rweddy

Doing this would not "hurt" the tranny, but why would you want to do this? The engine would work harder since it will be running at higher rpm, get worse gas mileage, etc.

And how many of these have original engines? Trannys? None. I have worked on several ranches growing up here in Colorado and yes we had chevy/ford/dodge trucks with 300,000 miles but none of these were ever original. A 350 is good for about 100-150 before it needs a rebuild. The reason these ranchers keep the trucks is you can get a motor for 1k rebuilt and get another 100k out of it. These trucks are not reliable but parts are cheap so you can keep them running for a long time if you can fix them yourself. I have several friends in the Auto industry and they will tell you the new engines in Chevy are the best they have ever had but once again every points to the old days euphorically and how great these trucks were. When in truth the early TBI systems had major electrical issues, the rings go at 100k, etc.

You will love the new models esp since you come from the gl/loyale world. They do not leak as bad as the old ones did. Timing belts are way easier to repalce, only one, and while in there tighten the oil pump and new seal and replace cam and crank seals and you are good to go with a leak free subaru.

I am not saying $1200 is a drop in the bucket but like I stated before offer $1200 off what the car cost then you have insurance, if it has an issue you are ok, if not you have $1200 in the bank. How many Subaru’s have you owned? I have heard this argument with every generation of Subaru since the begining. In 85 when Subaru went to timing belts from chains, everyone said they new models were crap. When the legacy came out everyone said it was crap because if did not have dual range, or a selectable 4wd system. I could go on forever on this topic. Every iteration of Subaru has had their own issues and strong suites. Even the glorious 90-94 Subaru Legacy because of the rip straps on the seat belts, they are death traps in wrecks. There will always be doom and gloom people who say older is always better. In a few years if you still have a Subaru you will be talking about how great the the 98's or 01's or what ever were and how you hate the new 2011 models.

I hate to break this to you but not every 2.5 blow its HG. I know many 96-99 2.5 that have over 200k with no issues at all. The $1200 is just insurance money if you have an issue then you have the $$ if not then you are ok. Plus after you fix it you are good for another 200k. And I think since this is the only real major issue with Subaru’s that this a minor issue. What other manufactures can you get an AWD wagon from? Volvo,Audi,VW,... The maintance on these cars are big $$$. A tune up on an Audi or Volvo is in the 1000 range. With Subaru you get a car can go 200k easy and the only major issue is a $1200 HG fix I see this as a non-issue or not that big of an issue consider the rest of the vehicle is rock solid. Every manufactures has issues with their vehicles. Toyota has had and is continuing to have HG issues with their v6s. Volvo has issue with their AWD diffs blowing up, Audi has major electrical issues, …… I could go on all day.

Do you really? I love the new 05 styling. I am not super fond of the 00-04, I think the 96-99 was the best until the new 05.

Find a 96 5spd and you will get 500k easy out of the 2.2 5spd combo. The 2.5 is not as bad as you see here, worst case you have to spend $1200 for HG change out, which is a normal service for a volvo!! I like the 96-99 outback best then the new 05 up are awsome!

I stand corrected. Here in CO the stealerships have seperate lube stations that do fluid changes.

Yes I did and no offense was intended. No indy shop is going to have a $5 hour monkey over tightened your drain plug or forget to put in enough oil. They are loss leaders because they have untrained do this work and does not seem to be worth the small savings to me.

I agree with most of this but not the Dealer only part. I have way more confidence in local independent Subaru shops then dealers for everything. They have much more control since they are smaller and they care about your business, to the dealership you are just another number. And their techs are trained to be part swappers not for repairs. There is too large of a disconnect between the service writers, techs, and supervisors in most dealerships. I would never let a dealership touch any of my Subaru’s.

What I really like is the sport shifting ability. Gives you the best of both worlds, and the XT has paddles on the steering wheel!!

DAMMIT!!!I knew I was getting old!!

I am on the road this week and guess what car Hertz put me in? A 05 Outback wagon. Wow!! I have never been that impressed with the 00-04, not much of a difference from my 96 but this one….. I might really consider one of these in a few years. I also love the automatic; I cannot believe I am saying this. I have been a huge anti auto for a long time, but this one is great. And the symmetrical AWD is great, had some time before the meeting this am and took it for a few spinouts in an unplowed parking lot here in IL. I cannot wait to drive a XT with the turbo!!!

I was in Philadelphia last week and saw a 97-99 Subaru legacy outback as a taxi!! The company was something like liberty taxi. Drove by too fast to get a good picture.

Know issue, I have a fix on my web site. http://www.rweddysolutions.com/Subaru96fix Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your HG are going. Does this happen when you go up hills? The 2.5 has HG issues, so keep an eye on it because it is going to be worse.

I get about 1-2 mpg more with Mobil 1, my 96 legacy obw gets 28-30 mpg highway. My old 91 LS wagon got 31-32 range with the same Mobil 1.

They are somewhat rare, not super hard to find. Are you going to swap the entire engine in? Your normal 2.2 will not hold up with a turbo if you just takes the parts off and do the swap btw.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=20661 Check out this thread, know issue with Subaru’s. There is no double press needed on 1st generation legacy remotes. Check out my web site, I have a write up on how to fix this issue. http://www.rweddysolutions.com/Subaru96fix

Typo on my part! Dooo, thanks for pointing that out! I just fixed the page, now says. "you can NOW replace the unit with a new one or fix the old one" I opted to fix the old one, with the jbweld fix I am sure it will last a very long and time and cost nothing to fix it. I would guess the part is $60-$100??

What year was your Toyota? I hate to burst your bubble but Toyotas are not the dead reliable vehicles of the 70-80's anymore either. Remember the HG issues will all Toyota 3.0? They all had major HG issues with ALL 88-96 3.0 and now they are having issues with the new 3.4 HG. My parent’s RAV4 has had several issues with sludge, wheel bearings, etc with 65k. My 97 Landcruiser has some major fuel related issues at 65k. I think that now Honda’s are the best for reliability but Subaru is defiantly in line with Toyota and possibly even better imo. And parts for Subaru is way cheaper than Toyotas.

This is the exact reason I would never let a quicky lube place touch any of my vehicles. The probably thought the tranny filter was the oil started taking it off, then said opps and put it back one. You will have very little ground to fight them on if they did this or not. It is a he/said she said situtuation. My frieind took hit car in for lube, they took off his tranny drain plug when chainging his oil for some reason. He got about 10 miles away before his tranny blew up. He took them to court, they addmited wrong doing, but since his vehicle had 120,000 miles, the court only gave him $300 dollars for what a tranny with 120,000 miles was worth.

I would not agree that the 2.5 engine is crap, but the HG has some design flaws. Remember you will not see people post here about how great their 2.5 is lasting. I know several 2.5 that are in the 200k range with no issues. Just keep you eye out for overheating and save up $1200 for the replacement if they do go. And make sure you use the new designed gaskets if you do need to replace them.

I agree totally. I have never owned dedicated snow tires before this year. We got a set of studded tires for my wife's Honda, and it is now just as good as my all season tired AWD Subaru. And the Honda stops and corners better, I am getting some snow tiresfor my car next year.

Yes they did.

Actually the engine has very little to do with mpg. It is more about wind resistance, drag, weight, gears, etc.