Planning to buy a Legacy 2 litre R. Questions...

Planning to buy a Legacy 2 litre R. Questions...

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gforceg

Original Poster:

3,524 posts

178 months

Monday 8th September 2014
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Afternoon Subaru people, I'm now in the final stages of looking for and buying a 2 litre R model estate.

If any of you have direct experience of this model in particular, is there anything I need to look out for when I go to view? What is the interval for cambelt replacement and how reliably do they fail if left too long?

I've noticed that three of the cars I'm considering going to view are all BL55 registrations, which appears to be the Reading area. Are Subaru UK based there or have a load of these been registered by a fleet company?

If anyone knows of an example for sale I should really avoid please feel free to PM me!

Thanks for any advice you can give and hopefully I'll be in a decent example within a week or so.

Cheers.

leefee

633 posts

128 months

Monday 8th September 2014
quotequote all
Belts are due every 60k, they are a sturdy belt and i have never known one break. Not a massive job, but a bit trickier on the r than on the earlier non r.

Check for a flat spot at around 3000rpm, can be very tricky to fix. Most of them will use a bit of oil, but if it isn't chappy now, as long as it doesn't run low on oil the engine will last forever.

Lambda sensors are expensive and common problems, they will put eml and cruise light on, the car will pass mots and run perfectly well with lights on, check light comes on with ignition and goes off when it starts and check cruise operation too. Have seen a few where warning lights have been covered/ removed. My eml has been on for 4 years and 50k, but
AlWays passes emissions test and runs fine.
Wheel bearings are expensive, as are exhausts, other than that, they are great, but the 2.5 engine is better to drive, better on fuel, and less to go wrong. Also, do not buy a subaru on pictures alone unless you trust who you are dealing with. They all look good in pics, but many have had hard lives. Where are you based?

gforceg

Original Poster:

3,524 posts

178 months

Monday 8th September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for that Leefee, I'm down in Devon but don't mind travelling to look at promising cars. The ones I've got in mind are up around the Home counties so it'll be an interesting day out.

I'm not averse to a 2.5 so I won't rule out a slightly older car if it comes to it.


leefee

633 posts

128 months

Monday 8th September 2014
quotequote all
Ah, I'm Aberdeenshire. .. Sold 2 legacy today. smile

gforceg

Original Poster:

3,524 posts

178 months

Monday 8th September 2014
quotequote all
I used to work up there many years ago but a bit far to buy a car!

Cheers.

nickofh

603 posts

117 months

Tuesday 9th September 2014
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Legacy R would be one of my first choices when it comes to replacing our current estate. Owned a WRX for a couple of years a few years ago and it was faultless.

Currently own a N/A impreza hatch which I hope will be equally reliable, my handbook says 66K for cambelts and I just passed that a few days ago. I am buying a Contitech timing belt kit for it off ebay for £143.00 and my local garage ( good garage scheme member / bosch service centre ) have quoted £96.00 to fit it. Very pleased with a premium belt change for less than £250.00.

I also imagine that legacy is easier to service than some similar rival cars I find the impreza hatch very easy to work on for a modern car which helps with ownership costs.

Good luck , check back if you do get one!

jonesof63

947 posts

136 months

Wednesday 10th September 2014
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I had the same model from new in 06, never faltered, very good all rounder, comments above cover any potential issues plus it's always worth checking for floor/ underside damage with the relatively low ground clearance on a car with such good off road capability. The BL55 reg indicates Subaru UK based in West Bromich probably registered the car new. Happy hunting !

rb5er

11,657 posts

171 months

Wednesday 10th September 2014
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leefee said:
they will put eml and cruise light on, the car will pass mots
Warning lights on the dashboard are now an m.o.t failure.

Ved

3,825 posts

174 months

Wednesday 10th September 2014
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How did you find it on motorways? Did it have enough pickup or was it struggling for torque?

leefee

633 posts

128 months

Wednesday 10th September 2014
quotequote all
No they are not. Abs is, tracs, is, airbag, is. Eml, is NOT.
And, they can easily be reset for the mot... smile

rb5er

11,657 posts

171 months

Wednesday 10th September 2014
quotequote all
leefee said:
No they are not. Abs is, tracs, is, airbag, is. Eml, is NOT.
And, they can easily be reset for the mot... smile
I stand corrected, I was lead to believe ANY warning light is a failure. Looks like for now EML is the exception.

leefee

633 posts

128 months

Wednesday 10th September 2014
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Every day is a school day. smile

CaptainSlow

13,179 posts

211 months

Sunday 14th September 2014
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Sorry to hijack. I'm looking at these now, have owned a Forester and an Impreza in the past so may come back to the fold.

Looking at at a £7.5k 2008 new shape REN diesel 89k on the clock v £5k 2005 old shape 2.0 RE petrol with 70k on the clock. My commute is quite short so only need the diesel for long trips etc. Not sure which way to go, thoughts?

peter8171

183 posts

142 months

Sunday 14th September 2014
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Don't go for the diesel if you are mainly doing short journeys as it kills the DPF and then you could be looking at a big bill.

nickofh

603 posts

117 months

Sunday 14th September 2014
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CaptainSlow said:
Sorry to hijack. I'm looking at these now, have owned a Forester and an Impreza in the past so may come back to the fold.

Looking at at a £7.5k 2008 new shape REN diesel 89k on the clock v £5k 2005 old shape 2.0 RE petrol with 70k on the clock. My commute is quite short so only need the diesel for long trips etc. Not sure which way to go, thoughts?
Fancy one in the future and I would definitely go for the petrol version( perhaps of the same age ). My reasons being engine reliability and a love of the boxer sound. Heard of a few stories of big engine problems on the early boxer diesels.

Big Fat Fatty

3,303 posts

155 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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Personally I disagree with the comment about the 2.5 being better to drive, the 2.0 is a little down on outright torque in comparison but revs a little freer so it will depend on what you're used to.

My 2.0ltr manual R tourer is the best thing ever wink
It's also on a BL55 reg plate.

Edited by Big Fat Fatty on Thursday 18th September 13:46

leefee

633 posts

128 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
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will agree to disagree on that one. The 2.5 definitely gives less bother and seems to last longer without flat spot issues. They DO like a sup of oil though.

gforceg

Original Poster:

3,524 posts

178 months

Thursday 18th September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks all for your input so far. I'm off to look at one tomorrow AM. Nervous as ever when buying secondhand cars but hopefully I'll keep my wits about me. I'll come back and let you know how I get on. Cheers again.

gforceg

Original Poster:

3,524 posts

178 months

Friday 19th September 2014
quotequote all
Bought it today. I had asked about the exhaust Y section to the rear silencers and it turns out the previous owner had one made and fitted for about £500 a couple of years ago. It looks pretty damn good and very solid.

Pictures to follow soon.

Cheers.

jonesof63

947 posts

136 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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gforceg said:
Bought it today. I had asked about the exhaust Y section to the rear silencers and it turns out the previous owner had one made and fitted for about £500 a couple of years ago. It looks pretty damn good and very solid.

Pictures to follow soon.

Cheers.
Good news ! Will look forward to the photos