Low Mileage Legacy - Who's Out There?

Hey guys, I just had my 2007 Legacy in for it's state inspection and had a very weird thing happen to me. After the inspection was over the mechanic who worked on my car asked me if I was interested in selling it to him. He had said that he works on a lot of different cars, but never one that was 10 years old with 68,000 miles and didn't need anything to pass PA's inspection. He literally thanked me for taking such good care of my car and said if I ever wanted to sell it to let him know. He gave me his cell and everything! I felt kinda good when I left knowing that I had a good car 10 years after I had bought it. Just wanted to share and see if anyone else had a lower mileage Legacy and had something like that happen to them. Here is my ride (I know it's not GT).

'05 LGT 5MT Limited wagon, 78K miles. I was on the other end of that exchange a year ago when it had 72K miles. I snapped it up and have been carefully improving since.

05 Legacy GT. Around 66k

 

 

2005 with 69,000. Currently a money pit but hoping it gets better soon and I can go back to just routine maintenance.

2005 with 69,000. Currently a money pit but hoping it gets better soon and I can go back to just routine maintenance.

 

If you consider the amount of money you've spent on the few maintenance / repairs that you've performed on this vehicle to be a money pit then my recommendation would be to get rid of the car. These cars are known to require a lot of attention and from the sounds of things you're going to be unhappy with yours.

09 3.0r bought it with 47k now at 65k

09 Spec B at 43k

I dont understand the low miles thing. I buy my vehicles to ride/drive - a lot. I went from test drive to 1000 miles as thats how far I had to go to get it home.

Just statistics...

09 Spec B at 43k

 

Ok, I'm jealous, my Spec has 78,000 miles. You need to break your wagon more...LOL

2005 with 69,000. Currently a money pit but hoping it gets better soon and I can go back to just routine maintenance.

 

just curious, what have you had to fix since the beginning of your ownership that makes you say it's a money pit? i've had a few things go wrong & spent my money on some fun stuff for it but i feel like that's part of the fun of having a car like this. I knew absolutely nothing about cars before I purchased mine. Repairs = knowledge lol

just curious, what have you had to fix since the beginning of your ownership that makes you say it's a money pit? i've had a few things go wrong & spent my money on some fun stuff for it but i feel like that's part of the fun of having a car like this. I knew absolutely nothing about cars before I purchased mine. Repairs = knowledge lol

 

• oil change
  
• inner boot on front passenger axle torn
  
• 4 tires
  
• alignment
  
• radiator was leaking a while ago, just replaced it
  
• oil and trans drain/refill
  
• driver's side inner boot is torn
  
• doing the timing belt early
  

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/there-ever-light-end-tunneliii-261679.html

• oil change
  
• inner boot on front passenger axle torn
  
• 4 tires
  
• alignment
  
• radiator was leaking a while ago, just replaced it
  
• oil and trans drain/refill
  
• driver's side inner boot is torn
  
• doing the timing belt early
  

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/there-ever-light-end-tunneliii-261679.html

 

Thats you're money pit??

 

The radiator and torn boots are the only non "periodic maintenance" issues I see and those likely arose from lack of driving it

Ok, I'm jealous, my Spec has 78,000 miles. You need to break your wagon more...LOL

 

The mileage accrual has slowed down quite a bit on both cars, ironically the spec B is the car that gets driven more despite the mileage not showing it. I started a new job downtown at the start of the year and they provide a free bus pass/parking wait list for my building is a year and a half long. So both cars are pretty limited to weekend fun for the time being.

Thats you're money pit??

 

The radiator and torn boots are the only non "periodic maintenance" issues I see and those likely arose from lack of driving it

 

I'm not turning this into a pissing match on what I do and don't consider a money pit. I don't fault the car for the tires, alignment or routine fluids. Don't really fault it for the timing belt since I'm doing it ahead of the miles schedule. I have needed to replace things and everyone's response is "that's normal for these cars". Well I have close to 300k miles of road that's passed under my ass and haven't had to do as many fixes as I've already had to do on this car. And I still haven't gotten to the rest of the "normal" breakages that I'm reading I should expect like cam seals, rear wheel bearings, cracked pistons, possible head gaskets and turbo failure.

 

Did my '95 Saturn need a radiator? Yea, at 200k miles. Did my Saturn and Focus need valve cover gaskets? Yea, both around 200k miles. Did my Monte Carlo need a new engine? Yea because it and the trans were worn out by 190k miles burning tons of oil and starting to slip. I'm not scared of fixing things, I just thought a low mile car would be close to as low maintence as my other high mile cars. Fixing this many things this early doesn't point to a bright future from where I'm standing...but if it turns out to be as bullet proof as the rest of you say they are, I'll gladly eat my words. But this car has a big internet reputation to live up to and 3 tanks that have spoiled me when it comes to my view of what it means to be a reliable piece of transportation.

I'm not turning this into a pissing match on what I do and don't consider a money pit. I don't fault the car for the tires, alignment or routine fluids. Don't really fault it for the timing belt since I'm doing it ahead of the miles schedule. I have needed to replace things and everyone's response is "that's normal for these cars". Well I have close to 300k miles of road that's passed under my ass and haven't had to do as many fixes as I've already had to do on this car. And I still haven't gotten to the rest of the "normal" breakages that I'm reading I should expect like cam seals, rear wheel bearings, cracked pistons, possible head gaskets and turbo failure.

Take away the tires, alignment, routine fluids, and timing belt and what do you have left? Driver / passenger boots and a radiator. That doesn't seem too bad for a 12 year old car.

 

Did my '95 Saturn need a radiator? Yea, at 200k miles. Did my Saturn and Focus need valve cover gaskets? Yea, both around 200k miles. Did my Monte Carlo need a new engine? Yea because it and the trans were worn out by 190k miles burning tons of oil and starting to slip. I'm not scared of fixing things, I just thought a low mile car would be close to as low maintence as my other high mile cars. Fixing this many things this early doesn't point to a bright future from where I'm standing...but if it turns out to be as bullet proof as the rest of you say they are, I'll gladly eat my words. But this car has a big internet reputation to live up to and 3 tanks that have spoiled me when it comes to my view of what it means to be a reliable piece of transportation.

Here is the solution to your problem:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5621884&postcount=5

Thats you're money pit??

 

The radiator and torn boots are the only non "periodic maintenance" issues I see and those likely arose from lack of driving it

 

I agree here... you HAVE to change the oil in any car. You have to put new tires on when they are done. The stuff mentioned would need to be done on any used car with 60k miles

09 Spec B at 43k

 

^Wins by a longshot

 

I'm at 70k somewhat trouble free miles other than a new steering rack : )

My wagon is sitting right at 75k and my wife's '09 has 57k.

 

It's entirely possible she doesn't hit 60k this year.

 

This is because we both have other cars to drive in nice weather.

I'm not turning this into a pissing match on what I do and don't consider a money pit. I don't fault the car for the tires, alignment or routine fluids. Don't really fault it for the timing belt since I'm doing it ahead of the miles schedule. I have needed to replace things and everyone's response is "that's normal for these cars". Well I have close to 300k miles of road that's passed under my ass and haven't had to do as many fixes as I've already had to do on this car. And I still haven't gotten to the rest of the "normal" breakages that I'm reading I should expect like cam seals, rear wheel bearings, cracked pistons, possible head gaskets and turbo failure.

 

Did my '95 Saturn need a radiator? Yea, at 200k miles. Did my Saturn and Focus need valve cover gaskets? Yea, both around 200k miles. Did my Monte Carlo need a new engine? Yea because it and the trans were worn out by 190k miles burning tons of oil and starting to slip. I'm not scared of fixing things, I just thought a low mile car would be close to as low maintence as my other high mile cars. Fixing this many things this early doesn't point to a bright future from where I'm standing...but if it turns out to be as bullet proof as the rest of you say they are, I'll gladly eat my words. But this car has a big internet reputation to live up to and 3 tanks that have spoiled me when it comes to my view of what it means to be a reliable piece of transportation.

 

Its funny you say Saturn because I originally had included something like "If you want maintenance free/super low cost to own, you should drive a Saturn. Even if they do break they are super cheap and easy to fix." And then you mention a Focus... Im dead :lol: My moms Focus was a champ too. Had been in like 3 wrecks, two pretty bad and totaled it - yet it still kept trucking for 10k and needed NOTHING. They dont want you doing maintenaince on it so bad that the air filter is a "Lifetime" filter! I was hating life having to replace the windshield and tires on that car when It was my daily before the subie.

 

As for the Subaru, I cant find the quote, but someone said that it seems like those with high mileage have far less issue then those with low mileage. It makes sense because these vehicles are not built to sit. Using them keeps them in shape - its why its always recommended to run engines and such periodically if not used regularly.

 

Compare A simple FWD Saturn or Focus to a Subaru. More power, more parts, more failure. Gotta pay if you want to play.

I do drive mine daily, but mostly go only a few miles. The only major issues I had to do with the car in the 10 years I have owned it was to replace the ball joints in the front 2 wheels and the exhaust which rusted out. I had other little minor issues like the airbag light issue that was a cheap fix and fix a door handle that broke.

 

It's great to hear that there are some low mileage Legacys out there. They are getting harder to find.

^Wins by a longshot

 

I'm at 70k somewhat trouble free miles other than a new steering rack : )

 

You would think so, but I know there are some other Spec B's out there with 20-30k on them.

My wagon is sitting right at 75k and my wife's '09 has 57k.

 

Bring wifey car over to DGM thread. It's kind of dead over there.

 

You would think so, but I know there are some other Spec B's out there with 20-30k on them.

 

Yeah, but you checked in as the current leader. Don't try and take that away from yourself ; )

 

Then again, this crown isn't legendary like "Highest mileage"

Yea know...I feel bad for those that don't get to enjoy driving these cars more. My wagon turned 240,000 miles. Still love driving it.

Yeah, but you checked in as the current leader. Don't try and take that away from yourself ; )

 

Then again, this crown isn't legendary like "Highest mileage"

 

Haha I'll have to recruit all the other low mileage guys. They're all in the Spec B facebook group.

 

Yea know...I feel bad for those that don't get to enjoy driving these cars more. My wagon turned 240,000 miles. Still love driving it.

 

So true, they're such a blast to drive. I wish I had more time to be driving them at the moment. Can't wait to add a catback system and get a protune on the Spec B.