Potential new owner 98 outback .. Yeah I searched

[elwesso]

Hello subaru owners.. First off, I want to say I do all of my own maintenance and repairs, I'm not scared of potential issues with vehicles as long as theres a remedy, and once an issue is fixed there arent recurrent issues..

A buddy of mine works at a dealership and they have a 98 legacy outback that i could probably get out the door for 5k (including tax, fees, etc).. 1 owner, 136k, claims all service records..

Ive been reading that year would be in the DOHC phase I engines where they had most of the HG issues. I dont know if the head gasket has been replaced yet, and from what it seems as long as the engine wasnt cooked and new factory gaskets were used, then most the time you're good to go. At that mileage, I would imagine if it hasnt failed already it is knocking on the door! Ive been there, done that with HGs on other cars, and from what Ive seen the 2.5L has an issue with the gasket itself, so again once the gasket it replaced its otherwise a fairly solid engine..

I didnt really see anything else that seemed like major issues, like with the AT or AWD system... I may be going to look at the car in the next week or so, and I'd like some other things that might be good to look at.

Thanks in advance!

[WeatherWarriorMedia]

If you do your own work, might be better to skip the stealership and buy something off ebay or craigslist for ~$2000 and take your chances. Why pay huge mark up and still not have a guarantee the car is any good.

There is no sure bet with the HG replacement either. From what I've read here, at legacygt.com, and other sites, many have had failures from as little as 15,000 miles after replacement...while some have never gone through a replacement (rare at both ends). Also, keep in mind if you buy cheap, there is plenty of latitude to modify. This is likely where I will go with the next car or truck I get.

[Red Duc 996]

Price seems awfully high to me. I recently paid $4900 for a very clean 2000 OBW with 76K. I know i got it for a very good price. but 5K for a 98 with 136K miles still seems high.

[bstone]

The price you were quoted is robbery.

[ETC]

Yeah, the search can be a bit "iffy" unless you somehow nail the terms perfectly. I've personally responded to at least a dozen threads discussing this but, even when I tried several different search terms I ended up with a bunch of irrelevant stuff.

As others have stated, if you can do your own work and there is no warranty on the vehicle ... I would go private party and avoid some of the tax and fees and take advantage of the fact that a private owner wants the car gone where a dealer doesn't really care how long it sits on the lot.

Things to look for:

Obviously Headgasket issues

Driveline bind [torque bind]

Leaking valve cover gaskets, front seals, torn cv boots/steering boots. These aren't deal breakers, they will just need to be replaced at your expense.

Mismatched tires - if there isn't torque bind yet and the tires are mismatched ... there probably will be soon.

The SOHC is much easier to work on as far as Headgasket, plugs, valve cover gaskets, valve adjustments etc. Personally unless I was looking at a turbo, I wouldn't consider a DOHC just for the fact that you gain nothing over the SOHC and it's harder to work on.

Keep looking unless you can get some kind of warranty or better that price by quite a bit.

[The_Lizard]

+1 on the price being high.

As for the search, we encourage members to salt their subject lines with keywords. Sometimes I'll edit a subject to do this.

[NW99Outback]

prices are very regional. In the PNW, these old outbacks are in high demand, and they ask a pretty penny for them.

where is the OP located?

[elwesso]

Thanks for the replies. I am located in Indiana, I would be buying the car from the Indy area. It seems the phase 1 models with dohc are kind of to be avoided and people get them because they didnt research enough.

I usually use Edmunds TMV to get pricing and it seems that 3500 would be a little more fair. Either way, I think it might be good to pass and wait it out for a later model if I decide to go with an outback.

BTW you guys have a great forum here!!

[rockhopjohn]

Originally Posted by Red Duc 996

Price seems awfully high to me. I recently paid $4900 for a very clean 2000 OBW with 76K. I know i got it for a very good price. but 5K for a 98 with 136K miles still seems high.

I agree, I paid that for my 1998 with less miles 5 years ago.

[WeatherWarriorMedia]

The price is high because it's retail, not because the dealer is asking too much. Retail is always more than private party. That use to mean because the product was better, but these days it doesn't.