2000 Subaru Legacy L (2.5 wagon) review from North America

Electric window motor went at 40,000 because a door seal got loose and let some junk into it. Dealer refused to refit the seal - it was eventually secured with RTV. This cost $400.

Clutch failed at 53,000 miles, along with flywheel, throwout bearing, pressure plate, rear main seal, you get the idea. $1200. If this one goes, an entirely new Cobb Tuning clutch unit will be installed.

It's a bit slow at lower revs in higher gears, but that's to be expected from a 150-ci engine in a 3000-lb car. The dealer says it'll do 130 MPH and I don't doubt him. More muscle under the hood would still be appreciated, though.

Handling is terrific especially with some decent tires on it (Yokohama AVS Intermediate or ES100). I've won autocrosses in worse-handling cars. It has huge amounts of grip and defaults to easily-controlled oversteer when you go past the limits. The car doesn't rotate easily, which prevents it from snap-spinning, but turn-in isn't bad - see "huge grip" above. You just have to throw it into the corners. I can't believe I'm saying this about the handling of a station wagon.

The ride is very good. Sure, it lets you feel the road a bit, but it's damped very well, and on bumpier roads it doesn't oscillate much. If a car rides softly, the passengers get carsick and the driver gets fatigued from the motions.

The seats are very good. They're very comfortable on long journeys and hold you in very well under cornering. Again, I prefer a firmer seat as a softly-sprung, plush seat bottoms out easily, lets you sink in unevenly, and gives you constipation.

Fuel consumption was and remains unacceptable. It gets what it says on the EPA sticker - in the hands of three drivers who usually beat EPA figures by double digits. At 80 miles per gallon, it barely breaks 27 miles per gallon. Nothing's mechanically wrong with it - I conclude that it's simply a case of poor friction-reducing technology: it has plain journal bearings where Honda or Toyota would have a roller bearing, it has an over-complex and inefficient gearbox, it has complex drivelines to reroute shafts around other vehicle systems, everything uses VERY heavy oil save perhaps the engine. The whole drivetrain with the exception of third gear and the clutch's friction plate is tough as nails - it's just inefficient overkill for a car that'll never be used to tow a 5000-lb trailer, on gravel, with 1500 lbs of gravel in the back.

A suggestion for Subaru: The last-generation Legacy would make a great pickup truck - if you cut the sedan's body off behind the FRONT seat so you can actually have and 8-foot bed, and shoved a nice, efficient diesel under the hood.