Subaru Advice Please

I'm considering buying a used Subaru. Probably an outback, legacy, or forrester. In doing some research I've found a lot of people complain about engine problems (i.e. blown head gaskets, water pumps, as well as electrical and other problems). I definately want a dependable car I can rely on for many years to come. Whats the scope on Subaru reliability? Thanks for any help.

I had an egine problem with my previous 97' Outback, but I attribute that to pulling too much in a U-haul trailer...and some other abuses like pulling stumps from the yard etc... That engine (the 2.5 4) melted at 120,000 miles. I purchased a used engine (same type) and then sold the car. The transmission was checked by the dealer and was said to have been like new...curious enough.
I purchased a new 02' Outback with the same basic engine (SOHC instead of DOHC) and have had mostly trouble free driving through our 114,00 miles. I've pulled a trailer on several occasions, but not with the blatent disregard as before and so far so good. We plan to keep the car for the long-haul and just throw another engine in it if needed down the road. With the redesign I've noticed only two issues that cause me some dissappointment: Problem one is that the 4 cylinder Outback has rotors that seem to be prone to warping (constantly need resurfacing) I'm told that the 6cylinder has larger rotors and less of a problem. I just ordered some new Brembo drilled rotors to help that problem. The other area of concern is that I have had to replace my O2 sensors about 4 times since I bought the car. I didn't have to replace them once on my 97'. I also have to replace the catalytic converter. This and some of the brake probelms were probably aggravated by pulling our utility trailer.
In short, buy a Subaru and don't pull a trailer like I do and you'll be okay...assuming you do the normal maintenance.

We're on our second Subaru, this one a '99 Outback Wagon. Personally, I think that with regular maintenance, the Subaru engines are pretty damn bullet proof. Our current car has the 2.5L 4 cylinder, has over 76K miles and hasn't had a lick of problems. Our previous car was a '89 Loyale wagon, and when we got rid of it, it had over 150K relatively trouble-free miles.

I have a 1998 subaru Outback with the 2.5 DOHC and I had the blown head gasket issue as well. Had I been paying attention and flushed the system and kept up with some of the stuff that I should have then it would not have overheated causing the problem to begin with. My sister has the 1997 version and had the same thing happen to hers about 6 months after mine. I will say this about the subaru, Its a fairly easy car to work on. I Have never done any major work on cars and I was able to replace the head gasket myself and put in a new clutch while I was doing it since I had to pull the engine to do the job. In all it saved me about $1400.00 by not having the dealer do it. There are a couple of gaskets (like the front main seal) that I should have replaced when I was there because now it is leaking from the front and I think thats what it is since its coming out of the timing belt covers on the front pass side of the motor. Although the car is easy to work on and things don't go bad all that often when they do expect to pay more for the parts then you would for say a good reliable Honda. The biggest reason I love my Subaru is for the all wheel drive it has with the 5 speed. If you go with an automatic then anyone who makes an all wheel drive is pretty comparible.