I bought a 2000 outback in October, just thought I'd share my experiences so far.
I purchased it from a auction in Montreal, (lease return). I gave it a good inspection, found that the dealer had removed a trailer hitch, (they butchered the removal, and cut off the harness), other than that, everything looked fine. I took it the garage for It's safety. The garage in their infinite wisdom thought the front rotors were worn, so decided to change them, without calling me! They installed UAP brake parts UH!
I then drove it to florida and back, with no problems, though I did note a intermittent knock in the engine at idle, but I didn't know if it was lifter noise or not.
Upon my return I purchased 4 steel forrester rims, and toyo winter tires, and a trailer hitch from my subaru dealer here in Ottawa, The trailer hitch was a snap to install. While at the dealer, I found it required 2 recalls, one for rustproofing, and one for the ECU replacement. No problem, when I returned the car for the recalls I told them to check the knock out in the Engine (75km, under warranty). When I picked it up they informed me that they had replaced the timing belt and tensioner, due to the tensioner leaking! What a bonus, not a penny out of my pocket!
Oh and the UAP brakes on the front... They warped. I got a refund and bought subaru brakes!