My Daughter just picked up an OB XT!

After four years of driving a salvage titled Malibu Maxx, my oldest is free of it. It was passed on to the younger daughter who is oh so glad of that .

 

Meanwhile after searching for a good Outback for my oldest that fit in the price point a college kid can afford (my kids pay their way), we stumbled upon a couple. A Black 2005 LL Bean H6 and a White 2007 XT. Both 3 hours away and an hour from each other. She chose the XT between them. Won't lie I am kind of jealous as the XT I have always wanted in a Baja but can't justify getting when I have 3 motorcycles and a truck.

 

Now, I have had OB's before and all but one of the 5 were great cars (had a 2005 lemon). However, I have never had an XT or any turbo Subi. As it is used, I need to see what issues I can expect from it. I know the head gasket issue if you let a 2.5 even get close to overheating and I imagine the turbo exaggerates it right? I figure the select-able traction setting makes the suspension a pain too? What can I expect from it trouble wise basically?

 

Also, she is an A to B driver. If it starts, she's happy. I on the other hand am more of the what can be improved type. I have modded turbo cars before, but again, no Subi. What little mods work best on these cars to make it last longer, run better, and be more efficient?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Nice snag, looks clean other than making sure it’s got fresh fluids in it to start your ownership, be sure to get the timing belt redone immediately if it hasn’t had it done. If you’re so inclined you could put on an aftermarket down pipe and put a Cobb tune on it to pick up a 25HP ‘ish bump and smooth out the power delivery but you’ll be about $1k into it to do so. Sounds like none of this would really matter to her

Head gasket is mostly an issue on the 2.5i (non-turbo) cars. The biggest issue by far on these cars is the turbo and clean oil and oil consumption.

 

At stock power levels, the 5EAT (or is it 5MT?) is probably ok, and shouldn't cause too many problems. And with an '07, at least there's no cat in the up-pipe to degrade and mess up the car, so that's one thing you avoided.

 

Please say it didn't just get a new turbo? That's usually the sign of the oil being cut off, the turbo dying and possibly metal parts all over the insides, meaning new engine in a few months at best. Search for "banjo bolts" on here, check these, invest in upgraded oil lines if you have the time and can find them. And the oil has to be checked every ~1k miles on older cars. Mine was starting to use a quart every 750-1000 miles.

 

Honestly - if your daughter is like most non-car girls I know (like you said - A to B, as long as it works, she's happy), she probably made the wrong choice - the H6 would have been a better choice, even though it may have the headgasket issue.

 

If she ever gets a check engine light and hears weird noises, she needs to pull over ASAP and STOP DRIVING. And if she's lucky, it'll just be the turbo.

 

Search on here for "ynasb" (you need a new short block) and the countless horror stories of "just bought a used LGT / OBXT - 100 miles later, there's smoke coming out of the engine or the turbo is making a horrible noise". I'm not trying to scare you - with any luck, you got a good one that wasn't abused. But, it's happened MORE than you would believe on here. People kill the turbo due to oil starvation, drain the oil, put in a new turbo and sell it immediately, knowing the turbo will last maybe a few hundred miles before the metal parts in the engine get back into the new oil and kill the new turbo. The only solution (if your engine doesn't die in the process) is to get a new engine to get all the metal particles out. It sucks. The only good part is that a brand-new-from-subaru shortblock is around $2k.

Edited July 7, 2019 by hadvw
Stupid Firefox spacing..

I will say that a Cobb AP is still a good idea, Even stage 1 is better then stock.

 

I use K&N air filters that I clean yearly and lightly oil. Also clean the MAF sensor at the same time with a short spray from a can of MAF Cleaner from the auto parts store.

 

If it needs a timing belt, the Aisin Kit is the recommended kit. NOT a GATES.

 

Read the sticky's up top and take notes from JmP's sticky about various parts, ton of great info there.

 

I use Amsoil 5w-40 European Classic oil and there filters doing 7000 mile changes and topping the oil off weekly as needed. NEVER let the engine get low on oil.

 

Blackstone Labs will do a oil analysis well worth the $35.00 for peace of mind.

 

Most guys here use Shell Rotella t6 doing 3000-3500 mile oil changes.

 

If you haven't figured it out, oil changes and oil level is important.

Thanks for the input guys. The turbo looked to be as old as the rest and the records don't record a replacement. They do show a timing belt replacement about 40k mile ago (150k on car).

 

 

 

It is an automatic, unfortunately. My duaghter can drive stick, but calls it annoying in a car. In fact the car has a hitch that she "required" for hauling her motorcycle.

 

 

 

I checked the oil and it looked brown not black. The records show the last change 2 months ago. Who ever the prior owners (2) didn't do their own work and took it to the dealer. Usually that means not abused or young guy owned.

Edited July 8, 2019 by gdcpony

She’s an A-to-B driver, but has a motorcycle? That’s an interesting combination.

Also, that’s one good looking outback.

Sounding better. Not trying to scare you, but just wanted you to know that the turbo / oil is the one big issue on these cars. And I guess stock tune as well - I've been tuned so long (10+ years) I never think about that anymore..

 

 

 

So check those banjo filters, and if they're clean, then just keep doing oil changes every 3-4k with synthetic, and you should be good.

 

 

Oh, and one more thing - these cars, for whatever reason, don't like Mobil I. Good oil, works great for plenty of cars, just not this model. Just about any other synthetic will do.