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Trans would probably smooth out with a fluid change. those transmissions are awesome for reliability but aren’t the most luxurious machines ever made. It certainly shifted fine when new I’m just saying older Subarus won’t feel refined. Sounds rough. Good eye. You gotta figure when you’re looking for a good deal you’re gonna walk from a few unless you’re lucky.

05-09 specific issues: front control arm rear bushing, rear suspension seized/rusty, ghost walking, struts are a little weak in this generation but they’re likely to be needed on any car this age/mileage of course may run into high mileage wear items like struts and and bushings. Subaru brakes, AC, power steering, the 4EAT, all robust and rarely have issues have. Many people never change trans fluid so do that. that integrated HVAC/radio assembly can frustrate some people but probably not someone like you keep matching tires and don’t tow improperly due to the 4WD. The EJ engine is well known and predictably makes 200,000+ miles easily if you follow people who know that engine well

You're more than set up for a headgasket, no special tools, pretty straight forward and lots of quality online support. Resurface, OEM gaskets, AISIN kit, valve covers, Subaru PCV valve, plugs/wires, air filter, fluids and you're set for about as easy of a 100k as you can get. Ohio can be low on subaru offerings. I'm in Canton every two months or so and 15 years ago I could literally go there an entire weekend and not see a Subaru, now they're everywhere in that town.

the good thing about the cheap subaru is if you can find out why it's cheap - headgaskets for example - they are not hard to replace and done right you've got an easy 100k vehicle for inexpensive. most truck owners i see dabble with a car for a year or less and are back in a truck. will you beat the odds?! haha. I'd guess price is the driving factor here and finding one of those, or being platform specific, will be unlikely.

check fusible links any custom wiring that has ever been touched by someone since the car left the dealer lot in 1988 needs to be checked. aftermarket stereo, head light/foglight upgrades. is there any spark out of the ignition coil? is the ECU LED flashing any check engine light codes?

Ah great! Those EJ25's are almost as easy as they come. No special tools or tricks, super easy, i've done just the belt in under an hour so that's how easy access/labor is. Doing the job right requires more time than that though... Ideally you get Subaru or Aising timing kit - which includes the belt, 3 pulleys, tensioner, and water pump. The kit is only $200, it's an interference engine that usually bends lots of valves when one of those components fails. The lower sprocket and tensioner do fail and are not good high mileage/age items. If you're inclined to save a dollar - install a Subaru timing belt and the lower cogged idler, it is the part I've seen fail the most. And check the tensioner - if the seal is wet it should be replaced. Even if there's record of the "timing belt being done" - that doesn't mean much since it could be aftermarket and they usually don't replace the other components prone to failure. The original factory installed head gasket leaks on that year (symptoms vary by year) are always an external oil leak at the head/engine mating surface underneath the vehicle. it starts out really slow....just getting the metal wet, not even dripping, unnoticed unless you're staring at the bottom of your engine a lot, lol. This over time progresses to a drip and then more drips. It's rather benign. Keep checking the oil and you can drive them a long time with leaking headgaskets. They dont' blow in anyway that would strand you. But - of course a used car getting ditched for cheap can often have been run for awhile and already leaking. If it's leaking badly then you have the concern that someone ran it low on oil (as my friends daughter just did last week). Then the block is questionable....

If it's cheap - then it probably has a head gasket leak. Summary - Check headgaskets, rust, and torque bind - drive in tight circles in a dry paved lot (steeering wheel turned to full lock right or left) and see if the car is "slowing down", or binding. And it'll need all new timing components. Details: Unless it's a really obvious situation like they just won a new car on The Price is Right, you should be skeptical of headgaskets on any legacy/outback, particularly if it's cheap and definitely if it's cheap and from a dealer. Rust is also a huge deterrent in your area - check the underneath like the rear suspension, brakes, and exhaust which could look like scrap metal. At 10+ years old and 150k it needs a new timing belt kit. It doesn't matter if the timing belt was replaced, the pulleys and tensioner can fail as well and should be replaced with an AISIN kit for approx. $250 plus labor. I have two 2008 and 2009 legacy's I'm getting rid of but if "value in terms of price" is your goal these won't be your ticket.

That's for factory installed gaskets. Replaced gaskets can additionally fail like the EJ25D's you mentioned. Also significant overheats won't do it any favors, which wouldn't be a huge surprise on a recently purchased craigslist special.

As they said it’s most likely headgaskets. The water pump wasn’t bad and didn’t fix it. It had air in the cooling system and by draining and refilling he temporarily mitigated the air pockets which cause overheating. They will reform from the blown head gaskets and you’ll be in the same situation eventually....but with cheaper aftermarket parts?

hows the title? Propshaft and c/v are two different things but you’re saying both. For cv axles, reboot originals or get used ones. Aftermarket are trash.

Nice work diving into new territory, very very good. Would there have been a stock axle that would have worked if you had wanted ?

Great Aisin Dealer will be way more, like $350 or more. You can price all the parts online to see, no local dealer will be cheaper than discount online pricing. Online pricing is roughly 20% less than local dealers. Check prices online and then you’ll know if you want to get them from a dealer or not without making the trip.

keep in mind 97 is interference so you want Subaru or Aisin parts And the older timing kits can be cheap but don’t include the tensioner like the newer kits do. So you’d have to buy the timing belt kit and also buy the bracket and tensioner which is very roughly $100. So it wouldn’t necessarily save money. Years ago a used one was a good option but they’re so old now....

1997s I’ve done have all, or mostly, been the newer style one piece tensioner with the pulley in a long arm. 1997 is a crossover year and potentially could have either tensioner. The 90-96 or the 97+. If you’re worried or can’t check, call or stop by a dealer parts dept and ask them to look it up by VIN. But that’s only verifiable if the engine was never swapped with a different one The round tensioner with the offset hole is the older style 1990-1996. The one piece pulley on an arm is 1997+. If you buy a 90-96 timing tensioner bracket (cheap) and the timing tensioner, you can use the older style timing belt kit on your 1997. The tensioners don’t mount to the engine, but rather mount to a bracket which is easily swapped. So they aren’t actually “engine dependent”. The older style are more reliable and I used to use them on newer Subarus for that reason.

stellar vehicles. replace all the timing components and water pump, that lower idler in particular fails all the time. 97 is first year for interference engine so best to replace all the timing bits at once.