How are older subaru's??

[dodge80_89]

I'm thinking about purchasing an older subaru wagon. There's a couple on craigslist near me for a very good price, what I'm wondering is how dependable they are. Is there anything that I should look out for when looking at them? For now it'll just be a commuter car for back and forth to work and so on, around 30mpg is better then the 12mpg I get with my Ramcharger, until my Daytona gets done, then it'll probably get sold, the subaru not the Daytona.

The one that I'm really leaning towards is an '89 Subaru GL wagon turbo 4x4. I want a 4wd or AWD one since it will also be the vehicle we take up the mountain to go snowboarding, so it needs to have enough room for at least 4 people and all our gear, the equipment will ride in a rack on the roof. Tell me what you guys think, positive and negative. Thanks.

[Dodgeglht]

You can't kill them, but they tend to rust badly, so check it out very carefully, especially the unibody. If it's got no rust then you should be in good shape. Mechanically they won't die if they were taken care of, so you want to make sure it's good mechanically as well.

Matt

[moparzrule]

I've heard of several of them going half a million miles! And many more in the 300K+ club. But as mentioned already, the bodies rust like bare metal in a salt factory.
I almost got one myself, turbo 4X4 5 speed but it was too rusted out. Had like 167K on it, I thought damn just broke in LOL.
If I'm not mistaken they are carbureted turbo engines. Not positive about 89, but I know the 87 I looked at was or I'm pretty sure. It was like 5 years ago. I think they have about 115 HP, and the wagon is a light little thing so it should scoot along quite well. They are non-intercooled so maybe throw an IC on and a MBC and maybe be up to a stock T1 car. They only run like 7-8 PSI stock.

[Birddog]

I have A customer that swears by Soobies. 2 SVX, 1 WRX, 3 little things that look like a VW but smaller and a Brat that's getting an SVX transplant.

Sadly, it's the only "car guy" customer.. The rest of the "car guys" have Vettes...
The only bad things I hear about em are from people that have DSMs..

[moparzrule]

Sounds like you are referring to the subaru Justy, some of them were 4X4 and they are tiny!

[Turbodave]

I always thought a WRX drivetrain in a brat would be awesome. Strap your friends into the plastic seats in back and tell them to hold on...

[88_pacifica]

I always thought a WRX drivetrain in a brat would be awesome. Strap your friends into the plastic seats in back and tell them to hold on...

No shite... that would be awesome! My uncle had one of those... pretty cool, but not exactly "safe."

[dodge80_89]

Thanks for all the info, the car I believe is an original oregon car, so there isn't much rust, if any. It has over 200k miles on it, but it just passed emissions. I'm trying to get the wife to think it's a good idea, but I already have 2 cars, she has one, and says if I buy something else, one has to go. She just don't understand...lol.

[TopDollar69]

Check out the boots on the rear axles, they seem to go fairly often.

[WLKivett]

If your expecting 30mpg you will be disapointed. My 2001 Impreza RS2.5 gets only 23mpg in town and I've gotten a best of 27mpg highway. But it does seam to take a beating and come back for more.

For referance my 2.5Turbo Rampage gets 28 in town and 33 highway.

Best Regards,
Landon Kivett

[dodge80_89]

All the ones I've seen, and emailed about are getting right around 30mpg. They are only 1.8L cars, some are turbos, some aren't. Don't think it's in the cards though since wifey still won't budge, still working on her though.

[moparzrule]

If your expecting 30mpg you will be disapointed. My 2001 Impreza RS2.5 gets only 23mpg in town and I've gotten a best of 27mpg highway. But it does seam to take a beating and come back for more.

For referance my 2.5Turbo Rampage gets 28 in town and 33 highway.

Best Regards,
Landon Kivett

You cannot compare a 2001 to an 80's subaru. The 80's subaru's weigh a lot less than the newer ones, and had smaller displacement which gives better mileage also. The only problem with the older subaru's is that they rusted out badly.

[jre97]

My dad has owned three late 80's early 90's wagons that were 4x4 for work cars. I always pick on him because it seems like he fills it up with oil and checks the gas when it should be the other way around. So watch out for oil leaks especially the front crank seal because if it goes the oil pump is right behind it driven off the front of the crank and it will hurt your oil pressure.