G'day people,

 

Im looking for some advice on buying a Subaru.

 

From doing a fair bit of research - Subaru wagon's seem to be the best car to buy for my purposes.

 

Which basically are; getting to the beach with the surfboard in the back. Putting some boards on top using racks, and shoving some mates in the back and heading up the coast, and also heading down to the aussie ski slopes for some boarding.

 

Secondary purposes would include getting to work comfortably (air conditioning, easy to drive) and baically getting myself around town.

 

The biggest wall that i have hit is trying to decide how much cash to spend on a subaru. I have no idea how reliable a subaru wagon with 150,000 clicks on it is. ive seen some decent outbacks for sale for around about the $20,000 - $25,000 price - but of course i want to keep spending to a minimum.

 

From looking around on this website - it looks as though they are quite decent for 4 wheel driving too. so with a few mods - they should be able to get me off the beaten track and to a few beaches without too much trouble?

 

Sorry for the long first post guys, but im just have a bit of a dilemma trying to make the right decision.

 

Cheers and thanks in advance,

 

on a wave

I've had relly good luck getting my well maintained 95 with 100K on the clock. Put on 25K and nothing but simple maintenance needed. More trouble free than any other car that I've owned. Let someone else eat the depreciation. I am a big fan of the 2.2, and personally would avoid the 2.5. If you work on cars at all the 2.2 is really nice to work on - everything is in the right place and done for a reason.

I agree on the 2.2L engine. I don't know of anyone who has a problem with those (1.8L was fantastic too)...but the 2.5L is another story. Hopefully the tendency to blow head gaskets has now been solved and I won't have problems with my 2003 Forester, but I would much rather have the more reliable 2.2L engine in it even if it has a little less power. BTW, didn't you "down under" have a 2L engine in the earlier Subarus? I have heard that these are also more reliable than the 2.5L.

have Subes. One runs a rental car place in Queenstown and has several in his fleet.

The other has a couple of subes in his three car family fleet.

The Kiwi ones with the 2.2 have been very reliable at high klicks.

Far better than my 2.5 Forester.

I agree with the folks who extoll the 2.2. It earned its fine reputation.

By the way I think the Legacy is the best to drive, maybe Outback next, and Forester last. Don't throw rocks Forester lovers, I have one too.

For my situation an ideal car would be an Aussie 2.2 Forester, but you can't get them here.