2003 Legacy L Common issues?

Hi Folks, I'm brand new to Subarus. I'll be taking delivery of my new (to me) 2003 legacy L mid next week.

I am a VW enthusiast, and I am familiar with the wrench. I however, have been into older cars for a long time. I'm damn good with Kjet, CIS, and early injection. (Don't be mad over my german car fetish, I love domestic and Japanese cars as well.)

OBDII is sort of new to me, I'm computer savvy, and a machinist by trade.

I am the sort of guy who can't get a car without peeking under the hood and checking up on things....and modifying things a bit.

I'll be buying a OBDII blue tooth connector and an Android app... I have also been looking at piggy back tuning computers.

So... enough intro My questions are:

What common issues did these have?

The car has 99k on it, and has a huge stack of service receipts, I'll check recalls and see what has and has not been done.

Where should I start looking into performance mods?

What are the common HP restrictions on these? Air intake? Exhaust? Cam?

Is this one of the Subarus known for a common headgasket failure after 100k?

what other common wear items should I look at (aside from the obvious tie rods, ball joints, and suspension stuff.)

Thanks for reading!

-Loki

I have a very similar car to what you're looking at just a few more miles. The head gaskets are a known issue, but by how you describe yourself you can easily change them out. Minus having to remove a few things from the engine bay to get them out they aren't that bad.

The issues I see a lot in this forum and others are fairly straight forward things, but occasionally something kinda major pops up. I have seen the small things like intake issues from various states of maintained cars, to coolant leaks that kill the engine, but honestly I don't see any of these things steering you away.

Well being that these are N/A, they are very difficult/expensive to really get power out of, it can be done, but be willing to spend 100-1000s of dollars to do it. I hear people getting around 200hp with intake, exhausts, a tune, and other minor modifications. I have really only heard people doing intakes exhausts and tunes on these, but I know that cams can be gotten, along with high compression pistons to get some more power. Much beyond that you are getting into major things that will run 1000s.

As for things to look for the usual leaks of any kind, check all the fluid levels, because low coolant can be a red flag to issues, listen for anykind of vibrations or ticks, and other than that I can't think of much else.

Thanks folks. I have never built a flat 4, but I've torn a few apart at a rebuild plant, splitting the case is interesting, but man these blocks are light! I could set it on my work bench if my back wasn't all messed up right now.

I will keep an eye on the regular maintenance and keep the under hood mods to a minimum. This is the family truckster/ a daily commuter. I don't really need mid 200s hp. Perhaps if this goes tits up when finances are in better shape I will seek out a wrecked wrx st for an engine, computer, and trans swap.

Edit: I found a post by NMLegacy and this link in another thread http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/headgasket.html

I am in luck, only early phase 2 motors were affected, and the 2003 model did not have the common HG failure issue.

YAY!

of note-the suspension in the 2000-2004 is very similar to the 2005-2009 and the 2008+wrx

Being a VW guy I'd say a nice Bilstein suspension is what you may like...

And Rear sways are highly recommended, but do some research in the suspension forum. I'm not 100% sure the sways from a 2005-2009 will fit in a 2000-2004....

also 5x100 VW wheels will fit on subaru, but the hub diameter is slightly larger for VW, which means on a subaru the fitment is a little loose...

Thanks! Yeah, I have a soft spot in my heart for Bilstein sports and HD's Koni makes some good stuff too.

I keep finding conflicting info on the lug pattern. When did subaru switch to or from 5X114.3? I know the dubs I have owned were all 4x100, but the hub is the same as those with a 5x100 lug, at 57.1mm ... looks like subarus are 56.1mm, is that correct?

I could probably machine some rings for the hub if I get some nice VW wheels for it. I'm selling off all my VW stuff for now, maybe I'll trade for some.

5x100 is on all subarus exept the 05+(i think)sti and the tribeca, which should both be the 5x114.3 hub pattern. I'm pretty sure it is 56.1 for the hub size. BTW- I have a set of ASA wheels that were from a VW- they fit well on my outback, but just have to carefully tighten each lug-nut in the star pattern to center the wheel on the hub.

I know you get the koni's and the bilsteins for your car

Thanks for the clarification, It seems like the Legacy is the "odd model out" so far as a lot of forums and modifications go. I'll be looking for small mods on the cheap for now. Once I graduate I might get a little more serious about modding.

Can someone direct me to a DIY on "clearing the headlights" Without having the car here to look at I am not sure how it's done. I imagine you split the case and remove the yellow plastic.

I'm thinking I want some bigger wheels and I'll probably put a light tint on all of the lights, maybe get some window tinting done if it isn't already tinted much.

I haven't seen this car in about 3 years, the first order of business will probably be replacing a door that has a major dent.