1996 Subaru Legacy Outback 5MT AWD in IL for $1700

[Dodge Aries K]

Hi! I'm selling one of my 1996 Subaru Legacy Outback wagons. These cars are the best cars ever made by Subaru and, in my opinion, anybody else and that's why I have three of them. However, I'm attempting to start up my own business and for that I need something that can carry more than 3 passengers in the back so I need to purchase a van. Holding out for a stick shift van has been great but now one finally has come up and I need to clear out some things to be able to buy/park it. Regrettably, this Outback is sadly the next one on the list to be ousted. If I had the space and money, I would NEVER sell any of my Outbacks. I tell ya, the 1996 models with the stick are pretty hard to find which is making it really hard to let this one go.

So what makes a 1996 Outback special? Well, it's the first year of the REAL Outback so it has the raised suspension, raised roof, big fog lights, cool two tone graphics, etc. But, if you get the stick shift you get the smaller EJ22 4 cylinder boxer engine instead of the EJ25 4cam engine. Smaller is usually not better but it is in this case. Non-interference design for starters so that way if you slack on maintaince and the timing belt breaks you're not screwed. Also, the EJ22 doesn't have all those lousy head gasket issues like it's bigger brother the EJ25. I hate the EJ25 with a passion... will never own one. But EJ22 rocks my Subaru world.

By this you figured out my Outbacks are all manual transmissions then. This one has around 265,000 miles on it. I know, that's a lot, but EJ22 is happy to keep on running well over that number. Power windows that work, power locks that work, power mirrors that work, cruise control that works, a/c that works, heat that works. I put a new timing belt, idler pulley, thermostat, radiator hoses, spark plugs, wireset, air filter, a/c o-rings, front pioneer speakers, front tweeters, the leather seats and door cards, woodgrain accent trim, and keyless entry on the car too. I also replaced the front and rear brake pads. Newer passenger front wheel bearing too. Heck, it even has had a recent clutch job done. It runs and drives frickin fantastic. I love this car! I even had a hard to find hitch installed on the back of it to pull around a car dolley that I never got to actually use with it. Also, I put in a really nice Alpine CD player that will play MP3 cds with that neat graphical display with the motion graphics and so forth. Oh yeah, new hatch struts too so the gate opens with ease. Awesome AWD system that Subaru is known for. Roof rack for carrying stuff that won't fit inside. Rear seats that fold flat to carry a bunch of stuff. We've recently used it to carry a Subaru automatic transmission, a generator, and a bunch of tools without even folding the seats down. 1986nate can attest to that for sure as he was there pulling said transmission LOL. These cars are Subaru's gift to mankind.

However, as you'd expect, it does have some issues. Before I got the car it and Bambi got in a pretty bad fight... bad enough where it caused the airbags to go off and destroy the windshield. The windshield was replaced as was the driver side airbag but it wasn't plugged back in. The passenger air bag was NOT replaced so you can see the cover is open on the dashboard a bit. This means the air bag light is on. The rear struts are garbage original parts that to make a bit better I put spring spacers on. It's fine if you don't drive like a nut or carry a bunch of stuff in it but they NEED to be replaced. I replaced the passenger front wheel bearing... you get to replace the driver side front wheel bearing as it's making noise. Or, don't replace it for a while and just deal with the humming. It's not too bad yet but I can send you to a place that will change it really cheap. Throwout bearing squeaks when you're in neutral and not stepping on the clutch. Subaru told me it's no big deal and not to care. It just annoyed me. The driver side door lock doesn't want to work with the key, hence why I put the keyless entry in it but now the keyless entry somehow came unhooked from the driver side lock so yeah... gotta open it from the passenger side for the moment. Front tires aren't in the best of shape either but eh... rotate em and it'll be fine this winter. ABS light is on because the sensor on the passenger side is bad... but I have a good sensor for it. Check engine light is on because it says the catalyst effiency is below threshold... but it gets better mileage than my other 96 Outback with more than 100,000 less miles so... eh. Typical sloptastic Subaru shifter linkage and rust.

I know it sounds like a lot of stuff wrong but there's sooooo much more right with this thing. For one, you will not get stuck. I've taken this car in some pretty nasty places full of mud, water, and glop and it takes them like a champ. It doesn't leak oil or any other fluids and it also has all fresh fluids in it. I've used it to go on many long trips to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Indiana to get car parts from junkyards. It's seen many fun times of minor offroading, gets 24 MPG around town (good for an AWD wagon), and cruises nicely on the highways. Fix a few small things on it and it will last another 200,000 miles. Personally, I will miss the hell out of this car if it sells. It's been a great car and has converted many of my friends over to Subaru people including my room mate, my girlfriend, and three of my other friends who live nearby among impressing quite a lot of people at how awesome it is.

Here's some pictures of it with my white Outback and my buddy's green Outback. THIS car has the hitch, stock Subaru wheels, and does NOT have the 4 lights on the front bumper.




^My buddy showing some Subaru love











Okay, so there's some pictures. Pretty cool cars, eh? Wagon Mafia action! At any rate, since I know money is tight for people here's what I will do. I want $1700 for the car as it sits. If you want the original cloth seats pictured above and door cards I can lower the price down to $1600 since I do have a buyer just for the leather stuff. If you don't care about the radio and will happily rock a standard issue tape player I can knock off another $100 so then we're at $1500. Or keep the leather and not the cd player. Either way, knock one of those two "options" out and it's $100 off. Besides that, I'm not too flexible on the price since this car has just been too damn good to me. If you want a cheaper car, look at my Sundance at http://rockford.craigslist.org/cto/1926747055.html since it's $900 obo. You can call me at 815-980-8960 to set up an appointment to check out the car which also gives me a chance to get my stuff out of it. Anyway, call or text me any time day or night, I don't mind. Thanks again for checking this awesome wagon out and have a good day!

[Dodge Aries K]

This car has been sold!