Subaru Legacy 2.5 GX

I currently have a 1999 Legacy Estate to use as my work car.

Many of my friends own, or have owned, Subaru's over the years and I've generally heard good things about them. What a disappointment this legacy has turned out to be.

Although a quad cam 2.5 litre model the performance could be tactfully described as 'lacklustre'. Handling likewise and in fact when towing it becomes truly alarming, wallowing all over the road. The only aspect in which it excels is its ability to consume massive amounts of fuel. As this is the main vehicle cost that I have to meet myself I have to admit that it is the one expense that causes the most pain. My employers V8 supercharged Range Rover does better MPG then my Subaru.

Over the last 12 months its spent almost as much time off the road being repaired as actually on it being driven. When I acquired the car it had no rear brakes, these being totally worn to the shoe rivets, requiring new pads and disks to rectify. A short time later the front section of exhaust disintegrated in a shower of rust. This was followed a few months later by the front brakes seizing on while driving, causing the brake fluid to boil & the disks to warp. A complete front end brake rebuild was required to repair.

It has most recently been off the road for the last 8 weeks having its automatic transmission rebuilt after it seized in 3rd gear while on a trip back from Wales, leaving me stranded until rescued by the RAC.

All in all a very bad car and my experience has put me off Subaru's for life.

I had a 1999 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GX Saloon. It had lether interior and climate control and all the gimmicks that coem with the standart edition. The driving position was good, engine was perfect, Consumption was less than my 2 lt Mitsubishi Galant (registered in 2000) at around 11lt per 100 km in mixed use. Servicing and maintenance costs were high but reliability and solid build quality made up for that. I sold it recently and bought a REnaul Megane Scenic (not my idea family pressure!!). There is nto a single day I miss my Subaru. I know therey are two different cars but Scenic sucks! And you know what it costs more to maintain than Legacy. Whatever lets stick with LEgacy for now. Handling is superb, comfort levels are a bit on the hard side depending on what type of shocks / tyres you are on. If you have found a tidy well cared for one go for it.

I traded in my faithful Mitsubishi Galant estate for one of these Subaru legacy 2.5 GX estate and immediately knew I had made a mistake. (Gut feeling).

Subaru was a 2.5 gx automatic model registered in 2000

Full mainly Subaru service history.

Mileage 111000

Ok the first 2 weeks went ok, when I noticed that sometimes when I put the car into drive nothing happened, the car was not even attempting to move off, then it would jerk off if you put your foot down which can be quite hazardous.

It carried on like this for the next week or so but I managed to get by. (How I yearned for my Mitsubishi Galant back).

But hey the car slipping into gear when it felt like it was nothing compared to what happened next. I was driving one morning when suddenly I lost control of the steering as power steering failed, battery light came on and stayed on but engine was still running. I managed to pull the car aside and luckily an accident was averted. I called the AA who came out and diagnosed the main crankshaft pulley had fallen of and in the process had done some damage to the keyway and the crankshaft itself.

I had to be towed to a garage and was told the bill to rectify the situation would be 350 pounds, and there was no guarantee the pulley would stay on as they would have to add some chemical weld to it. The garage said they were seeing more and more of this on these Subarus. The other alternative was a recon or new engine.

Also sometimes the brakes feel sharp and other times they feel rather suspect like the pads have worn right down, even though when checked they have not.

By now I was sick to death of this car, but luckily the dealer who I bought it from still had my Mitsubishi Galant and did the honourable thing and exchanged my car back, also paying for the dodgy repair on the Subaru.

Ok I did not get all my money back, but hey I have my long standing faithful friend back which is smoother and on my opinion much better than the Subaru.

Will I miss the Subarus all wheel drive or anything else about it /

NO WAY. STAY CLEAR.

Moral of the story if you have a faithful reliable car you would not be afraid to drive anywhere on the country with, think carefully before you swap it. I had a relatively happy ending because the dealer intervened and I pity whoever gets the Sub next. .

A very good car, a good option,trouble free car. Good ground clearance, great handling, and it gives you a safe driving sensation.

I've owned Subaru estates for over 7 years now and I'm a huge fan. They are reliable, practical, fast and well equipped if you go for a higher spec. I love the safety aspect and my wife and kids use mine mainly. They grip the road well and are solidly built.

Advice to any buyer? Always, always, always go for a full Subaru history car. All roos have quirks that the mechanics check and fix if necessary (at a price of course..) but then again they never leave you stranded. You can pick up a decent GX auto estate lux for about £4.5K on eBay with full s/h. I know because I did and it's still going strong at 150,000 miles.

Choose well and you'll not regret it. Bit thirsty but life's too short anyway.

The Subaru Legacy 2.5 GX is overall a very good car. Decent performance, although it could do with more power, reasonable economy considering it is 4WD. Handling is fairly good, very safe & secure. With the GX Lux pack, the spec has just about everything you could wish for. Reliability has been great so far, as you would expect from any Japanese car. Well worth considering as a used buy, certainly far more interesting and a bit different from the usual German cars which are now so common.

The Subaru Legacy estate 2.5GX auto is a great all-round family car. We've taken it to all round the UK from Devon to Scotland, and across the continent to the Alps, it has never let us down. It is not a cheap car to run. Car has done 78k miles, we have owned it for just over a year, in addition to scheduled servicing (7,500 mile intervals) we have carried out the following:

Cylinder head gasket (common problem) - £1,200

Four wheel allignment (required at intervals) - £250

Ignition coil, leads and plugs - £350

Exhaust (no aftermarket alternatives available) - £600

Suspension (ride height has a life of it's own - it has pumped itself up to High and has taken up permanent residence there.) - £tba

Routine servicing costs are reasonable at an independent garage, but more technical jobs need to be done by Subaru who are great to deal with, but parts and labour prices are extortionate (even compared to prestigious German marques).

Not as fast as I had expected, 2.5 GX is a comfortable family cruiser, auto box and four wheel drive drain ooomph. Foot to the floor prompts kick-down, revs and noise are exciting but result is gentle acceleration.

Hopefully we're running out of things to replace and it will be as the reports say - an extremely reliable car.

With 107,000 safe miles under it's belt the Legacy is still performing like new.

The handling is fun especially as the SVDC system is there ready to catch the car when my own skill runs out.

I choose the car because of the inherent safety of the AWD and because of Subaru's excellent reliabilty record. I have run two Subarus before and have been impressed.

The whole vehicle appears to be bullet-proof and I am extremely happy with it.

Air suspension lost all pressure and left the Subaru Legacy 2.5 GX on its bump stops. Dealer unable identify exactly what was wrong. Replaced the pump (over £600). 1st time I put it in High, it won't come back down!

A great concept... quality jap car with 4wd and degree of differentiation but the Subaru Legacy 2.5 GX doesn't live up to it.

Expensive servicing, engine problems and wheel bearing problems mean I won't be getting another one.

It surprises me they are so often reported as being well built. The problems I've had and heard of from others don't appear to bear this out.