madmax

Well, I went and looked at the Legacy today. I would like your guys opinion on wether I should go through with purchasing this particular Subaru. As stated above it is a 90 with 161k. The exterior has some rust places and the paint is faded with a few dings here and there. The interior seats had quite a bit of wear and the rear seats were slightly spotted and dicolored. The only other thing I noticed is that there was a low odd noise that came from the front right when turning. The guy told me it was similar to a noise he had in the rear, but he changed the rear brakes and everything was fine. Also, the shifter seemed to have a little play. Now for the positive. The car ran very strong, no hesitation, shifted smoothly and the brakes and charging system seemed to be in good shape. The guy said he would give it to me for $1200. So please give me your opinions, does this seem to be a decent deal for this car? It's no beauty queen, but have you guys bought a similar Subaru for a better price?

Thanks for the quick replies. I've changed the clutch on my last two vehicles and am pretty good at doing most general work on automobiles, but I'm also lazy and no longer have a garage, so a clutch change is not something that I want to get into right now. I'll ask about the charging system thanks. The owner did say that he recently replaced the rear brakes and that the fronts could probably need some work in the future. Is it difficult to change the timing belt on these cars. I have yet to do a timing belt change myself. What's the going rate to change the timing beltat a garage?

I am going today to test drive a 1990 Legacy with 161,000 miles on it. It seems that you all are quite knowledgable about these cars and I was wondering if there was anything specific that I should look out for. The asking price is $1300. I plan on using the vehicle to do pizza delivery, being that I'm a student I need a car that is cheap and reliable. Most specifically how routinely does the clutch need to be replaced. The guy is the second owner and says he has never replaced the clutch. Also, does this car have a timing belt, and if so is it an interference engine? I'll continue to search for this information on my own, but any and all feed back will be appreciated.