Looking to buy high mileage legacy (duh). when is it to high

[mccarthv]

I'm in the preliminary stages of purchasing and fixing up a '93 legacy. I know high mileage is the norm for these cars, but My question is, when is the mileage too high? one car in particular i'm looking at has 285k. here's the link to the ad for it. if the transmission is in good order, i'm thinking that its still a perfectly good car with some elbow grease of course.

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/3064483591.html

any thoughts or comments would be great!

thanks

[chuckthefuk]

285k miles = 458k km...

When you start pushing 250k miles things start to get sketchy :-o

But in the end it all comes down to the owner + maintenance and from the ad the quarter panels look mint / possibly starting to rust so body wise it seems fine (a thorough inspection of the gas filler neck / rocker panels / wind shield roof line / strut towers / gas tank smell or leak . The moto should tic like a sewing machine but not to outrageous.

Transmission?? manual or auto?

[Wiscon_Mark]

When you start pushing 250k miles things start to get sketchy :-o

I've seen 1st gens with well over 300,000 miles that are in fine shape. I'd say keep it running unless it exceeds what it's worth.

[lancerswimmer89]

just do the usual shit when your giving it the once over, look for a good golden brown in the oil, rev it high a few times and look for burning oil, bounce the car a couple times to see if the suspension is making any noise, and when you take it for a ride, make sure all the lights/electronics check out.

longevity is the greatest asset our cars have. so long as we choose to treat them w/ respect and maintain them, they can run for 500k miles potentially

[mccarthv]

so im getting kind of a mixed response. I'm of the impression that if the car was relatively well maintained and the transmission is good, that 285k is not a big deal. especially since the price just dropped to $800. I don't mind replacing the struts, pumps etc... if what im finding is correct, the stock replacement parts are pretty cheap. and i want to get a car with the intent to sort of rebuild it. that way i can actually learn about what makes these sweet cars tick.

[Wiscon_Mark]

If it was well maintained, and you're not looking at any huge immediate costs, 800 dollars for any running Subaru is a good deal.