michaelbteam Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 We're looking for a "good deal" on a used H-6 Outback wagon, probably LL Bean...any advice from 6 cylinder owners on situations to look for or avoid? Thanks for your tales of victory and hopefully NOT defeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 As far as I know they're pretty solid. Check the normal things you'd check on a Sub of course. You didn't mention year or mileage. I'm guessing it's AT I don't think the H6 is available with MT? If so make sure FWD fuse isn't in, torque bind, etc. I have seen some posts where people had timing chain issues. Some indicated Subaru took care of them. When the H6 is ready for a timing chain it's a lot more involved than with the 4cyl timing belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I've owned two H6s. An 04 and now an 06. Very happy with the quality of the car and the ride. The 04 did have the fwd fuse, the 06 does not. The spare must be mounted on the rear, so if you are having a bad day and its the front tire, then add thirty minutes to the experience so you can move a good rear tire to the front and put the spare on the rear axle. I did have a continuing problem with the TPS on the 04 that varied from very rough running to "stuck throttle" incidents" that got reported to NHTSA. Much to their credit Subaru "repurchased" the car since they were unable to analyse and correct the problem in a timely manner. They replaced it with the 06R. It has been trouble free for 18 months except for replacement of the CD player unit and the Elapsed Time clock not working but about half the time. Mileage is about 25 in town, slightly better out of town but you must be rather gentle to achieve either. Expect about 20 on the highway at 75+. Subaru reccomends premium and says you can use regular. Lots of good info about that on this forum. I am in the midst of a "long term" test of other grades and so far have noticed no significant difference. I do tow a small boat and trailer with it, less than 1000# total and it does fine. I think the LL Bean has the VDC, neither of mine had it so no comment on that system. The 04 did have the NOAA weather radio channels but the 06R does not. At least mine doesn't . Overall very impressed with the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelbteam Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 I've scouted a variety of used LL Bean's--we'd like to spend about $10k or less which limits us to higher mileage or less clean cars, many far away from us. Found an 01 trade-in with 128k mi. needing windshield [heated], cat. converter, fuel sending unit, brakes, tires, and A/C work--dealer wants $7K. Considering a clean 04 h-6 with 99K mi. in Kansas for $10K, 35 anniversary model, not LL Bean, not leather or sunroof. Found a couple of "rebuilt" title cars locally--one was a "light rollover", totalled, and did not show it on Carfax! Watch out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Sounds like good scouting. That sounds like a long (and expensive) list of repairs for the '01 trade in. It's doable, especially if you can do the work yourself. Maybe you can get the price down more as I would think the main buyers for that kind of vehicle would be someone or dealer that would fix it up and resell it. I think there was a class action suit against carfax some time back because of various incidents not showing up in their reports. Of course it does say something about 'incidents reported to the dmv' or something like that. Not sure how many states they now get that data from. And if it is something like a 'light rollover' that is never reported then of course it won't show up. I have noticed, at least for NY, sometimes the vehicles show a 'frame inspection' but not an 'accident'. But then the paint overspray on the front of the a/c condenser is a dead giveway. If the incident did not involve another vehicle or damage to another person's property and the owner did not have collision coverage anyway, then I'd say it very well might not get reported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srs_49 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 We've got 93K miles on our 2002 LL Bean Edition OBW (no VDC - that was another upgrade in 2002). There have been no what I would call unexpected problems (except for a cold temp problem with the brakes - see below). Did brake pads and rotors once, and am on the 1st replacement tires after getting 65,000 from the OEM Bridgestones. Will be doing strut replacements some time over the summer, and also a coolant change out. The cold temperature brake problem I'm referring to was detailed in another thread in this forum. Basically, the brakes' power boost would not work when the pedal was first depressed when outside temp was below freezing. I finally fixed it removing and cleaning out the check valve in the vacuum hose between the booster unit and the intake manifold. Otherwise, has been a very reliable car with little or no maintainence or repair costs. Gas mileage has been around 23 mpg on mid grade (89 octane). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccrinc Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 One thing we learned from a dealer service guy who I truly trust: since the timing chain tensioners and idlers are lubricated by the engine oil, do 3,000 mile mile oil changes religiously, and never let your oil get low. If one starts making noise, it's going to be cheaper to replace it than to replace the engine. Emily http://www.ccrengines.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leg93 Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 , cat. converter, fuel sending unit, brakes, tires, and A/C work--dealer wants $7K. I'd worry about this one. Having identified those problems, there may be others hiding under them that won't show up until they are fixed. For example, with the cat. converter AND the fuel sending unit bad, the vehicle is going to run rough. It will also run rough if there are other issues, but you'll not notice them until you fix these and it's still running rough. Buyer beware! Good luck! I live in Roy so if you need anything checked out in this area I'd be happy to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelbteam Posted May 4, 2007 Author Share Posted May 4, 2007 Thanks for that! Even the ones that look good are still mystery cars. The 01 is a trade at Doug Miller in Lindon--I acually offered them $6K for it and luckily they didn't take it! Some wholesaler will clean it and make $$ and pass on most of the problem. My daughter has been considering a used Passat 4motion. I wonder what can of worms that might be?! We also found an e-bay offer, a 2001 limited outback, superclean in Florida with 118K miles for $7900. If it wasn't so far away we would have it already.[quote name=I'd worry about this one. Having identified those problems' date=' there may be others hiding under them that won't show up until they are fixed. For example, with the cat. converter AND the fuel sending unit bad, the vehicle is going to run rough. It will also run rough if there are other issues, but you'll not notice them until you fix these and it's still running rough. Buyer beware! Good luck! I live in Roy so if you need anything checked out in this area I'd be happy to help.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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