Hi Folks,

I've owned an 86 GL, and an 03 Forester XS. The Forester bit it when my wife ran it into a school bus on ice when the bus didn't feel the need to stop. She's OK, but now I'm shopping again.

For reasons that suck, I need to keep it under $10,000. In my area (near Spokane, WA) Subies are hot as lava so its not easy. I'd like some opinions on a car I'm looking at:

1999 Legacy GT 2.5 Limited (leather and all that)
141,000 miles
Automatic
$7200

Sounds like it's been taken care of. Only known body glitch is a 2" 'tear' on the rear bumper from a backin to a hitch ball. Timing belts changed out at 90,000 (I think that's what he said), new windshield, and other minor glitches fixed, like headlight crack, etc.

I like the looks of the car, would prefer a manual, but as I said, pickin's slim. Any pointers? I'm mostly concerned with the mileage - 141 seems high, but I'm not sure if it IS high for a car like this. What could I expect to deal with at this mileage? How long are these cars intended to run?

Any pointers would be much appreciated.

Thank you,

Russell Mann

 

That mileage is definitely high, but these are pretty reliable cars. I'd ask them if the headgaskets have been replaced yet as the 99 2.5 has been known to blow the gaskets. The price does seem a bit high for the car/mileage, but like you said, the cars are hot in your area. Can you buy a car from out of state?

 

Thanks for the tip on the head gasket. I'll check on that and watch out for that. I could go out of state if I found something worthwhile. This particular car is actually out of state - it's in Montana, but only a couple of hours away.

I've searched a few websites for cars in Seattle & Portland and have yet to find something comparable, but I'll keep looking.

 

with M/T I wouldn't be too scared of that car, with A/T, I'd be nervous of the transmission.

If prices really are that high, you ought to consider trucking. I know it seems a bit sketchy, but subies can be had in Florida and Texas for a song, and shipping from southerly to northely climes this time of year is not very expensive. From Tx to WA is probably $6-700. I strongly recommend that you consider looking at cars from subie dealers down there, and having them ship you the car. If there's a problem, you have the reputation of the dealer to work with, rather than joe on the street, and you'll save lots of money.

Check nationwideautotrans.com = nationwide auto transporters. They have excellent quotes and have shipped probably a dozen cars for my customers without incident.