Just bought a 2001 Outback.  107000 miles, very nice condition, looks to have been babied its whole life.  Probably overpaid at $7000, but dealer went through engine, new head gaskets, timing belt, plugs, etc.  New tires, all fluids changed.  Looks and drives like a new car.

 

I've been reading about the EJ251 motors in these cars, and the problems with the leaking head gaskets.  This seems to be the most prevalent problem, and even if the new ones fail in a year or 2, it doesn't look to be all that difficult to replace them.  Certainly easier than my Mom's '06 Cadillac with the Northstar engine.

 

As with any new (to  me) car, there is always the worry about what might go wrong, and how much it'll cost to fix it.  But these Subaru's seem to be very well engineered and built, so I'm going to hope for 8-10 years and another 100,000 miles out of this little guy.  Does this seem realistic, or am I dreaming?  Of course, all routine maintenance will be done, and I tend to drive like an old Gramma, so there won't be many hard miles.

Congrats!!  Yeah, if they replaced the head gaskets and the timing belt you should be good to go for another 100,000.  I don't think you'll ever have to worry about the head gaskets again, if they did the job right.  These cars are engineered very well and will take a beating and go well beyond 300,000.  I had a friend in WA that had 360,000 on a 96' with very few issues.  I know its a new car, but don't be afraid to drive it like a Subaru (they love getting snowy and dirty.)  Just don't forget you have an interference engine and it is important to do the timing belt in another 100,000 or less.  Is it an automatic?

Cheers mate, and enjoy that Subaru.

Ask for the parts list of what else they did besides the belt. The belts almost never break on their own. They always get shredded by a failed idler pulley or water pump. If the parts list doesn't include a water pump, tensioner, and 3 pulleys those need to be done as well.

 

Keep up on fluid changes and timing belt maintenance and it'll be a solid runner for 100k easy.