girlfriend has the 2.2 litre impreza. I haven't really been following subaru engine changes, so lemme know if i've got this right:

in late 90s, subaru intro'd a SOHC 2.5 liter. Very reliable, like the 2.2 liter.
Around 2000, suby intro'd a DOHC 2.5 liter. Had some head gasket issues, relatively common.
By 2003??, suby went to a totally different gasket material on the DOHC 2.5 liter, and the problem is solved.

I'm asking this because today I decided I miight buy a brand new 2005 RS wagon, but I want to make sure it'll do 150K+ miles if I keep it for a while.

thx.

 

I know that my 2003 is SOHC and that there are still head gasket problems with 2003 engines.

 

after 10 (well, it seemed like 10!) hours of reading i've done on this forum on the 'gasket' topic, here's what I've sort of concluded (correct me if i'm wrong).

most of the threads a) include the subaru bulletin, which refers to '1999-2002 models' only, and tells owners to use the so-called conditioner in the coolant. I believe the issue here was internal leakage (bad news) b) say that the 2003/2004/2005 2.5L has a new metal-containing gasket that solves the internal leakage issue, but may in some cases still allow some external leaks that are much less of an issue.

seems like there should be a sticky that simply lists the key facts, rather than 10 million threads on the gasket issue filled with somewhat contradictory info.