1993 Subaru Impreza Wagon - RELIABILITY / OPINIONS

[paul]

We are looking at the 1993 Impreza Wagon;

what type of gas mileage can be expected?
any known mechanical/ electrical problems?
any horror/ happy stories?

thanks
paul and andrea

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

We are looking at the 1993 Impreza Wagon;

what type of gas mileage can be expected?
any known mechanical/ electrical problems?
any horror/ happy stories?

thanks
paul and andrea

At that age, any car's predicted reliability has less to more to do with
it's past care and present condition than the MODEL'S repair record. I'd
suggest finding a local mechanic familiar with soobs and paying him
$50/whatever to inspect it before you get serious. If he finds 1 or 2
problems, get estimates and use for bargaining. If he finds low
compression or torque bind, maybe shop elsewhere. the Forums at
www.usmb.net contain lots of folks with experience keeping older soobs
running and may be a source of good ideas in addition to folks here.

Carl

 

[jacklinthicum]

We are looking at the 1993 Impreza Wagon;

what type of gas mileage can be expected?
any known mechanical/ electrical problems?
any horror/ happy stories?

thanks
paul and andrea

I have a 1995 Impreza wagon with 47K miles on it. It is not a really
good car for long trips, we did Florida to Kansas for a funeral when
the Legacy got bent and it is an experience. Other than that if you
change the oil and filter every six it goes fine forever. Roof rack is
sort of questionable, the load limit is 250 lbs IIRC and I wouldn't put
anything up there for a long fast run. The windshield rubber molding
came loose and was a bear to find a replacement and get somebody to do
it. Only problem in 11 years or so.

 

[Remco]

We are looking at the 1993 Impreza Wagon;

what type of gas mileage can be expected?
any known mechanical/ electrical problems?
any horror/ happy stories?

thanks
paul and andrea

My daughter has one of that vintage and it has been a really reliable
and driveable car, serving her very well for about 5 years now,
It ran really well until a bad oil change screwed the engine up (they
forgot to torque the drain bolt), causing other issues, direct and
indirect, that I had to fix.

If it weren't for that, just regular maintenance will keep it running
pretty well.

The engine may be prone to a very specific oil leak:
There's an oil separator cover that is made of plastic that can crack,
located under the drive plate (auto) or flywheel (manual).
When cracked, oil will seep through where the tranny and engine meet -
nothing really serious, but you may need to add 1 quart every third
fill up.
Found that out when I pulled the engine out, fixing the aforementioned
screw up.
Now the engine does not drop any oil. The replacement separator plate
is made of aluminum.

Remco

 

[lkreh]

I'll second that. A 1993 is an old car and the statistics/others'
experience will have little value in predicting what sort of problems
you'll find in a 13-year old car. Heck, any known
electrical/mechanical problems with a 13-year old car would have been
fixed long ago. You're now looking at everything from interior pieces
to mechanical simply wearing out.