My girlfriend's brother just picked up a 95 Legacy Wagon, 164k, for a real good deal - 2500 bucks. Unfortunately, the car has stranded him a number of times. At first we thought that this was a battery/alternator problem, but it seems to be something else.

The car just react when you put the key in the ignition and turn it. There is power there, but no starter action. However, the car sometimes will start if you move the shifter a bit, or will start later on. It just doesn't start when you want it to.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I'm thinking that there may be some sort of problem with a switch in the transmission, or perhaps an ignition switch problem. I'm not at all subaru-savvy, I drive a diesel VW - it's a completely different animal!

Any help or suggestions you folks could give would be much appreciated. The owner of the car is a poor 18-year old and doesn't have the money to let the dealership toss parts at it.

hoping you no alittle about cars ill give ya somewhere to start-first check the battery cable connections at battery,starter,engine block (by starter)and the cable that goes to the under hood fuse box from battery,next you will see a smaller guage wire on the starter witch is the solenoid feed to the starter from ur transmission selector switch.hoping you have a test light(multi-meter prefered) unplug it and check for power there.if you do,have someone hold the key in the cranking position-ebrake on -in park.tap on the starter lightly with a hammer-if it cranks,most likely a starter,if not-on the passenger side of the trans(you can see a switch on the side from the underhood.a heavy shifter cable will be attached to it-follow the wiring harness back up to the first connector on the top of trans-check the pins and connectors there-weve had problems wit h high resistance in the switch causing that connector to melt.also there is a adjustment that can be made for that switch since moving the gear selctor as you stated sometimes works.good luck-its easier than i stated-sorry if any confusion,or take it to ur subaru dealer-he he,