I see a lot of them on the road in good shape. People hold on to them. Watch for rust. Clean the undercarriage. Get an inspection done. 4WD models have the usual self-destructing Power Transfer Units that NEED 30,000 mile fluid changes or they grind themselves into sludge. The rest of the car is fairly bulletproof and parts are available. They are solid cars and I see them driving around near me in greater proportion than I should given their age and numbers.

STEER CLEAR of the 2013-2020 models. VERY difficult and expensive to work on, European design, nightmarish for mechanics and your wallet. The 2021-2022 models are better but of course, will be expensive by comparison.

 

It's based on the frustration/anger/grief I've seen on the faces of about 250 Hybrid owners (mostly Prius), who that have owned their car for less than a year before they have to spend big bucks keeping it going. These include people that have owned their car for as little as a single weekend.

Low mileage hybrids have a very high reward/risk ratio. High mileage hybrids have an inverted risk/reward ratio - MUCH higher short term risk with limited potential for reward. Hybrids have components that non-hybrids don't, and a few of these are almost certain to fail as the mileage progresses.

Based on my direct experience, if one is not okay with spending an additional $2000-3000 dollars within the first 90 days of ownership, one should not consider a used hybrid.

 

Found one for 7500, 133k, had timing belt replaced at 100k. Looks super clean, however seller said "Has been in an accident years ago. Subaru dealership just did an inspection on it and found a couple small items including a tail light bulb that is out a small leak on the valve cover gasket the muffler rubbing and they recommended fluid replacement on the differential." Not sure how to analyze that as I dont know much about cars. Maybe you can explain better? Is this to be of concern?

I asked about the gasket comment he said he "The valve cover gasket is a pretty cheap fix but it’s not leaking. The oil was on top of it from where I spilled some oil after an oil change."

 

Ooof, just said title is salvage. Yep can't touch that

 

I would take it to a good mechanic and pay them (some won't charge!) for an inspection. The valve cover gasket may be a nothingburger. On the other hand, if it is leaking oil regularly, that isn't good because of fire risk and also obviously the mess and you'll be using oil on an engine that can already use oil over 100k miles. The Subaru boxer engine is "horizontally opposed" meaning that the pistons travel parallel to the ground plane, in and out toward the sides of the car, instead of straight up and down or in a "V" shape like other engines. This is great for lowering the overall height of the engine and reducing the car's center of gravity, and is partially responsible for Subaru's legendary performance in snowy conditions, BUT as a result, the pistons are laying on their SIDES. If the owner doesn't change the oil regularly or uses JUNK oil, the constant force of gravity on the sides of the pistons closest to the ground causes the oil-control rings to wear prematurely and then the car burns oil. Good oil, good filters, and regular oil changes prevent that. Again: maintenance is key.

The car has *two* differentials in addition to the transmission: it has a *center* differential and a *rear* differential, then the transmission fluid. They are all separate and they all can be checked, drained and refilled independently of each other. In fact it is very important to know exactly where the drain and fill plugs are for the respective parts on a CVT model because they look very similar but are absolutely *not* and the fluid is different. However, if someone has recommended a differential fluid change I would wonder: "Why do they say that? Is there NOISE coming from the differential?"

The Subaru AWD system needs all of its parts working properly to function well. Most of the time it is very reliable. I have never seen one completely fail. However, an independent inspection by someone knowledgeable will rule it out.

Also, I don't like the sound of "muffler is dragging." That could be a $5 rubber "doughnut" that is holding the muffler up, or it could be the beginning of something much more expensive. The only way to tell is to have that car put up on a lift and inspected.

Let me put it this way: If you are prepared to spend $7,500 on a car, the seller should consent to an inspection at a bonafide Subaru mechanic. They can drive it there. It usually takes an hour or less. If they won't let you do it, you don't want the car. The mechanic can tell right away if the car has been hit badly and improperly re-straightened, if there are any serious problems, etc. The mechanic will also tell you about brakes, CV joints (there are EIGHT on a Subaru Outback - in addition to the driveshaft joints!), wheel bearing noise, brake fluid condition, coolant condition, engine cooling fan condition and operation, air conditioning operation, ABS sensor tone rings, struts, bushings, and all the rest of the things that make the difference between a lemon or a car that will cost you another $2,500 or more in repairs, and a smooth ride.

There are a lot of people all around the country that specialize in Subaru repairs. In fact, my Subaru guy said: "I don't know if I'm going to change this CVT fluid yet, I'm going to test it first. If it doesn't need to be changed, I leave it alone and just top it off."

Since you say you don't know a lot about cars (which is true of many people, don't feel badly) you want to get someone who knows Subarus to look at it. An accident may just mean body damage to the front clip, which can be completely removed and replaced without any damage to the chassis. On the other hand it could have been a serious collision involving straightening the chassis, which if not properly repaired can lead to all kinds of misalignments and RUST from where the metal buckled and is now exposed to the elements.

That's my best recommendation. $7500 is a solid deal if the rest of the car checks out and a good mechanic will know within 1/2 hour what you are looking at. My $0.02. Otherwise that sounds like a good candidate from what you've told me. You also want to make sure all the interior parts and switches work, the cruise control works, the radio and speakers work, the power windows and mirrors work, all the lights work inside and out, etc., etc. It takes a little time to go through a car properly. When you open the doors, check the weatherstripping is all 100% intact and looks good and the PAINT inside the door jambs on all 5 doors is factory original. There should be no sign of repainting/multiple colors/doors that don't align/weatherstripping that looks like it's been replaced in one part of the car but not in others, etc., etc.

It takes due diligence to be assured of your purchase on a car with more than 100,000 miles on it. The CARFAX report will not tell you everything and if the owner has anything to conceal, they will not either - even if they are a relative in a lot of cases.

Here is some Caveat Emptor for you. This is on a Ford F150 that "looked good" but it needs about $13,000 worth of work just to be SAFE. My mechanic will do an inspection for NOTHING and then if I buy the car he will repair what he finds wrong. Many good mechanics have the same policy, and you want to find one. Do it right and you'll have a car that will last a long time.

 

If you are anywhere near the Northeast, there are a lot of cars that were turned into SUBMARINES during the recent flooding that occurred there. NY/NJ/CT/PA were all soaked and *LOTS* of cars were on the bottom of the water. There are *tens of thousands* of salvage vehicles now seeping their way into the used market looking for suckers. I just saw one here in MA the other day, a Subaru Forester that still had MUD in the speaker grilles of the doors and water stains halfway up the rear window glass. The flooding wasn't very bad in MA, so apparently someone drove or towed it from one of the badly-hit states and was trying to unload it on the unsuspecting. The guy had a sign: "$6,000 - RUNS GREAT!" sign on the windshield. You might as well take the money and burn it.

 

i like foresters but theyre not that friendly on gas... i drive a lot delivering grubhub and doordash. i wish there was a fwd option for the outback as i dont need the awd and actually prefer fwd as it's a less complex system that is less hard on the vehicle.

 

Understood. Then a regular Escape won't be a big money-saver either, in fact worse than a Hybrid in that regard. The problem with the Hybrid is that once the HV battery pack starts to go downhill, the EV mode and Hybrid mileage boost are two of the first things to deteriorate. When the systems were new, the EV mode could push the car more than a full mile under 40 miles per hour in light traffic. Then the car would use the regenerative braking to recoup energy and use the transaxle to boost the mileage by taking some of that saved energy and turn it back into propulsive energy. They were great as *new* cars taxicabs in the NYC fleet for that reason, they could last 300,000 miles. However, as the battery packs deteriorate, that boost continues to diminish. So you have to find a good one and really understand the car if you want to use it for that purpose. A lot of people don't understand that ALL of the propulsive energy in these cars ultimately comes from gasoline: the battery pack is there to *store* energy that has been either generated by the internal combustion engine through the transaxle's generator, or through the regenerative braking system. But all the energy comes from burning dead dinosaurs. When the system is working like it came from the factory, the energy recovery is something like 40%. As they age and the batteries become less efficient, the mileage drops until it is actually *worse* than a standard Escape, because the car is also hauling around several hundred pounds of extra mass in the form of the battery pack.

A good Outback even with the AWD can reach into the high 20s and low 30s on mileage if driven frugally and if it's in good shape. The NEW FEH plug-in hybrids with front wheel drive are attractive cars, but they're not cheap. It looks like you'll have to continue your search. Good luck! Regardless of what you buy, take Ford Tech Makuloco's advice: once you put your money down, it's hard to get it back.

 

Heh, every car I've purchased I had to spend the extra thousand to do the maintenance nobody ever did. Replace all the dying parts, fix hidden problems, etc. Maybe I'm bad at buying cars or maybe it's the name of the game. If you do your own work it isn't so bad. If you're paying someone, yeah. Spending more is no guarantee you won't have the same problem unless you are buying an inspected/serviced car (you pay that premium, in theory).

I too wanted an outback and heard of all of the head gasket issues. It's ****ed if you do, ****ed if you don't. I would really hate to be dependent on others to fix my car as a "black box" type thing.