Legacy 2.5 GX 1999

Hey. I have an opertunity to buy my old folks car for under 30% of the market value here in Norway. I am BMW driver and has been for 8 years now, but I find them really expensive to find a nice old car.

It is a Legacy Wagon 2.5 GX 1999/2000 with automatic and VDC and air springs, everything has been changed lately. To mention some Air Springs, Timing Belt, Brakes, winter/summer tires Oil etc.

If im not buying the Subaru from them I will probably get a Suzuki XL7 or another nice looking old SUV instead.

The only thing that made me abit concerned is the thing about the topgasket issue on the 2.5 engine. The engine is running smooth, when pushed and when I drive it for 2hours or more. But the coolant has dropped 10-15cm in a year now, and as I understand this means there is a leak somewhere?

Something special I should look for the find out if there is a problem or not?

I guess no one know? Heard that in America atlest there was first DOHC engine then a SOHC engine. The the dohc had internal leak while the the sock had outer leak. But this may be different with a model produced in Japan?

Great resource here.

I don't think we got the GX here in the states, and I'm more familiar with older imprezas than older legacies, so I'm not sure which engine (SOHC or DOHC) you have.

Can you find out what your engine code is? It should be EJ25_. Also, you may have more luck posting in the Naturally Aspirated technical forum here.

EJ251 according to registration number when i search it up.

EJ251 is SOHC.

Yeh i noticed, then the main issue is outer leaks as I assume from all the info around. Shall read some more according to the problem with the sohc then. cheers

Good luck with your car search. The timing belt's an expensive maintenance item, so since that and a few other things are new, I'd say bite the bullet, repair the head gasket, and drive the thing for another 100k miles.

Checked some more and it just seems like the coolant had maybe dropped 5cm and is probably because it did fall down abit after my dad changed it last year. Will do a pressure test probably to be sure as a Subaru dealer said it was smart. Really been wanting it aswell as it is a really nice ride. Did not belive it would match my e39 trough the corners in speed, probably because of the tight air springs aswell.

I would take the subaru over the suzuki any day!

As long as your not looking for a perfect show car I would say buy the subaru, keep an eye on the coolant level, and keep a spare jug of it on hand. Small coolant seepages won't destroy your engine so don't sweat it.

And if you want to close the verdict on internal vs external leak, just check your oil for milky colours.