Takami826

My first subie was 89 Justy, I couldn't afford the FUN Justy at 17, but I got it financed on my own and I beat the crap out of that car, racked up over 110K miles on it, sold it for $1000 (only paid $5800 new!!) and it ran for that buyer another couple years. 3 cylinders, burned thru tires like mad, but otherwise great mileage and easy to maintain, even after sitting idle for 6 mos, fired up and bulldozed thru bumper deep snow better than any car we had. If people buy that Rubbermaid er Scion tC, why wouldn't they buy a revamped Justy? As a starter car, it would be awesome.

My 97 Legacy is at 150,000 right now. Nothing major has been repaired or replaced other than recall items. Tires, battery, brakes, those kinds of things, of course have been replaced as necessary and I did the big routine thing around 75,000. I'm in the market for a new car, been kicking around the idea of a new Subaru, but after 10yrs in Cleveland weather, my Legacy is doing great, no car payments for 5yrs... I'm running it into the ground or trading it when a repair is >$1000. I'm just now this year starting to show bits of rust: under the gas door and the corner of my trunk... not bad considering every American car I owned or that my parents owned never made it over 100,000... I think people who buy Subarus keep them until they are unsellable which may be why there's more Hondas online for sale than Subarus. People just don't let them go.

so much for unique design and styling. it looks like a focus or some cheapo import. is this the 'rebirth of a legend' the subaru site is blithering about? The year I'm ready to buy a car and Subie designs are just disappointing, man-wagonish (B9) or old-fartish (legacy and now this impreza) I'll get old fart when I'm old fart but while I can still get in and out of a car without a swivel seat, something that's not so... bleh....

They need a small Justy replacement. I love my Legacy, but as a primarily solo driver, it's way more car than I need. As it is, my choices are impreza or forester right now, and that's kind of 'settling' because I will need a new car soon. A small AWD like a new Justy would be perfect for me. I miss my Justy so bad! It would be the perfect 'entry level' to compete with those godawful deathtrap scions that people around here seem to love. (UGH! you can't lean on the thing without the door feeling like it's going to cave or fold). Small, fast, plowed thru snow like any other subie with good tires... Or make the forester slightly taller so I stop getting heckled that I want a station wagon (meh to me the outback is a wagon, forester is a stumpy suv) cuz you know, that's all about me!

back around '96 or so we got HAMMERED with snow like we did the past couple days. I remember my parents pushing me into selling my justy (it's a death trap p.o.s. blah blah) and they got me a *gag* escort because it was bigger and they felt it was cheaper to repair (that's a whole other nightmare that drove me right back to subaru) anyway, my escort was stuck in our flat but 12"+ snow driveway. Couldn't move it, couldn't rock it, it was like a lump of crap. My dad's taurus wouldn't budge. The two cars sat there like a poor man's Ford reseller. bleh. I fired up my Justy that had sat idle in our squishy muddy yard for 4+ months, 3 of which were cold and generally crappy. It started right up, despite being almost up to the bumper in snow and partially sunken into the muck, I threw it into gear and it trundled forward like it was any other normal day. Needless to say, I put the for sale sign on that craptacular racecourt and sold my Justy as well, but only to put the $ into the 97 Legacy I still drive today. It's stuff like that that makes me a diehard soobie fan

This makes all the difference!!! After the last 2 days of chugging on by as cars and suvs slid all over, I noted which cars to never ever consider buying. Driving conditions like that remind me why I am a die hard Subie fan. My only negative is that I can't bloody move when the snow is up over my bumper. :-p

This is a great write up and thank you! I desperately need to do this to my car as mine, too, are becoming a safety concern and I'd like to get another 6+ months out of my legacy before I trade it in or sell it. Now that I live in a rural area with minimal lighting, at night, it IS DARK. Are the lenses a pain in the butt to remove and reinstall, though? (I honestly haven't looked yet) I have no problem doing the labour, but given the current temps, tendonitis doesn't allow for much dexterity. I already have to fix my grill piece (I went to put in washer fluid a couple days ago and the whole thing just fell at my feet) so if it's easy enough to take out the lenses while I'm in there, I can clean them in the house and throw them back on.

is it me or does every subie just look better in the snow or covered in mud? glad you won the deer vs human battle!

My '89 Justy's clutch lasted until about 110K. It probably would have lasted much longer but I was a kid and I learned to drive stick the day I drove (lurped) it off the lot, so I am sure for a few thousand miles it went thru abuse more severely than typical.

I kinda like the boxy look of the 2007 Forester. I just can't get into the whole wagon thing. Course, I'm running my Legacy into the ground, but since a WRX is financially out of the question, the Forester is looking to be my choice. I do like that they raised the suspension a bit, but not so much that like every other suv out there.

dang what is it with people who believe they are indestructible simply because they have AWD or 4WD -especially in an SUV?? A couple days ago coming home from work some dingbat in a CRV was crusin' along at about 75mph, blew past me like I was sitting there. There was ice under the snow in the speed lane, so most everyone was in the other two lanes. She went sailing by (chattering on her phone of course ) and her back end started to sway and she wound up spinning a couple times and was VERY lucky most people were alert enough to get out of her way and she ended up on the rumble strips on the side, got control and kept going -all the while she stayed on her phone. :-\

1997 Subaru Legacy L Sedan. I've currently got 150K on it and the most recent 'expensives' have been the CV Joints (right one 2 yrs ago, left one about 3 months ago), the brakes (everything) were completely replaced about6 months ago. After 10 yrs, things are just now getting to needing more pricy repairs, but broken down, it's less than 6 months of the average current car payment, and I've gotten quite spoiled not laying out a car payment for the past 5 yrs. As much as I want a Forester or Impreza as my next car, this one is still going strong, only a few spots of rust (primarily where jerks dinged me or hit me, or in one case, a stamped of kids running across the hoods of cars in the apt complex I used to live in) but given I'm in the Cleveland, OH area, such little rust 10yrs in is not too bad. Compared to my friends who drive primarily American cars or cheaper imports, all of them are on their 3rd cars/suvs in the time I've owned this one Subie. (and heckle me because of the problems that I recently had) I'll take $1000 in repairs per year over $400/mo car payments for 5 or more as long as I can!

That switch has wreaked havoc for me, but only when I've allowed someone to clean my car. Twice now the same twit did me the favour of tidying up my car and such and hit that stupid switch and didn't think anything of it. Sadly, I was out of town both times and didn't know he'd done that, so therefore didn't know to check the car. After sitting for a week, I jumped in at 5am to head off to work and nothing. Dead. Twice. Great surprise. I have since warned him I will smash his xB if he tries to surprise me again and doesn't leave the switch alone or at least be mindful of it. For me, personally, as a long-time Subaru driver, I find that switch menacing, but know just to leave it be. The electrical gremlins cause me more grief than that switch.

I agree 100%. This was one of my issues when I wound up buying my 97 Legacy 10 yrs ago... I prefer 2-doors, but the only thing I could afford was a 4dr and I couldn't afford anything Subaru offered at the time in a 2-door. Don't get me wrong, I love my Legacy, it's been serving me VERY well, but I just HATE 4dr cars. I cannot stand them. I hate 4dr as much as I hate automatic transmission. In the next year I have to decide on a new car and it's probably going to be a Forester because I can't get a WRX in a 2dr so I may as well go with cheaper because other than Toyota or maybe a Honda, (and the civic just feels like a death trap to me) I'm not keen on considering anything else. Toyota had a nice 2dr but they quit making it a year or so ago (the Celica I believe...) and the Scion tC... *shudder* my friend has an xB and it feels like a flimsy piece of crap.

I had the right side replaced about a year or so ago and a few weeks ago had to do the left. I went with entire replacement with new (about $20 difference between new and rebuilt) because I want at least another year out of my 97 Legacy. I've gotten way too spoiled not having a car payment the last few years. I guess it depends on how long you want to drive the car and if the boot was recently damaged or if it has been for quite some time.