john40iowa

You might consider petroleum jelly over the clean new cables. My car's are 13 year old and look show room (though the hold down I did have to replace due to rust); despite the heavy sub woofer that is a drain. Anyone who read my post's knows my car is a member of the family. Once a year the cables and battery get the baking soda treatment, followed by the generic petroleum. Peace of mind is very good insurance. Do be careful, we had the rare experience of having a a battery explode once, it was not pretty.

That's a good point Nipper. After market is sometimes exactly that! Even paying more money, doesn't always equal OEM Subaru; this I have found out the hard way.

I agree! I got my friend the '00, and it has just been a great car with 200K; despite being driven hard in the Iowa back-roads and poorly maintained.

my vote is '00 onward.

Can they really reach 120mph?

I have purchased two used ones on Ebay. Both worked fine..'99 Forester & '00 Outback

Our '99 Forester did the same thing at about 130K. It still ran, but I didn't trust it. At that mileage we had it completely bored out and rebuilt and it was costly. In the long run it has been a very reliable (trouble free engine-wise) six years since. With 160K I think the junk yard way might be best, also I found some tempting options on EBAY. Not certain, but it seems like others here have stated everything will match up until 2002. That year was a just a little off for Subaru's 2.5s in my opinion; although, otherwise the car has been a tank in terms of service.

I don't disagree with the previous post in principal; however, another option is to take the car to independent shop and have a proper test/diagnosis done. If something is found or is in a weakened condition, you might have huge bargaining chip. For four thousand or less (I know others will say hundreds less, but those contain variables to) you could budget an engine replacement and still have a very good deal perhaps... My coworker just got a low mileage '09 Forester (I drool thinking about it) and paid 19K.

No comparison in my opinion. I have had both on American and my Forester. The KYB come much closer to OEM and last longer. This at least, with my 500K plus years on the road.

Unless you have an issue, I give the OEM wires five years.

The deal breaker for me would be rust. If the body is really solid it might be a good deal at 5-6k with all the issues addressed. My Forester has about 200K on it, and even with an accident is still going strong. Make sure the tranny (if auto), is smooth and plan on changing it's fluid if you get it; this is a very expensive part.

You might try a chemical stop leak; We had a very bad leak one time with a Dodge truck and this cured it for the remaining the two years it was driven.

We got one used off of Ebay. Six years and still going strong, lights and all.

Those hoses are very hard to remove. Someone here posted about a tool for just this purpose, but I can't remember the name. You might try the auto parts store.

I found that definitely to be the case; once I purchased top of the line NAPA wires. Although the car ran fine, in under two years the boots fell apart in my hand.

Thanks I ordered yesterday from Walker. I was surprised how common and yet still expensive this part is. Several discounters listed their price as $300.00 or close to it. OEM was actually cheaper; I thought about the used route to, but the going price was near $100.00 with no real guarantees.

I would get an under-carriage inspection. What you see might just be the tip on the ice berg. Just a thought, but you might find one reasonable with a blown engine/tranny; if the body and components are solid it could be a better, less troublesome way to go. Traveling is expensive, but with this kind of money and with research, another a car in much better condition undoubtedly could be found.

Yes it was windy today! My forester did something similar at one time, without throwing any codes. I had the fluid swapped to synthetic ( I can't remember the brand), but it helped some and has stayed much cleaner than regular OEM; albeit at added cost for the fluid.

I am sure because I have seen it here that this has been covered; not able to glean anything from search feature though. My Forester for awhile has been un-smooth for lack of a better word, in terms of performance. Anyhow I looked up a bunch of info over the weekend. Someone suggested unplugging the MAP to see how it runs and did this today. Sure enough it idles lower at start up, and baby soft all through the gears for increase and decrease of speed. Of course there is now the engine light glaring at me. Would it hurt to drive it this way three or four weeks until the weather is better and I can replace it? Also, I found the map OEM for about $200.00. Is there a better deal to be had from someone reputable? Thank in advance!

Body looks great and if runs decent I wouldn't hesitate.

It sounds like spark plug wires to me. I say that because my friend's outback had the same exacty symptoms your describing and with the about same age. I would try OEM Wires. Even if it doesn't solve it, six years is good life out of wires (especially on Subaru, which are sensitive).

I replaced my Knock sensor. It does not appear to be internal to the to the engine at all. Basically, it sits on top like stethoscope.

You also might consider a block heater. Your heat will not be instant upon start up, but much quicker than otherwise.

They almost look like a cross between an older Tiburon and a Porsche to me. Awesome, and the side marker lights at the front wheels are totally rad.