Used 1996 Subaru Legacy

"The best car I've ever owned; will buy another!"

"The most reliable, best driving car I've ever owned. The brakes, water pump, alternator and other 'short life' parts seem to last about 3 times longer than other cars. I have driven it off road where I would not take a "regular" car, and it feels great on the highway, too. The all wheel drive was noticeable the first day I bought it and drove it home in the pouring rain. It grabbed the road like it was dry, and hugged it like no car I've ever driven, including Porsche and Mercedes. I've had it for 7 years, put nearly 200000 miles on it, and I wouldn't hesitate to drive it long distance tomorrow. My next car will be a Subaru. I highly recommend it to you. You'll see why I love it as soon as you drive it!"

"Buyin' Another"

"Well, I hit a moose with my '99 Subaru Legacy Outback, so this review is in memorandum. I will be buying another Subie, probably a Forester around '01-'04. I'm not much of a car person. I don't like to spend a lot of money on them, either in initial purchase price or repairs. I just want the thing to work with as little significant drama as possible, because I use it every day, and if it's down then I'm down. That's why I like Subarus. They just work. As I'm sure everyone else has already noted, they're amazing in the snow and the storage is unreal. To me, they're also just the right size...not clown-car small, but also not so large that it's a hassle just to park at the grocery store. Some of the bad things with Subarus, at least with this '99. The gadgets, interior, etc. are kind of chintzy, and they break a lot. For example, the speedometer and odometer stopped working on mine and I had to remove the entire gauge assembly and re-solder a wire to the circuit board. It wasn't difficult and it completely fixed the problem, but I figured out how to do it from a YouTube video, so I'm apparently not the first person to have that problem. The seats aren't really comfortable, and if you're a tall person the interior might be kind of cramped. I'm only about 5'8" so it ain't really a problem for me, but tall friends who have gotten in it look pretty comical. The cupholders are imbecilically placed; you basically have to choose between drinking coffee or controlling the heat/air conditioning. Subaru also decided to be as annoying as possible, and the check engine light will come on for...like...no reason. If the gas cap isn't tight enough, for example. Larger problem. If you're buying a used one look for ones that have already had the head gaskets and catalytic converter replaced. Those two things just seem to go out early. However, once they're replaced, the car is basically indestructible. It sounds like I'm complaining a lot, but I really like 'em. Again, no better car in the snow, blissful storage capacity, perfectly sized, great handling and hard to break."

"Not overly powerful but not underwhelming"

"Great winter vehicle good summer vehicle. This car from factory has a fuse in the front to switch from all wheel drive to just front wheel drive which is great because it gives me 5 mpg more than AWD also gives it a bit more power which is also great when its hot out and you wanna run the a/c but don't wanna be out of power. Speaking of hot if you plan to buy a wagon the whole cabin becomes a greenhouse in the sun so be forewarned maybe put the windows down a hair. I've owned my subaru wagon for 3 years with zero regrets. I accidentally gave it a little more oil than I was supposed (like a quart) which pushed it past my valve cover gasket and onto my exhaust and it smelled for quite some time but I replaced my valve cover gasket and there was no adverse effects on the motor. The car is very controllable in the snow and ice, sideways when you put some(half) pedal down or dead on when you want it(Honestly we've all seen the rally subarus and the car should always be sideways) the controllable bit in the snow is in AWD of course, front wheel drive you have a lot of understeer but still driveable with decent tires. The doors are incredibly light feeling when you open them up. I would honestly buy this car several times over. Great fun, great times."