learn me: Subaru automatics, late 90s early 00s

Hi guys, the Mrs has decided she's had enough of her dc2 integra (noisey, bumpy, brightly coloured) and wants something a little more adult and comfy.

Long story short, she's quite keen on Subaru's and has found quite a nice, low km 2000 Subaru heritage. It looks nice, pretty clean inside and out, has a decent service history and the seller wants it gone.

I know Subaru head gaskets can be a bit of an issue, same with the manual transmissions if they've hard a hard time. Otherwise its a case of just reading thru the service history and being pretty thorough in checking it out. What I don't know is what the auto transmissions are like. I'm going to have a look tonight so just want to be armed with whatever useful info I can get prior to that.

Thanks.

And here's the car in question for those curious.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/casula/cars-vans-utes/automatic-subaru-liberty-awd-heritage-low-kms-very-cheap-2499/1084709525

I have owned 5 Subaru's and my mom has one with an autobox.

The auto makes them boring as hell, but I haven't had a problem with any Subaru transmission - manual or auto.

The 4EAT automatics are a lot stronger than the stick shifts for whatever reason.

There are some exceptions. The SVX has a notably bad setup, and replacing the filter with a different unit and some other preventative mods help ensure a longer life, but that's hardly the only SVX drivetrain problem.

By the time of that Liberty/Legacy they would've ironed out the big problems. Is that a 2.0 or a 2.5?

They usually end up 'dying' from the duty solenoids breaking or wiring harness damage. That stuff is all fixable.

One cool thing is that the transmission control unit speaks over the SSM protocol so you can sniff the current state of the AWD system: http://www.alcyone.org.uk/ssm/tcureverse.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2AWh8OudeA

In reply to NGTD:

I'm pretty anti auto, but my partner isn't to perturbed and after driving something with a touchy clutch for the last couple of years I think she's more than happy to not have to deal with a clutch. I've already forewarned her that it will be a totally different driving experience than she's used to, and not to expect it to be fast or sporty.

In reply to ssswitch:

That's some good info, thanks muchly. Glad to hear the auto isn't a major weak spot, as is sometimes the case with other cars.

The engine is the 2.5, so I'm guessing ej25. I know head gaskets can be a problem in them, so I'll be looking at that pretty thoroughly.

That's some pretty interesting info regarding the shift curves etc, though it doesn't look like something I'll be able to check thoroughly prior to purchase if it goes ahead. I'm hoping the log books will give me a good picture as to how the cars been maintained.

That era of 2.5 should be an EJ253 or EJ251. I can't remember which. It should not be an EJ25D, which are the ones that develop internal HG leaks.

Get under the car and look for weeping at the base of the heads. Unfortunately with that mileage, that would be right around the time that they would start leaking. Here getting HG done would run about $1500, so factor that in to your decision.

Some 1999 and a bunch of 2000 model year Subie automatic's had a delayed forward engagement problems when cold, and sometimes when hot. It seemed to go away in 2001.
I've had several with this problem over the years and just added a bottle of magic every 6 months to keep them going:
Trans-X AT slip-stop & leak fix has been the solution 3 out of 3 times for me. I usually buy then real cheap if this is an issue.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/84847-fixed-trany-delayed-forward-engagement/

My 1999 4eat had clunky shifts, vibrated at idle when in gear and stopped, and had a non-sporting shifting nature. Other than that it was fine. Not too many issues with most of them from what I have read. Drive it slowly in figure 8's. It shouldn't bind at all. Some do if there is internal AWD issues.

DD#1 had a '96 Impreza wagon and now has an '02 Impreza wagon, both with around 100k on the clock and automatics. The '96 in particular saw somewhat irregular maintenance prior to our acquisition. Both of the automatic transmissions were solid as rocks, although pretty boring to drive.

My sources tell me that if you test drive one and the AT OIL TEMP light is on or blinking, run.

[edit] The 2002 does vibrate pretty noticeably at idle in gear. I thought it was motor mounts, but they look fine. From the post above it may be a transmission issue?

Thanks for the feedback folks. I looked at the car with my partner last night and wish I hadn't.... The car was crap. Bad oil leak around the head, body beat to hell, a very patch service history with some recipta not even for that car.... Needed one of everything, including new wheels as some clown had butchered them trying to get lock nuts off. I pretty much ran, dragung the little lady behind me.

That said, it seems to be a good fit for her and we'll keep looking for a subie in the late 90s to early 00s. Otherwise its another Honda.