Faults:

Clutch: 190,000.

Front driveaxle: 194,000.

Rear wheel bearings and seals: 194,000.

General Comments:

I have a 1984 Subaru GL, which I purchased for $700 in 2009. The car needed some work, but luckily these old Subies are easy to work on for the experienced shadetree mechanic. Right now, she's got 196,000 miles on her and runs perfect. In my opinion this is the best car for the money.

Probably my biggest problem with the car was the clutch cable. I went through two cables in less than 1 year. So the third cable I bought, I decided that before I installed it, I would hang the cable vertically and squirt some 90 wt oil in the sheath. This worked like a charm. :)

Anyhow, one thing I really like about this car is the manually adjustable ground clearance. I adjusted the rear and I gained a full 2" of clearance. I haven't adjusted the front, as I don't want to do an alignment afterwards. Another perk is the shift on the fly 4x4 and optional low range. I'm telling you, these cars will go almost anywhere you want to go.

Bottom line, I love my Suby, and I see myself owning this car for years to come.

Faults:

Tie rod went out at about 181,000 miles

Seat torn on driver side from wear

Head Gasket blew at 207,000 miles.

General Comments:

Bought this car from a friend, dependable car easy to fix, and cheaply if you know where to look. (pick and pulls mostly).

Obviously designed for small people, but large people can fit in them comfortably.

Built like a tank seriously will go anywhere as long as you keep the tires on the ground, with larger tire have passed jeeps in the snow.

Dated by todays standards (power, features, room) but had groundbreaking features for the time.

Great car!, have owned all types but will always remember this one.

Faults:

Well, what can I say. This car has been nothing, but a headache and a money pit.

Nov 18th (210,000km) -bought car.

Dec (212,000km) -Car would not accelerate and lost power going up hills. Losing antifreeze, gaining oil??? Replaced transmission modulator chip. ($600)

Jan (214,000km) -Dead of winter, car takes 1/2hr to warm up and if you let it go for 31min. coolant spills out everywhere. There's no overflow tank for coolant. Neither cooling fan is working. I, concocted a pop bottle to use as a overflow bottle and then replaced both fans. ($450). Driver's side window will no longer roll down, didn't fix that-instead I just go through drive-thrus back wards.

Feb (216,000km) -Car will not keep heat and stalls at every red light or when I turn a corner. Figured out I must keep RPMs up at all times and make sure I have 3 bars of heat before moving it. Placed cardboard in the front grille to try to keep heat. Also, radio will not switch stations sometimes.

Mar (218,000km) - Fan belts blew. Brand new from Jan. ($150)

Apr (221,000km) - Car starts smoking out of hood. My oil leak has now become the river Nile flowing down my drive way. Replaced all seals and head gasket. ($1500)

May (224,000km) - Radio is completely in-operable and stuck on a country station.

June (228,000km) - A distinct squealing coming from my back end. Brakes, boots, shocks, etc. (I can't even remember it all) replaced for all four tires. ($1100)

July (231,000km) - I can hear a clunking in my back end ever time I step on the brakes when backing up, I think to myself "self, I'll fix it next month".

Which takes me to now...

Aug (235,000km) - Car is sitting in my drive way and not about to move anytime soon. The CV joint on the drivers right front side has cracked completely and I can only make left handed turns. Cost for this repair... $1000. I can't justify this hunk of junk anymore. Yesterday I went and bought myself a new vehicle. It's called a bus pass.

General Comments:

This is a very expensive and time consuming car to fix, all parts must be brought in.

Unreliable.

Good on gas, when you can afford it after all the repairs you've got done.