Serenity II

A 1998 Subaru Legacy Outback with 185,000 miles and a bit more rust than I'd like in a car, but with a good engine. Had a few issues with the hood latch last Fall which inadvertently resulted in a need for a brand-new windshield (long story, I'll tell you all about it later after I've stopped feeling like an idiot), but overall she's a dependable little vehicle. Kinda wish she had the 2.5L DOHC, but she was only going to be my "spare" while I was replacing the head gasket on Serenity I -- and we all know what a fiasco that was.


Head-on, you can see right away that she's had some wear-and-tear. The clips on the front grill were missing when I got her; the previous owner had just used zip-ties to hold the grill on. That was all well and good until I did some painting in the front (rust preventative) and never got around to getting the official clips so I could re-attach it. But the grill is still here. Still haven't gotten around to replacing that front right fog light, though; man, those things are expensive!
And I'm still using the bungee cord as a backup after the hood flew up and cracked the windshield (which has since been replaced, of course!) last fall. Still don't quite trust it...

UPDATE: She went quickly once the advert came out on Craigslist. I was getting lots of inquiries. Went first-come, first-served, as much as possible. Finally had a couple come by (after a day's delay) who wanted it for their son; he apparently likes to work on them. I wish him luck! They took it for test drive and then decided to take it on the spot. And I watched them drive it away. Sadly.

Specs:

  • 2.2L SOHC
  • Manual transmission
  • 185,000 miles
  • New windshield (as of last fall)
  • New struts (as of last summer)

The Pictures:

As you can see from the front dash, she's got about 185,000 miles on her.When they replaced the windshield last fall, we had to do some repair work on the window frame due to some light rust. No, I haven't put the final coat of paint on yet...
Front Driver-side quarter panelThis is the worst of the rust (unless you look up under the rear wheel wells)
It's got that plastic cover for the rear storage area. Great for protecting the carpet, but things tend to slide around a bit.The rust has lately spread to the edge of the rear door. Not surprised, just terribly disappointed that I didn't do anything about it earlier.
Front seats are nice and clean.Rear seats are nice and clean, too!
The rust that appears on the hatch handle sometimes creeps down to the rear light as well.None of my other Subarus had rust in this front quarter panel. I'm not sure how it started.
Left rear wheel well has the same issue as the right, only not nearly as bad. But don't look up inside the wheel well!Oh, my goodness! Those lower door sections are just annoying. I should've swapped in some of the doors off the old Subes, but didn't have the time.

The Engine

Standard 2.2L SOHC, relatively clean. Runs well. No leaks. Wish I had a 2.5L DOHC to put in her, but that's not going to happen any time soon.
For those of you who are interested, this view shows that there is an EGR valve, which is critical for states requiring emission testing. Apparently a rarity among the manual transmission set, or so I've heard. I didn't realize there were EJ22s without them!

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