I am writing this on behalf of our neighbor that has a 1996 Subaru Outback. Having NOT personally witnessed what's actual happening, I am going off the information she has told us.

She is having some problems with the car staying running after starting it...but not all the time. For example, she made it half way to work one day and the car stalled. Later that evening (4-5 hours later) My Wife and I gave her a ride to her car to see if it would start and follow her home. The car started up fine and she was able to drive it home - 10 blocks or so. She states that she can tell if the car will drive based upon how the car 'sounds' when she tries to start it. 

I have checked all fluids and filters, which all check out fine. Belts appear to be functioning as well. Lots of hoses - I haven't necessarily traced them all to ensure they are where then need to be; but can do that as well. Curious if there is possibly a sensor or some (hopefully simple) thing I am over looking.

Any thoughts from you experts on this forum would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

 

first thing to do would be to check if the CEL is on - if it is, there are stored codes that need to be read. those can often help point you to what might be wrong

If you do not have an OBDII code reader, most chain auto parts stores will read the codes for free - if you can get the car to them. They wont clear them, but will tell you what they are. If there are codes, make note of what they are, in the order they appear - will usually be in a "PXXXX" format with the Xs being numbers.

Thanks for the advice...will try that when I return from work later this week...

Yep, check for trouble codes. It's probably trying to tell you what's wrong.

 

Pull the vacuum hose off the fuel pressure regulator and see if there's fuel in there. That can cause some weird running issues.

Question the age and condition of the spark plugs and wires. If it's a 2.5 (96 Outback could be either one, autos had the 2.5, manuals had the 2.2) the plugs aren't terribly easy to get to, so have new Copper NGKs ready if you're going to check them. The 2.2 is pretty easy to pull one and inspect it.