the thread was: miles vs reliability
direct link: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.autos.subaru/browse_thread/thread/b40bfe5d...

Post:

"Adam Aulick" wrote in message

news:lZ-dnQrHdrCgzHnYnZ2dnUVZ_vamnZ2d@speakeasy.net...

> If I want reliability in an outback or legacy, all else being equal, am I
> better off with an early 2000's model at 125K to 150K miles, or a mid-late
> '90's at 90K to 100K miles?

Some good questions....

Neither! There is usually a good reason people are dumping these cars.
READ here a lot, then read it again. Fact is they are trouble prone,
especially at that mileage. Head gaskets are a MAJOR problem.
A lot of your answers are posted in this forum.Some are so "brand-loyal"
they will defend the Subaru badge with honor, even if the car is a totally
unreliable piece of shit.Some say they never have ANY problems, others have
engine,trans problems.
Subaru has shirked all responsibility for ANY problems they can get out of.
Some "Problem" areas.....

Head Gaskets, engines wont make it to 100,000 miles without blowing them
Oil Leaks, all over and especially around the miles your looking at.
Cooling system, complete joke! prone to failure/hotspots,designed by idiots.
Windshield cracking...due to poor workmanship/body flexing
Electrical System...a motorcycle has a bigger alternator! WAY too small.
Air Conditioning...Anemic at best, bring sweatrag for summer driving.
Fuel injection...leaks in cold weather. Subaru knows and wont fix it (cheap
parts)
Poor workmanship...Wind whistles,rattles very sloppy
Paint, cheap/cheesy..too flimsy it chips if you look at it.
Engine maintenance...close to impossible, takes HOURS to change
plugs,special tools required.
Body parts,sheetmetal...expect PLENTY of hood, doordings.WAY too thin.
Fuel economy, POOR at best considering size/weight..17 to 23MPG
Parts support? POOR and VERY expen$ive, Subaru is not your friend.
Trade in Value, POOR (unless you want another new Subaru) you are going to
own it for a long time or take a real beating on it

If you are looking for a long time investment,a reliable car, easy to work
on/low cost... this is NOT the car for you...

If you want a "toy" to fuck around with, to modify, to race on street/dirt
and consider it a throwaway..this *IS* the car for you.
When modified *CORRECTLY* they are fast, but most come unglued often and
there is more to *Modding* a car than bolting on crap under the hood and a
STUPID whaletail on the trunk (that does absolutely nothing) except
advertise the driver has a small penis.Most serious "tuners" will take that
piece of shit off and replace the trunklid.

If you want a *Real* musclecar...look elsewhere. You can build a fast daily
driver that's reliable, run on regular unleaded gas and wont blow up every
25,000 miles.

If you must have AWD...look elsewhere.....Subaru is not the only one with
it.

Read the other posts too, some opposed to the *opinion* posted above.

However, still good to hear all sides.

gee I wish he wouldn't beat around the bush, I wanna know what he really thinx......

blah blah blah... looking inside a mate's Subie turbo engine that finally died at 440,000km (one collapsed lifter) convinced me they are a good thing

Glen I just bolted a set of those nissan 4 pot & r32 disks to a nissan 4x4 just like yours

the bolt patten was the same no mods mate

seagull

umm, my subie has a few oil leaks, but it's not rocket science to fix them. And I'm sure I have them because the motor sat still for a while. Also, at 100k, every engine needs a new timing belt and water pump. That's standard procedure. If you don't, you're looking at trouble later on. As for the crap about the cooling, the only dramas I've had were to do with my radiator placement...and that's on an EJ25 dohc, which has a bit of a reputation for head gaskets. As for the electricals, the motor came stock with an 80amp alternator with can happily run 4 100w super oscars and 2 130 watt hibeams no dramas. That guy is definitely eating cranky flakes for breakky while smoking something very odd. :o



[ Edited on 2-3-07 by pete wood ]

I have three of them if you need one