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Subaru Outback/Legacy Buying Advice
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Comments
My son is presently looking for a reliable used vehicle for his wife and their 2 month old bundle of joy...our granddaughter! AWD is great here in the Pittsburgh area.
He is familiar with my Outback so that is tops on his list. He's also giving an eye to the Forester, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. His price range is the $12K range.
Any advice? ateixeira....glad to see that you are still around the forums.
$12k will get a good used Subie. Aim for 03 or later if it's a Forester. By then the gasket problem was behind them. Same for Outbacks. The new generation arrived in 2005, so I'd try to find a nice one of those.
Thanks for any help.
VDC is probably worth about $400 or so stand-alone.
The All-weather package is another $400, that includes the heated seats, mirrors, and wiper de-icers.
Fog lights? Not sure, say a couple hundred or so. Call it $300 installed and wired.
Cross bars? Another few hundred, $300.
Power seats, I'll guess $200 or so.
Cargo cover and tray are sold in a package, I bet that's $150 or so.
Premium sound adds another few hundred, it really depends on what it includes.
Slash guards - on all four wheel wells? Painted? $100 each, so $200-400.
Plus One rims are worth a few hundred at least.
All that plus a 2009 will have better resale later.
Put it this way - if you really want the 2009, I think you actually can justify it as long as you want most of that stuff.
If you want the 2008, well...you probably would not have bought all those items a-la-carte.
Personally I think the SE package is a bargain, and if you ask Car_Man the residuals for that model are actually higher, so you make up even more of the difference there, potentially.
In the end, buy the one that brings you the bigger smile.
I wish I had those "slash" guards when I hit a curb hidden under the snow, when my Forester was new. It would have saved me a bunch of cash on new tires when I tore out the sidewall. (Sorry, couldn't resist!).
Len
Check for signs of oil leaks - inspect the engine block at the head gaskets, the valve cover gaskets, and the front and rear main seal. Your mechanic can do a compression test, but that still won't reveal all gasket issues.
Turn off the radio and drive it and listen for a quiet/smooth drivetrain. The one advantage is that if something is off you are likely to hear and feel it, by that I mean differentials, AWD, wheel bearings, etc.
It'll cost more to own than a FWD Camry V6, but probably less than an AWD Highlander V6. Fair enough, if you think about it.
Do what we did - get a Chase Subaru credit card. You earn 3% back and can pay for even service.
We own a Forester and a Sienna. I worry about what the Sienna will cost me to service, not the Subie. For the Forester I have $500 saved up in Subaru Bucks (the rebates come in $100 increments) so I'm pretty much good for the next few years - free service. :shades:
If you can do that I bet the operating costs are actually lower than for a Camry or Accord. I don't believe Toyota or Honda have such credit card programs (please correct me if I'm wrong, I'd probably get a Toyota card).
hey juice I just had my cat and 02 sensor replaced in my 06 sienna at 76K, good thing the emissions warranty is good till 80K cuz it cost them over a grand!
and then there was my new tranny I needed at 43K. can't wait till I have no factory warranty of any sort left!!
which is why I just got the better half a 09 OB so she can cut back on the mileage on the sienna (25K a year)
I'm hoping it's reliable over the long-term 'cause if not we may ditch it after the powertrain warranty is up. I'm sure it will be (it was the chipmunk's fault, not the van!).