I live in the mountains of northern California, and we actually get snow. Sometimes a lot. I own 2 H*nd* RT4WD wagons, which we use for our snow cars. One is an '88, the other a '91. Both are well over 200,000 miles and the '91 just barely passed smog yesterday. My wife's daily commute is about 100 miles round trip, so reliability is a major concern. My other primary concern is fuel economy. It's time to find something more modern, and hopefully a little nicer, for Heidi. That's where Subarus come in.

 

With a budget of about $5000, my research has brought me to the late '90s to early '00s Legacy AWD wagons with the 2.2 L engine. I can find them in my price range with less than 150k miles. I'm looking for input about what to look for and what to avoid. I'd like to get the winter package if I can. All input is welcome.

 

Thanks

Craig

 

 

The 2.2 was only available in the legacy up to 99 I think, and In the Impreza until 01.

It may have been available in the L model legacy til 01, but you would have a very hard time finding cold weather package equipped L.

 

If you want the 2.2 look for 95-99 Legacy.

A Legacy Outback is much more likely to have the cold weather package but will have the 2.5 engine, and get lower fuel mileage.

 

Neither will get as good fuel mileage as the Honda. Subaru has a very solid AWD system though, especially with the manual transmission.

The autos have a few issues with the transfer clutch packs wearing which cause some problems. Search for Torque Bind and there are countless threads here about it.

The biggest things to check are that all 4 tires are the same size, brand, and have even tread wear. (2 new tires on front, 2 old tires on rear, is a bad thing)

Find out if the timing belt has been replaced, and make sure that all of the timing components and water pump were done at the same time. The major cause of timing belt failure on these is due to failed timig idler pulleys. Timing kits are fairly cheap though $150-200, and take an afternoon to put on if you're mechanically inclined.

 

If you do settle on a car wih the 2.5, find out if the head gaskets were replaced.

96-99 2.5 have serious head gasket issues causing overheating, and eventually rod bearing damage if allowed to continue for too long.

2000 and later 2.5 have only minor external leaks but require diligence in checking the coolant and oil levels on a regular basis.

Good info, just exactly what I'm looking for. I have a line on a '99 Legacy 2.2L with 136k for $4500, clean inside and out. May have to forgo the winter package.

 

The Honda RT4WD only gets in the high 20s to a max of 30 mpg, so not much difference. I have experienced (the hard way) the mis-matched tire problem. Ended up having to rebuild my viscous coupler as a result. I now have a tape for measuring tire circumference to be sure.

 

Thanks

99 was a good year. They were selling L models loaded with leather, aluminum wheels, and all kinds of goodies because they were trying to move the last of that body style, and it was the 30th anniversary of Subaru sellng cars in the US.