JT95

I put my Reese setup on my factory rack and it seems sturdy enough. I haul 2 30ish pound full suspension rigs around on a regular basis, and everything seems tight and solid to me. The max load for the factory rack is 100lbs--two bikes will keep you safely within that limit. Subaru offered a kit for their factory crossbars, so it can't be that risky of a deal...

The THULE systems are good. My wife has a Yakima setup on her Volvo wagon that we bought used, and itworks and has weathered well. On my 95 Legacy wagon I bought a Reese system off eBay and I love it. If I had a wallet of cash I would have probably just gone out and bought a system from a bike shop made by one of the big boys, but this thing hooked right up to my factory rack and works like a charm. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=56202&item=7152939738&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW I paid less for mine, though. I did have a couple of Yakima clamps that were made for factory Subaru cross bars that I used to simplify the install. The little aero wind deflector thing looks cool too. This is an ugly pic, but it's the only digital one I have that shows my rack: http://bghsmtbclub.topcities.com/Subaru/subrack.jpg It's all about money. If you got the jingle, buy a nice Yakima or Thule. If you're on a budget, get a house brand kit from www.performancebike.com or something off eBay. My Reese keeps me happy, and it looks nice on my car. Fork mounts rule--IMHO--over the upright mounts. (I've used both.) Be sure to get wheel carriers if you go fork mount.

Are you wanting to put a factory roof rack on a wagon that did not origionally come with one?

Yeah, my 2.2 wagon got 20mpg on my last tankful. That's depressing. I think I'm going to try a tankful of driving on 55 mph highways and see if staying off the interstate (and thus away from 70-75mph driving) will make much of a difference. My needle moves so slow between F and the halfway mark and then dips to E from the halfway mark in about 50 miles. I've run the car past the E for many miles before, so I don't put too much faith in the gas gauge in my car.

I would imagine that you'd be doing a major undertaking by trying to convert an non-turbo engine to a turbo one, unless you wanted to tear into the engine you already have or swap in a complete turbo engine from a salvaged car. I've never bothered because I have no cash to spare on it, but I'd suggest you look into an aftermarket supercharger like Paxton or Whipple or whoever else is out there. The supercharger is usually just a bolt-on that doesn't require any internal engine mods that turbo would. Not as much power gain, but still pretty impressive over the naturally aspirated factory engine.

You might want your friend to see if he can find out who did the HG job and how many miles ago it was. Personally, I'd be shy at plunking down $8,000 for a car that's almost 9 years old (depending what month it was assembled) and has already had the engine torn apart before it got to 70k miles. If it's a real recent repair job, I'd be cautious about the purchase for that price. If it was 10,000 miles ago, I'd feel a bit safer.

I don't have a clue, but welcome to the board. I've got a 95 wagon. Great cars. Good luck with the tranny issue. You'll probably have to change in a new light bulb for you climate gauges too...

Dude, that engine bay in super clean. You've got yourself a nice looking ride. I bought my 95 LSi wagon last year and am still making changes to it, so I envy your hatch visor and hood scoop. (I put a new hood on mine last year and wish I'd bought a scooped hood...) The wagons, IMHO, are much cooler than the sedans, so you've got a sporty, classy car that kicks butt in practicality too. Subaru wagons look so stealthy with tinted windows. These are great cars--you'll have a blast in yours.

My 95 wagon has them, but it's an LSi. I would imagine that any Sube with them would use the same peg in hole design. I haul around 2 kids, so mine stay in most of the time--think I've popped them off twice. Your best bet would be to call around all the local junk yards. There are salvage services online that could probably find you some. Check here by looking for misc. interior parts or for seat rear and call several of these places. You'll have to pay a shipping charge, but, how much trouble is it for them to fool with popping out two head rests? http://car-part.com/ Here's a couple who will e-mail you from yards who have/probably have what you want. http://www.uneedapart.com/dealer_search/dealer_search_script.php http://www.junkyarddog.com/

Dude--that is an outrageous price. Go used and change it yourself. lmdew's $100 one sounds like the ticket. Those things should be pretty interchangable for several model years, but you'd have to research that, as I'm just making an assumption.

Sounds like wheel bearings. If so, it'll sound worse with time. I had bad bearings on my front left. Make sure you find someone who knows what he's doing to get it fixed. Not a real big deal, but pressing out the old bearings can result in a broken tone wheel if your wrench isn't too bright...

You might want to try to verify the mileage. That sounds like a pretty messy engine for only 64k miles. My only Subaru experience is with my 2.2, and it has minimal oil leakage at 164k miles.

Okay--I just back in from the driveway. I undid the in fuel line to the filter and turned the key to make sure the fuel was pumping fine to the filter--that was fine. I did the same thing with the outgoing line from the filter and made sure the fuel was going through it w/ a steady flow. It was fine. Then I start the car and it doesn't cut out at that 2000 RPM point anymore. Drove it around the block and it ran good enough. Felt a bit less responsive that it should be torque wise, but there was no cutting out or missing. The engine didn't ack like it was starving. So, what's the deal? Something not regulating the fuel pressue correctly? I'm not fuel injection person, and it's even been a long time since I've fiddled with the Holley carbs I used to run. I'll have to re-read the shop manual I have and see if it can explain anything for me and help me troubleshoot. I assume we can rule out the fuel pump and the fuel filter. The nearest Subaru dealer is an hour away, and I'm not so sure who to trust to diagnose it correctly in town... Thanks for any input!

Well, I put in the new fuel filter and everything was going smooth as new for almost a month until today. The car started doing the no power and cut out past the 2000 RPM mark on my wife. Guess I'm back at square one again. Since removing the fuel line from the fuel filter (and maybe the new filter) seemed to fix it, could this be a problem with fuel pressure? I'm not versed enough to diagnose this, but I'd like to know if anyone else has had the same problem. Seems odd to be "fixed" when I swapped the fuel filter and then happen a month later...

Is Missoula a pretty nice place to live/raise a family? I've applied for a job out there. Never been. Doubt I'll be lucky enough to get it, but you never know...

Well, how obvious is it that the car has something wrong when you test drive it? Would Joe No-Mechanic off the street take it for a test drive and know something wasn't right? If so, you're doing the dealer a favor by being interested in this car. They probably can't work on it themselves and won't make a profit if they pay a repair shop to do the work. It is a six year old car that could potentially leave the buyer stranded on the road. $4500 is a lot to pay for that scenario. I'd offer him $3500 if the interior is in sweet shape and the car has never been wrecked. Figure sinking another $2,000 if it is indeed the HG issue. There are lots of good 99 model cars to be had for $4,500 that don't have mechanical problems. Your car lot guy is probably aware of that. If he can cover up the problem and sell it someone else who wouldn't know any better, he may not budge much on price. If the car obviously has something wrong that any test driver would notice, offer $3,500 if the rest of the car is nice. That's more than he would get if he sent it to the dealer auction...

I started driving a 95 Legacy wagon this past year and love it. The more versed folks here can give you exact dates, but look for a wagon with the 2.2 engine and you'll be set for many miles down the road. I wouldn't think there's much difference in seating comfort between a sedan Legacy and a wagon Legacy, but at 6'3" and 200lbs, I'm quite comfortable in my Sube wagon. My car is an LSi with the leather interior, so I don't know if they sat any different or not from the regular seats. We pack two kids and a big family dog in the wagon quite comfortably. You'll like the wagon--Subaru wouldn't be Subaru without the wagons. Research the years to avoid the 2.5 engine for possible head gasket problems. The 2.2 is a bulletproff and gutsy enough little engine. Mine has over 160,000 miles on it and runs very well. Gas mileage isn't great in the AWD Subarus for what you might want from a 4 banger. (Figure 24-26 mpg.) They handle great in snow--we drove through that Christmas blizzard that left hoards of cars abandoned on the side of the road this winter. With the cash you have to spend, I'd personally look for a 95 up to whatever year they still had the 2.2 and get one with really low miles that has been garage kept. It'll cost a bit more, but will be worth it. My 95 Subaru replaced a 99 car of a different make with much lower miles and the fit and finish and quality of the Subaru was rather impressive when I made the switch. The ground clearance spooks me, but I have taken my wagon off road some. Unless you want more headroom, I don't think the Forester is that much bigger on the inside, and, IMHO, the Legacy wagons are just cooler. Even though the Legacy isn't a big car, it sits like about anything else I drive--even the full size cars leave me wishing for "one more click back" when I adjust the seats...

I've got a 95 Legacy and I read frequently about various problems that some newer 2.5 Subarus have. Is the 2.5 a totally different beast in design when compared to the 2.2? I'm a new Subaru owner (less than a year), and I just assumed at first that the 2.5 was just a bored out 2.2 with a bigger stroke crank. Guess not. My question is: why screw around with an engine design if you already have a solid one in place? You'd think after making engines and cars for 100 years that car lots would be filled with nothing but flawlessly designed and built cars. But, it seems like car companies have to reinvent their cars "from the ground up" every 5-10 years. I know...blah, blah, progress and innovation, blah, blah...

My car went weak on me a month ago and it ended up being the fuel pump. (Thank goodness.) I let it sit overnight, opened the gas cap, and unhooked the fuel filter. No mess at all. (Except when my 8 yr old kicked over the old filter that was sitting on the ground when he came over to "help" work on the Sube.) It was a very simple swap.

Dude, I don't know what's more sad: that your friend lost a great soon-to-be car or that he was up until 6 am partying with his mom...

Do some reading up from the in-the-know guys here on eliminating air in your coolant system--it can be a real problem and a real pain in Subaru engines. I had my 95 overheating before Christmas. I replaced the thermostat on it. I did not get a factory thermo because it was 8:00 at night, the nearest Subaru dealer is 1.5 hours away regardless, and I needed to get home for the evening and was 30 miles from home. So, I popped in an O'Reiley's replacement thermostat. Kept getting leaks when I'd put everything back and finally used the old O-ring with the new thermostat and no more problems. My engine runs at the same mid-point temp range it used to, so I've not had a problem yet w/ the aftermarket thermo, though I get a factory one if you can. The whole burping the air out of the coolant system was a problem for me--mainly because I'd never experienced it--so it took another day or two to figure out that issue and burp out those pesky air pockets...

There was a guy who did said swap not too long ago and posted all his stuff here, I believe. I test drove a 2.5, and I didn't see anything that "wowed" me about it more than the 2.2 as far as power, and the 2.2 has such a damn good reputation...

And you might want to look at aftermarket replacement sheetmetal. I bought a Taiwan fender and Hood for my Legacy and I was pleased with them. Sad thing is both new parts were cheaper than what the junk yards quoted me. Plus, no real prep time before painting with the new stuff.

I bumped into this page--I'd never heard of a MENARDS before, so I had to look it up. You probably test drive new Subarus from time to time anyway, so here's a freebie if you live in the right state... http://content.subaru.com/mailings/menards/Dealers.html

1) More than likely you need to replace the bulb. My 95 Legacy wagon has the same deal--I've just been too lazy to do anything about it yet. (I've got some sweet fog lights I want to install first...) 2) Mine has always been loose too. I've not even tried to fool with it. My wife's in her Volvo wagon is too stiff, so I know I'm gonna rip mine off one day when I forget what car I'm in... Congrats on the car. I've been driving mine for nearly 6 months now and love it.