SubaruLegacy2003

Sounds pretty straighfoward, now the other question is, is it worth it? Any other suggestions for improved braking? I am due for pads in the next few weeks when I get a chance and I would like to improve my performance a bit.

Does anyone know what would be involved in upgrading the front rotors from my '03 SE wagon to the larger GT versions? Do the calipers need to be changed as well as the rotors?

I recently had a new stereo put into my wife's car, we went to a high end shop but didn't go crazy with DVD and all that. A nice Mp3 head unit and 4 speakers was about $800 installed, and he will take it out and replace the old system at no charge if we ever sell the car, and then charge normal installation fees to install the system in our next car. Check out other places in your area and see if this a common service, I got 3 estimates and 2 out of 3 provided this.

Take a look at the '03 & '04 Legacy L SE. IMO it has the best value in the line if you never go off road. If you plan to do some minor off-roading then the Outback line would be for you. The SE (special edition) has the same wheels as the GT, and some interior upgrades (leather wheel, shift knob, dual roofs, CD Player) that make a nice package and they were less than $21,000 new with MT, +$800 for AT.

Daytime running lights have long been proven to prevent accidents. I think some of the Scandanavian countries (Saab in Sweden I think) has been doing it since the 70's. It's a federally mandated safety feature, turn on the headlights and leave them on if you can't remember when you need them. BTW: Do you really think an auto manufacturer doesn't take the draw of headlights into account when they design electrical systems? Has their been an unuasual number of alternator issues with cars since the introduction of daytime running lights? Leave them alone and move on to other issues, it's probably saved you life twice already and you don't realize it.....

Put the dog in the back seat.

Starting in '03, I don't believe the 2.2L engine was available anymore. I think that the entire line has the 2.5L Phase II engine (do a search on Head Gaskets on the forum for more info) In '03 there were at least 3 levels of trim on the Legacy, both Wagon & Sedan. There is the Outback, more ground clearance, more aggresive off-road type tires and different interior trim levels there is also a 6 cylinder option. New for the '03 was the SE (special edition) Legacy, it came with the GT 16" wheels, dual sunroofs, Leather Steering wheel & shift knob, CD, 4 wheels discs etc....There is also the GT, bigger front brakes, rears are the same, optional sport shift AT, leather, stiffer suspension (bigger sway bars I think) and that's about it. Except for the Outback 6 cylinder, I believe all the '03 &'04 have the 2.5L four. Any of these (except maybe the 6 cylinder) should fall into your price range. There was also probably a base model Legacy that had A/C optional, steel wheels etc...that would make 4 levels of trim. At the time, if you didn't need the additional ground clearance of the Outback, I found the SE model to make the most sense. I looked like a GT, had the same engine as the GT, and while it didn't have the leather interior or the bigger brakes or suspension upgrade, it was also almost $5,000 less than the GT or the Outback.

I pinched the whole length of the rubber, it's about 4-5" long.

I have already had my driver's side gusset replaced, and then 8 months later my passenger side was getting louder by the day. After reading this posting, I went outside, lowered the passenger window all the way, opened the door and pinched the triangle of rubber next to the side view mirror. Next time I took the car abover 60mph, no more wind noise. Couldn't be easier....How cool is that?

My '03 MT Legacy Wagon SE turns exactly 3,000 RPM @ 70 mph & 3,500 rpm @ 80m mph. I think we need to re-visit the 50/50 vs. 90/10 theory.

I have a '03 SE MT 37,500 miles, I would say that I average around 21-23 mpg during my normal driving, the best I have gotten so far, all highway between 70-80mph with A/C, 2 adults, trunk area full & the dog is 26.5mpg. It's only rated by the EPA @ 27mpg Highway anyway. I need fuel around 300miles normally or closer to 350 miles if I do a lot of highway. The AT are rated at a higher MPG (+1) than the MT. This is due to the fact the MT AWD drivetrains are different from the AT in that the MT is 50/50 split all the time while the AT's electronically controlled AWD is more like 90/10 unless needed.

The problem with cruise control is it can't see the hills coming, you probably speed up just a little before the hill, allowing you to maintain your momentum while one the CC senses the speed drop it has to go too far to catch up....

My experience with idie's is that while sometimes they forgo the "fluff", sometimes you get shortchanged as well. My personal experience, with my '90 Honda Accord when it had around 120,000 miles with an independent shop that came highly recommended. I had brake work done and 120,000 mile service. Shortly after I had overheating problems, only on the highway, after a couple of trips back to the indie, he guessed head gasket. I took it back to the dealer and he had installed an aftermarket thermostat backwards. Replace with OEM and I never had a problem and sold the car with 225,000 on it, to get my Subaru. With the brakes, I had been averaging 50,000-60,000 miles per front set, got them done at the indie, 12 months later had noise, took it to the dealer, part of thier service when they do brake jobs involves some caliper maintenece, they had to rebuild both calipers due to lack of maintenence and the pistons froze. It was thier opinion that had the caliper maintence been done (as spelled out in the FSM) that my calipers would have been adequetly maintained. So, my very limited indie experience has been that while you might save some $ up front, in the long run it ended up costing me significantly more that had I gone to the dealer in the first place. Believe me, I'm not painting all indies with the same brush, but if the question is why do dealers cost so much, in addition the previoulsly mentions benefit package, insurance, staff and other costs that grow with a larger business, in some cases maybe they do a more complete job, and stick closer to the FSM than some indies....

Yeah, well if it makes you feel anybetter I felt just as dumb...it's always the easiest of fixes that seems to ellude you!

I had the same problem, drove me nuts for a couple of months until I realized that the supporting arm to the mirror has 2 articulating points. Cram the joint near the windshields all the way up, and then adjust joint closer to mirror so you can see. I gained a couple of inches this way.....

I had a '90 Accord for 13 years & 225,000 miles before I got my Subaru, it was an excellent car, but not a wagon and not AWD, reasons why I purchased a Legacy Wagon. I have had some issues (clutch related, warranty repair) but overall the build of the Subaru is good, fit & finish etc... The issue you will see repeated on this forum is the lack of good dealership service. I moved a number of times when I had my Honda so I probably used six or seven different Honda dealers in 3 states and found all of the service departements to be excellent. You paid more, but kinda felt like it was worth it. I don't seem to have that same experience with Subaru. I live not 10 minutes from Subaru of America's North American HQ, and the dealer right down the street from them was so bad (I went once, vowed never to return) that they are no longer a Subaru dealer. The dealer I go to in Philly, means well I think, but I have not been truly pleased with thier service department. They don't fix stuff when I asked them to, don't believe me when I tell them there are issues and I have to go back a 2nd time, don't return phone calls (that one really get's me PO'd) There is one more dealer about 1/2 hour the other way that SOA mentioned to me during my last phone call and might try them, but I also found an independent mechanic from this forum who will probably get my first out of warranty repair phone call. So to make a long answer short, the cars are probably just as reliable, but I've been thinking that the post purchase support IE: Dealer Service is fairly lousy around the country and might almost be more important in the long run....

This could (and probably should) fall under the 5 year 60,000 mile powertrain warranty, and therefore be 100% covered. The shudder is a know issue, stick by your guns, contact SOA directly and open up a case.

In the case of the 2003 Legacy Wagon, the Auto was rated @ 28mpg highway vs. 27 mpg for the Manual. I was surprised so I asked why. The dealer explained that this is due to the auto trans, when on dry ground acts more like a FWD vehicle because of the electronics, (90%-10% split) resulting in greater MPG. The manual is more of a 50-50 split all the time. I have been getting around 23mpg around town and 25-26mpg on the highway. I have an MT. As for snow, we have not had that much here (Southern NJ) in the last couple of years, a couple of 5-6" type of thing. Not a single problem getting where I need to go, I prefer a MT in the foul weather because I find it easier to control speed and use the engine for braking help. Although I'm sure the AT would get you where you need to go, this would come down to personal preference.

I'm also in the SJ/Philly area and am just about out of warranty and am looking for a good shop, can you foward that info to me? gh.photo@verizon.net Thanks!

I just got back from the dealership with new everything, clutch fork, throwout bearing, pressure plate, clutch disc, flywheel...did I miss anything? They found no apparent damage to any part so here's hoping they fixed it this time with the new clutch fork. The "loosness" that I described on my earlier post seems to be gone, the transition from acceleration to deceleration seems much smoother and tighter, much like after the 1st clutch replacement. The car is much more pleasant to drive this way, I think I can actually have passengers again without the threat of nausea setting in at any moment....I will let you know if the problem comes back. Any thoughts from those of you in the know regarding what could be the root cause of the loose feeling during the transition from accel to decel? The transition now is as smooth as any manual I have ever driven, not the marked change (I want to call it a thump, but there is no real sound, just a sensation) before the replacement. Could something work it'self loose over time and miles?

2003 Legacy Wagon, SE 5sp. At around 14,000 miles it developed a creak when depressing the clutch pedal, brought it to the dealer for the 15,000 service, mentioned the creak and they ended up doing the following: Manual Transaxle R&R (remove & replace?) Flywheel Assembly R&R Radial Ball Bearing Clu (#1 30502AA051) CCH & Flywheel & Bolt S (#32098AA020) This took care of the creak....for another 15,000 miles and it came back. Dropped it off last week for the 30,000 mile service, and they removed, lubed and adjusted the pedal itself....it didn't help. There is no creak when the car is cold, but once it warms up (doesn't take long) not only can I hear it, but I can feel it, there is some sort of friction thing going on. I am considering going to a different dealer's service department, but was going to give the place where I bought the car one more chance. Any thought as to what this can be, and if they "fixed" it the first time by taking the trans out and replacing all those parts, why it came back? In addition, I find the trans to be a bit (how do I describe this?) "loose" when taking my foot off the gas while in gear, doesn't seem to matter which gear, or what RPM. It really feels to me like a busted motor or trans mount, but the dealer looked (they felt was I was describing during a test drive) and pronounced them ok. The thing is, when they took the car apart @ 15,000 I thought the issue had dissapeared along with the creak, and then the car got "loose" again in a few thousand miles. Do other with '03 and similar MT cars have the same loose feeling? Could the two issues be related? Before you ask, I have driven a MT for 20 years, my previous vehicle was a '90 Accord, I got 186,000 miles on the first clutch and finally sold it with 226,000 on it to get the Subaru. I had planned on another 200,000 miles so I really would like to get the clutch thing worked out, other than that the car is really terrific....thanks all!