After a (failed - no wind) sailing trip to BC a couple of weeks ago, I renewed my search for an H6 Outback because with the four of us, the (pretty light) boat, and all our gear, my '99's freshly-rebuilt-and-running-great EJ25 was really struggling to maintain 90km/hr through the mountain steeps.

Scored an '01 for $500 CAD (about $400 USD):  Only 233K km, engine and drivetrain seem really solid, tires less than a year old, body a little nasty.  A minor front end incident deprived it of bumper and grille and damaged the headlights and hood - but nothing that a couple of hundred bucks at the wrecker shouldn't set right.  Severe wheel well rust.  There's other little $h!t to deal with - missing exhaust donut, leaky AC, nonworking CD, and ugly-feeling brakes - but I feel pretty good about it.  Except for the stupid locks on two of the wheels - creepy little Simbolz items that I hope a shop with the right extractor can relieve me of.

Subaru-specifics aside, nobody told me that having a family meant signing up as a fleet mechanic...

I feel ya on the last part - I raised 3 daughters, trying to keep them and the wife in reliable cars meant I was driving death traps all the time. I drove a 1981 (yeah, '81) Honda Civic wagon for 19 years, most of the time no a/c .

Edited July 15, 20196 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

I love me a 6cyl Subaru. I've had 3 H6 Outbacks, 1 sedan and 2 wagons. I always find them cheap because nobody likes working on them. Got any pictures of the car? I'd love to see that severe wheel well rust.

"Love to see"?  That's a little perverse, but here youse go...

Btw, we're seriously thinking of selling our '99 OBW in Montana, where you're crazee for these things.

Ooof that's not great. I assume there's rust holes on the rockers by the dog legs when you open the rear doors? One of my H6 wagons originally came from Pennsylvania (which is a salt state) and looked similar. Drove great though.

8 hours ago, jonathan909 said:

Btw, we're seriously thinking of selling our '99 OBW in Montana, where you're crazee for these things.

 

If it's rusty or has issues I wouldn't waste your time. There's a lot of clean 1st gen Outbacks available (some without motor issues) and they sell for cheap. Even 2nd gens are cheap and plentiful.