rweddy

I agree. Get a 2.2 and you will be much happier!!

It should be only 90-94?? When did subaru do away with the motor belts? I think this would also affect loyales with motor belts. I called subaru USA and they are checking for me now.

Wow, that is scary. Has anyone talked to Subaru about this? I wonder if those of us with lecacy's can get new belts? I know that there was an issue with our old Honda and they send us a recal and put in new belts for us in a 10 year old car.

Take your time, you will find the right one.

That seams pretty high to me also. Just for reference I purchased a 91 LS 5spd AWD Wagon from a Colorado Subaru shop, had all service done, new fluids tranny, diffs, new belts, etc. Nearly perfect shape, plus Thule roof rack. 108,000 for $3500 about 5 months ago. This is Colorado and prices on Subaru's here are high. Good look at the car, point out every issue, ding here, leak there, etc. Bring cash and say I have $3000 cash for the car today. See what happens!

Just curious BlueSoob, you seem to be quite the VW hater, every post that has to do with VW you are all over. You on anti-vw proponent??

Welcome to the Group!! Just do a search like toddkageals suggests you will find much info. Be warned though, once 2.5 blow HG they to do it again.

The Secret is it is a Japan built Subaru!

If you are going to do a swap why not put in a reliable 2.2 instead of another problematic 2.5???

94 GL Wagon?? Are you talking about Loyale? The older generation Subarus with 1.8 leaked a lot and even after you fixed the leaks they tended to come back, esp with the oil pump. Legacies do not tend to have this issue. The 2.2 does not have the headgasket issues. The 2.5 is a bored out 2.2 that has head gasket issues. The 2.2 is considered to be the best or one of the best motors Subaru has made and will go 300,000+ miles with no issues. The 2.2 is a much better choice than the 2.5 IMO .

If it is a 2.2 you do not need to worry about Head gaskets. Smell might be torn cv boots? Did you drive it in tight circles and listen for noise??

Phase I 2.5 motors head gasket will go. And it seams that after they go once, they will go again sometimes as soon as 12k miles later depending on how good you do the work or the shop does the work on the HG. Yes the 2.2 are Way more bomber. :cool: The motors will go forever and are akin to the 1.6 and 1.8 motors that live forever.

Well since it has the Auto is has the 2.5 motor. These are great cars but be prepared to pay 1500-2000 to have the headgaskets replaced. And this is not a matter of if but of when they will blow. If they hit a curb hard there could be some suspension issues with the car. Make sure it tracks correctly and drives strait.

It totally depends on what your are trying to do. If you are looking for a rock crawling monster then a Subaru will never fit the bill. But if you want to have fun on dirt trials and such then a Subaru is by far the best choice. All of the Subaru's I have owned could never go where my CJ goes but I always owned a Subaru. Why..... Because I was repairing or fixing my jeep on a weekly basis to keep it on the road. I did do some pretty extreme trials www.geocities.com/coloradocj with it but still broke a lot of things and had to tinker to keep it running all the time. Subaru's just change the oil gas them up and go!!! Jeep stands for Just Empty Every Pocket. You can buy Subaru parts cars etc for very cheap and not bankrupt the family by doing so. Short of it you will have a lot more $$ in the bank and have more fun with a Subaru!!!

One trick I have used before is to run the tank down to 1/4 and put in 4-5 bottlles of HEAT. I have had a few older subaurs fail, did this and passed with flying colors.

The 2.2 and 5spd are probably your best options for mileage and reliability. My 91 AWD wagon with 116k get 29-32 mpg on the highway consistently. Stay away from 2.5 from 96-99 they have major head gasket issues. 2000 and up 2.5 have redesigned head gaskets and they still have some issues but not as bad as early 2.5 phase I engines. You might run into clutch chatter with manual but other wise manual or auto is really a personal preference. Good luck finding one.

I could not agree more, and the All-Road too It is funny to see everyone rip the reliability of VW here on the list. My sister in law has a new beetle and has not had a single issue with 58k, my brother-in-law has a 2003 outback 42k, had clutch replaced because of the infamous chatter issues (Went away for 15k now back), head gasket is leaking (or seeping as the dealer refers to it, here is your bottle!), and needed a new paint job because the factory paint was cracking. I think the new 2005 looks great, I just hope they finally fixed the 2.5 issues.

I had one from Nissan for one of my cars and was ok but I prefer books, and I have not heard good or bad from ones of ebay.

Just so many there are many sites that state that this is true, for the very little increase in airflow that K&N's afford they also allow much larger particles to enter the engine. If you have a Cummins Diesel Motor (Ram Truck) it voids the 100,000 mile warranty if you use one. I personally do not think it is worth the cost and larger particles entering the engine, IMO.

And having a motor with a major design flaw in the head gasket and doing nothing about it for a decade is customer service? I hate to burst everyone bubble here but Subaru’s are not the dead reliable vehicles they were in the 70s,80s and early 90s. Which is very sad to me. As far as boring or not that is a personal preference. Subaru had better get there stuff together before Honda or Toyota come out with an AWD wagon.

Is you 96 and auto with the 2.5? If so my bet would be HG.

Very Nice!! I might consider a newer subaru if I could put in a nice 2.2 motor!!!

No too bad. Fun cars, but be ready for some turbo issues at some point. Also check for high controlled suspension. These tend to go out and can be spendy to replace. I had a GL-10 86 Sedan, great little car, mine was an auto otherwise I might still have it. Offer them 1k, have it in cash, $$$ talks!!

I had these on my jeep, worked great and cheap, but isn't the subaru a unitized body construction? Body lifts will only work on frame on body type vehicles.