I think you will find that the head gasket problem only
relates to the flat-4 boxer engine. Get the 3 litre flat-6
engine in the Legacy/Outback; a further advantage to this
engine is that it has proper chain driven camshafts not the
mickey mouse rubber bands used in the flat-4 (and by many
other so called "premium" makes).
The 3 litre H6 engine only has one drawback, it's thirst. Over
76K miles, including quite a lot of towing, i've averaged 23.5
mpg (UK gallons). UK owners also get stung by the road tax;
luckily no road tax here in socialist France!

At 23:37 02 April 2015, Andrzej Kobus wrote:
On Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 7:11:04 PM UTC-4, Bruce
Hoult wrote:
On Friday, April 3, 2015 at 5:26:26 AM UTC+13, JS
wrote:
The Subaru was great at everything except uphill
starts.
=20
I've never had a problem, but then my 2.5l 1997
Grandwagon (Outback) has
=
a ten speed box. (the normal 5 speeds are in as near as
dammit to 1 :
1.414=
: 2 : 2.828 : 4 ratios, and the 2nd lever splits the gap by
dropping the
r=
atio by about 20%.
=20
The most fun to drive without a trailer. Also best build
quality.
Initi=
ally concerned about the passive rear wheel steering, but
not a problem at
=
all.
HOWEVER...
Subarus are famous for head gasket problems. Mine
blew gaskets twice.
F=
irst time replaced heads, second the engine.
=20
The 90's ones definitely had weak head gaskets from the
factory. They
*al=
l* blow eventually. It's not all that expensive to change
them (~$1k) if
yo=
u do it before you damage something else. When buying
used, just factor
tha=
t into the price. It's the *only* real weakness in the car.
=20
In my experience, once they're fixed (they use WRX
gaskets here) they
sta=
y fixed.

All Forrester's and Outbacks up to model year 2010 have
gasket problem
exce=
pt turbo models and 3.6L engines. I agree that it is the
only weakness of
S=
ubaru but the cost to fix at reputable shop will run you
more like $2k
prov=
ided no additional damage. The newest models seem to
have this problem
fixe=
d as the block was redesigned.