Which to Sell? 95 or 91

[Chip Gallo]

I have a 95 Legacy LSi wagon with around 190K miles on it. Runs ok. ABS is
starting to act up and it has been repaired from deer strikes several times.
The other car is a '91 Legacy sedan with 180K miles. It too runs fine. The
question is, since we bought a new(er) 02 wagon which older car to sell.

My thought is that the 95 will cost more to maintain, because it has things
like air bags and more options. But the '91 is by definition older and might
cost more to repair. I like the '91's handling in snow and ice better than
the wagon. Keeping all three is not an option unless we store one and take
it off the insurance.

We live in the mountains of WV USA and as you may know, the Subaru is the
State Car.

Thanks,

Chip Gallo
www.chipster.biz

 

[tonyrama]

Well, I had a '90 Legacy, and I have a '95 Legacy, and the '90 was a nicer
car. Had a better interior, better seats, was even faster and accelerated
better. Lack of AWD might have done this, though as they had the same
engine. Given those options, though, I'd base my decision on condition,
mostly which had more body rust.
Tonyrama
"95 Outback

 

[Rick Courtright]

question is, since we bought a new(er) 02 wagon which older car to sell.

Hi,

That's a difficult choice, but were it mine, I'd try to balance how I
feel about actually driving and maintaining the car vs projected costs.
For example, I prefer being able to run my '90 as a 2wd car and only
switch on 4wd when necessary. And the older the car, often the easier it
is to work on.

OTOH, my insurance lady likes airbags and such, and my '92 Totota that
has 'em costs less to insure (basic covearge part) than my Subie that
doesn't cuz she says it's "safer." Does that apply to your cars? What
about fuel costs, regular maintenance costs? If you can do some or most
of your own work, those would probably favor the older car. If not, I'd
guess the more complex nature of the newer car adds to costs at the
dealer. I can do most of the work on my Subie, not as much on the Toy.
So if it's like taking a trip to the Toyota dealer, that could offset
the insurance savings in a single trip.

Another thing to look at is parts availability. I don't find a lot of
aftermarket parts for my '90 that I consider to work as well as OEM, so
it's off to the dealer, where I frequently have to special order them
(my dealer parts guy calls my car an "antique.") Then wait. And wait.
And wait some more. Parts may be easier to find as the cars get newer
and Subaru sold more units/yr.

In the end, it may just be a coin toss. Keep the one you like driving
more!

Rick

 

[Chip Gallo]

Hi,

That's a difficult choice, but were it mine, I'd try to balance how I
feel about actually driving and maintaining the car vs projected
costs. For example, I prefer being able to run my '90 as a 2wd car
and only switch on 4wd when necessary. And the older the car, often
the easier it is to work on.

OTOH, my insurance lady likes airbags and such, and my '92 Totota that
has 'em costs less to insure (basic covearge part) than my Subie that
doesn't cuz she says it's "safer." Does that apply to your cars? What
about fuel costs, regular maintenance costs? If you can do some or
most of your own work, those would probably favor the older car. If
not, I'd guess the more complex nature of the newer car adds to costs
at the dealer. I can do most of the work on my Subie, not as much on
the Toy.
So if it's like taking a trip to the Toyota dealer, that could offset
the insurance savings in a single trip.

Another thing to look at is parts availability. I don't find a lot of
aftermarket parts for my '90 that I consider to work as well as OEM,
so it's off to the dealer, where I frequently have to special order
them (my dealer parts guy calls my car an "antique.") Then wait. And
wait.
And wait some more. Parts may be easier to find as the cars get newer
and Subaru sold more units/yr.

In the end, it may just be a coin toss. Keep the one you like driving
more!

Rick

Thanks, Rick. I have a mechanic (former Subaru dealer trained) who does the
maintenance on all my cars. I prefer the 91 for ice and snow, and the 95 for
regular highway. The front end of the 91 is starting to make noises like it
needs axle work.

Overall the 95 is a better ride. For some reason I just don't like it as
much. But logic says it should be the keeper of the two. It is very nice to
have the low mileage 02 as the main car.

Chip