Faults:

Cruise control not working when purchased.

Clutch replaced at 112000.

CV joint replaced at 180000.

Time to replace the clutch again at 21800.

The only non-wear item replaced has been a couple of sensors.

General Comments:

Interior is in great shape; no rips, tears or stains.

Plastic bumper is cracked and ugly. Definitely a cheapo accountant specification.

Car has good acceleration and tons of cargo space. Gets great mileage; low 30's highway. It has been a great car, but because of it's high mileage I'm thinking about replacing it with another Subaru, though I'll avoid the early 2.5 engines because of head gasket issues outlined elsewhere on this site.

Handles great in the mountain rain and snow!

Faults:

Exhaust repair needed twice,"check engine" and "ABS" lights came on, although the mechanic didn't find any problems anywhere, change of sparkplugs, brake pads (normal wear).

General Comments:

I haven't had it a full year yet. Bought it last winter, but I do about 1500 km a month of open road. It's now at about 270 000 km and it runs well and is unstoppable in the snow, which is more than I can say for my 87 Jetta; that thing was extremely unreliable and worthless in the winters we have here in Eastern Canada.

Faults:

Head gaskets replaced at 50,000 and 75,000 miles.

Radiator replaced at 80,000 miles.

Dash lights burned out at 30,000 miles.

Brakes replaced three times - at $400.00 a pop.

Rust on both rear fenders.

Drivers power window stopped working.

Exhaust system rusted.

General Comments:

Fun to drive and fairly comfortable around town, but too firm over frost heaves.

Surprisingly expensive to maintain.

Gas mileage not bad with 5 speed manual. 23 mpg in mixed driving.

Faults:

Replaced a CV joint at 169,000 miles.

Replaced the brakes at 196,000 miles, the front calipers were stuck, so it needed a lot of parts/labor.

Replaced a second CV joint at 196,000.

Engine rebuilt at 197,000 (due to operator error, see below)

General Comments:

Subaru makes great, practical vehicles, especially if you are going to be driving in winter weather. My parents owned two Foresters, replacing our Toyota 4Runner with one when they lived on 7 miles of snowy/icy gravel roads. This last winter I commuted 30 miles every day with regular snow/sleet/ice and was extremely happy to have the AWD.

They are not the most comfortable or luxurious vehicles, even compared to others within the same price range. The interior is decent, but nothing special. We do have some rattling/shaking, but nothing that I wouldn't expect on a vehicle of this age. The wagon model is long enough to haul 8' lumber inside as well as 4'X4' wide sheets of plywood. Our friends have a newer model and can fit two car seats easily in the back. We have also put a variety of items on the roofrack and have had no problems with it.

The engine is powerful enough to get around easily on the interstate, no problems merging or passing. There is a bit of a lag when the accelerator is pushed, but I have experienced this with other Subarus as well. I have heard the 2.5L is a better engine, but I'm happy with this one and the (little) better gas mileage. We get around 24mpg combined.

The maintenance is nothing more than with other AWD vehicles. The CV shafts will fail every once in a while, especially if the boot is torn or you drive through a lot of water. It is in your best interest to get torn boots replaced immediately. I did regular oil changes and fluid refills, which were very easy. The downfall of the vehicle came when I left the old filter gasket on when doing an oil change, which led to the oil draining and the engine failing. We decided to get the engine rebuilt though, as the vehicle will (hopefully) last a long time.