Manual/EJ22. Supposed to be well maintained. What does the hive mind think? What should I be looking out for? I don't know much about these cars.
Manual/EJ22. Supposed to be well maintained. What does the hive mind think? What should I be looking out for? I don't know much about these cars.
Engine is nearly indestructible. Timing belt/water pump/front seals replacement recommended every 90k miles. Wheel bearings will go bad. Radiator may weep along the seam in cold weather. They like ONLY NGK plug wires. Rarely a coil will go bad. Crank/cam sensors may make it hard to start but will usually throw a code before they totally die. Cheap and easy to replace. Look for rust over the rear wheels and under the car, particularly around the suspension mounts. Rust is really the only thing that kills them. 200k miles easy with moderate maintenance, 300k if taken care of.
Yeah, what he said. My BIL had one he bought used in maybe 2000(?). Knowing what a notorious cheapskate he is, it probably had 100k on it then. He loved it so much that after driving it for a few years, he bought a procession of beaters to keep the miles off his beater. He then sold it to my other BIL (also a notorious cheapskate) who drove it for a couple years and then gave it to his daughter. At some point in there they may have put a junkyard transmission in it. At any rate, I can't imagine it had less than 350k on it before it finally dissolved away around the drivetrain.
I will also say that DD#1's first car was a 1998 Impreza with the EJ22 that I bought from my boss's wife for a song in 2009. It had 110k on the clock and had a service history that included occasional oil changes and turning the radio up when something sounded funny. When I picked it up it showed no oil on the dipstick but ran fine, though. I changed the oil and it made no difference in the car's total reliability; it was just a little quieter. Getting the RR wheel bearing replaced helped with that too. It only died from an accident.
Second the above statements, and will add - while it's idling, check and see if the crank pulley is wobbling. If it is, but not too bad, you may still be okay, but if it is really noticeable, you may want to pass. Subaru initially had improper torque specs for tightening the crank pulley after doing a timing belt job, and the bolt could eventually back off and cause some damage. If it's caught early, there's a fix (can't recall what it was, but not too hard to do, I think it involves some sort of loctite product), but if it's too far gone, I think a new crank is the solution.
The 95 models are nice for another reason - the engine is non-interference.
Well maintained Subaru with an EJ22.
You should be looking out for someone scooping it before you do!!
Check and make sure it's AWD. I can't remember exactly when Subaru stopped making AWD cars available in NA.
NGTD said:Check and make sure it's AWD. I can't remember exactly when Subaru stopped making AWD cars available in NA.
Interesting!
www.fueleconomy.gov does show that in 1995 you could buy a Legacy wagon 2.2L 5 speed manual that was just FWD and did also come in a 4WD version.
In case you're curious of the mpg rating:
NGTD said:Check and make sure it's AWD. I can't remember exactly when Subaru stopped making AWD cars available in NA.
Subaru has continually sold 4wd cars here since 1976. In the late 1990s I believe they stopped selling FWD only cars in the US. So yes, you can't assume it is AWD simply because it's a Subaru prior to around 2000. Fortunately most were, because a FWD Subaru wasn't a particularly awesome car compared to the competition.
In reply to NGTD :
Well my friend owns the car. The only thing that is stopping me is from my already excessive fleet of cars....
Sounds like this is a great car but I'll have to resist until I can offload some of my others.
John Welsh said:NGTD said:in 1995 you could buy a Legacy wagon 2.2L 5 speed manual that was just FWDCheck and make sure it's AWD. I can't remember exactly when Subaru stopped making AWD cars available in NA.
That's what my BIL's was - FWD with a 5-speed manual.
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