Subaru Legacy/Outback

flyboy616 · August 2006

Wow, bummer. I wouldve ditched it too.

Again, I guess I got lucky. 159,000 and it neither burns nor leaks oil.

And, yes, the interiors are nice. Im 64. Buying cars with sufficient headroom and legroom has always been a problem. The Passat, with its bubble roof and seat rails extending well toward the rear has made it a dream for comfort. Crummy crash test rating, thoughone of the worst, if I recall correctly.

garandman · August 2006

I would strongly consider buying an Outback but am hesitant because vehicle stability control, which is increasingly recognized as an excellent safety feature, is only offered on the VDC V6 version of the Outback (the most expensive version). I have not figured out why Subaru doesn't offer this feature on all of their cars. Anyone know if there are plans to offer it on more of their cars in the 2007 or 2008 model year?
VDC is offered on additional models for 2007, if that is your sole buying criterion.

But the data on ESC as a "safety feature" is greatly skewed, since it was mostly only available on expensive, powerful cars with much higher accident rates than most passenger cars.

I doubt there will be a big difference in accident statistics between non-ESC equipped and ESC equipped Toyota Camrys - or 4 cylinder Outbacks, for that matter. But if a vehicle has ABS and a drive-by-wire throttle, the additional expense to add ESC is so minimal so it will likely become a standard feature.

I'm sure this will generate screams of outrage, but before you react, call up your insurance company and ask them how much of a discount you get for a model with ABS brakes versus non-ABS (some vehicles have it as an option). The answer, in most cases, is zero. ABS has undeniable safety benefits - but ABS equipped cars have the same # of accidents, all the insurance companies care about.

ateixeira · August 2006

I do think you were lucky. The 1.8T engine was prone so sludge and faulty ignition coils (was yours a V6?), and all models had tons of window regulator problems. VW could not stock enough replacement ignition coils, so many of them went bad.

Oh, and when it comes to Subaru, say H6, not V6. The pistons are 180 degrees from each other, so no V. Think of two boxers throwing punches while facing each other.

-juice

flyboy616 · August 2006

Nah, its a four-cylinder turbo (1.8L) in the GLS package.
Maybe thats the rub. I know the GLX came in an available six. I think it was around a 2.5L. Dont know if it was a turbo.

Anyway, with my recent purchase of an '06 Legacy SE, the Passat is now my "beater."

richw4 · August 2006

Any thoughts on a good monthly lease price for a 2006 Subaru 2.5i Outback Wagon -- 12,000 miles per year. Looking to put $0 down.

shrinermonkey · September 2006

The Passat had one of the BEST crash test ratings of the time. It was one of the safest cars on the road in 2001 and one of the few to come with 6 airbags STANDARD. But like was mentioned... horrible reliability and dealer service. I traded in mine for a 2006 Legacy 2.5i SE Wagon and couldn't be happier. No more european cars for me thanks.

moparbad · September 2006

What mpg are you obtaining? I'm going to look at a 06 2.5 SE Wagon tonight.

mpansare1 · September 2006

I bought a 06 SE wagon (auto) a month ago. I now have close to 1000 miles on it, mix of 60 hwy/40 city driving is giving me about 26 mpg average. Hwy speeds usually in the 70s. I expect the mileage to go up. Using regular unleaded.

shrinermonkey · September 2006

I only have about 750 miles on my car and I have been getting about 21-22 mpg in 80%city 20%hwy driving (regular gas). Not bad considering it isn't broken in yet. 3-4 mpg (w/ premium fuel) better than my 2wd 1.8T Passat Wagon in similar driving. Both cars have auto tranny.

woodshop28 · September 2006

We have an 05 wagon and drive about 60/40 city hwy and have averaged around 28MPG overall. Summer is about 29.5 to 30 and winter is about 27.

woodshop28 · September 2006

EDIT... We drive 60/40 hwy/city, not city/hwy.

renssils · September 2006

My daily driver is a 2006 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT spec.B. My wife needs a car. We'd like to learn which is more comfortable on a long trip, the Outback XT or the LLBean in terms of seats, noise, vibration, harshness. Anyone have any experience?

peter47 · September 2006

Trying to decide between a Mazdaspeed 6 and a Subaru Legacy Spec B. Tough decision! Any suggestions or advice? The Subaru costs more. I like the styling better of the Mazda but I have heard of some possible reliability issues with it.

jfl · September 2006

No personal experience but I believe the consensus is that the H6 is the smoother engine.

Jim

satire2 · September 2006

Ditto on what Jim says - H6 has gotta be most smooth........

=gregg=

ateixeira · September 2006

Mazda has some massive rebates on the Speed6, so you can get a bargain.

Early models had some heat soak issues, and were losing power. I never heard an official explanation or fix for those, however. Ask in a Mazda thread.

Around me, a base Legacy GT would run about the same as a Speed6, but I'd still pick the more proven and familiar (to me) Legacy GT. Plus, I still have a bad taste in my mouth from an unreliable 626 we had. My Miata's fine, though.

-juice

bat1161 · September 2006

I have a 2006 LLBean Wagon and can say it is very comfortable. The best test I had for the comfort was back in Jan. when we did the 48hrs drive. Did 1150 miles in 2.5 days, and felt great.

I know that we were torn between the XT and LLBean last year, and my wife felt the Bean seats were more comfortable.

Mark

dancingcat · September 2006

Can anyone tell me if the 2007 Outback actually comes in red? All the promo photos show one in red, and, up until today they had a red one featured on the Subaru web site.
Now they seem to have removed it. I saw a red one driving around, but Subaru dealer tells me no such thing as red.
Can anyone clarify? I really liked the red. (I'm talking about the Legacy Outback, not the Impreza). Thanks!

red927 · September 2006

According to the website, there is no red offered in 2007. There was a red available in 2006 called Garnet Red Pearl.

Phil

subaru77 · October 2006

I have looked around for quite some time trying to find a roof rack for my 1999 Subaru Legacy SUS. While I have found racks on Yakima and Thule at really high prices, I would really like to find a genuine subaru rack for my car.

It seems that all the subaru part houses online don't carry any 1999 sedan roof racks.

Have any of you ever ran across any roof racks online for my particular car? I would love to get out cheaper than 350 for my rack.

Thanks ~ Jason

killerbunny · October 2006

Regarding: The Passat had one of the BEST crash test ratings of the time. It was one of the safest cars on the road in 2001 and one of the few to come with 6 airbags STANDARD. But like was mentioned... horrible reliability and dealer service. I traded in mine for a 2006 Legacy 2.5i SE Wagon and couldn't be happier. No more european cars for me thanks.

The Passat is "one of the best." The Legacy is "THE best."
Check out this link for midsized cars:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx

shrinermonkey · October 2006

If you notice I said "in 2001." The Passat had better crash test scores than the Legacy did in 2001. The Legacy was not "THE best" in 2001, it is one of the top 2 NOW... pretty impressive for a car that costs under 25k.

jcd148 · October 2006

Hi,

Just picked up a basic 2.5 Outback wagon today. Was wondering if anyone knew the details on the "pre-wired" satellite radio. From what I understand, it is wired, but missing the receiver. The radio has options for CD, FM/AM, Aux, and Satellite. I was wondering if I could use the pre wiring for a sirius receiver I already have. Thanks.

chojnacki · October 2006

We own a 2001 Subaru Outback 2.5L with 35K miles. Recently we started experiencing surges, first in acceleration, than whenever we used things like the A/C, power windows, etc. Finally the car just wouldn't start after being driven for 20 minutes in heavy traffic. Our mechanic started with the alternator, rebuilt that, a week later dead again. Next, a new alternator and 3 weeks later dead again after driving in heavy traffic. The mechanic put in another new battery explaining that the last episode left the old new battery weak. However, we have had the car back for one day and are already noticing the lights dim when we use the power windows, A/C, etc. Any ideas? One alternator and 2 batteries down we are getting a little desperate. I am not a mechanic, but clearly something isn't working properly if the car is running on battery power when the engine is running....

xwesx · October 2006

Whew, yes, that is certainly a clue! Ouch. Sounds like the manifestation is an alternator problem, but if you are going through them so fast, then perhaps there is some sort of short or voltage irregularity on the alternator's feedback loop that is causing it to go out? If you just put in a new alternator and battery, then perhaps just return the alternator as defective and try another "new" one once more to see how it goes before digging into it much further. A schematic of the alternator wiring might help an electrician diagnose the issue if the replacement alternator also suffers failure.

jjdat · October 2006

I have an led just above the vent on the right side of the
dashboard. This led has never lit up and I can't find any
mention of it in the owner's manual. After owning the car
for a couple of weeks I called the salesman and he did not
know what it was either. Anyone have any ideas what this is
for?

mrk610 · October 2006

Can yo take a pic and post . Is it on the pass side of dash or the right side of the driver side by the vents .

xwesx · October 2006

Often times those are security system "dummy" lights. Lit means the car is "armed" to keep "dummies" away. Not sure if that is what your has, but I see quite a few newer Fords with them.

jjdat · October 2006

My mistake, the led is on left(drivers)side. I will try to
post a pic.

mpansare1 · October 2006

Do you have the Outback with automatic A/C controls? If so, this 'LED' is not a LED at all. It is the sun sensor which is designed to regulate the temperature of the auto A/C control. Go thru' the posts on the 'other' Subaru forum.....

ann_the_bold · October 2006

Right, I have to sell my soul to the devil and my maybe-to-be-born-someday kids into slavery. I took my darling 99 Sube to the dealer cuz I knew it was an oil leak.

And oh, it was sooo much more than that. Battery cables nibbled away, gasket valve leaking ALL OVER the place, oil pump and filter shot, tranny filter not looking too hot. I'll pay $2400 (on a teacher's salary, no less) to fix this.

Am I getting screwed by the dealership? Has anyone else had these kind of problems? I still have a year left to pay off the car...would it be worth just chucking the car when it's paid off and getting a new one? I love my 99 but it's literally going to send me to the poor house.

HELLLLLPP!!!

xwesx · October 2006

Er, uh, what?! If they told you what you just recounted to us, then you better be careful or those "maybe-to-be-born-someday kids" could come sooner than you think! :surprise: :P

Okay, so where to start:

First, battery cables. Nibbled away? Mouse problem? Oh, wait, hahaha... no, CHIPMUNKS!!! (Hahahahha, juice!) So, perhaps you need to replace them. Big deal, maybe what, $60 for both stock or aftermarket cables and 15 minutes to install? Not a dealer item. You could do this yourself without even batting an eye. Really. You pull the cables off the battery, disconnect them from their tether points (each has one), connect the new ones to the tether points and tighten well, then clean your battery terminals and connect them to the battery. Viola! Not even a sweat broken.

Next, valve cover gasket leak. Yes, this is a problem area. A quick fix again - if you were charged more than $200 in labor it would be a travesty (I cannot imagine it being more than perhaps a 2-3 hour job), but have them both replaced at the same time to prevent duplication of effort a short while down the road. THIS is probably the oil leak you noted and which prompted you to take the car into a dealership.

Oil filter shot? Um... who cares? This is a normal replacement item that should be changed every 3-4000 miles along with the oil. Get an oil change and call it good - $40 tops.

Oil pump shot? Really? How did they determine that? The fact that your engine still runs should mean the oil pump is working fine. I am not sure of your car's mileage, but if you have not changed the timing belt yet and are at, over, or near 100,000 miles, then get the timing belt replaced and have the oil filter inspected at the same time. The t-belt job should not be in excess of $500. Actually, that is a good time to take care of the gasket leak as well as it eliminates duplication of labor efforts.

Transmission filter - okay, so I think the '99 did have an exterior filter on the transmission. What should that take? 10 minutes to replace? Again, depending on mileage, if you have not had your transmission fluid drained and/or flushed yet, then probably time to do it and you can replace the exterior filter at the same time. MAYBE a $150 job.

Okay, so we tally.... have we hit $1000 yet? No way.....

The verdict is that screws hold better than nails. Find yourself a different shop and tell THEM what you want done. Take a look at the maintenance schedule for your car, figure out what you have done and have not done, then get the "to-do" items done and address your problem areas at the same time.

Good luck to you..... my choice would be to look to a few years of "free and clear" ownership before plunging back into car payments.

ateixeira · October 2006

Yes, it happens. I'm not sure if they baste the wires in au-jus or something before they ship the cars out, but I caught this chipmunk nibbling on my spark plug wires:

michael2 · October 2006

does anyone have any experience with the latest GT model with Si Drive,especially with respect to actual gas mileage using the three settings,intelligent,sport,sport extra. does stabileity control make a noticeable difference.

chassol · October 2006

Don't have the 2007 Legacy GT, but just got the 2007 Outback 2.5 XT Limited with the Si drive.

Remember this is a 5sp auto. With 2,200 miles on the car the mileage is averaging between 20.5 - 21.5 MPG. Premium 93 Octane is used full time. The vehicle also has TCS and VDC as does the 2007 Legacy GT. We traded a 2005 Legacy GT Limited 5sp auto for this 07.

First and foremost the car is very tight. And you want to talk about fast - when you put it in S# it goes realllly good. It appears to operate "normally" in S and it seems underpowered in the I position. RPMs don't seem to change between S and I.

I'm sure the 2007 Legacy GT Limited is going to perform as well - if not possibly even better. The car feels tighter than the 05 we traded in, which by the way had 50,000+ problem free miles and the mileage was averaging between 22 - 23 MPG (averaged 26+ MPG on a 2,000+ mile trip). I firmly believe the tighter feeling is due to the TCS and VDC.

I believe this 07 will get better mileage once it has an oil change to synthetic oil at 3,000 miles. All changes after that will also be synthetic oil (Did same in 05).

Why did we get the Outback rather than a Legacy? - the dealer did not have any 07 Legacy GT in stock when we purchased the Outback and this XT was the only one the dealer had.

The Legacy GT will also have a Spec.B version, however that will have the 6sp manual (which should be very sweet).

We haven't taken a long trip 1,000+ miles, but I think that is where the I in the Si drive should give some better mileage.

Bottomline you can't go wrong with either the Legacy GT or this Outback XT. If gas goes back up you can use half premium 93 and half mid grade 89 i.e - 91 - if you have it in your area. Some areas of the country seem to treat 91 Octane as premium.

Personally I don't think you can go wrong with either model. Hope this helps.

_wraith_ · October 2006

Is it at all possible to get a 2007 Legacy (sedan or wagon) on the low end of the price scale without the Special Edition's sunroof? I took a test drive, and while driving, headroom was ok, though ratcheting up the seating position would have posed problems. When stretching or entering/exiting, it seemed a bit too close for comfort. I'm not unusually tall at about 6'1", but I do prefer a more upright seating position.

The headroom in the 07 Outback and 06 Impreza, both without sunroof, was great, but I preferred the Legacy's handling over Outback, and Legacy's interior over Impreza (and it looks like Forrester's interior is the same as Impreza's). And it looks like new 2006 Legacies are pretty much extinct on dealer lots.

pf2001 · October 2006

Hi all,
I posted awhile back about replacing the OE tires on my OB. I was wondering if anyone had experience with these tires? I know people liked the Turanza LS-H and Nokian. Tirerack had better reviews for the G-009 than the Turanza LS-H and it's cheaper.

Thanks.

dougb10 · October 2006

Hi pf2001,

For what it is worth,here is my experience.

I replaced the original Bridgestone RE-92's on my '05 Outback Limited with Turanza LS-H tires.

I like them so much, I wanted them on my 03 Camry XLE.
The dealer suggested I look at the G009's....less expensive and had the attributes I needed. Research showed they had very good reviews. I have had them on for about three months so far and have been very pleased.

Don't think you can go too far wrong with either tire.

Doug

ateixeira · October 2006

I think you may have to special order a non-SE model. The package is priced in a way that dealers probably don't order those. You get $1200 worth for $400 or so with the package.

A base Legacy GT would fit the bill, though they're not quite entry-level priced. Go for it for the extra performance, though, it transforms the car.

-juice

pf2001 · October 2006

Hi Doug,
Thank you for your input. I think I will order the G-009. Did you purchase the tires from Tirerack and have a Subaru dealer install them? How much did they charge you per tire? I called one dealer and they quoted me $23/tire for installation, balancing, valves, and disposal.

Thanks.

_wraith_ · October 2006

"A base Legacy GT would fit the bill, though they're not quite entry-level priced. Go for it for the extra performance, though, it transforms the car."

A GT is way out of my price range at $28k. Not really looking for huge performance. The SE is sort of the top end of what I'm looking to spend. Maybe I'll have to contact Subaru directly to see if a non-SE base Legacy can even be ordered. I'm not opposed to a sunroof (and the 8-way power seats would be nice), it just cuts too much into headroom.

mainepatsfan · October 2006

My "genuine" Subaru ski rack is actually made by Yakima.

dougb10 · October 2006

Hi pf2001,

I live in Canada and did not get the tires from TireRack....so the dollars would be meaningless to you. The price of $23 each seems unbelievably cheap to me....are you sure you have priced the proper size?

Doug

pf2001 · October 2006

Doug,
Yep, pricing will be different. I called the dealership and the service person I talk to said it was 23. I thought it was kind of low myself. I guess I will call again to confirm.

Have you driven in wintry conditions yet? If so, how do they handle?

Thanks again for your response.

krzyss · October 2006

I think 23.00 is instalation price per tire not price of the tire.

Krzys

pf2001 · October 2006

Krzys,
Yes, the $23 is for installation only per tire. I will be purchasing the tires from Tirerack. $75/tire.

pf2001

ateixeira · October 2006

$28k is way high, I just saw a GT Limited for $26,997. Delete the Limited package and it would be at least $2500 less than that, figure low $24s.

That's for 07s, too, you might find a left over 06 for less.

-juice

_wraith_ · October 2006

I contacted Subaru through the e-mail form on their website. They informed me that there are no new 06 or 07 Legacies available without moonroof. (The 2.5i non-special edition found in the Legacy brochure is for fleet sales only.)

Has anyone else found headroom insufficient when looking at new Legacies? I guess I could drive it again and see if I could live with it, look for used 06's, or keep looking at other models.

PF_Flyer · October 2006

It's Thursday, so that means Subaru Crew chat time! Stop in and chat about Subarus (or all the other stuff that comes up)

I'll also be picking your brains for dicsussion suggestions for the Subaru vehicle groups as we reorganize the forums. Your input and assistance is greatly appreciated!

The Subaru Crew Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule

xwesx · October 2006

I will not be making it tonight, so here is my suggestion regarding reorganizing of the forum:

Do not do it for the "problems" topics! Breaking the topics down into a bunch of microtopics is not going to help anyone find anything easier and will certainly help decrease the participation in active discussions. I can see perhaps creating topics like "Subaru Accessories" or something for asking questions or finding info about cross bars, carriers, towing, etc., and then "Tires" for the annual "which is the best tire?" questions, but when it comes to discussing and diagnosing problems, a one-size-fits-all gets the job done because everyone knows where to look - if you have a problem, go here, and those who have answers, suggestions, etc., can check in regularly to easily monitor the activity.

That is my opinion, but I know Edmunds is hell-bent on destroying the user-friendliness of these forums, so let come what may... and let go who may.

Subaru Legacy/Outback

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