smkauffman

Just an update for the viewing audience. I will not be a Subaru owner after all. I didn't really find any other Subarus in the area in my price range that didn't look like they had just been abused their entire lives or had well over 200,000 miles on them. I did give a guy a deposit over the weekend for a 2007 Honda Civic EX 5 speed. 176,000 on the car and 98,000 on the engine with a new clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, upper and lower radiator hose, coolant flush, water pump and a few other parts and gaskets. The car runs and drives great. It has about 75% left on the tires. It appears to be something I can bring home and start driving to work right away without worrying about much until it's time for an oil change. Thanks again for all the advice, it was very helpful. Maybe I'll look for a Subaru again down the road when I have used up the Honda.

Yeah, this one just gave me the feeling that I was gonna be in for a lot more work than I'd like right out of the gate. It also had a broken lug nut on one of the front wheels. All in all it felt like the car probably hadn't been well taken care of. I really don't want something I have to drive home and start right in on brake work unless it's just a simple replace the pads job either. Thank you for all the help here! I feel like if I come across another Subaru in my price range I will be able to pretty confidently evaluate it and make a call.

Went to look after work. The left strut tower under the hood appeared pretty rusted, I almost thought it was rusted through at first. Body was a bit rougher than the pictures appeared but not a game changer. The team along the bottom of most of the door windows was loose. Seemed to shift a bit harshly, maybe it is just the nature of the brand? Pulled to the right when braking. The exhaust was a bit loud. There was no service history available so no knowledge of timing or head gasket services. The plastic frame around the radiator fan was loose, looked like a broken mount point or two. Overall feeling I got was that at the very least it needed a lot of small repairs and maybe more. Not sure about this one.

I can tell you that what I have heard here is definitely helping sway things in the Subaru direction. If the biggest, most common problem they have is the head gaskets I can deal with that. I have done engine R&R and rebuilds in the past. The big fear is getting something and then having some issue that requires special tools and equipment to fix forcing it into a shop or dealer for thousands of $$$. Other than that are there not really too many problems with anything else? HVAC, transmission, etc.? I know nobody can guarantee anything but typically is all the rest usually pretty good?

Even 24-25 highway is right around that "double the Tundra" mileage I'm looking for in a car, I'll take it. I looked specifically for Subarus for sale in the area and didn't find much, especially below $5k. A lot of the ones I did find had more like 200,000 miles on them. I have to admit at first the head gasket issue seemed pretty big but after a bit more research it doesn't really seem like that major or expensive of a project to take on yourself. Read all the DIY info, take your time, be careful. I have all the tools, air compressor, a 48'x72' building to work in and other vehicles to use while I work on one. I figure anything I get in this range will need some work to get through a few years. If I do it all myself and get a pretty decent price to begin with I am better off than spending twice as much or more to get something that will probably still need some work but is a few years newer or a little prettier. Haha, we'll see how I do with a car but the truck isn't going anywhere. I need the truck to tow the toy hauler, haul recycling, get through nasty snow drifts around the area sometimes and other truck stuff. It won't make much of a difference over summer months either since I'm on my bike about 80+% of the time anyway

I'm not sure on the Mazda transmission issue, haven't researched that one yet. The Subaru and Bug are the primary targets. I did have a line on a 2008 Pontiac Vibe for a great price with 130,000 miles...very interesting since all the important bits on the Vibe are Toyota bits from the Matrix/Corolla but that fell through. Most of the information I've been able to find puts the Legacy mileage up around 26-30 highway which falls in the "double the Tundra" range I'm looking for. Is that correct?

Any of these will meet my needs. The one requirement is that I can get double the 13mpg that I get out of my Tundra. The confidence in purchasing is gonna be a little shaky with anything in this price range but I'll do what I can to get that as high as possible. The paintwork isn't terribly important. It is almost a bonus if the car happens to look good in addition to running well.

I have found forums in general to be a mixed bag. I regularly check in on a few HD, Tundra, RV and John Deere forums. I check min most regularly on the ones I have found to be the most informational and friendly. The other couple cars I am considering in the area are a 2000 Beetle with 64,000, a 2005 Mazda 6 with 160,000 and any number of Civics or Accords with between 160,000 and 200,000 on them.

Lots of great information here! I really wanted to try to get a little more insight into these cars before looking at one since they are a bit different than most of the other stuff out there. I think I can go look this thing over and evaluate it much more confidently than I could have 2 days ago. It also seems there is a lot of information and support going forward if I do buy this one. I think the fluids are something I can plan on if I do buy the car, shouldn't be too much work or expense to make sure it has the right stuff everywhere before I start piling on the miles.

Thanks for the replies. I'm actually going to go look at the car this evening after work. It will be 1 of 2 or 3 I have narrowed my search down to that I'll go look at for now. Which fluids would be the biggest concern that might be the wrong fluids?

Thanks for the information. I think I'm going to have a look at the car this evening. It appears to be nearly spotless in the pictures.

Thanks for the reply. I've done timing belts/chains on V6, V8 and I4 engines from both domestic and import manufacturers so if there's nothing really strange about these it shouldn't be a problem. I generally research a few discussion boards before diving into repairs on anything to get the general consensus on best techniques, shortcuts, and best parts to use.

Thanks for the information. I will pay particular attention to these 3 areas when I go have a look at it. I have accepted that pretty much anything I buy in the price range that I am looking will need timing components replaced unless I get really lucky and there is documentation that the work was recently done. I have a sticker and the work order from the Toyota website showing that the timing belt on my truck was replaced just before I bought it, got lucky on that one. I do all my own maintenance on everything I own so the labor is not a big deal and with 2 vehicles I won't be pressed to get any work done by some deadline so I have wheels. Is the timing replacement on these much different than any other vehicle?

Hello all. I may be a new Subaru owner in the next few days. I currently drive a Toyota Tundra full time including a 70 mile round trip commute for work. I get 13 miles per gallon, not good. I am looking for something that can get around 30mpg highway, is reliable and in at least semi decent condition. One of the vehicles I have found near my location for sale is a 2008 Legacy Limited 2.5l with 152,000 miles on it. I am strongly considering this over several other possibilities in the area from Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen. The Subaru seems to be the best value in terms of price to features to condition. Is there anything I should look out for or need to be concerned about with this vehicle? If this isn't an appropriate place for this question please advise where I should post it. Thanks, Steve