Afternoon Gents,

The Wife is after a cheaper car to replace her Audi Avant and I'm considering a Subaru Legacy Sports Tourer 2.0D RE on roughly an '08 plate. Anybody had one or know much about them? How is reliability? what are the gearboxes like? Also, as it's only a 5speed I'm worried the economy isn't as good as I'd like for a diesel.

Any other comments, good or bad?

Cheers

Kev

 

I had one; I loved the way it drove, although it is very different from a vag diesel. Here`s the thing; the first ones have had a number of failures in the main bearing/crank , and silicon found in oil ways; mine was fine, but you have to live with the worry. Others here had failures. Instead, my gearbox went at 40 000 miles, with 2 weeks left of warranty; a great car, ruined by weaknesses. Ask on UKLegacy.

 

I've just bought a petrol Outback (Legacy on stilts); my research suggested a diesel has to be 2009 or later or it will blow up.

 

Thanks for that, I've seen a couple which are for 'spares or repair only due to engine failure'. That's the reason I'm asking about reliability.

What do people recommend for around £6-8k? Must be an estate, economical, reliable, and look ok. Would like AWD, but not necessary

 

Legacy 2.5 petrol, Mattee has just bought a nice one.


It's worth noting that the diesel engine failures occurred generally between 40 and 60 K miles, my 58 plate went pop at 50K. You "could" therefore assume that a car with over 60 K would be ok. My engine was rebuilt by Subaru UK and I put another 36 K on it before I sold it !

Hmm wonder how much Enginetuner would charge for an engine rebuild on one of those spares or repair

 

I think Motors S GT has dealt with some, and they are very dear; not sure how much but 8k rings a bell ?

 

What's the economy like on the 2.5 legacy?

I briefly considered buying a broken one cheap and fixing it, but I know it'd end up being more expensive than buying a working one

 

Yes I have done a few, don't do them any more, you cannot get cranks, rods etc as single items, its a new short motor from Subaru or nothing, think there nearly £4500.00.

 

Only driven ours back from Chepstow and done some local pootling. I did hammer it back and I'd say the mpg is "okay" - certainly not that frugal (around 30mpg) but then I won't be shelling out for new cranks, DPFs, DMFs, EGR valves, etc, etc every year! I'm a bit disillusioned with diesels (five years or less old) as the emissions cack just kills them - as it has done with our VW California. And our Vx Astra. And our 110 Defender! I like six pot diesels but they tend to drink a lot more.

If I look after the Outback, I'm fairly confident it'll last me. Mine was an older 56 plate on 75k miles for £5650. A slightly higher budget gets you a 2007 or later (they had a mild facelift) SE (top spec like ours). I went for the manual as the auto is a bit old school and four speeds - but the manual is still only five.

Very impressed overall though - big, airy (especially with the sunroof), totally rattle free, handles well, pulls quite well.

Worth a look if you can see past raw mpg figures and look at overall running costs.

 

Thanks Matteeboy, I would like much better mpg than that though. I've never had any of the common problems suffered by diesels *touches wood*