle nuts. If they aren't tight enough, you get some movement between the drum and the shaft that can cause cliicking/clattering/thumping noises- especially when turning. It can also eventually wreck your drum if allowed to continue.

You guys had good weather for subie surgery over the weekend. Good thing you finished when you did...it's COLD out there now!

This is not just true of only Subarus. I cannot think of any AWD car that wouldn't be damaged by this type of towing. Any competant towing company/operator would know this and would have sent a flatbed.