Trying to discern the best fit

[pfunk910]

So my partner and I do general contracting here in philly during the winter, but are also building up a homestead in MO the rest of the year. Our 2000 camry is a pretty good little car, gets decent gas milage and all that, but it doesn't really fit our needs. We'd like to sell it and get something else, and we're leaning towards subarus.

 

First of all we're on a budget, so we're only looking at used cars. We definitely would like a wagon or small suv-like thing for hauling our stuff across the country and also for building supplies and lumber etc. We like the 4 door 5 seaters for when we just want to drive somewhere and carpool or whatever, so we don't want a truck. This past spring we tore a hole in some muffler pipe thing under our engine from bottoming out on the rutted gravel roads around where we live in MO, so some extra clearance would be great. Also good gas milage would be great, but we know we're probably going to have to settle for less than we currently get with the camry, which is about 30 hwy, and 18-20 city. Our neighbors built a little trailer that they pull around with their CRV which seems pretty useful, so something we could put a hitch on would be nice, but not totally required.

 

So, as you may have guessed, we're looking at foresters, outbacks, and legacy wagons. I don't think I can talk her into a baja. I've been trying to get a sense from consumer reports about what years or engines to avoid, but it seems they only have info for the past 10 years, which seems odd. I've also heard that older legacy wagons are very reliable and that it would be better to avoid the larger engines. I've been trying to search around here and I feel like I've gleaned some useful information, but the amount of information is also a bit overwhelming.

 

The local craigslist seems to have a decent selection of subarus. We've seen some nice looking foresters in the 8-9000 range, which is a little out of our price range unless someone tells us it's the most amazing car ever or something extreme like that. 3-4 would be better... or less of course.

 

I hope this isn't some annoying question that gets asked all the time. I've tried to research as much as I could, so any extra feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks,

-Mike

[Razorthirty]

First, sorry its so short im on my way out the door.

 

Second, sounds like you want a legacy from the 90-96 range. (which all came with the SUPER reliable 2.2)

possibly with the 96-99 ( i believe) struts to lift it a couple inches.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Razorthirty