Which Subaru

[Ranga]

Which would you get for a family with 2 young kids (i.e. mine!)?

A 2000 Outback Limited, 131,000km, lovely car, leather interior, dual sunroofs, no full service history, but a heap of maintenance documented from the most recent mechanic a couple of years ago. Private seller is an older guy who seems as honest as the day is long.

or

1999 Liberty wagon, genuine 77,000km with full Subaru history, well presented, cloth trim, no sunroofs, power windows, cruise control, icy cold A/C interior like new.

Both 4 cylinder (not sure if the Liberty is the 2.0 or 2.5) around $7.5K.

Typical for me, I'm struggling to decide. I think the Liberty might be better, given we'll have seat covers on anyway to make them more kid-proof, I never used the sunroof in our Forester.

Any suggestions, even if you think I should stay away from both?!

[Geedublya]

If you are not going to drive dirt roads I would go for the liberty, especially if it is cheaper.

Reasoning, less Kms and no sunroof.

My MY2000 had a sunroof and it gave me continual problems.

better again would be a standard Outback though I doubt you will find one with so few Kms.
The ride on the Outbacks is superb if you are driving on rough roads.

[WhiteD3]

I've had a 97 and a 2005 Liberty, both 2.5 and both great cars. SWMBO had a 2002 Forester 2.5 for 7 years and we just bought a 2002 Forester for my son's first car.

Obviously I'm a fan.

The Liberty you mention sounds too good to be true with those low Kms and you don't mention logbooks.

I'd go the Outback.

[Ranga]

I've had a 97 and a 2005 Liberty, both 2.5 and both great cars. SWMBO had a 2002 Forester 2.5 for 7 years and we just bought a 2002 Forester for my son's first car.

Obviously I'm a fan.

The Liberty you mention sounds too good to be true with those low Kms and you don't mention logbooks.

I've also owned a Forester, which I regret selling, hence focussing on another Subaru.

As mentioned, the Liberty has full Subaru history - apparently previously owned by a Sydney north shore mum (soccer mum?) to take the kids to school. If they're to be believed.

[bee utey]

I'm actually sniffing around at Subarus too, I prefer the lower longer look of the Liberty and it should be more economical to run. The Forester looks lumpen to my eye. I've gas converted a few, they seem to be quite robust engines. I've actually just finished gassing a 1995 Liberty 2wd wagon for a guy, makes me think hard about owning one of them, in the 2.5 4wd version of course...

[Davehoos]

because Subaru are basically bullet proof when the die its frustrating.
silly things can kill them.the numbers of low km cars around are an example of buyer beware.we traded forresters with less than 2K per year and thee can be lucky dips.

the new foresters we are getting now are not as well assembled as the old ones.the current A/C is a lot better than the 6 year ago versions,had a few with oli leak on top of catalyst that created smoke that have had the volunteer drivers abandon the car.

the funny one last week was a vehicle in sports one gear vibrating at 50kmh.

cousin stopped ringing me with come replace another wheel bearing on the forrester.he now gets a reco strut assemble from a specialist very cheep.
tappered wheel bearing last much longer than the original ball races.
he also gets around 100oooKm per clutch, imports an solid flywheel type from usa.

my neighbour was after a gear box for a low Km noisey Impeza.the local wrecker sold him a complete replacement driveline as an assembly-for double the price of a clutch.

[BigBlackDog]

SWMBO had a 98 liberty wagon. I sold it to buy my defender! She got the xt forester though.

Hers was the 2.5 and had about 240k on the clock. Subaru wanted to rebuild the engine even though there was nothing wrong with it (super minor oil weep on dip stick tube!). Nothing major really done to it, the clutch was 150k old and was getting close to replacement time. A previous owner had the radiator renewed, thermostat and water pump done around 100k, it was sold to family through his business, they weren't really needed though.

Was a good car to drive, a little low if anything, need to watch curbs and steep driveways if you are used to the forester. I had a 95 impreza that had done 200k, absolutely no mechanical problems, apart from the wallaby it ingested one night! Both cars sound like they would be great buys, especially the liberty for that price.

[Dougal]

The older 2.5 Subarus do head gaskets regularly. Not enough metal between the cylinders. I'm not sure if or how they fixed it with later cars.

[chang]

Not bad though. Most are oil seeps but not dripping & the only ones that turn to drips are those not fixed. LH head is the most common to go.

Coolant loss from the heads are far between compared to the number of heads with oil seeps but still are more common on the mid 90's to real early 2000 models. Spark plug tube seals are either dry or very wet so pull out the leads an check as it can be that bad that oil will run down the rocker cover when the lead comes off. Rocker cover bolt seals check also.

Oil Pump can seep & leak on the seam of the pump & cover so check there & also the water pump shaft hole check for stains & signs of leakage.

If you can hear a slight knock from the timing case/front of motor at idle to 1200rpm odd the tensioner is on its way out, but if there is no history I would do the belt kit anyway.

Gearbox selector seal will be leaking just a matter of how bad (unless replaced recently or cleaned)

Still see seeps on the later models on the front cover chemical seal which nearly all are doing & also on the cambox chemical seal.

Diesels have tensioner leaks & rear sump leaks which can get pretty bad.

If I was in your position I would get it checked at a garage prior to purchase as multiple problems as listed above to get fixed at once can be in the thousands easy

If I was close I would come have a squiz for you. All in all though if the head is only slightly wet (oil) & the tube seals are a bit wet etc its something you could live with with no troubles until it really starts leaking or you sell the car.

[JamesB71]

My ex wife and I had a 1998 forester which was a great and amazingly reliable car. It had 300,000ks on it when she left. It blew up a year later, I assume because she never opened the bonnet once I wasn't there to service it....

[dromader driver]

SWMBO just bought a 2003 impreza rx hatch . What a missile. She was even game to run it up the putty road and missing the 85km/hr advisor cranked it into a corner at 100 and a bit. Just went around on rails

Economical to run at about 7l/100km on SYD- BNE via the new england and no sore back after long trips. Aicon and heating work well just set the temp and forget. Only problem so far is a blown headlight globe.Also did the timing belt as it had just come due.

If only Subi could revamp the Defa trayback into something as comfortable it would be phenomenal. :)