Need feedback ASAP on a '96 Outback/Legacy with 86K

[ShoulderHigh]

I'm thinking about buying a clean '96 Outback/Legacy with 86K

I like what these cars offer but I've never owned one. What should I look
out for? Is this a price? What will my annual maintenence be? Should I
just hold off until I have a enough to pay another $2000 for a later
model?

Help me I'm stuck!

THis was the listing.

Great car, nice paint and body (minor dings, no dents), clean interior,
good mechanical condition, low milage for a '96.

It was just smogged and had an oil change. Well maintained (I have
maintenance records). Great Tahoe car!

2.5 litre engine
86k miles
Winter package (includes heated seats and mirrors)
Relatively new all season radial tires (about a year + old)
Automatic transmission
Tweeter spreaker upgrade
Cargo net
AWD
Power windows
Brakes and steering
AC
Cruise control
Fog lights
ABS
Airbags
Keyless entry
AM/FM cassette
Ruby/Slate Gray

$7,500 OBO

 

[Jim Untch]

Sounds like a good deal to me. Did you check out the prices on
www.edmunds.com and www.kbb.com ? I paid around $17k for my 97 Outback in
1999. It's been a great car. I had to replace the front rotors which were
warped...got Raybestos from Mieneke Muffler...turned out great. Got rid of
the horrible Michelin XW4 tires, and put on Firestone Firehawk SH30's. I
changed the air filter to a K&N...I could really tell the difference in
acceleration. I changed all of the fluids to Mobile1 synthetic. I still
have the original battery! Good luck...hth...jim

 

[tcassette]

My 96 Outback with 92K miles overall has been reliable. However, I did
experience the widespread crank seal oil leakage problem around 30K miles
ago which was a few hundred $$ to fix. Also, I had an engine electronics
problem which resulted in the Check Engine Light being on periodically; it
took persistence and a few hundred more $$ on my, the dealer's, and SOA's
part to finally fix it. None of these problems ever stranded me.

Check those maintenance records closely, and do a newsgroup search for
Subaru 2.5 liter engine problems.