Faults:

Rear Wheel Bearing at 100000 and 130000 (I blame this on faulty install the first time). ($120 for each replacement)

Front Right Half-Shaft (Axle) at 100000 and 150000. ($200 and $120 respectively)

MAF (Mass Airflow Sensor) at 150000. ($25 - used)

Front seats have a little tear from standard wear.

Hood Paint wore really badly (I've never seen this on any other Legacy).

A few of the minor seals are worn out - car leaks a very small amount of oil - maybe a quart in 15000 miles.

General Comments:

This car is great for inclement weather. The AWD (All-Wheel-Drive) system is excellent for snow, rain, ice, etc.

For being a base model, it has all the nice features like power mirrors and locks and cruise control.

Mileage is all right - I can manage about 23MPG in the city and I'm a teenage driver.

That having been said, this car takes any punishment I can deal to it - it's on it's stock timing belt and still drives right up to 6 or 7 thousand RPM without complaining (well, I complain when I get to the pump).

At 151000, it's still running on the stock suspension, which is a little tired. I can still take some corners faster than people with newer suspensions - the 4 Wheel Independent Suspension is excellent.

The engine is flawless. It does not use any oil. Some of the seals are worn so it does leak a little, but the engine drives like it's brand new; it doesn't skip a beat.

The automatic transmission has a small clunk for being 151000 miles old, but once again, it still stands up to my sometimes relentless beating of the car.

The maintenance costs of this car have been extremely low. Over the 10 years we've had this car, the maintenance on it has amounted to no more than $1200 (and that's counting tires and brakes).

Faults:

The only thing wrong with this car is: in the Subaru tradition the body is trying to use rust as a self destruct method.

General Comments:

Bought used for $350US, lady owned, fully dealer serviced. It came needing some "healing" and I got it back 100% mechanically in a week (brakes, ball joints, tires, and exhaust)

Dealer parts are expensive and after market parts are available much, much cheaper. For example: the muffler lists @ $418, I installed a $30 after market "turbo" muffler.

Dealer quality is "spotty", the good ones are really good, and the bad ones are really bad!

I am seeing 27-29 MPG highway, about 20-22mpg city (Imperial gallons).

Seating is OK for about 8 hours, any longer and it is a back breaker.

Quick enough for me and handles very well.

Not too happy about the automatic in this model, though it works well, it would be a Rocket with a 5 speed.

These cars are worth nothing used, if you can find a used one that has not been too badly abused, and can deal with repairing it yourself, you will be more than happy with your purchase. I can understand how one could become a nightmare, but for a guy/girl who likes to "tinker" and repair their own these cars offer about the best used car value I've seen for quite a while.

Faults:

When I had the car for only 2 days, I had a flat tire. But hey, that also could've happened if I bought a brand new Jaguar! I'm not superstitious, but maybe it's a Subaru Legacy curse, 'cos 4 days later I saw a Legacy SW which had a flat tire, too!

General Comments:

A very nice car indeed! Even though it is already 14 years of age, it still drives OK. Even though I got the car only 4 weeks ago, I do think I should write a review!

I've got the sportsmodel. It has a different rear, and different headlights compared to the regular model.

The 1.8L boxer engine is very smooth, but you really need to crank it if you want to be the quickest. 4000 rpm in first gear will launch you to 30 km/h, changing the gear to second can launch you AGAIN up to 60 km/u and so on. Top speed is supposed to be 186 km/h, but ofcourse I didn't try it. The highest speed limit in the Netherlands is 120 km/h, and I haven't gone any faster than that! The engine does a good job spinning around 3600 rpm in fifth gear doing 120 km/h. 120 km/h is also the end of the fifth gear. Going a little faster, say 125 km/h, brings the rpm-clock very rapidly to 4000-4100 rpm.

The gearbox stick doesn't return to the "neutral" position. So changing gears must be done with attention. Nothing serious, but going from second to third gear takes a little more muscle.

Funny thing about the car despite being an old design, I still get comments from my neighbours saying they find it to be such a nice looking car!

Overall it's a stable driving car with good performance if you need it. Generally very smooth, but I did notice it isn't fond of city traffic.

The suspension is quite firm for a sedan. And the front wheels can really bounce over short humps in the road. But again no complaints, because this means it also corners very nicely!

Then the chairs, very nice AGAIN! They sit very well. And haven't got any sign of wear after 14 years. I think the previous owner took very good care of this car.

Further, this car is LOADED :D! It has: electric headlight adjustment, electric windows, electric mirror adjustment. Even the gas pedal is electric. It has no cable! The central locking system is nice too, although the passenger side rear door isn't unlocking properly sometimes, it always locks. I don't carry many passengers, so I don't mind.

The "hill brake" is nice too. It allows you to release the brake wenn you're standing still on a slope or a hill. Press the brake pedal firmly wenn standing still and release it. The car will hold in place. You won't notice a thing driving away again.

Now it is just wait and see, how it is going to hold up. I can only give one advice: BUY ONE, you won't be disappointed!