First Time Subaru Buyer Help!

[Yello]

I've earmarked the 05-06 Forester, and similar years for a Legacy/Legacy Outback with around 100,000km on the clock as a realistic price bracket for me.

Specifically I've been looking at:

05-06 Forester, 2 litre auto

05-07 Legacy Wagon, 2 litre auto

04-06 Outback, 2.5 litre auto (aware the EJ25 engine might have head gasket issues at some stage)

04-06 Outback, 3 litre H6 boxer auto (love the car but appreciate higher running costs will be a factor)

If anyone can give me any information on things I should be looking at when I'm viewing/test driving cars, I'd very much appreciate it. For example, for cars around 100,000km on the clock, what kind of major servicing work should have been done already or will likely need to be done in the very near future?

I'm looking to buy around the Auckland area so if you know of any reputable second hand dealers and/or places to avoid feel free to let me know!

[Kiwi_Fozze]

I personally would seriously look in to the 3.0's...

[DRFVDR]

not sure how you get that the 3 litre 6 has higher running costs ? no cam belt for one , also similar/better milage than a smaller engine working harder

[Yello]

 kwi_fozze said:

I personally would seriously look in to the 3.0's...

Thanks for the advice, would you base that on a simply a preference or because the engine is really tip top in comparison? Obviously I know it's going to have it's advantages performance wise, but combined with reliability, would the benefits outweigh the additional running cost?

[Yello]

 DRFVDR said:

not sure how you get that the 3 litre 6 has higher running costs ? no cam belt for one , also similar/better milage than a smaller engine working harder

I was going based solely on fuel consumption really. The 3.0 runs off a cam chain right? So yeah that would definitely be a bonus.

[Kiwi_Fozze]

3.0s are cheeper to run real world than the 2.0 and 2.5 (both the non turb) because of the available Power. You'll tend to flog the smaller motors harder because they dont have the power there, wheras the 3.0 does and is much more responsive because of it.

[Guitar_Guy]

A friend of mine bought a 3.0R recently after being a lover all things Euro for years... finally convinced him a Subaru was the way to go.

He loves it, comfortable, rides well and is very smooth to drive. After I drove it I wouldn't look at anything other than 2l turbo or the 3l H6 engines.

I have driven the equivalent 2l automatic Legacy and found it to be a bit gutless, great around town but as soon as you want to overtake it drops a gear,

jumps to 5k+ rpm and screams its way past, kind of the price you pay for an underpowered engine in a heavy car (specifically the wagons).

The 3.0R was effortless, didn't even have to try. The fuel economy was great too, with the right kind of driving you could comfortably get 600km to a tank on the open road.

Towing with the 2l non-turbo wouldn't be particularly ideal either, not that it can't do it. It would just be pretty hard going depending on weight etc.

I drive a 2.5l STi turbo Forester and when I need to buy something more realistic for my needs I will be shopping for a 3.0R Legacy for sure.

[ADIKT]

3.0L would be the best option - had a couple auto 2.0L legacys (04 and 07) and they are pretty gutless

[sobanoodle]

3.0, though expect it to be pretty thirsty around town (purely depends on how you drive). Excellent on open road.

[DRFVDR]

Here is my NON subaru experience, we brought a toyota estima a few years back, the 2 engine options are a 2.4 inline 4 or a 3l v6 both same spec otherwise( 4 speed auto AWD) we had both for consecutive weeks, the 2.4 was when driven the way we drive cars ( not overly worried about fuel usage) was waayyyy more hungry, and gutless, where as the v6 just did and still does it all effortlessly and used if not the same fuel in our usage maybe a wee bit less.

[Yello]

Ok great, thanks very much for your thoughts guys. It seems I may have to reconsider my beliefs on the 3.0. I'll be potentially driving an hour to and from work each day on hilly roads, so with the fuel economy I think perhaps I was over simplifying it a bit. The 2.0 would probably have to put a fair bit of effort in during that drive compared to the 3.0!

I'll most likely be looking imports in Auckland which will have a service history in Japanese. What kind of things should I be expecting to see having already been done for a car around 100,000km? Is there any major servicing work due around that distance? If I'm looking at the 3.0 at least there's no concern about a cam belt change!