[Closed] Subaru legacy- Tell me about them please.

What age/era model are you looking at? Engine size & type?

I have an '04 2.0 petrol estate & my dad has an '09 2.0 diesel outback...

Brilliant cars. I average overall 32mpg. Dad's averages 45mpg. On a run on a motorway mine does 39mpg at a steady 75ish (that's long term calculated figures rather than the onboard mpg-ometer, which tends to over read by 2mpg ish). Very refined & comfortable. great to drive - amazing traction everywhere & with the right tyres, go anywhere in the snow.

I did a comparison the other day - seeing how much mine costs me in the grand scheme of things compared to a more modern, efficient diesel. The subaru is cheaper to run on an annual basis so am defo sticking with it.

Subaru dealers vary on price a lot for general services - the cambelt was done for £200 on mine, which is about average for most cars these days. But a major recent service before I started doing my own was £350 after bartering them down... NOT including timing belt. It was a biggie though - replacing all the fluids etc... I do my own servicing on mine now.

Stuff like brakes and anti roll bar bushes are par for the course cost wise. Some stuff like clutches and parts of exhuast are expensive. Replacement wheels are epically expensive if you ding them, but there are plenty of subaru dismantlers that can help you out with much cheaper replacements.

They're one of the few cars all the top gear presenters agree on as being great cars, if that means anything.

Cheers cp. Just asking for future reference for my next car really. The all weather capabillity and apparent ability to go forever appeal to me. I've seen a couple round my area for years (we're talking J reg type age here) which must be clocking serious miles by now. Knowing they're petrol got me to thinking they must be bomb-proof and worth considering. Thanks for the info.

I had a 1998 S reg petrol 2.0 estate which was just under 2 years old when I got it, and therefore about 40% of list price, and went on for a further 8 years before going for scrappage. By that stage it was a collection of subaru shaped parts flying in loose formation and had close to 120k on the clock. No complaints, it was great fun to drive, got me around North Yorks in all weathers and carried all manner of kit without issue. As it replaced a Saab 9000 turbo it was also highly economical in comparison but that meant about 28-30mpg. Suspect the newer ones have a longer service interval but it needed servicing every 7.5k, the every 15k was a biggy, the 30k was worse, the every 45k was eyewatering and the 90k was the perfect storm ( including clutch and brakes by misfortune ). I was keen to get out before the 135k just in case.

Parts were not cheap if you had to resort to Subaru's own and to run it sensibly you needed an independent garage or as above the ability to do it yourself. The cost of parts was reflected in the cost of insurance as well. The view of the guy who maintained it for me was that it was not the easiest car to work on as some of the access for brake lines, clutch etc. was convoluted.

I suspect the diesels depreciate less but the bottom line for me was great fun, versatile, depreciates quickly early on and therefore a sensible used purchase from that point of view but not great mpg and servicing of that particular model was not cheap.

Traded in for an Octavia 4x4 estate which has many of the virtues but less of the downsides.

Up in the hills where you live would a surly pugsley with racks be a better mode of transport. All that saving on fuel!!!