Looking at a 2009 Legacy 2.5i

I have recently found and test drove a 2009 Legacy 2.5i, which I found has the Harman Kardon audio system and sunroof/moonroof. Is this a "Special Edition" model or just an upgraded option? The exterior is between 8.4 / 10. It also has power driver seat and nice Continental tires. These are the good things about the vehicle.

 

The negative things are that the right rear outside door handle is inoperative (they said they would fix this), it has cloth seats (not a huge deal, but...), the rear center seat is torn at the back seam(all the way across), and the leather arm rest/center console lid has several small perforations from the previous owner's pet pooch. One plus is that the car smelled like a clean dog as opposed to a wet one.

 

The vehicle is priced just under $12k, and it has about 80000 miles. Are there any concerns I should look for with this particular year (any weak components in drivetrain/common leaks)? It is all stock, no aftermarket add-ons. This is my first buy on my own and I am just a little bit nervous about it. Any advice at all would be super!

I have the same car, I think it's a special edition. LOL

Anyhow, I love mine, great commuter.

That is 100% definitely the Special Edition, which was all you mentioned plus 4-wheel disc brakes I think. Subaru didn't usually sell the very 'base' model except for fleet sales. What they did many times was make it a ~$1,400 dollar option, then provide a ~$1,100 dollar rebate for getting the SE model. So it was almost the same price as the base model.

 

Anyways, I don't know if anyone has had an '08/'09 long enough yet to see any major issues yet. Mine's only at 65k miles and only the rear subwoofer-type speaker in the package tray blew out many times when it was under warranty until I bought an aftermarket speaker for it. As far as seats I ordered leather for mine and installed it myself for less than $800.

 

I would say the sale price should be a little less for 80k miles, say closer to like ~10.5k maybe?

 

As far as the car itself, mine has been rock solid. Fantastic in the snow and driving out on the beach when I still lived in FL. Pretty comfortable on long road trips. Mine is a 5MT, I can get 34mpg on a long highway run, usually 24mpg mixed city/hwy and about 21 sole city driving. Depending on your driving style, if you are tall and/or are used to American cars, you might find that either the pedals are too close or the steering wheel is too far forward (even tho it telescopically adjusts). Just takes some getting used to.

 

In addition, don't plan on bolt-ons or anything. They don't really exist for the 2.5i, you can do suspension mods easily, but there's not a lot for the 2.5i out there, except the AVO turbo kit, which isn't cheap by any means, although it is awesome.

 

I think that's about all the caveats...

So get the maintenance records. Most important for these engines is routine oil change. On my 5th Subie. Have #4, an 07OB with 124K on it. Same engine. It is holding up very well. My experience is after 5K, the car "tells" me to change the oil. Rough idle and drop in mileage. Big expense is at 105K, change timing belt, coolant pump and so forth. If you have an independent shop that works on Subies, go there rather than the dealer.

Wow, thanks for the great responses. I will have to look into getting leather seats. I haven't seen anything that cheap yet though. When I tested the audio system, all components seemed to work, but I will have to recheck the subwoofer. It is a small dealership selling the vehicle, so I am not sure what sort of maintenance records they can get but I will definitely have to check into that. And the 105k tune-up is also good to know about. I work at a GM dealer in service, and planned on having some fluids flushed after purchase.

 

One thing that has been on my mind since the test drive is that I have a sensation there may have been a slight growl from the front while slowing down. I have thought so much about it I can't remember if it was while braking or just taking my foot off the accelerator (which I am sure could be implication of something terrible). Has anybody had any issues with front ends? I plan on rechecking before purchasing, but just wondered what other people have seen. I haven't found any information about problems online.