duane b

I realize that there are parts of the country where AWD is more necessity than desire, but there are plenty that aren't and I happen to live in one. But it seems like I live in Subaru capital USA! They're everywhere but it's not like people really need AWD here. I have to go look for places to get muddy, dirty, and slippery. But I would never go look in our Legacy it's just not that type of vehicle. There are places that I've taken my old GLs that I would never think of taking our Legacy or even an OBW. Also you kind of missed my point. "They're cramped, slow, rough riding, and odd looking to boot." That was because at one time Subarus were quite unique in their own right! Now they're pretty mainstream looking, now more than ever with the 2005 models coming out. I would trade toughness and reliability for high tech luxury any day. At least all car companies should offer something in a true Utilitarian class. I firmly believe that 90% of the "SUVs" out there should be called "Sport Luxury Vehicles" because there is nothing utilitarian about them. Subaru seems to have gone down this same path. That's what I meant that if Subaru made a new version of the GL that's what I would like to see. LOL! I like that quote! Anyway, thank you all for going easy on me.

We sold our 96 Legacy wagon last night, almost exactly a year from when we bought it. I hope the couple that bought it are happy with it. I told them about this discussion board if they had any questions. I can't say I'm sorry to see it go, though. I think I lost a little something for subaru owning a Legacy. I've owned 3 mid-eighties GL wagons before this and I used to love subes but I gotta say the Legacy doesn't compare in quality or toughness. I don't think Subaru makes a 200K trouble free car anymore. With all the headgasket problems and AT tranny problems of the mid to late nineties (which my car had both) and Subaru's refusal to address them I don't consider Subaru part of the "big-3" Japanese automakers anymore. Subaru used to have a niche market way back when but now it seems everything they do is reactionary. When other car companies started maked 6 cylinder motors as an option it took Subaru 30 years to finally make one. When other car companies are addressing hybrid options, Subaru so far has no intention of offering anything of the kind. In fact I have to wonder about Subaru's attitude towards the environment. They've never addressed the oil leaking seal problems that their engines have been prone to for over thirty years now. "That's just the way they are" is no excuse. Their cars just don't get as good of gas mileage as other cars. The best our legacy ever got was 27mpg on a straight and level freeway with a tail wind. Now they offer a 300hp AWD sportscar for tearing up and down wilderness roads. What other good are they for? Subaru is not rough and tumble off-road vehicle anymore. Even in Outback or Forester trim their angle of approach is way to shallow to ever be useful off-road and you wouldn't want to scrape the trim pieces off, it would cost an arm and a leg to repair. As far as the 2005 models, they look like something that's been done already. The profile of the legacy sedan looks just like the camry, the accord, even the mazda 6. The wagon looks suspiciously like a volvo cross country. The older Subes were definately unique and civilians didn't have to look at the badge to ID them. As far as performance goes, I'm sorry but a regular legacy just doesn't have it. We bought a Nissan Altima the same year as the legacy and it is WAAAY more fun to drive even with an AT. And quality is better too. Our VW cabby is tons more fun to drive than a legacy. It feels like it has way more pep and tighter handling then the wagon with 32 more hp. In fact I always felt a little humble driving the legacy wagon. Don't get me wrong. I've said this before; If Subaru offered a new version of the GL wagon again I would probably buy one in a heart beat. At least I knew what they stood for, a tough utilitarian wagon that has a ton of uses. Not a luxury car full of electronic crap (including the AT tranny) that will probably break before the warranty is even up. Maybe if they offered part time AWD I might be tempted to try it again. I mean we used the AWD once since we bought the car. Most people just don't need AWD all the time. I mean if I lived in Atlanta or Phoenix or Texas or Socal, I would probably never NEED it. But these are some of the biggest markets for Subaru.I think the driveline is under such stress when in AWD on dry pavement, the clutchpack can't possibly last long enough. I don't know, maybe it's the GM take-over of Subaru that's driving the quality into the ground. They did the same thing to Isuzu. And sure Subaru is a great selling car. But most people know that GM quality sucks yet Chevy is still one of the best selling cars around. Coincidence? I think not. Good luck everybody! Thanks for all the info you've shared. I'm out. D.

I would be careful with a different engine swap. Here in Washington State it will never pass emissions. My bro-in-law tried it and when they plugged the emissions computer in the message came back that the engine didn't belong to the car! Smart ***** computer anyway. So they wouldn't pass it, he couldn't get updated tabs. He ended up putting the original engine back in. I think they quit doing the end pipe probe for 95 and newer. Good luck.

Hey Shean, You work at Aaron's? Cool. My bro-in-law is a regular down there. The air system can be expensive to replce even with a regular one but hey you've got an entire wrecking yard full of stuff so I wouldn't sweat that. Until you've owned a Legacy AT you don't know TORQUE-BIND!!! Speaking of which I should have you keep an eye out for 98 or newer 4EAT clutch pack for me;)

Hey, if you can't beat them... buy them out! That seems to be the American Auto Industry's motto these days. Remember back in the 80's when American car companies were producing crap and the japanese companies were kicking their butts by producing quality efficient affordable cars?

I don't think you have too much to woory about with a brand new car. If you are worried about it, drive it until the warranty is almost up and sell it. I can't believe that Subaru only has a 3year/36K MFG warranty, though. My Trooper has a 10yr/120K warranty out of the box, no extra "extended" BS.

What if...Subaru made a part-time on-demand type of transfercase? I kind of miss that about the older Subs. I use my allwheel drive about 5% the other 95% is spent in the city on dry or wet pavement. I'm tired of dealing with a fragile 4EAT that costs more to fix than it's worth. It would last a whole lot longer without all the undo stress of driving around in AWD on dry pavement. It would get better gas mileage too. I know this is blasphemy on this board but, I'm sure some people that have had to put money into replacing a clutchpak or viscous coupler ($$$$) would agree with me. Anyway, sorry about the offtopic rant I'm just bored at work, passing time.

Road flares come to mind. Besides there intended purpose, they were a life saver on a road trip to Alaska a few years back. We broke done in the Middle of Nowhere, Canada and it was cold and wet. The flares worked great for instant firestarters when nothing else would get a fire started. Oh yea, and large sized zip ties and a pair of pliers can fix a whole lot.

That's great! Our 96L awd wgn has never gotten better than 27mpg. But it has the 4eat also. I would hope the 5mt gets better. I gotta say I find it funny that there is so much Toyota and Honda bashing that goes on this board until some of you want to buy something that Subaru doesn't make such as minivans, hybrids,and trucks. Then it's ooh, ahh, Toyota or Honda all the way.

Since you live in Seattle why don't you go down to Aaron's in White Center. They usually have some decent subs for sale, usually cheap because they might need a little work. But not as much as yours from the sounds of it. They would probably take yours in for a trade in since they're a subaru wrecking yard. 345K! Sure that's a testament to subarus but just think of all the other things that will start to wear out soon. I'd trade it in on something with less mileage. Good luck.

Here's something I would like to toss out for thought. If you take two identical tires off the car, one filled to specified psi and the other flat, aren't they the same circumference? Tires don't stretch much when filled up. But if you take those same two tires and put the weight of the car on them, what changes is the the diameter mostly. And from the many past posts on this same subject, most of the concern is about tires properly filled to the correct psi on all fours. So circumfrence wouldn't come into play as much as diameter where all four properly inflated tires are concerned. The reason I bring this up is we had a situation this past summer on a 2500 mile roadtrip. We had a slow leak in one tire. All tires were identical brand, model, size, and approximate wear. After so many hundreds of miles at low psi in one tire (it would leak down to 15 psi and stop) the "AT TEMP" light starts flashing upon start up. When we get back home I took the car (96 AWD Legacy AT) into Subaru for a diagnostics. They tell me the clutch pack has worn abnormally and will need to be replaced soon. They said the cause could be from putting miles at high speeds on the low tire. Not to mention since we bought the car just before our trip, who knows how many hundreds if not thousands of miles this car had been driven with a low tire by the previous owners. I think the dealer we bought from must have kept the tire pressure inflated daily on this car because I didn't notice it when we test drove it. So it would seem logical to me that tire diameter could play into problems associated with clutch pack wear. Anyway just my $0.02:-\

In the Seattle area you should find Seafoam at B&B auto parts. As an Isuzu Trooper owner, noisy lifters are an all too commen problem. I've fixed mine but it is not a quick fix, it takes time. I used a couple of products with success called Rislone or Restore found at Schuck's (Schmuck's) Auto supply The Seafoam works but I don't like how watery it is. It 'waters' down your oil and it loses some viscosity. The other two products mentioned have a close viscosity with the oil already in your engine. What I've done to fix the problem is after an oil change I add the required amount of Restore or whatever and leave it in until the next oil change. I first did this three oil changes in a row (~9000miles). The valve tap went away. I still put some in every third or fourth oil change when I have about a 1000 miles left until an oil change. I have yet to here the tapping again. On the other hand, in the Subaru a bad oil pump or oil pump seal will also cause valve tapping because the pressure at the lifters isn't enough to keep them pumped up. There are recent posts about this, look for them and read up. Good luck.

Get an exterior rack. If you're a real mountainbiker you will get your bike very muddy and you will not want to put into a carpeted and cloth interior. Besides foresters aren't that tall and a roof rack would be fine. My other car is a Trooper and I can't reach the roof rack without a step ladder! I have a spare mounted rack which also works fine. A standard Roadgear rear rack works fine on my wife's legacy but you can't get in the back hatch.

You should feel lucky. A guy at work has a Jeep Grand Cherokee and has to do a total brake rebuild every 20K. This is his second Jeep and he said his last one was the same way, every 20K. Said he sold it before the warranty was up just in case. Don't know why he bought a second one....

Boy these are weird friggin cars. :madder: How would an axle shaft affect a vibration when the car is sitting still? The only thing in motion is the motor and the torque converter, right? Let's just say it's not a vacuum leak, wouldn't it still be from either the engine or the torque converter? Just trying to isolate the culprits. Does anybody have this problem with a 5mt?