It was a long day of hunting down and looking at Subarus, finding one, buying it, and then arranging the logistics of moving both it and the car I was driving back to my home... phew!

 

But I just snagged a '90 Legacy AWD sedan with 130k on the clock. I can get pictures another day (too exhausted right now).

 

A very nice, although not perfect, specimen. Drives like butter. Exterior looks really good, and unlike most Subarus around here, it actually had 4 matching tires on it. Interior's pretty good, but I'm going to need sections of the center console to undo what the last owner did to the radio area.

congrats on your new car.

 

don't you just love the subaru ads that say, ''front tires new, rear tires ok''. it always makes me groan.

Interior's pretty good, but I'm going to need sections of the center console to undo what the last owner did to the radio area.

Congrats on the good find. Interior parts are usually plentiful at PicknPull. That model is generally good for 250K miles if you take care of it.

Amen to that. Pick n Pull has always been my friend, no matter what old beast I drive.

 

Gave it an oil change this morning, and gave it a bit more scrutiny than the test drive would afford yesterday. And it's looking quite good.

 

Other than needing to replace part of the center console due to the hack job with the radio, it just looks like a couple minor things: it will need brake pads soon, I need to rotate the tires this weekend, and I'm going to need to fix the door locks because they're doing that weird sticking/not opening/not closing properly thing that happens on the 1st gens. I can't remember how to fix this, so I guess it's off to the search function I go.

 

Oh yeah, and the donut spare seems to be missing.

Amen to that. Pick n Pull has always been my friend, no matter what old beast I drive.

 

Gave it an oil change this morning, and gave it a bit more scrutiny than the test drive would afford yesterday. And it's looking quite good.

 

Other than needing to replace part of the center console due to the hack job with the radio, it just looks like a couple minor things: it will need brake pads soon, I need to rotate the tires this weekend, and I'm going to need to fix the door locks because they're doing that weird sticking/not opening/not closing properly thing that happens on the 1st gens. I can't remember how to fix this, so I guess it's off to the search function I go.

 

Oh yeah, and the donut spare seems to be missing.

Paper Clip in the lock mechanism...

 

Unfortunately, I can't find the website any more that has the exact instructions...

I had a thought about a "Common stuff" thread, since I spent some time on a Saturn forum and they had an absolute wonderful comprehensive "do this the minute you get the car" sticky thread. I'll post a link to it sometime so we can look at it and get ideas for ourselves.

 

The USMB is very organized and helpful as far as technical stuff, but these guys on the Saturn S-Series forum just blow us away as far as being organized. I think "borrowing" their tactics could do nothing but help.

Here you go for the link to fix the door locks:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=963942&postcount=14

 

I have all the references in there and quoted it to keep it alive on this site.

 

Enjoy your new ride! The 1st gen's are tanks and are a joy to own!