How long does a typical tranny last on an Outback? I am looking at 03's and newer do to the hg horrors.

 

How do the Legacy Outabcks compare to normal Outbacks?

 

Also, in shopping for a new subu I stumbled upon one, and I was hoping for some thoughts.

Im in central utah and I found a 05 Legacy outback with a clean title. It is has a 2.5 l and the engine just had the valve cover gaskets, oil seals, exhaust gaskets, return houses, timing belt, head gaskets, and brake pads replaced. 190,000 miles. Asking 4,100. The inside and outside is in good shape. It seems like a good deal, but I worry that that all the overhaul implies something bad... Help me out?

 

 

Oh yeah!? I am seeing lots of 05 outbacks on the market- coincidence, or carpocolyps?

It's really dependent on maintenance and use. But ultimately I don't think they're any more or less reliable than anything else. With occasional fluid/filter changes, and without being beat on too terribly, I would expect it to have quite a lot of life left in it at that mileage.

 

I don't think the EJ25s really ever shook the head gasket issues, they got less prominent, but never "solved". So it's totally reasonable they had the engine torn down from normal use at that age. Our '03 has seeping head gaskets, and it has less than 150k on it.

 

Brake pads is the only thing that's unrelated in that list....and those wear out, so that's not suspicious. It's an old-ish car with a lot of miles on it...

 

 

That would be on the cheap end (although not suspiciously so) for that car around here.

 

 

 

Outbacks are based on the Legacy (basically a trim level), and Outback Sports are based on the Impreza.

I'd look at the front diff fluid- that's the real weak point of the 4eat, front diff.

 

If it's nasty, might be a risk.

I had a used tranny put in over 100K miles ago; with a little slippage I tried Lucas treatment with success.  

This is a very varied topic as longevity is based on a variety of factors such as terrain, load, driving style and maintenance.

 

If maintained well, a 4eat transmission will last in excess of 300,000 miles before dying of "natural" causes. The 5MTs seem to be slightly weaker.

 

Legacy outback and outback are the same thing. There was an outback sport for a few years which was a trim package on an impreza wagon.

 

Everything you listed are good maintenance indicators. Never shy away from a car because it's had work done. Avoid the ones with patch jobs such as stop leak additives in the coolant, removed thermostats etc. where the real issue was never resolved.

after 10 years the maintenance and history are far more indicative of transmission life than the transmission and mileage itself.

assessment is your best friend here.

Look for an aftermarket hitch, as that might indicate someone did a bunch of towing with it. If they towed w/o a trans cooler, the excess heat on any auto shortens their life, and autos that are in the mountains or desert areas have a harder life as well.

 

Conversely, adding a small trans cooler to even a daily driver can extend life, much like an oil cooler can help turbo'd engines. 

 

My 4EAT is getting close to the 188k mile mark and I changed fluid out (didn't touch converter) after getting it, somewhere near the 175k mark. Amazingly, the fluid wasn't wreaking like a 1980's hair perm. I've seen same era GM autos with 75k miles and they needed a complete trans overhaul. Ford's AODE was slightly better, but you had to be proactive with fluid changes.

 

I'd bet money my trans was never touched before I bought it, though it was regularly maintained at a dealership, so it's possible. All I know is it's as tight as any newer trans. Pulls correctly and haven't noticed slipping yet. It's OD works correctly, which is pretty amazing considering it's basically a FWD trans with a rear shaft.

 

If you can find one in good shape, you can't go wrong with a 95' Legacy. If aesthetics aren't to your liking, you can upgrade with JDM exterior bits and install some nice BBS rims and not worry about car payments