legacycentral bbs

Ok I am looking at a 1996 OBW that has had a small collision in the front right corner. The fender has some minor crumpling. The big issue is that the lower control arm is bent. I have a 1990 parts legacy in the garage and was wondering if the control arm is the same. I know the springs and struts are different but not sure about the control arm. I thought I read that the suspension is interchangeable. The rest of the car is good, and has about 138,000 miles. The place that has it is honest (I have bought 4 cars from them) and is offering to make it run and drive straight (no body work) for an extra $700 not sure if that is worth it if all it needs is a control arm and I have one that I can use.

What other parts should I keep off the 90 for the OBW if I get it? May have a pick and pull party to let folks come over and pull what they want after I get what I need.

Yeah...it'll work

thanks for the quick reply! so you think 800 as is 1500 fixed sounds good? I think I will offer 600 as is and have them drop it off at my garage.

Yeah...it's worth more than 600 in parts most likely...so I'd say go for it if it's not a total POS...

Used control arms go for like $40-50 each. All 90-99 Legacy/Outback, 93-01 Impreza, and 98-01 Forester control arms (I think) are the same part. Even the 02+ Impreza wagon arms are the same but have a different front bushing.

They're not that hard to change - two big bolts in the rear, one in the front, and the ball joint need to come off, and then an alignment needs to be done.

So two hours labor, plus parts, plus an alignment, plus you not having to deal with it should be about $400-600. A new one is $150 wholesale, but I'm not sure if that's a ready to go arm with the front and rear bushings installed.