These cars always have their head gaskets go out, and to add insult to injury everyone knows that the replacement gaskets (real cheap part- heard $80) is a whole lot better then the one that is put on the car in the first place. So Subaru must want strap all their customers with cars with bad head gaskets, and this has to be motivated by making money in the repairs. Hardly a person I know didn't have to get their head gaskets replaced in the Subaru outback, legacy and forester, especially if its past the 150K mark, well past any kind of mfg warrantee.

The repair is extremely labor intensive and expensive (around $3000) as it requires more than a back yard mechanic, usually takes nearly a week to get your car back. To compound problems the leaking head gaskets leak oil in the system (in my opinion) and in my opinion lead to other issues like the dreaded catalytic convertor insufficiency code, and the mechanics will tell you Subaru only does well with a genuine Subaru Cat convertor. That would not be such a bad issue if the front one they sell wasn't nearly a grand. So good luck guys and gals with these cars (same goes for the outback and the forester). I did hear they fixed that in the newer version but even their repair shop wasn't so certain of that. Do yourself a favor, when your oil starts leaking, sell it and get a new one, same goes with the convertor, because something is causing that convertor to go. Word is these older cars also consume oil, which they will claim is normal, but it has more to do with weak rings.