Opinions on Subaru B4s? (yes a car)

[Grasshopperus]

Anyone else think I'm making a mistake?

Yep.

You said before that your work is only 5 minutes away. Is spending thousands of dollars really a good idea for such a short travel time?

The B4 will be faster and look cooler but you're not going to arrive at work any sooner; both cars can do 60km/h on normal roads or 110km/h on the motorway and the B4 is not exempt from red lights so net gain is nothing.

Adding to that - you're not going to get much money from selling your current car despite the fact that it runs fine. Sounds like there's some cosmetic problems but they're just that, cosmetic.

It's soooo relaxing knowing that the car you just parked on the street is worth so little that a scratch or dent can't devalue it and that no one would want to steal it. How many done up cars do you really see parked on the street for extended periods of time? I have a few mates who have these types of cars and they just stress endlessly... as soon as they've parked their car they just can't relax until they're back inside their pride and joy and checked that it's safe.

Also, parts and labour are far more expensive for turbo cars, 4wd cars and subaru cars You'll almost be going into Porsche country pal. 4wd drivetrain parts are about twice as expensive as 2wd setups and about four times the price of old corolla parts. Not only that, but they cram so much shit under the bonnet that even a simple part like a radiator can take hours (of chargable time) to remove.

Dude, it's going to cost you hardout in the short-term (buying a new car), long-term (parts, servicing and gas) and intangibly (stress, fear, uncertainty)

Don't do it. Save the money for a house, rainy day etc.

[Insanity_rules]

My RS/RA was the best handling, fastest car I have ever owned. In saying that if you want that kind of performance it'll cost ya to run it. If your not counting on it to be like your toyota then your on to a winner. Get whatever one your looking at thoroughly checked over as most of them are abused and raped at some stage. Invest in a good alarm and go to one of the specialty insurers like club auto cause the normal companies will bend you over and extract your wallet through your pooper.

Service it regularly and be careful which gas you use, think low ethanol, high octane. Yes they drink gas and yes they are a thief target but you get a huge bang for your buck.

[ghost]

If you can find one get an H6, running one at the moment, not as uneconomical as most people think, almost the same kw as the turbo but smother delivery. Has cam chain instead of belt, and the best way to cut down on serivice costs is avoid Subaru dealers like the plauge.... and yes unfortunatly earlier that 03's go walking regularly. recently made the top 5 stolen list...

[BMWST?]

its your life,your money and your car.make me laugh ebry one say ing tch tc tch...yet we are all mcyclists who have been advised by lots of people 'dont ride a bike,yet we do and why??? cos we wanna.
I have a BMW535 and love it.It has cost ne a lot of money in rooutine servicing and maitenance.My sister is always telling me to sell it.She came for a drive with me the other day over the takas...She said"I didnt realise it was such a nice car to drive/ride in".
Do what YOU want,do your homwork,dont listen to naysayers who have never owned one and buy the absolute best one you can.Enjoy it,drive it with some care and respect(ie dont do fullpower launches,lots of traction and lots of power means something will give).My mate has one.He loves it but he says it does cost him the $$$$.Let the naysayers stick to their corollas and commodores

[no_8wire]

I have a 99 B4 and love it. Goes fast, handles extremely well (only time I have lost traction was when I was going far too fast for a very tight corner along scenic drive)
Not to bad on gas driving it normally (normal for me = giving it stick 60% of the time) about 10km/l
In contrast if you really put your foot down it will drink like anything i.e on a trip down to new plymouth got 7.5-8km/l (mind you I did get there in just under 4hrs)
Or when I was taking it easy on the way back got about 12-13km/l.

Only thing to watchout for is DONT PUT A POD/AFTERMARKET FILTER ON!
I had a previous owner put a oil based filter on and the oil coated the airtemp sensor resulting in a melted piston...

But they are comfortable, fast, handle well, nice to drive...

Good cars

[WRT]

I've got a GTB, I have a mate with a GTB, and 3 other mates with GTs (all twin turbo wagons). Only one is non-standard, and that's the one that is unreliable and has been nicked (and recovered). The four standard ones are all reliable and haven't been nicked. I've owned mine for four and a half years, and its now sitting on 240,000ks and still going strong. The only faults I've had:

Cracked radiator tank (~$100)
Blown alternator (~$400)
Dead battery (~$160)
Cracked power steering boot (~$30)
Blown light bulbs

I think most people will agree there is nothing out of the ordinary in the above list for any car that has done around a quarter of a million ks. I've got a whistly primary turbo; been that way the whole time I've owned it, still boosts hard so I ignore it. I do the filter and oil myself (takes about an hour and costs about $60-70), and I replaced the above faulty parts myself. The radiator does not take hours to do, drain the water, remove the pipes, 2 or 3 bolts and the whole thing slides out - takes less than an hour to remove and replace, and any home handyman could do it. The alternator is even easier; I replaced it with a used one for $40 but that failed after about 10,000ks so I brought a new one - no more probs.

Fuel milage:
Agressive driving round town will chew 14l/100k
Normal round town (I ain't no nana, but I'm not a boy racer either) is between 12 and 13l/100k.
Open road driving (sitting on ~110k, 3rd gear full throttle for overtaking) gets around 10l/100k.
I've got a spreadsheet of my milage over the last 25,000ks, the worst was 14.27l/100k round town on Caltex 95, the best was 8.76l/100k on BP Ultimate (open road, empty car). Never use 91 - from what I'm told it causes detonation and will destroy your big end bearings.

SteveT above mentioned the transition between the turbos - commonly known as the valley of death. At about 4,000rpm the change over from one turbo to two causes the primary to stall and the secondary still has to spin up so you get monumental loss of power for a second or two. In my experience, it happens as you are in 4th gear about level with the drivers door of the car you are over taking. REALLY noticible in the Gen2 model, in the Gen3 like the B4 it's not so bad. Worse is a tendancy for the car to stay in twin mode if you shift up after 4,000rpm - your revs drop so there isn't enough exhaust flow to spin the turbos and it takes a few seconds to change back to single mode. You'll feel it when pulling away from the lights, 1st pulls like a school boy, but if you shift after 4,000 then 2nd/3rd will feel like you are back in your Corolla. The exhaust sound changes, so you can actually hear it switch back again but until it does the car is very weak.

Still, the VoD is easy to drive around. Either keep your revs below it and use the fat of the first turbo to lug you around, or if you do go over 4,000 keep it there. Gives you two options for overtaking - stay in 5th and make your move with dignity, or drop it into 3rd and blow their doors off. Personally, I like option 2.

With regards the theft thing; it's a matter of numbers (I work for an insurance company FWIW). How many Subarus do you see out there? There are millions, and a lot of them have been modified, so they are naturally going to be highly represented in the stats. My advice; buy a standard one for two reasons, it is less likely to be nicked and it's also less likely to have been abused. And get an alarm if it doesn't have one already.

Bear in mind however that the Legacy is not a round town car, they are designed for out on the open road (where they shine). I use mine for towing bikes, fishing trips, snowboarding and as a general hack - and it is brilliant for that. I figure it is only worth around 2-3k now, and I can't imagine a better car that would do what I want for that sort of money. We've had four adults with a weekends worth of gear including 4 snowboards all inside the car (no roof rack and the back seats were all up). We did the trip to the mt in comfort and at pace (in fact, one of the passengers owns an Evo7 and even he was surprised at the pace we got up to overtaking a line of traffic).

But - dont buy a TT legacy to sit in traffic, they suck at that - the cold running in the legacy is rough and very thirsty. And don't buy one coming up on a cambelt change, that aint a cheap exercise. I did the belt, tensioners and waterpump at 200,000 (all precautionary measures) and the parts alone were around the $500 mark even at trade through a mate.

I am now starting to look around at a replacement for mine, and it will probably be another Subaru (05 STI Forester this time, or an 06 Legacy - need the boot space of a wagon but still want some poke). That's probably the best recommendation I can give about the brand.

[Morepower]

Subarus are one Jap car with character. The B4 is an awesome car , my last Subaru was a Legacy 2.5 Limited Manual wagon ( non turbo ) and I loved that car to drive. Currently I drive a company vehicle , Nissan 3.5 V6 maxima grandad car, its Fast , quiet , economical and as dull as dishwater , Toyotas are the same , reliable but oh so dull .
Like anything if its been serviced and you keep its serviced it should be reasonably reliable.
My 2c

[Rodney007]

blah blah blah... waste of cash dont do it!

[Forest]

The problem with the Legacy is that they're the car of choice for wanker drivers.

Seriously. I can't count the number of times I've seen a a driver in a Legacy acting like a tard on the highway.

[Batcerb]

Id keep the corrolla.

If its not costing you money, cheap to run then just keep it.

Spend the extra on your bikes ....

[McJim]

Get a Falcon.

[Jenny]

I've owned a legacy, had it about a month and all the electrics went poof!!! cost about $4000 was under warranty tho very comfortable to drive but a bit thirsty!

[ready4whatever]

I had a 1997 Wrx and found it good. I hear the B4 has a flat spot between when the first turbo kicks in and the second. According to wikipedia anyway. If i was going to get another Subaru I'd only go for an STI. Better yet I'd go for the Mitsi Evo, if you want a quick cage. More reliable too. bit more expensive

[MDR2]

I know. Two to many wheels

I'm finally upgrading (or is it?) from my battered and beaten '92 Corolla after many years of great service.

I'm really keen on a 1999 Subaru B4 Legacy. I love the styling but the majority of people I have asked seem to think I'm making a big mistake. I know it's not going to come close to the reliability of the old Corolka but are they really that bad?

The old man says to stick with a Toyota or a Nissan. He said he'll disown me if I choose otherwise.

Anyone owned a B4 or heard anything about them good or bad?


I'm still keeping my bike so go easy on me.

I've owned the old Twin turbo Legacy before now.... walk away

if you buy it you'll end up walking anyway, you'll be a couple grand poorer for it though.

Primary turbos pack it in pretty quickly, the auto transmissions are problematic (4wd solinoid are a known problem) and the engines are pretty weak.... so weak in fact i had a piston punch it's way out the block.

oil galleries are an issue if not maintained proper (same for any vehicle really) but in a horizontal engine you certainly don't need those worries.

You might be alright buying a brand new subaru (i still wouldn't) but I can state for a fact that if you're buying second (third or fourth might wanna check how many owners its had) hand you'll only be buying someone elses problems...


Summary: back away slowly from the car and when your safe distance away, run as fast as you can.

[steelestring]

I've owned the old Twin turbo Legacy before now.... walk away

if you buy it you'll end up walking anyway, you'll be a couple grand poorer for it though.

Primary turbos pack it in pretty quickly, the auto transmissions are problematic (4wd solinoid are a known problem) and the engines are pretty weak.... so weak in fact i had a piston punch it's way out the block.

oil galleries are an issue if not maintained proper (same for any vehicle really) but in a horizontal engine you certainly don't need those worries.

You might be alright buying a brand new subaru (i still wouldn't) but I can state for a fact that if you're buying second (third or fourth might wanna check how many owners its had) hand you'll only be buying someone elses problems...


Summary: back away slowly from the car and when your safe distance away, run as fast as you can.

hehehehe crack up! plus 1 for you