dhoch14

thanks John, but the only thing I are the heads and the porsche heads are different. appreciate the help though! let me know if does want to part with it, I've got some people that love to perform search and recover missions on those ol' VWs.

doh....I just updated my profile. I use to live in NC and went to school @ VT and now live in Portland. I've DEFINITELY been looking at a subie for quite sometime. I plan to add my collage of unique dog and music stickers (big humane society volunteer and love the hippie music). This way I can find my car in parking lot. Seriously though, I think every 5 cars I see now is an Outback. Now I need to source a good bike rack. Not sure if I want to have an aftermarket tow-hitch put on. eah. thanks for the welcomes all!

Sorry all, I forgot to mention a couple things out of pure excitement. The timing belt was replaced at 97k last year. There is a sticker under the hood. I also negotiated that all previous service records would be given to me (this was a trade-in) and that if anything happened I could use their mechanic at their labor rate. This dealership is a one-man shop for high-end (read Mercedes, Lexus, Ferraris, etc). The subie was a trade-in for a client's secretary who didn't want to deal with buying a new CRV at the Honda dealership. Funny story, I test drove it and the check engine light came on. Ended up being an o2 sensor, so of course, I had that included in the deal. Oh and I still have the VW Bus. I'm in the process of rebuilding the engine right now (destroyed heads on 1/2). I'm well aware of the HG issues too. This is why I went with a 00-04 and not 96-99.

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/car/702812041.html picked her up last night. loveeeeeeeeeeee it. i don't get the people that complain that a 2.5 is slow. try driving my other ride (73 VW bus). any suggestions on things to do or get to since I'm a new owner? maybe the coolant additive? thanks! -dave ps- this was 3 years in the making!

found a ride i like and might be driving 4+ hours to see it. if someone can send me the CF for 4S3BG6850X6600628 i would greatly appreciate it. dhoch14 at gmail dot com have my fingers crossed with getting my first soobie !!!

I meant how much should I plan on spending to perform the recommended services (the ones you listed in your earlier post)? timing belt and water pump and oil pump seals the reason I am asking is if it comes down to 2 cars, one with all the maintenance completed and another w/o, I will know how much I will have to put into the one w/o any of the maintenance. sorry for the confusion! I am just trying to get an understanding of how expensive this items are for as subaru.

i def agree on the private party side of it... an idea of how much I should estimate I need to put back into it? thanks

based on my month of research on which type of Soobie (my first) to buy:lol: I've narrowed it down to an 00. The 00 seems to be the best price point. Which leads to my question... 1) How many miles are too many? Since I've never owned an Soobie, I really don't know if they have the reliability like a Honda or Toyota have. Based on my research I see that lot of the early 90's legacys (2.2L) run for -eva-. What kinda maintenance needs to be performed on a 100k vehicle? Cars101.com seems to have the regular stuff, I am more worried about failures (ie water pump, o2 sensor, etc). Should I just assume I will need to replace these items soon after purchase? thanks, soon-to-be converted happy subaru owner:banana:

sweet this site looks very helpful. thanks for the post! d:banana:

ok so I am in the market for an outback and finally ready to ditch my Jeep. **I know***, who would do such a thing? $1500 this year in repairs and a v8 tends leads me to the reliable Roo. anyways, I don't know much about subarus and have been trying to do as much research as possible. before I start test driving and figuring out which vehicles I like are there any recommendations for specific years that are better than others? I've read about head gasket issues, is this particular to a specific year? I also read the cup holders are in a bad position in the 97 to 99. i am looking to spend up to $13k and want to make sure that I am not buying into a "problem year". any heads ups would be much appreciated!!! thanks! dave