legacycentral bbs

Hello to everyone on the boards. I am a Noob here, but I frequent many other subaru forums.

I currenty own a Porchse 944 for my daily driver while the STi sits in the garage. I have two kids and the 944 has been very impractical. So.....now i'm looking for a Legacy wagon for daily driver duty.

This is where I could use your help: Can you guys tell me what are common problems I should be looking for when inspecting a possible purchase? Should I invest in a PPI? What about the newer Legacys 95 and up, is there a real difference?

I'm not going to mod a wagon but I might add springs and some rotas

To my knowledge you would look for the same problems in a gen1 wagon as you would look for in a gen1 sedan. The wagon is just a longer version of the sedan.

Depending on where in the country you live you have to be aware of rust.

I have owned 3 wagons and two sedans and I see the same little things pop up on both. Usually minor stuff too.

subawhatsubawho, Thanx for the input. What should I be looking for in a gen1 sedan besides rust?

what are the little things that keep popping up?

if it has an automatic, it'll likely go out or start going out at around 175k miles.

if it has a sunroof, make sure it doesn't leak

I don't know about everyone else, but every legacy i've had has had ac issues(it just doesn't work)

the 90-91 legacies have horrible headlight optics, but an arguably more aggressive face

The 92-94 legacies have much better headlight optics, and an arguably more updated looking front end(turn signals are the main differences, as well as the nonexistant angle of the hood/headlights)


It's tough to get GOOD springs suited for the wagon, though whiteline does make them, it takes up to a 7 months(that's the longest that i've heard of) to get them. Mine took 17.5 weeks.

If the car came with factory installed keyless entry(very rare), you'll likely have an issue with your driver's door lock sticking and requiring opening from the passenger side. Mine was remedied(mostly) by the install of an aftermarket alarm and hours of my installer twiddling with it.


The wagon's rear struts tend to go out rather quickly, though I've put about 45k miles on my agx's and they're still in tip-top shape.

Engine wise I can't think of anything to worry about, as the first gen legacies are rock solid, very overengineered.

The same however, cannot be said for the newer ones in my opinion. The next generation engines were more fussy, if you were to get one with a 2.5, you have the first gen ej25 head gasket problem, and I believe either in 99 or 96 they switched over to an interference engine.


Those are the only things that I can think of off the top of my head worth mentioning. Bear in mind that switching from the STi to a legacy wagon feels like getting into a school bus. The wheel is bigger, the seats don't hug you, and it's slow as fuck. On the plus side, it gets nearly no attention from the police, insurance is dirt cheap, and you don't have to worry about car payments. My boyfriend had an STi that I drove a fair amount, and there's no way in hell I'd take the STi over my wagon, even if I didn't have to pay for it.

$.02

LaureltheQueen, Thank you very much.

I am extremely impressed especially coming from a lady. Thank you.

So the auto trannys have less than a 200k life, be careful with the sunroofs, the ei25 have a head gasket problem

I think you can probably get 200k out of an autotranny, if you make sure to keep the ATF fresh, put an aux ATF cooler on it, and don't beat the hell out of it. I can only claim doing one of those things...

The EJ25 was not developed in the time period of these cars. Nothing but the EJ22 in 90-94 Legacies, and most of us feel that the EJ22 was probabluy Subaru's best engine.

Sunroofs can leak (my wagon), but it's usually caused by clogged water drains. If it leaks, try sticking weedwhacker line down into the drains to unclog them.

subyluvr2212 Thank you

I am going to check a 94 wagon sport listed in my local news paper tomorrow. 156K 1994 asking 1500

Not too shabby!

I wish you luck. If you have any more questions we are here for you.

Well, I called the newspaper add and the seller stated that someone has a deposit on it. but to call back on weds to see if it fell through.

He said he was the only owner and the car is in good shape except for faided paint on the hood.

He is firm at 1300

I might wanna keep an eye on this one right?

I was so, so close to getting a Nissan Sentra SE-R in beautiful condition with low miles and underpriced for my first car. My granpa and I went to the owners and they told us some Lithuanian family had a deposit on it, but they hadn't heard from them in 2 weeks. They said they'd much rather sell it to us, and that if we got back to them the next day, they'd sell it to us instead.

I called them bright and early the next morning, and they said the people just magically showed up and bought it. I was so bummed out.

Then again, had I bought that car I'd never be a Subaru guy

Hope you have better luck than me...

If you're looking for a turbo wagon, you'll definitely want to have the auto tranny inspected. The turbos only came with autos.


You may want to consider investing in an intercooler if you get a turbo.

Also, gas mileage will be horrible in a turbo, but I don't think that's dissuaded any of us turbo owners from buying one

Laurel I dont plan on getting a turbo unless its in phonmenal shape. Its just for daily use.

BTW I have an AutoX and DE track ready Porsche 944 that I'm gonna give up for the wagon. Thats gonna hurt.

LaureltheQueen wrote:
Also, gas mileage will be horrible in a turbo, but I don't think that's dissuaded any of us turbo owners from buying one

No no...Laurel...your gas mileage is terrible in your Turbo...I get 20/28

Hey, the AC works on my car. And, I do like the combined look of the post-face lifts over the pre's. However, you can mod the parking light to make it a turn signal if you want. That's the way it is in Japan.

Drifting STi wrote:

I am going to check a 94 wagon sport

Drifting STi wrote: Laurel I dont plan on getting a turbo unless its in phonmenal shape. Its just for daily use.

Generally the "sport" wagon is the turbo. There's no other legacy sport out there

In 94 there was an Alpine Sport Wagon and a Sun Sport Wagon.

Obviously look for rust and usual wear and tear.

Personally I wouldn't have the auto if one fell out of the sky. It would be a continual death watch on the tranny.

You can likely expect that suspension items will need attending (new struts x 4, sway bar bushings), so don't underestimate the condition of tires and brakes to your total, driveable cost.

Engines are fairly bulletproof but don't neglect the basics; oil leaks can cost you if numerous and you have someone else do the work

Clutches are fairly weak and don't feel very good even when new, so unless you have records, you can't tell much by feel. Its a crap shoot.

steering racks and balljoints can show a lot of wear and cause imprecise steering. You can live with it but fixing it gives great improvements for a couple hundered bucks.

check the CV joint boots and steering rack boots in the front. Fixing all can cost quite a bit.

my car has given extremely even tire wear, so if the tires are uneven, suspect accident or curbage, or terrible ball joints