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.

Looks like a nice car. Did the dealer give you paper work that showing all work done? It is nice to keep a folder on a car with all receipts enclosed. Subie engine/trannys are usually good for 300K miles, not the 100K miles you are thinking about.

 

Subie engines are easy to work on, with the exception of changing the sparkplugs. You may need to add some Subaru branded "stop leak" to the coolant system, should the head gaskets start loosing coolant. The stop leak fixes this.

 

The all wheel drive need to have tires that are all the same brand and model, and tread depth. Otherwise, "torque bind" can develop in the system.

 

Enjoy your Subie...........they are great cars.