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I'm buying my first car, probably in the next few weeks. I'm pretty set on a Subaru.
Since I'm buying used, I'll of course want a good mechanic to check the thing out before I buy. Anybody have a good recommendation in the greater Seattle area?
Looking at 98/99 outbacks with around 90k if anyone's curious.
Thanks.
A little far from home but, Roo-pair in T-Town.
Ask for Dan he is the f@#&ing man.:)
I've taken mine to integrity auto in issahquah. good, creative, and fairly priced. quick on-off I90 (the sammamish park exit), go south, veer to the right as road wraps after the mall w/ PCC, and right behind brown bear car wash (across from FedEx); although nothing is entirely quick traffic-wise in issaquah any longer...
I've got a green L wagon, power, leather seats, manual, only owner, 1996, 92K, almost brand new clutch, belts new, (needs shocks and back hatch has a dent in it), looking for a good home...
I'd pass on the 98-99 Outbacks with 90k since they should be ripe for the head gasket leakage/blowage problems so common with the Phase I 2.5L engines.
the folks at www.ultimatesubaru.net might have some good info too.
I second Hop's opinion on staying away from the pre 2000 2.5's unless the head gaskets have already been done. It's a big repair bill, close to $2k. If they have been done, all is good since the probelm was wiht a bad batch of factory gaskets, not an engine design issue.
The 99 Forester and Impreza's that came with 2.5L engines were phase II SOHC, but the Legacy line didn't get the phase II until 2000.
All true, but the price on the car is right. Besides, the car I learned to drive on is a 98 Outback, which is going plenty strong at 120k with no gasket issues (and almost no maintenance issues, period). I've done some research, and I think the risk is fairly managable. Some people baby their cars and the gaskets go at 60k, others run the car into the ground and the gaskets are strong past 170k. It seems to be fairly random. Given that the price of the car is nearly 2000 bucks below my max, I could handle the repair bill right now, unlikely as that might be.
The newer engines have had their share of (different) gasket issues and recalls, too.
So back to mechanics....anybody use these guys?
best set aside 1500-2g's for a hg then, almost all are prone to it in those years, some just don't. It was a machining issue. some rear their ugly "head" others don't. However should it, you're fcked, you can't live with it, it's got to be repaired and if you don't catch it in time you'll be on a new engine. Surely there are other years you can investigate to be on the safer side. Unless it's one of those things we've all been through were something is in your claw and everything else be damned.
Thats why i'm so proficient at fixing jeeps. I think i've finally learned.
good luck
Alright, you win.
Ditched the Outback; pursuing an 00 Outback Sport right now.
Car shopping sucks.