is this year Subaru with manual transmission expensive to own
@Mags00 You donāt say why you are asking this question . I guess you may be looking at buying this vehicle . Just like any 15 year old vehicle only a shop inspection can tell if it has any life left in it.
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If it has the 4 cylinder it either has had or will need the head gaskets replaced, most likely. Do you know if thatās been done?
Iāll go along with the assumption that you want to buy one. After you drive it and inspect it thoroughly yourself pay a mechanic you trust to do a prepurchase inspection. Condition is the most important thing on a 15 year old vehicle. Get a list of what it needs to pass licensing and registration inspection, what it needs immediately otherwise and what it will need in the next year or two. That will give you a cost of ownership picture.
For a 2009 that may or may not be an issue. Earlier years were more problematic. My mechanics have told me that the head gasket failure on later years takes the form of slow leaking as opposed to catastrophic breaches.
If you buy it, I would suggest you take it to Subaru dealer and have them put in a bottle of Subaru cooling system conditioner. It really helps prolong the life of the head gasket and will actually stop one from leaking as long as it hasnāt been loosing more than a cup of coolant a month. More than that, itās too late.
But first. determine of the coolant needs to be exchanged. If it is the least bit cloudy, then it needs to be changed. That means the coolant is turning acidic and when that happens, it eats the coating used on the head gasket. If it has been 5 years or more since the last coolant exchange, then it needs to be done asap. If you have the coolant exchanged, use only an āAsian formulaā at the least, Subaru coolant preferred. The extra cost of the Subaru coolant isnāt much compared to the 5 year life span of it, and compared to the cost of a tank of gas. Then put in the conditioner.
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Other than the Subaru head gasket issue already mentioned, Iām not aware of any costly-to-repair issues specific to this vehicle. You could try a quick search of the Car Talk forumās post history, maybe something will turn up there from a prior poster with the same car, link upper right this page. The common advice here is to always get an pre-purchase inspection done by your own mechanic before purchasing a used vehicle.
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Crystal ball sez
[quote=ātexases, post:3, topic:194794, full:trueā]
If it has the 4 cylinder it either has had or will need the head gaskets replaced, most likely. Do you know if thatās been done?
[/quote]100% failure rate?
Texases is not asking about this Legacy. I doubt if Mags will ever post again.
Thanks to the car talk community,
I appreciate your advice and it helped my grandson and I make some clear decisions on the Legacy. The car we saw had a replacement engine with no documentation and we are continuing to search.
The engine is a replacement with no documentation. We passed on this car.
This is for your grandson correct ? If so then stay away from All Wheel Drive and low volume vehicles .
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I donāt think that you will find any reliable information to determine the cost of ownership for a 15 year old vehicle. Edmunds.com has a feature called True Cost to Own, but it only goes back 7 years. I am not aware of any other website that gives you the information you ask for.
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I didnāt say that, but I bet thatās what happened here.
Buy him a 2004-2008, 2011-2013, or 2016 and up Toyota Corolla, they are great 1st cars as well as great smaller cars for a small familyā¦ my daughter bought a basic CE 2002 and drove the crap out of it for a few years (well over 200K miles on it with very little problems when traded it), she wanted a nicer car and bought a 2017 4 years ago and loves itā¦ I drove a 2006 for years (from 2007-2018), it had NO major issues with over 180K miles on it before it was rear ended by a soccer mom not paying attention in a Jeep, and current 2009 Vibe/Matrix (Corolla chassis, engine and trans) with about 125K and so far no major issuesā¦ BTW, these vehicles have been driven hard, we are not left lane driversā¦ lol
I have also seen a fleet of the 2006ish Corollas go over 500K miles before being traded in, and the drivers were very hard on the cars, they didnāt care how they were treatedā¦
Just giving you another option to look at with a very good track record, not perfect, those do not existā¦
My brotherās saving the 2006 Legacy Wagon 5spd for his oldest to learn to drive on, Heās using it for now about half the time driving the 2009 VW GTI that he also refuses to replace. The Legacy and the GTI have been serviced above the factory schedule by a local shop that has been the only shop to touch both cars since new. Depends on how muich youāre used to spending for regular services.
Does your grandson really need AWD/4WD? If so, he might consider a crew cab pickup truck instead. My cousin drives one and she loves it. Two rows of seating and a bed to carry her motorcycle or whatever else she wants to haul. Certainly Toyotas are an option. The Honda Ridgeline is also a reliable choice. Itās not a good work truck but that doesnāt appear to be what he is after. My next door neighbor loves his Ridgeline and a former work colleague loves his too.
Thanks for the tipā¦but at 19 heās determined. He started out wanting a Z-350 and reality set in on ins. tires etc and I think the Legacy too is headed that way. In Colorado an AWD is good. I have a Tacoma 4x4 and swear by it. I will float these vehicles by and see what takes.
Thanks wolyrobb!