2003 Subaru Legacy L - Ohio

2003 Subaru Legacy L - 250k miles, $1700 obo

• 4-speed automatic
• 249,800 miles
• Replaced in the past 2 years/8k miles
  • Tires – Goodyear Assurance
  • Brakes – OE equivalent
  • Muffler – OE equivalent
  • Ignition coil, plugs, plug wires – OEM or equivalent
  • Engine wiring harness -- OEM
• Issues
  • CEL for catalytic converter (code: P0420)
  • No A/C (bypassed)
  • Uses/leaks oil and coolant
  • Typical Ohio rust (cleaned, POR-15'd, and painted with silver rattle can)
• Original wheels included

My mother purchased the car new and drove it until about 210k miles. The car was garage kept and received regular maintenance, including a timing belt around 200-210k miles. Unfortunately, no documentation from her ownership is available. The car then went to my sister who drove it until ~242k miles. She had problems with the engine overheating and stopped driving the car. The car sat for a year or so until I took it on as a project. I replaced the battery, muffler, and tires to make it roadworthy. I added coolant and monitored the engine temp. The car still uses some coolant and I top it up about once a month. It also uses/leaks a little oil. We have had the car about 2 years and my two teenage kids have driven it during this time. Recently, it died due to an engine wiring harness failure, and we had it towed to the dealer who replaced the engine wiring harness. The car is running again, but we decided it’s time to sell.

Now, for the question GRMers probably want answered. Will it rallycross? Yes, it probably would. Would it like it? No, not really. I would expect that if driven hard, the engine will give up sooner rather than later. Treated gently, it should be a decent driver if you keep an eye on fluids. I'm currently considering a good used ej253 to swap and will probably go that route if it doesn't sell. It's going to need another engine or a rebuild at some point...

More pictures here > https://photos.app.goo.gl/x8xYLisCTBeCuizV6

I'm in Yellow Springs, Ohio (just east of Dayton).

dude, its a subaru 

it needs a head gasket 

they always need head gaskets 

head gasket symptoms 101--> 

"She had problems with the engine overheating and stopped driving the car.   I added coolant and monitored the engine temp. The car still uses some coolant and I top it up about once a month. " 

Yes, head gaskets are the Achilles heel of Subarus. That is why I wanted to be up front about the status on this car. Just trying to avoid any surprises. We considered doing the HGs but there was concern that we might find other engine issues and it wouldn't be worth the time/money/effort to fix everything on this car. If you want to tackle it or have a known good engine sitting around, then this might be a good car for you.

And no, not every Subaru needs head gaskets. I had a bugeye WRX that I drove for 280k miles with only normal maintenance and never needed HGs.

billstewartx said:

they always need head gaskets 

 

My Saabaru has had a chronic leak for years, even overheating it on the way to POR didn't make it worse. I'm getting the vibe that external leaking there isn't necessarily an immediate death sentence 

My son is home from college which is a reminder that we have too many cars in the driveway. The Legacy has been performing backup/extra car duties without complaint, so the mileage has gone up to 250,362. Lowering the asking price to $1500 obo.