Faults:

1. Nothing except regular wear and tear.

General Comments:

1. Extremely reliable.

2. Extremely underpowered.

3. Extremely good gas mileage.

4. This basic wagon is very underpowered, but it delivered 37 mpg on a cross country trip and averaged 25 mpg in town.

5. Handling was acceptable.

6. One of the best dashboards ever designed. A large flat area for a cup of coffee and all the controls except the radio are at your fingertips.

7. The only negative is that they are no longer made, so finding parts at the local wrecking yard, which is where mine ended up after a crash, is difficult.

8. My first clutch replacement was at 145,000 miles, first brake replacement at 155,000 miles.

9. Drives in snow better than an SUV.

10. The push button four wheel drive feature is more acceptable to me than the modern all wheel drive systems that do it for you.

Faults:

Right front wheel bearing went at 163,000.

Left front CV started clicking at 164,000.

General Comments:

Pros:

Terribly reliable and unbreakable.

Cheap parts.

Easy to work on.

Lots of features for a cheap car.

4WD = unstoppable.

Built like a tank.

Tons of room in such a small vehicle.

Cons:

It's certainly not pretty.

90 HP and 101 TQ means you can't be in a hurry to go anywhere.

Thin sheetmetal, so it dents easily.

The seats kinda hurt my back.

Keep on top of the radiator - these things like to get hot if the radiator gets plugged, and the heads will warp or the headgasket will go if its overheated.

Noisy interior! The lack of sound deadening and bracing on the roof make it sound like a tin can inside.

Gas mileage seems to get worse with age. Mine's down to the low twenties, but mine's not stock either.

Lack of the dual-range transmissions that came on earlier models is no good.

Notes:

My Loyale is not a stock vehicle, and I push it a lot harder than it was supposed to go. I run oversize wheels and tires and I seriously tax the electrical system with the amount of lighting I run. Luckily, the alternator hasn't given up the ghost yet. But I've beat the crap out of this thing and it keeps coming back for more. I've also owned a '92 which was equally tough, until it was stolen.

All in all, these old Subarus are tough as nails and will run forever if they're taken care of. They're certainly neither pretty nor fast, and you're not going to get a whole lot of attention from the opposite sex with one, but if you're looking for reliable, cheap transportation that you can beat the hell out of, the EA82 Subaru (that's the '85-'94 DL, GL, GL-10, and Loyale) is a great choice.

Faults:

Head gasket, radiator (and timing belt for good measure) were replaced at 33,000 miles.

Everything but the timing belt was covered by warranty. The dealer was wonderful about this.

I have replaced the timing belt once since, and many CV joints, but this is minor in my opinion.

General Comments:

Rust is starting to creep in on the doors and around the windshield, but it still is good-looking.

I put quality tires on it and I love the way it handles.

The seats are comfortable and show very little wear.

Even though it was $9,999 new, it has power everything and it all still works.

Faults:

Upon buying I replaced the exhaust from the manifold back.

Replaced the air conditioning coolant with non freon.

One new cv joint, old boot was cut.

It sat in a barn for four years, had mouse nests to clean out.

General Comments:

Great vehicle, wonderful to have four wheel drive for snowy days. At first it seemed to have poor acceleration, until I looked under the hood and realized only three plugs were connected! Much improved, but still not like my Nissan 6 cylinder pick up. Oh well, for the great reliability and sturdy feel when driving in high winds and on rainy roads, it is truly worth the slight loss of pick up.

I would suggest this as a used car for anyone, just make sure there is no major rust and drive safe.