I'm not a big Japanese car guy. I only bought my first ('96 Miata) a few years ago when I was 46YO. Now, during my search for a wagon, I came across a 2008 Subaru Outback with a 5-speed manual transmission. A friend of my Girlfriend is the original owner and we had talked about her car in the past. A few months ago, she blew the engine and ended up buying a new car. Now, I'm considering buying the old car. Anyone have experience with these? I've briefly browsed the net and will likely join a Subaru owners forum. But in the meantime, I figured I'd ask here (always a good group of people around these forums).
Simply put, I already own an engine hoist and an engine stand. I've pulled the engine out of a Subaru a long time ago (probably 1990) when I was working in a repair shop and was replacing the clutch on that car. I'm betting this engine has likely come out at least once already when the clutch was changed. I figure I'll look into what options it has, see the cars condition in person, and see what she wants for it. If all lines up, I'll buy it and swap in a used engine. From the brief bit of research I have done, there seem to be a lot of JDM engines being sold. Any idea why a JDM engine would be preferable to one from a local junkyard?
From what I remember, the flat fours used to require timing belt changes fairly frequently (back then it was 30k when everybody else was suggesting 60 or 80k). I remember problems with the exhaust systems and catalytic converters, but I'm guessing most of these issues have largely been worked out.
Any helpful (or even funny) comments or suggestions are welcome!
Simply put, I already own an engine hoist and an engine stand. I've pulled the engine out of a Subaru a long time ago (probably 1990) when I was working in a repair shop and was replacing the clutch on that car. I'm betting this engine has likely come out at least once already when the clutch was changed. I figure I'll look into what options it has, see the cars condition in person, and see what she wants for it. If all lines up, I'll buy it and swap in a used engine. From the brief bit of research I have done, there seem to be a lot of JDM engines being sold. Any idea why a JDM engine would be preferable to one from a local junkyard?
From what I remember, the flat fours used to require timing belt changes fairly frequently (back then it was 30k when everybody else was suggesting 60 or 80k). I remember problems with the exhaust systems and catalytic converters, but I'm guessing most of these issues have largely been worked out.
Any helpful (or even funny) comments or suggestions are welcome!