'96 Outback Question

[Autumn]

Am thinking of buying a '96 Outback 2.5 Auto w/112K miles for $4000..
Car seems okay. I am concerned that one has to use premium gas and
the headlamps appear to have a milky appearance to them. Engine just
rebuilt, from valves up, by expert mechanic due to timing belt
failure.

What else should I be looking for and do I really have to use premium
gas?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Approach the owner with the price of new headlamps - then, if you but
it, just get some plastic polish and polish them.

Make sure you look under the hood and confirm the FWD fuse is NOT in
place. Then test drive in a parking lot in slow tight circles. Any jerky
motion could mean bad center diff.

You need some assurance the head gaskets are good/recent style too I
think. Others may have more detailed info on that issue.

Carl

 

[Greg]

I didn't always use premium in mine and it ran fine (now the rest of the
group may flame on). The headlight issue is probably discoloration of the
lenses in reaction to UV rays and the only real way to fix it is to buy new
ones. I'd be more concerned about the rebuild then anything else since
someone who didn't care enough to change the timing belt may not have cared
for anything else.

 

[TG]

A rebuild from the valves up doesn't address the pistons, connecting rods,
rod bearings.....these parts took their full force that bent the valves. I
wouldn't buy a Subaru this happened to unless it had a used engine
installed, not a partial rebuild. TG

 

[tcassette]

You don't have to use premium, because the knock sensor will retard the
timing if less than the recommended octane fuel is used. This will result
in less power. One trick is to alternate fill-ups of regular and premium,
which results in a mid-grade octane rating. I have tried ethanol blend that
is much cheaper but has only slightly less octane rating than premium.
However, I found that the miles per gallon decreased due to the lower energy
content of the ethanol. In fact, whatever I saved per gallon was eaten up
by having to buy more fuel, i.e., it's not worth it.

 

[George Adams]

Am thinking of buying a '96 Outback 2.5 Auto w/112K miles for $4000..
Car seems okay. I am concerned that one has to use premium gas and
the headlamps appear to have a milky appearance to them. Engine just
rebuilt, from valves up, by expert mechanic due to timing belt
failure.

What else should I be looking for and do I really have to use premium
gas?

Thanks for your help.

I'd avoid that car like the plague. If it has 112,000 and a recent
timing belt failure, then it is likely the car wasn't maintained. It's
hard to tell what else might have been damaged when the timing belt let
go. Who told you that you have to use premium gas....the "expert"
mechanic? You can do better for four grand. Run away from this one.

 

[lkreh]

It's really a crapshoot. I owned an Eagle Talon w/ an interference
engine in which the timing belt broke. I had maintained it
meticulously, like all of my cars, but the belt broke prematurely
requiring a $2200 rebuild. In that case, the broken belt wasn't
reflective of poor maintenance.

On the other hand, the cloudy headlamp lenses are likely a sign that
the car was parked/stored outside for past 9-10 years. Even so, the
cloudiness could have been avoided with a little TLC. I think the
lenses are more indicative of poor maintenance than the belt.

Give the range of used Subaru options, I'd pass on this car.

My two duckets,
LK

 

[Francis I. Coppage, Jr.]

I've had my '95 Legacy L since '97. Have tried middle and lower grade
fuel. Not only does the performance drop off with the lower grades,
but so does the MPG.

As for the headlamps, Get yourself some Mother's Rubbing Compund and
work it over, follow it with a good poly polish and they'll look
almost new.

Hope this helps!

 

[Autumn]

Am thinking of buying a '96 Outback 2.5 Auto w/112K miles for $4000..
Car seems okay. I am concerned that one has to use premium gas and
the headlamps appear to have a milky appearance to them. Engine just
rebuilt, from valves up, by expert mechanic due to timing belt
failure.

What else should I be looking for and do I really have to use premium
gas?

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for all of the great replies.

I have an UPDATE to my original post. I guess I misunderstood just
what caused the failure in the engine. The shop owner explained that
it was the bolt that holds the timing belt tensioner that fractured.
He affirms that the folks took good care of the vehicle and that the
actual timing belt was changed at 90K miles by the original owner.
Does this new information change anyone's opinion about the car?

Thanks again for all of your help in this matter.

Autumn