Rodney7286 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 hi folks... well... i made a bunch of noise at a bunch of dealers, i have one that wants to trade straight across for my 99 Accord (i'm selling for $11K) he's asking $10.9K for the Outback. it is 1999 SUBARU LEGACY OUTBK/SSV/LTD/30TH Body Style:STATION WAGONEngine:2.5L H4 PFI DOHC 16VFuel:GASOLINEDriveline:ALL WHEEL DRIVE it has 68,350 miles carfax looks okay the numbers seem okay, it saves me the hassle of selling my car. should i be worried about head gaskets? what should i be looking for? i appreciate your input....this has a short fuse, like...i would have to leave in the morning to drive down and get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygs71 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 i wouldnt do it. i bought a 99 forester in june with 60k on it. i have had AT issues (delayed shift into D from P), rear oil seperator leak had to pull tranny to fix, failed CV joint right front, leaky rocker covers, and now my rear wheel bearings are failing. the 2.5 dohc engine you are looking at has major head gasket issues. you will be trading for a maintenance head ache. Unless you dont mind spending big $$ for repairs. i wouldnt pay more than $7500 for it and anticipate the repairs if you want the AWD. larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmanaenk Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Edmunds gives 11251 for Outstanding condition with all the options. This one probably doesn't have dual moonroof or CD changer, does it? Neither it is in outstanding condition, is it? Anyways, this is DOHC, so head gasket might fail and you'll have $2k repair bill. 10-15% of those fail on average, but for a car on a dealer lot I'd say that this probability is a lot higher (say 50%). So I'd deduct 1-1.5k of the price, and that's for a car with no other issues. Now - I have no idea what kind of 99'Accord you have. What's the kbb/edmunds retail/private party value? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 hi folks...well... i made a bunch of noise at a bunch of dealers, i have one that wants to trade straight across for my 99 Accord (i'm selling for $11K) he's asking $10.9K for the Outback. it is 1999 SUBARU LEGACY OUTBK/SSV/LTD/30TH Body Style:STATION WAGONEngine:2.5L H4 PFI DOHC 16VFuel:GASOLINEDriveline:ALL WHEEL DRIVE it has 68,350 miles carfax looks okay the numbers seem okay, it saves me the hassle of selling my car. should i be worried about head gaskets? what should i be looking for? i appreciate your input....this has a short fuse, like...i would have to leave in the morning to drive down and get it. Running the car through Kellys i show a retail value of 12,500. 10-15% of subarus are affected by head gasket issues. I wouldnt make that stop me from buying the car, especially if i like it, and i am already aware of the posability of a problem. I would start the car and take off the radiator cap and watch for bubbles. What kind of warenty is being offered with the car, and is there one available for purchase. I am assuming you have taken the car for a test drive. You have to take it for a test drive thats long enough for the car to reach operating temperiture (same with any car).Me i would buy the car. As far as the rear wheel bearings on the forester, thats a known issue, and tell them to replace them with legacy wheel bearings, as it solves the problem of premature wear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 it is 1999 SUBARU LEGACY OUTBK/SSV/LTD/30TH Is it really all that? The Subaru database seems to use that description as a catch-all for the Legacy Outbacks of that model year. If it's not Glacier White in color, it's not an SSV. If it doesn't have a 30th Anniversary badge, it's not one of those. Does it actually have the Limited package? See http://www.cars101.com/outback_archive98-99.html to better identify what you're looking at. From that site: "Special Service Vehicle available only to fire, police and other public safety and emergency agencies, for $20,490." If it really is an SSV, that would concern me, since the mileage you quoted could be hard miles if it was in emergency service. Also, make sure the one you're considering hasn't lived in a rust-belt state in its previous life. I'm not going to get into whether it's worth buying beyond the above concerns, other than to say that my own '99 OB has had problems that I wouldn't have expected for its low mileage/usage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSubiefan Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Ok, I am a nubie here, but I went through the car search recently, with all the associated research and reading. I really wanted an OBW, but when I saw all the postings around the net about BHGs, I settled on a 95 Legacy 2.2 wagon. One thing that prompted a lot of searching on my part was the fact that there seemed to be a lot of 96-99 OBWs with unusually LOW mileage. This suggested to me that they had spent a lot of time sitting in driveways because people could not afford to repair HGs and they owed more than the trade-in value. Do the more seasoned Subie experts here see this the same way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 i have two words car fax run the vin number and see what comes up Car fax will show if it was goverment vehical, fleet vehical, rental. It will also tell you the milage at each inspection (if there is one) With all the information you can figure out the cars life. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodney7286 Posted January 25, 2006 Author Share Posted January 25, 2006 all good information... i looked at all the book values...the price seems right, he says there is paint inperfection on the hook (it's less than perfect) this info 1999 SUBARU LEGACY OUTBK/SSV/LTD/30TH as well as the rest i copied right from the carfax report...the dealer just listed it as a legacy it says it was a lease vehicle and it came from colorado.... i don't know if they use salt there... and it's not white...it's blue i'll be leaving at 5am PST to drive down and check it out....i'll stop in here before i leave you've given me good ideas as what to look for, and i'm a fair mechanic so hopefully i can spot problems.....but with all the reading here, HG do scare me a bit thank you all also...carfax listed no open recalls on this car ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucket Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 you have probably already left... it can be a 30th without badges. my window sticker listed it as a 30th limited but since it was built in 99 it is sans badges. i think they only put badges on the cars actually built in 98. anyway i love mine. black, leather, heated everything. mine is a 5 speed though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 also...carfax listed no open recalls on this car ? That means that all the Recalls on the car have been rectified. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f15xxx Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 you may be right about that badge thing: my 99 leg l sedan 30th 2.2 5m has the badge and a build date of 12-98. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBARU3 Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Personally, I'd stay a mile away from that 2.5! Your Honda is more reliable. Look for a later or earlier Outback or Legacy. Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
later, Peter Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 is it too late? Last summer I bought a 99 30th wagon with all the bells & whistles... it had 58k it now has 88k. I think this is a great vehicle. It prompted me to purchase a 96 OBW for my wife. She thinks hers is a great vehicle as well. there are theories about the cause of the hg problems, I have yet to speak to any owner of a PHASE I engine (while out driving or in parking lots or wherever) that has had that problem (186k was the highest mileage)... What can I say? It was the last year of the good lookin' OBWs Later, Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodney7286 Posted January 26, 2006 Author Share Posted January 26, 2006 IT WAS A BUST!!!! had this all set up over the phone, with the owner... drive 4 hours...show up and the salesman grabs the keys and walks me out to a 99 outback sedan with over 100k on it and looks like it had been beat! in a nutshell....owner said he wouldn't swap the wagon (which was just what i was looking for) for my accord, this happened on the phone, he would come look at my accord....to see it was nicer than anything else on his lot... so....looks like i'll just sell my accord outright then continue to shop for my dream subie! thanx all for the info....it'll help p.s. anybody wanna buy a really nice accord for $11K, books for $12.7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burtonsnowman Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 That's probably a good bet. Cash always talks. By the way, was this sedan an SUS? (Or did they call them "Outback Sedans" in '99?) What was the asking price for the sedan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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