96 Legacy Outback (2.5L) ticking

[JofTODAY]

I am considering buying a 96 Legacy Outback. It has about 130K miles, and asking price is $3,000, so it's not a killer deal, but not a bad deal either.
When I started the car, it sounded fine, brakes felt and sounded good, CV boots were in fine shape, no obvious fluid leaks other than a little weeping around the output shafts.
After letting it idle for about 5 minutes, it started ticking lightly. At first I thought it might be a slightly loose timing bult pully, but then it seemed more like it was coming from the left side of the motor (facing the car).
I called a friend who said it could be any number of things, including a loose cam chain (is it chains on this motor, or belts?), or worst case scenario, a bad rod.
He said drive it, and if it gets louder, walk away. I drove it off the lot, and for the life of me, couldn't hear anything. I even drove with the windows down and heater off and still couldn't hear anything. When I got home, I let it idle, and still, no noise.

Any thoughts? Anything I should know about this motor? It's first gen. for the 96, right?
Is this sort of cold start noise normal? The car runs like a champ, is cleaner than most people's new cars, blah, blah, blah.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Nastypieceawork]

Only other 'ticking' sound could be the Hydraulic Lifters. If it is the lifters, then don't panic as your lifters (I believe there are 16 in total) making that noise is not putting your cars' health in too much danger. Simply being, when they get a little worn they make the 'ticking' sound - which is far more commonly found in most mitsubishi's engines.
Performance-wise, I do not believe that they have a diminishing effect to any real degree, but if you are looking to replace them - you need to replace ALL of them. When I used to own an Evo, I had the replacement priced at a total of NZ$1,300 inc labour.
You mentioned your car's speedo in 'miles', so if you're in the U.S or U.K it may be far more costly.

As I said before, you can drive with worn lifters and no further damage to your car's engine should occur from the ticking. However, I cannot guarantee this is what the noise is from...so as always - see a qualified Subaru mechanic.

[sha_zapple]

Subarus are infamous for ticking when cold. If it goes away once warmed up,then youre good to go. BTW, i think 3k is a pretty good deal.

[Nastypieceawork]

That IS a killer deal if everything else is ok!

Update on cost of replacing Hydraulic Lifters: NZ$2,000 inc. labour. My mate's legacy is going to cost that much to do, and I don't imagine the price varying too much between your's and his car model.