Subaru Legacy Station Wagon 1998 Review

  We bought our 1998 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon in the fall of 1997...fresh off the truck. So, it's almost 10 years old at this point with 130,000 miles on it. It's pretty amazing that the car still runs like a dream and seems to have at least another 5 good years left. Good old Japanese engineering!

   Dependability

    We got the 100,000 miles warantee, and were happy that we did. The air conditioning stopped working about five years ago and was replaced for free. Other than that, most of the repairs have all been wear and tear.  The legacy always gets high ratings on reliability in auto reports.

    The only recurring annoyance is that the Legacy seems to loose its hubcaps more frequently than you might expect. And it's not just me. I've noticed other Legacy station wagons without their hubcaps and I've had other Legacy owner tell me the same thing. I've lost about a half a dozen hubcaps in 10 years. 

    The Legacy has great control on the roads and comes with All Wheel Drive. We live in the mountains, and I've always been impressed at how well it hugs the curves....even when I'm pushing the speed limit a bit. Speaking of which, it also drives great on the open road. We have taken it on many, many road trips and my only complaint is that it drives so well at 80mph, sometimes I don't realize that I'm speeding!

 Spaciousness

   Considering the size of the car, it is very comfortable. Granted, I'm only 5'3" and my husband is 5'8". We have fared our long trips quite well and the back seat is still fine for our ever-growing kids. My son is almost 5' tall now and he doesn't seem cramped when we push the passangers seat all the way back or recline it so that we can take a little nap.

   For those parents out there, it's important to know that the back seat can fit three booster seats, although it is a tight fit.

    The trunk is quite roomy and we have tested it's capacity many, many times both personally and professionally. I have packed it to the gills for with stuff for my store. On the family front, the trunk is great for weekend trips. For a week trip, we usually have to put a clamshell up top, especially if we have our pooch with us in the back.  The car comes with a roof rack, which is great for our canoe and for hauling all kinds of stuff. With the back seats down, we were actually able to fit 6 pieces of 8' x 4' beadboard in just recently. We did have to tied the trunk door down, which worked like a charm. 

    My only complaint about "space" would be that inbetween the bottom of the car and the road! The car does sit pretty low. If we are going over a dirt road with some humps in the middle or exiting someones driveway where the curb is higher than normal, we almost always scrape a little bit, but never enough to cause any damage. The Outback version of this car does sit up quite a bit higher. It also costs a bit more.

Mileage

  Mileage is pretty good, about 26 in mixed driving and 34 on the open road. I have noticed that as the car ages, it's not quite as fuel efficient.

Affordability

  We bought the car right at $18,000 for a base model. From what I've seen, the price has only gone up a by a few thousand dollars since then. It is definitely at "best buy" car, with many other wagon starting at twice that price.

 Overall a great car that has served us extremely well!