I didn't really want to write a review on this car. It's over a decade old and was never anything special to begin with. However after browsing this section and not finding any decent reviews (sorry guys) I decided it was time to dip the proverbial feather into the ink and give it my own spin. So here it goes:

Subaru uberwagen...just kidding

The 1991 Subary Legacy Wagon is a 4 door station wagon nearly identical to the sedans of the same name, except for the large trunk space and hatch-style trunk. Most amenities were available at the time including front cupholders, A/C, CD stereo (optional, I'm stuck with tape), power windows, power door locks, power mirrors, cruise control and so on.

The car was available in a multitude of flavors, from basic to a four wheel drive option, ABS brakes (what I have), even a Turbo. If 4WD was not chosen as an option, the car has the typical Japanese Front Wheel Drive/Front Engine layout. The naturally aspirated engine is a H-4 (boxster style schematic) which generates about 140 ponies and a decent amount of torque. It is a high-revving engine like most imports and really doesn't have too much in the low-end of the RPM range. Step on the gas and let it wind out to 4,5-5,5k and it will get you moving pretty quick.

What's most amazing about this car is how it handles and performs. I drove a 1990 Ford Probe (non GT 4 cylinder) before this car which was a LOT smaller and lighter. However, this car amazingly does just about everything better. It has a tight turning radius despite its large posterior, gets decent gas mileage for its time (low 20s, 22-26), has good pickup and go, and even stops on a dime. I can't speak for the non-ABS version though as I'm sure it isn't as whiplash inducing. The ABS version does come with 4 wheel disc brakes and decent sized rotors/calipers up front and some smaller ones in the back. But getting back on point...if you were to be blindfolded, thrown in this car and then drive, you would never imagine you were driving such a large vehicle. It maneuvers quickly, the steering is very easy and quick and the feel of the car is small. Even parking is fairly easy as the front-end doesn't take up much room. I do admit that you will notice the wagon part of the car when backing up/parallel parking but in Drive, the car does just that.

Farking plastic???

What's really amazing is this car's reliability. Other than basic maintenance this car has had very few problems to date...until now. This is what actually inspired me to write about this car...the radiator. About a year ago I noticed that the hoses on the radiator needed to be replaced as it was allowing coolant to leak from around the clamps. I headed down to Autozone and picked up the supplies and then drove over to a friends house to fix it.

After 4 hours of head scratching we couldn't figure out why the upper hose just wouldn't clamp to the radiator. We had drained it, cut new hoses, attached them, refilled the radiator and then after running the engine noticed that the hose wasn't on very tight. Since the coolant was hot we couldn't just take her off and check it out, but after much struggle we did just that. And that's when we noticed that the connection had completely crumbled away. Yes, that's right, the radiator connection pieces were made of plastic. PLASTIC!!!

A piece of equipment designed to cool the engine by passing liquid that can get up to 200 degrees was made with plastic connections. A material notorious for drying up and cracking under heat...plastic. $400 later and slightly peeved I was on my way, but not for long. You see, we had managed to fit the hose on the stump of plastic and the car ran ok in the garage in idle. We let it run for 10 minutes and it was flowing fluid fine. The seal seemed good enough for a short run home. Well not even 2 blocks up the street there was fluid everywhere and the car overheated.

With the new radiator installed the car ran fine...for a while. Until it started overheating for no apparent reason. Another $400 later (almost) and I finally get the answer: the head gasket is broken and/or the one or more of the cylinder heads is cracked. Most likely from?? A prior overheating incident!!! Aka--plastic radiator. True, true trying to drive the car home might have been a bit on the risky side, but it was 11pm, my friend and I had been messing with the car for hours and I didn't want to impose anymore.

Anyways, other than the radiator issue the car has a fairly good build quality. Heck, even the outside door handles are made of solid metal! How rare is that nowadays? Even $50,000 Lincoln Town Cars have silver painted pieces of plastic! Nearly everything else works perfectly except maybe the rear window fluid dispenser but the car is now out to pasture after more than 190,000 wonderful miles because of an engineering oversight.

I don't really have any other complaints except for the rather harsh seats. The material stuffed inside them is a little firmer than what most people are used to and can take their toll on your back and butt fairly quickly. After driving the car for a while I did get used to it where as I could drive the car on a 250 mile trip and not even notice it, but other people have commented on it.

Other little nitpicks include the somewhat poor layout of the cupholders--when used the radio is completely blocked and impossible to mess with, let alone see the time. The stereo while alright is a little confusing (push the bass button in and turn it and it does one thing, then when it's extended if you pull it out father and then turn it...you get the point). The paint is fading fast nowadays, although I can't really complain as the car is getting up there in years. And that's how it goes for the whole car, it did it's duty faithfully, and while somethings might have been annoying overall it was pretty reliable, and dare I say...enjoyable?
Amount Paid (US$): 14000
Condition: New
Model Year: 1991
Model and Options: ABS, FWD, Non Turbo, A/T