swc7916

I got a look at a Spec B Legacy yesterday at Eastside Subaru - it is pretty nice. The brick red leather is very dark and doesn't look as red as I was afraid it would. The thing that got me was the price - the sticker price was $36k and the dealer marked it up another $3k, so the final price on the second sticker was $39.000! I know, I know....YOU never pay second sticker, but I think this dealer believes he has a unique car that is in demand and can get what he asks (remember the price of Mazda Miyatas when they first came out?)

The 1995-1999 Outback wagons have a raised roofline; from 2000 on, Legacys and Outback share the same body. I don't see any reason why the glass would be different between a Legacy and an Outback of the same year. I have seen a pre-1990 wagon with a raised roofline, but I don't know what model it was.

"rebuilt 2.5 1 & 2 cylinder problems"? Which cylinder is number 2.5? Is it between 2 and 3?

I can commiserate: On my '90 Chevy AstroVan I found that the easiest way to access the right-side plugs was though the wheelwell - you have to jack up the car and remove the wheel and get to them.

Like all insurance policies, there is risk involved. And like all insurance policies, the insurer expects to collect more than they pay out. I bargain hard for my cars to get as low a price as I can get and am not willing to add the additional cost of an extended warantee - they're just too expensive. The 3-year/36 month is good enough for me and I will take my chances after that.

The extended warantee is an insurance policy, and an expensive one at that. How hard do they push the warantee on you when you go into the office to sign the papers for the car? In every case, they pushed pretty hard and had me initial papers to indicate that they had offered it to me and I declined. This is a sign to me that there is a high profit margin for these extended warantees. I have purchased 6 new Subarus in the past 9 years and have never bought the extended warantee.

Considering that running tires of varying diameters can harm the all-wheel drive system, I wouldn't take a chance on used tires. Apparently you have gotten around with FWD and all-season tires so far, so if your current tires are in good shape I would give them a try before spending money on tires that you may only use for one season.

eBay. Definitely eBay. I have purchased 3 of them for around $10 each.

I would think that Subaru should have a record of the repair. I know that my account on mysubaru.com shows work that the dealer has done.

The filter comes with an o-ring seal, of course. The washer for the oil drain plug must be replaced with each oil change, as it is a crushable washer. If I remember correctly, they were $1.10 apiece at the dealer.

I personally don't think that Fram filters will harm your engine, especially if you change both oil and filter regularly, however; you can't go wrong with OEM, so why bother with some other brand? I buy them 6 at a time from the Subaru dealer and get a price break. The thing that really annoys me is price of the washer - why are they so expensive?

You refer to an Outback with a trunk; is it a wagon or a sedan? I don't know about the '97 wagons, but my 2004 Outback wagon did not come with the mounting posts for a cargo net. The net that I bought (from eBay, as I recall) had the posts with it and I had to drill holes to install them.

You have to drive 6 hours to get a good deal on an OBW? Boy, do you live in the wrong part of the country - It seems that every 10th car here is a Subaru.

The headgasket failed in my 2001 Outback at 47,000 miles. My understanding is that once it is fixed, there will be no more problems - I traded mine in before I could test that assumption out. If the car is in otherwise good condition, cheap enough and you like it, I think that it is worth the risk. Maybe you can check the history of the car to see if has already been done.

I have heard the same thing about hood bras. I had a hood deflector on my '96 Outback for several years and it wasn't a perfect solution either - it has to be clamped to the hood and there are bumbers that are either stuck to the hood or to the underside of the deflector to prevent it from contacting the paint. I gave up on these things and just let the hood go bare and collect whatever nicks I get. There is a clear film made by 3M that can be applied to the whole front of the car to protect it, but it's kind of expensive.

I feel your pain. A few months ago my son nailed a Chrysler Sebring with our 2005 Impreza Outback totalling both cars. I was impressed that even though the whole front of the Impreza was smashed, the gap between the fenders and the front doors didn't close up a bit.

The Outbacks don't come with a skid plate per se; that is, there is nothing under the car to protect the engine high centering on rocks, logs, etc. They do come with an under-engine cover that I believe is just there to keep the engine clean (or for aerodynamics, who knows?) The shield has a door that slides out so that you can change the oil without removing the whole thing. (Some idiot mechanic pulled down on mine rather than sliding it out and ripped it so that it won't stay in anymore.) If it's not too expensive, get another one; otherwise I don't think it's a big deal whether it's there or not.

I have had problems with two different independent shops. I have fairly new, low mileage, cars and will not trust them any more to a mechanic who does not specialize in Subarus. Also, because of the 3-year warrantee period, the independents don't see the new models until they are older, so they don't have experience with them. With at least 3 Subaru dealers in my area to choose from there is no reason for me to go to an independent except to save a few dollars, and IMHO it's not worth it. I want a mechanic who works on Subarus all day, has access to all of the factory bulletins, and uses OEM parts. And as long as my cars are under warrantee, they will go the dealer for service. Maybe I'll take them to an independent when they're older and I'm just trying keep them running cheaply. And THAT'S no B.S.

Go to the dealer, ask them what they do for the 30k service, go to an independent servcie shop, have them do the service, save $50 over the dealer's price, take it home and find that they screwed it up, next time take it to the dealer and have it done right. This has happened twice to me with two different independent garages. If you don't have a maintainence manual, ask the dealer or look it up on mysubuaru.com. Follow the factory recommendations and don't skimp. It's going to cost you $600 - get used to it, that's what it costs to drive a nice new car.

Why are you asking here? Follow the recommendations in the owner's manual.

I'll bet it smells good when you turn the heater on.

The 4WD Matrix is only 123 hp - it actually has 7 hp less than the 2wd versions. My daughter has a 4WD Matrix and there is a lot to like about it, but it doesn't compare to a Subaru. I think that the Subaru engines have better low-end performance; the Toyotas seem "peaky" to me - that is, they seem to develop their power at high rpms.

Don't the '96 2.5s have different cylinder heads than the '97 2.5s? My '96 had about 125k miles on it when it was totalled and I didn't have any headgasket problems. My only gripe about it was that after about 100k miles the oil consumption went up to about 1 quart every 1000 miles - I don't know why as I had changed the oil and filter every 3000 miles since it was new.

I have an interest in this because I thought that I was doing the right thing by installing K&N filters in all 4 of my cars...... This OEM/K&N debate has been going on for some time and I have yet to see a definitive answer as to whether or not there is a problem with K&N filters. Just by visually comparing the two, it seems obvious (at least to me) that the K&N is less restrictive to airflow than the OEM so should "breathe" better. How is an "oily rag collecting dust and grime" any worse than a dry paper filter collecting dust and grime, as long as it stays in the filter? Isn't that what a filter is for? I suppose that you can't go wrong with OEM, but has anyone documented engine failure or premature wear as a result of running a K&N filter?

The ones in my Outbacks and Baja fit just fine, the one in the WRX is a loose fit. I think that the cars rev a little "freer" at the top end, otherwise I'm not sure if they're that much better. I never kept track of the gas mileage, so I don't have any data to compare that either.