I'm interested in the outback sport, and i'm looking at anywhere from 96-98 primarily because of the price, and the solid 2.2. what would i need to look for when shopping around, i'll be looking for the manual, so any autobox issues should be irrelivent.

Depending on mileage...if it has over like 65000 miles tell them it needs a timing belt job (if not already done) and try to get them to go like $1000 lower because of this.

also check for bad/broken axles...

as well as oil leaks (peek underneath)

 

as the cars get up in miles, these issues are quite common.

 

cheers

Jamie