1986 Subaru GL or DL questions for a guru

[wohnson89]

I'm looking to get a beater that I don't have to worry about parking dings and keying idiots. Among other things I found a 86 dl or gl sedan (seller doesn't say what it is). It's got a 4speed, awd, and only 120K miles. Since I've never owned a "classic" Subaru, and there seems to be quite a few of you here that have, I have a few questions:

-What kind of millage do these get? The seller claims a magical 40 MPG!!!11!1
-Does the trans hold up ok?
-What are some things to watch out for?
-I know they are not thunderbolts, but how good or bad are the engines? Can they reach highway speed? (80 round these parts)
-What do you think would be a fair price?

Attached pic is of the car.

Thanks in advance.

[North Ursalia]

DL had two headlights, GL will have four. The biggest issue is rust- never had a Subaru of that vintage have serious engine or transmission problems. We always ended up getting rid of them for rust (or when I totaled a Volvo that pulled out in front of me with one). They will do highways speeds, certainly. They are rather light comparatively speaking so the low HP isn't a huge issue. Zero to 60 times are still going to be 'there by tomorrow' but they are good in the snow.

If you do buy it, have the VIN checked for the control arm recall (rear control arms can rust clean through leaving you with a tire at 45 degrees to the road).

[SVX92-97]

Those are dogs if they are carbed. You could pedal faster on a bike

[North Ursalia]

Come now, the carbed version had about 80 hp and the SPFI had 90

[bishop]

yeah, carbed cars werent that bad.

We've had an 88 loyale wagon for nearly 15 years with the spfi engine, 5spd manual, and dual range 4x4. Awesome car, we rebuilt the engine, put a new clutch in it, has been awesome since, only needed more maintenance recently.

I've gotten 40mpg out of it on the highway, usually around 25 city.

[dcarrb]

Actually, the headlight thing is the other way around, at least for MY 1986: GL=2, DL=4 (old-style sealed beans for the latter, as I recall).

I had an '86 GL wagon, 1.8L w/carburator, 5 speed MT, dual-range "On Demand" AWD, AC, cruise, no power steering, oil pan skid plate. Drove it hard to the tune of 200,000 miles. No significant mechanical issues. Could indeed run 80 MPH, downhill with a brisk tailwind. MPG probably high twenties, as the gas pedal had to be floored to get anywhere. But I loved it. Outstanding off-road and in snow. Subaru should sell an updated version of this thing.

The original clutch was slipping and it smoked like wet pine straw on a campfire when I let it go, but what really killed it was rust. Check rocker panels, rear inner fenders, rear quarters. Good luck.

dcb