My friend is looking at this car, but...

...what am I missing here? I've been out of my Legacy for a few years now, but I don't remember this being anywhere close to a "stock" combination of options.

 

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/5852274956.html

 

It's listed as a Legacy L, and it does have that badge on the back. Yet it has a GT bumper, and a GT hood, and leather with wood grain on the interior, and the upgraded stereo and heated seats... so I thought maybe it was a GT that had a different trunk...

...but it also has the 2.2L engine, not the 2.5. I'm so confused. Could you actually get all those things on the L? It also has an Outback front grille.

Pretty high DIY parts count. Could be any of those unexpected options were DIY as well. I would guess it is L and the hood/front trim were DIY.

 

I'd say it comes down to doing a very thorough inspection and deciding if you are satisfied with the guys workmanship or not compared to the miles and price.

 

I'd go by and see it if it was near me.

According to Cars101, the 1998 Legacy L wagon had the following options:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=240551&stc=1&d=1478816708

 

The guy is full of crap that these were factory options on THIS vehicle, as the L Wagon only had cloth seats and never had a Leather option. Additionally, the radio is a P117 Panasonic manufactured radio. This radio was never an option for the L models. They were only made for the GT/Limited/Outback models. Armed with knowledge, everything he lists as a "factory option" is from the premium model Legacies. Now reading further into the post, it says the "Standard equipment for this Legacy is as follows..." which means it was 100% DIY. Nonetheless, a nice wagon, not worth the $2k he is asking, considering I just picked up my 99 Outback with 140k miles on it (bone stock) for $1200 and I picked up an 01 LL Bean with 200k miles for my girlfriend for $1500.

No question about it, it's an L or lower end model with a bunch of extra stuff from donor/junkyard cars. The bumpers on it could have been on it factory but the hood, grill, seats and wood grain were all from outbacks, GTs or anniversary editions.

See how on the instrument bezel how the button spots are just capped off? If it were a GT or higher end one it would have a fog light and security button there. (I installed those on my brighton but they don't do anything, haha) Also If I remember right, GTs gauge faces are black with white needles, lower ends are grey with red needles. The ONLY factory option I do see are the tweeters on the front doors, that was like $400 option back in the day

Some people don't know that if you have a $1000 car and you put $2000 in mods on it what you end up with is a $1000 car.

 

In the life dictionary it says, "Boat: a hole in the surface of the water into which one throws money."

 

It would say that about cars if there was a cute way to say it.

I'm in the same boat with my stripper wagon, I've thrown on a lot of higher end parts out of Limited Editions and GTs but at the end of the day, it's not worth much more, if any at all.

With all of that said, it looks really clean for it's age and mileage. I would go look at it and if it didn't have anything major wrong, I'll probably make an offer and wouldn't pay anything more than $1600. That motor is good for about 50k ish IF it was taken care of, the most I've ever seen on a 2.2 was 312k, they frequently die around 250k. It's got a fair amount of resellable parts so worst case you can part it out when it dies.

Agreed. The OBW LL Bean I just picked up was the most expensive Subie I bought to date. People all over in Phoenix sell Subarus at over twice their book value. I can't tell you how many Subarus I looked at that were only worth $1000 but the owner is asking $3k for it because the head gaskets and timing belt were recently done. People don't realize that regular maintenance doesn't constitute as an increase in value. Regular maintenance is an expense of owning a car. Mods are only as valuable to someone willing to pay for them and not do the work or find the parts themselves. I looked at a 01 Forester that had 242,000 miles on it, but the guy swapped in a JDM EJ202 that had 45k miles on it because the stock EJ25 died. He was asking $2250 for it and was kind of insulted when I offered him $1300 for it.

 

The EJ202 was gutless and, with the pedal mashed to the floor, it struggled to get up to highway speeds. Moral is, someone who sees the value in a low mileage engine swap will pay what he was asking, for me, it's about what the car has to offer for the money. For $1500 I walked away with a EZ30 Outback that only needed a couple hundred in repairs and is now worth twice what I paid.

For $1500 I walked away with a EZ30 Outback that only needed a couple hundred in repairs and is now worth twice what I paid.

 

that the one that was on CL a few weeks ago? i was going to go look at it too, lol. kids wouldnt let me have another project from scratch tho, they think i have a problem.

It's only a problem if the greater PHX area drops into a sinkhole because of it, so you're good.

that the one that was on CL a few weeks ago? i was going to go look at it too, lol. kids wouldnt let me have another project from scratch tho, they think i have a problem.

 

Ya the guy was shady as f**k too so we didn't have high expectations. There was so many things that were red flags on us not to buy it. The title was out of Washington, the guy would only let us test drive it for a few minutes because he said he was also waiting for others to show up. He kept asking about my car that I was driving, trying to distract me from fully inspecting the car. The car ran well, shifted perfect, the interior was like new, all the electronics worked on it and for $1500, we figured it was a safe enough gamble to take on it.

 

We found out when we got off the freeway at the 101 and Broadway that there was an issue with it. The lower radiator hose was split in the center and pissing out coolant as fast as we could put it in. We actually planned on just fixing the hose and thermostat and do a quick flip but my GF loves the car so we're keeping it and fixing everything. The hood is dented, looks like he hit an animal or something. The fender is the wrong color white, so I'm going to find a new hood and repaint the hood and fender to match the rest of the car.

 

I also bought the blue 99 Legacy Outback that was in East Mesa with only 140k miles, listed for $2800, but the guy found out the head gasket was bad, so I talked him down to $1300 for it. I drove that one back to Prescott last night and she drives like a dream, but the head gasket definitely needs to be replaced because it puffs white smoke on acceleration and when you first start it up in the morning. I ordered the complete engine gasket kit and new head bolts off of Rockauto for less than $150 so I'm going to use it as my daily driver when it's done.I'll have the engine torn down and done in about 2 weeks as soon as I'm done building my EJ25/22 frankenmotor that's sitting on my engine stand.

nice

It's only a problem if the greater PHX area drops into a sinkhole because of it, so you're good.

 

right now i have 4 cars in my driveway, with a potential 2 more that will be coming home. if i end up with all 6 in the driveway, 3 of them will be projects and not running lol

right now i have 4 cars in my driveway, with a potential 2 more that will be coming home. if i end up with all 6 in the driveway, 3 of them will be projects and not running lol

 

Jesus, and I thought I had a problem buying Subarus

only 4 of them are subarus lol. the other two are civics, one hatchback one coupe. i didnt count the forester i had there that i just gave to my oldest daughter yesterday either, since it was bought to give away.