Working on Subarus is fairly easy, probably easier than an equivilent Honda or Toyota. About the only routine maintenacne that is slightly more difficult is spark plug changes , because of the boxer engine the plugs are buried further down in the engine compartment. Not impossible, just not as easy as an inline. Because the production cars are based on their rally cars, most of the car is designed to be fixed quickly. I've heard that a good pit crew can replace any part on a Subaru in less than 20 minutes, including the engine. I have heard of some people who can replace an axle in less than 10.
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Originally Posted by 96r50
Are there any particular problems that the Subaru engines are known for? Weak links in the system etc? Can you get Subaru FSMs like you can from Mr T? What kind of mileage can you expect out of one of these cars (300,000 mi?)
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I haven't heard of many problems with the 2.0 engine (unless heavily modded), but there were some problems with the 2nd gear manual trannys in those cars. But then again, those cars attract a certain type of driver. Lots of horsepower mods, little driving experience, and a affinity for the skinny pedal. The fact that it's a turbo means you can easily push the engine way beyond the limits of the tranny.
Early 2.5 NA DOHC engines had headgasket problems, but I think those were fixed sometime around 2002.
As far as longevity, the older ones were pretty reliable, newer ones are still too new to know
Subaru High Mileage Club
FSMS are available on Ebay and places like that in CD form, probably also in print.