2001 subaru legacy 2.5, any good?

[rb5230]

hi, i am still looking for a family/work car, does any one know how these stack up? they seem well equipped and good to look at, will it be reliable at over 100k miles or should i steer clear? i have lookes at focus 2.0 estates but they are a bit bland really and not as well specced although perhaps a sharper drive. i like the idea of awd for the winter months too. any ideas or experiences? thanks.

[Colin Mill]

I have an 06 Legacy Outback and really like it. It has been utterly reliable - biggest fault to date is one interior light bulb blown

The main issue that you will find commented on is head gasket failure. This seems to have been an issue mainly for the earlier DOHC engine and significantly less so for the SOHC engine that replaced it. IIRC the cam belt is a 60k mile replacement item so it's worth checking this has been done.

Edited by Colin Mill on Monday 30th August 20:40

[GravelBen]

HGF was really only an issue with the Pre-98 2.5, anything after that should befine.

Great cars all round, think I answered in slightly more depth on your thread in general gassing (unless two people asked about the same car the same day).

[Colin Mill]

GravelBen said:

HGF was really only an issue with the Pre-98 2.5

Yes, I think that is probably right. People are still reporting on HGF on later cars on the subaruoutback.org site but I suspect this is more a matter of all cars suffering a small number of HGFs and once a car has a reputation for something it gets jumped on even after the issue has effectively been sorted.

Much the same probably applies to the K series engine when the Land Rover MLS gasket & steel dowels are used.

Anyway, I came to the conclusion that the issue was no longer enough to stop me buying one.

[rb5230]

i went to look at one yesterday, it was only £2k but had over 100k miles, drove nice enough but it has no evidence of ever having had a cambelt, needed new discs and pads all round and the bodywork was just covered in dents. its a shame as otherwise i would have bought it.

[MrJD]

I've had my 2002 '52 2.5 Legacy GX Ltd estate for approx 3 years, it's used soley as family car & despite the kids has been pretty bullet proof in that time, apart from replacing front tyres & back box. Good spec on it and though it's a 2.5 I've found that fuel economy no worse that a Mondeo 1.8 that I used to own, recent trip to Newquay I got 34mpg! AWD was a god-send during the bad weather at beginning of this year. I paid £2800 for it when it had 68k miles, just clocked 90k and will definetely replace it with another - tempted with 3.0 litre!