Welcome back! Continuing with our search for cars at opposite ends of the same interstate, today we’re looking at Interstate 70, which stretches from a park-and-ride lot in Baltimore, Maryland to a desolate and lonely junction with Interstate 15 in western Utah. I’ve found two different bodystyles of the same car, a few years apart, for the same price. They also appear to have the exact same wheels, coincidentally.
But first, let’s check on in the results of our I-5 bookends. I expected the Roadmaster to win, but the Toyota to make a good showing, and it looks like I was right.
Everybody seems to love those big GM whales. You can’t say they’re exactly engaging to drive, but if you have a lot of road to eat up in supreme comfort, there’s really nothing better. Some cars are perfect reflections of the places that made them, and the Buick Roadmaster is the quintessential American cruiser.
Interstate 70 is one of those highways I’ve traveled on almost all of, but never in one fell swoop. The parts that stand out in my memory are the snarls of traffic around Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, the long straight slog across western Kansas, the Eisenhower Tunnel through the Rocky Mountains, which crosses the Continental Divide (and passes through some of the upper levels of Moria, too, I believe), and the sign as you’re leaving Green River, Utah that says “Next Services 115 Miles.” They’re not kidding. It’s absolutely beautiful countryside, but if you run out of gas or overheat or something, you’re going to be admiring that countryside for a good long while.
With that in mind, I searched for cars in the Grand Junction, Colorado area rather than pushing the search westward. As luck would have it, I found a car that was a near-perfect mirror of a car for sale in Baltimore, and for the same price. It was meant to be.
One last quick admission before I show you the cars: I don’t like either of them. I’m not a Subaru fan in general, though I think a lot of that has to do with the typical owners and drivers. Subaru ownership is too often a lifestyle, not a consumer choice, and that lifestyle too often includes driving too fast for conditions “because I have all-wheel-drive” and glossing over obvious major design flaws. But I try to be fair, and show as many different cars as I can, so here are two Subaru Legacies for your consideration.
2003 Subaru Legacy L sedan – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5 liter overhead cam flat 4, four-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Ellicott City, MD
Odometer reading: 159,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep
I’ll be honest: it wasn’t until I saw the photos of these two cars side-by-side that I realized they were of different generations. The styling of Subaru’s Legacy model changed so subtly from generation to generation that it’s hard to tell them apart. This isn’t uncommon among Japanese makes; several generations of Toyota Corolla are indistinguishable without a spotter’s guide as well. This is apparently the third-generation Legacy, in its lowest L trim level. It still has the basic power goodies, and pretty nice interior appointments, it looks like; this is around the time stuff like that jumped from the “Optional” to the “Standard” list of equipment in all but the most basic economy cars.
All-wheel-drive has been part of the standard Subaru formula since the mid-1990s, of course; it’s the feature on which it has built its brand. Subaru has also stuck steadfastly to the horizontally-opposed engine layout it has used since the early ’70s. This era was still plagued by head gasket leaks, I believe, but those have become more or less a Subaru maintenance item at this point. No mention is made of whether or not this car’s head gaskets have been changed; it’s a question worth asking.
As nice as it looks inside, there are some mildly troubling signs of rust outside. The rear wheel wells appear to be rusting through from within, and I imagine you would find more signs of rust under the plastic cladding along the rocker panels. The drawback of a car that’s good in the snow is that it gets exposed to a lot of road salt, and that takes its toll.
I kinda dig that it’s a sedan, though. We don’t see many three-box Legacies in my neck of the woods. Every fifth car around here is a Subaru wagon of some description, but the sedans are rare.
1998 Subaru Legacy GT wagon – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5 liter dual overhead cam flat 4, four-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Grand Junction, CO
Odometer reading: 240,000 miles
Runs/drives? Indeed
Two-thirds of the way across the country, we find this green machine: one generation older, and a couple of rungs up the trim ladder. This one even I have to admit is kind of cool. I never much cared for the Outback variant, but the Legacy GT is more my style. It’s an automatic, but honestly, that’s all right with me too. The manual Subarus I’ve driven kind of annoyed me, with sloppy gearshifts and clutches that bite practically right off the floor. I’d just as soon have the slushbox in one of these.
This one has more miles on it than the sedan – over 80,000 more – but it seems to have been kept up well. It has a cheap cover on the driver’s seat, which I presume means it’s worn out underneath, but the rest of the inside looks all right. And I like this dashboard better than the later model. It’s more honest, less uppity, though I could still do without the fake wood.
I don’t see any obvious signs of rust on this one, at least; Colorado doesn’t use road salt (which can make things exciting at times) so cars don’t disintegrate like they do in, say, Michigan. It is missing some clearcoat, but that’s not uncommon on ’90s cars anywhere. It also has a few dents and scrapes, but it’s fifteen hundred bucks.
240,000 miles is a lot for any car, but this one seems to wear them well. I’m still not sure how much I trust Subaru drivetrains, but maybe the high mileage works in a new owner’s favor in this case. Anything that could have happened to it probably already has, and has been repaired. The seller does note a small leak from the water pump that probably should be addressed, but other than that, it seems like a good runabout.
All-wheel-drive in itself has never struck me as a reason to buy a car, but I suppose there is some merit to the idea that it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Especially when it comes to a cheap beater that would likely only be used in bad weather anyway. They’re available in two flavors: a newer sedan, with fewer miles but rust issues, or an older wagon, that’s cooler, but has a lot more miles. Which one will it be?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
No contest on this one. Wagon all day.
Grand Junction is pretty dry (generally speaking), so less likely to be (as) rusty.
Wagon all day, also the 2nd gen Legacy looks better than the 3rd gen. Not that 3rd gens are ugly or anything.
Yes they are. And 2nd gens are attractive. So choice is easy.
At $1,500, that wagon would be sold in less than an hour in Missoula, MT. EJ25 head gaskets usually give up at about 100,000 miles, so no doubt that both cars have had them replaced–and the replacements usually last forever. I have had several Subarus with more than 240,000 miles on them, and they were still squeak-free and tight (as opposed to most US brand cars with similar mileage). Subaru’s AWD set-up is far superior in the snow to all others (except some Audis and Toyota truck 4WDs with the Torsen center differential).
Ellicott City? Watch out for flood damage, they’ve had several really bad ones in recent years.
I have a 1999 Outback wagon in the same green with a manual love the car it was my grandpas after all
I like the long roof.
I’ve only had experience with Subarus twice. The first time, with my mother-in-law’s ’08 Impreza. I test drove it before she bought it and was surprised how much fun it was. The opposite was the case with my friend’s early 2000’s Outback. I hated that thing – it always had something wrong with it and he would always bring it out to my place hoping for a cheap and easy fix. The fixes were never in either of those categories and he finally gave up on it when the head gaskets did their thing. I was happy I wouldn’t have to see it anymore.
Voted for the high-mileage wagon. At that age and price, the miles don’t really matter – it would make a great replacement as an in-town runabout for my wife’s ’95 Escort.
I have a Crosstrek and Impreza and like them. I am not a typical Subaru driver though, I don’t vape and do not have an AWD=Invincible attitude.
Looks like it’s about 1,158 miles from Grand Junction to my door. Think the wagon would make the trip?
If it doesn’t, I think the rest of us are obligated to provide whatever food/shelter/tools are needed to limp a purchased Shitbox to it’s new home. It might even be a requirement, I didn’t read the fine print on the Autopian membership that closely.
I can get behind this logic.
I currently drive a 1993 Legacy wagon. Same basic vehicle as the ’98.
It is a nearly perfect car for what I need. (Moves, hauls, looks good, sounds neat, easy to wrench on.) No doubter choice.
US Route 20 is one of the rare “non-interstates” that goes from coast to coast. Always wanted to do a coast to coast using this route.
But anyway, on today’s question, is the right answer always a wagon? Yes. Also, I own a Saab 9-2x (Swedish Impreza) with the 2.5. Stay on the maintenance, and it’s not a nightmare.
I think 20 is the only coast-to-coast US highway that doesn’t run concurrently with an interstate at any point.
US-20 runs concurrently with I-290 in Elmhurst, Illinois- for a whole mile.
It runs with I-291 in Springfield, MA for about 4 miles
I had a 1993 Subaru Legacy GT wagon with an auto. I put 300k on it . The caveat was it has the “lesser” 2.2L but never had the head gasket problems that afflicted the 2.5’s . It was a fantastic car that sadly was rear ended in a blizzard. So even with the potential head gasket fix,I’d go with the wagon.
I was all set to vote for the earlier generation Legacy equipped with the 2.2-liter boxer-4, until I found out these both have the 2.5 instead. I actually owned an Impreza from around this vintage with the 2.5 and a manual and got it to 180k, before I sold it to a friend who took it to 200k and beyond (and still has it running today).
The two choices today are more similar than they are different, so based on the color and the body style and the rust issues on the sedan it was sort of a no-brainer for me to go with the wagon.
I had an 01 Legacy GT wagon, with the fancy wheels. I wanted the green one, but my wife insisted on the beige “Titanium” color.
obviously answer. it’s even in the poll. it’s a wagon and it’s green.
I’d rather look at that cause they’re both gonna blow something important in short order.
This reminds me, I have a ’98 Outback wagon with 106k (blown head gasket) in my driveway that needs to go away. Nice rims and nav system even. A shame I’ll be sending it to the junkyard because random car buyers have left me with tow bills for cars I don’t own (twice).
I always forget to report the sale to the DMV.
I’d hate to see something like that junked, but unless it’s perfectly pristine, you probably couldn’t sell it for much more that the cost of a used engine swap.
The bumper on the sedan doesn’t match the rest of the car. The wagon already had my vote regardless, but a poorly done crash repair pushes the sedan into the scrap value range for me.
Did you also notice the hood on the sedan? There appears to be some kind of bend in it.
I feel like Subaru drivers in my area tend to be slower drivers than others, even an orange Crosstrek.
Something I’ve appreciated about the Legacy/Outback line is they’ve kept extremely consistent with redesign schedule since the 1990 introduction: every 5 years, redesigned one hits North America, with (moreso starting the 3rd gen) a midcycle update after the third model year.
The ’03 is a “special edition” which brought the alloys (from the GT through ’02 – note both have the same wheels, 5 years apart) and moonroof. I was set to go wagon til I saw the miles which gave me pause, but seems like it’s maintained well so sticking with it. The 1st/2nd gen wagons were handsome even in lower trims, but I do like the sedans into the 3rd gen too – also just a fan of a 6-window greenhouse.
I still forget who it was but it was a commenter on here that mentioned “Subaruing” where owners keep fixing the car no matter how major of a fix it needs, and that seems to be the wagon’s case here.
My experience of Subaru drivers in my area (SF Bay Area) is similar to yours—they are slooow. And the one time I drove a Subaru, a coworker’s ’08-ish Outback, I understood why, and even caught myself doing it, too. I have never before or since had a car so clearly asking me, “You sure about that, buddy?” It just didn’t want to do anything in a hurry.
I find there are 2 schools of Subaru. One is the families with Outbacks (myself included), and then there’s the flat brim WRX crowed. In my experience, there isn’t much intermingling of the groups.
NC here and yep. A friend that just bought an Outback is very much that type of driver too.
We have an Outback and I am also a “never in a hurry” kind of driver lol.
Some folks around here ride the ass of any given Subaru on the assumption that it’s driving too slow.
That sedan is an exact copy of my grandma’s last car. I’ll take higher miles, less rust, and a color instead though. Wagons go!
WAGON!!!
So easy, unlike yesterday.
I’ll take the wagon, and job #1 is going to be timing belt service. If you follow the service schedule, the EJ can be a reliable motor – you just can’t delay or skip stuff like timing belt and coolant changes (which is what kills head gaskets). Honestly, I’d bring it back to the midwest, find a rusted out WRX and do a swap.
Besides, the rot has started on that sedan, and once the Subaru Rot starts, it don’t stop. Ain’t no party like a Subaru Rot party.
Word for word what I was going to post. Now I don’t need to. Happy Halloween!
It’s Halloween so it’s time for trick or treating, but isn’t one of the choices supposed to be a treat?
Exactly. This is like having to choose between raisins & Necco wafers.
Hard pass on both!
The wagon hands down. The rust on that sedan is a sure sign of larger rust issues. There are also tons of these things in Colorado salvage yards to get a new seat and other bits you need. If you live in CO and don’t leave, and don’t read anything on car sales, you’d think Subaru was the best selling brand in the world. The reputation of the drivers is also well earned, and spans the entire spectrum from distracted Crosstrek drivers to speeding WRX vape bros.
I voted for the Subaru Legacy.
Rust on that spot of the rear fenders is as Subaru as the head gasket issues. Both 90s Subarus I owned had rust in the same spots.
If these were closer to me I’d probably jump on one of them. I have a soft spots for 90s Legacys.