Hello, we're looking at used Outbacks and drove a couple yesterday. One was a 2001 with the 6 cyl engine in it. It sounded great and ran great. The other was a 2001 with a 2.5L 4 cyl engine. As soon as I started it it went tick, tick, tick ... for about 5 minutes, then sounded fine after that. From what I've read this didn't sound like the "slap" but I'm not sure, it sounded more like a lifter.
What I'd like to know is if Subaru fixed the slap problem in the 6 cyl engines and what does piston slap actually sound like?
Thanks, Steve