Faults:

CV joint, alternator/battery, throttle position sensor, brake pads.

The rear wiper seized up and never worked.

General Comments:

A very good car.

Decent ride, pretty good pep for a four cylinder. Quality engine and transmission.

I wish I was still driving it today -- death by collision.

You can tow 1 ton pretty easily with these babies too. The manufacturer recommend electric brakes, but I thought it did fine without.

Living in Ohio, this is the best vehicle I've driven. It's good and heavy, low to the ground. In three winters I never got stuck.

All and all, original engine and auto transmission that may have made it to 300k miles. I averaged about 23 MPG mixed.

Faults:

Repairing brakes and replacing battery.

General Comments:

I love my Subaru (Suzie). It is very reliable for New England weather.

And fits me comfortable even with pedal extenders in it, so I don't have to sit so close to the steering wheel (being so short).

Wish it had some more horse power.

Love the AWD.

Faults:

Oil leak in the rear main seal.

Knock sensor and evap issues.

Both front CV joints.

Ball joints.

Tires and alignment.

Front and rear axles.

Rear wiper doesn't work anymore.

Interior window buttons broke off.

Interior radio light burnt out.

Oil leak in the rear main seal.

General Comments:

This car has just had one problem after another.

When I bought it, I took it to a dealership and everything checked out fine. But then right away, it started to have problems.

The check engine light came on because the knock sensor went - then it was suspension problems - the leaking oil from the rear of the engine.

In the 3 years that I've had the car, I've put 35,000 miles on it, and pretty much spent more on repairs than I spent on purchasing the car itself. I don't know if all Subarus have these problems, or if the car I bought just wasn't taken care of - but I don't think I will buy one of these again.

I pretty much gave up on turning the check engine light off - because the part is too expensive.

The latest thing that's happening is that - the car will stall when I come to a stop, and the automatic transmission oil temperature light will flash 4 times. From what I read about Subarus, this is apparently a common problem. However, after having 2 very expensive sensors replaced - the car is still stalling. I'm just about ready to start looking for a Honda or a Toyota.

Faults:

Timing belt replaced at 160k.

Passenger side, front wheel bearing at 170k.

Starter at 190k.

Engine light frequently on due to EVAP sensor - ethanol induced benign issue.

Wagon hatch door handle spring was busted when I bought it at 155k. But it wasn't really a problem if you knew to push the handle back into position before closing it.

Wagon hatch door lock was finicky when I bought it, and stopped working at about 190k.

Rear window wiper motor burnt out at 200k.

Passenger side headlight had an electrical issue around 200k. A peculiar issue that I never resolved because the headlight still worked when brights were on (see below).

Other than that, only regular maintenance.

General Comments:

Fantastic car. Manual trans Subarus are fun to drive.

The AWD handles beautifully in the northern states' snow, ice, and rain. Only times I've gotten stuck (including Winter off-roading), have been because of the vehicle's low clearance. And I never used snow tires.

Before the ubiquity of ethanol in gas, this Legacy made 31 mpg on the highway. Post-ethanol it became 29 on the highway, 24 in the city, and 27 in the country.

Amazingly hassle free vehicle. Excluding gas, oil, and tires, I spent less than $1000 in three years and 65k miles. $300 of that was the timing belt. And the work I did myself - brake pads, rotors, starter, headlight housing - was about as simple and intuitive as you could ask even for a complete novice like me. Even with a little rust here and there, nothing was too frozen that it wouldn't turn.

Speaking of rust - very, very little considering this car spent nearly all its life in Wisconsin, and many tens of thousands of miles on the interstate. Body rust was only one golf ball sized spot over rear driver side wheel well.

The rear seats fold down nice and flat for plenty of hauling capacity, and just long enough for my six foot height to sleep in comfortably. I even lived in this car for a few months.

Here's what I can complain about with this Subaru:

The driver's seat is terribly uncomfortable. Horrible for my back on road trips.

The headlight housings cloud-up far too quickly and too much. This made the lights without the brights on more or less worthless. I had to run the brights as my normal lights, but because of the cloudy housings, oncoming cars never seemed bothered by the brights.

This was the *basic* Brighton model, so maybe I shouldn't complain, but the stereo consisted of two front speakers that blew out pretty fast.

Wonderful first car that suited my low budget needs perfectly.