[a3holerman]

Hi,

I am looking for a 2002-2002 ish outback wagon for my daughter. She attends college in Burlington, Vt. and I'd like to get her an outback. I would like to know what if anything I should be concerned about in looking for a car. I have been searching and found several with 70-90k miles. Is this of any concern ? Is the 2.5 engine thesame in terms of reliability as the H6 ? Most of the wagons seem to have the smaller engine. I have owned 7 Saabs and do much of the work myself but am totally new to Subaru. Any thoughts from you experienced Subaru owners would be greatly appreciated.

Tom
Cape Cod

 

[kst8er]

I would suggest the obvious:

Carfax
Have a Subaru mechanic look it over

Look for the "usual" spots for wear & tear items. Personally, I would shy away from an '02 vehicle in general if it had 70-90k miles. I think you'll have to use your gut feeling if the car appears to be well maintained etc. You do have the knowledge that the subies will generally hold up for 200-300k if well maintained. If you don't have a trade, I would definitely work the guy/lady a bit to get the best price.

 

[jlofgr]

I have an 00 OBW and the 02 has the same Headgasket situation going on. I would deffinitely check to see if the engine has been looked at by a dealer and if the conditioner has been put in. Go into a dealer with the vin# and they should be able to tell you. Deffinitely have a mechanic look at it to see if it has been seeping. That seems to be the one weak spot. I not sure if the second owner still has the right to the 100k Warrantee on the headgaskets.
I also don't know how really widespread this problem is. Maybe we need a poll

 

[ckayakr]

121K on a MY97 with 2.5 and never a trace of head gasket trouble.