1986 Subaru GL review from North America

Well, having just bought the car last week, I can't say what's wrong with it. I can surmise the car needs a general tune up, a new windshield, new power window motors, and probably needs the CV joints checked and/or replaced (these cars are known to go through many of these, though the ones on this car look in remarkably good shape). Also, the A/C needs to be recharged, and the cooling system requires complete flushing.

Oh, and I gotta install my new CD player and speakers. =) Gotta have those tunes when cruising down the road, ya know?

I'll start off by saying I have owned 7 of these prior to this one. I've never wrecked a single one, but they usually would finally fall apart enough that the cost of fixing it far outweighed it's worth. However, I did have one that ran beautifully in high school, but sold it because I moved to Seattle and thought (wrongly) that I wouldn't need it. Anyway, needless to say I've been kicking myself for selling it ever since.

Now I've got another one. It's red with a tan interior, with power steering, power door locks, power windows, power mirrors, the separate 'shift on the fly' 4WD differential with both HI and LOW (this system lets you switch in and out of 4WD while driving; no need to stop or do the wheel hub thing), and air conditioning, which I don't use much living here in the Northwest.

For a car I don't know the history of, nor the mechanical condition (yet), the car runs amazingly well. It's not pretty because the paint is faded, and the place where I bought it from had it parked under a tree so it's got green mildew all over it (nothing a good wash & scrub won't take care of). It handles like a dream and turns on a dime. I love it! Subaru are seriously one of the best made cars ever!