My daughter reported today that her 1996 Legacy (180,000 miles) this infrequent problem. If she accidentally stalls the car by letting out the clutch too fast the car doesn't want to start for a while. She says it's happened about five times in the last year or two. Typically she comes back after 30 minutes and then it starts. It cranks just fine but doesn't start. This morning it happened again and she only had time to wait 15 minutes but no success. So she borrowed my car. About seven hours later I went out and it started fine.

Any ideas what causes this?

Doesn't make much sense.  If possible, the next time it happens, disconnect the negativity battery cable, step on the brake pedal for a few seconds.  Reconnect the battery cable and see if that helps.

Next time it happens ask her to try starting it with the throttle flat to the floor. This cuts the injectors when cranking to remove a flooded situation. 

You might find the engine is full of fuel from stalling and just cranking it puts more fuel into the system so it won’t start. 

Thanks for the suggestions. I've passed them on to my daughter. She has a big savings account and could easily buy a very young car if she valued having a decent looking car, but this one is generally super reliable, which is good enough for her. She'd rather buy a piece of land.

Smart Kid.  Values passed down, well done Parents

2 hours ago, lmdew said:

Smart Kid.  Values passed down, well done Parents

We bought a 1998 Forester in 2003 with 100,000 miles on it and kept it until it had 335,000 miles on it. We sold in in August of 2025 for $500 and it was still going. Looked like hell though.