Anyone have/had a 97 Subaru Legacy wagon?

TerisBoys · May 9, 2008

Tell me the good, bad, and ugly before I decide to go take a look at this one.

http://kalamazoo.craigslist.org/car/669018956.html

I need to be able to get 3 kids in the backseat in a pinch. Ryan has a Nauti for the middle, William a SR/C and Josh his skinny tush. NORMALLY it would just be Josh and Ryan in the back, if that.

IT fits what I'm looking for and then some...Decent gas mileage (better than my 18-20 mpg minivan), *hopefully* room for all 3 boys, AWD for the winter, and *sigh* it's a stick. I've missed my little Sunbird that was a stick. Hard to find a mom-mobile with a manual tranny though.

TerisBoys · May 11, 2008

Anybody?

keri1292 · May 11, 2008

My BFF had a Subaru wagon, not sure if it was the same, but no way was 3 across going to work.

zactayaus · May 11, 2008

My ds has a '93 Subaru Legacy. I have a GN and an FPSVB that I will go see if I can install in there. I know the GN would have to go in the middle if you were doing 3 across because of the lap only belt. I'll post back in a few to let you know my findings.

zactayaus · May 11, 2008

Ok. I was able to get an aceptable install with the GN in the center after fighting with it a bit. The car has really long seat belt stalks. I put the FPSVB driverside outboard. It was relatively easy to buckle. I sat myself in the passanger side outboard position I was able to buckle up and sit comfortabley in the seat. I am 5'3" 120lbs. I took pics and am trying to get them on my computer now. I'll post again soon.

zactayaus · May 11, 2008

Here are the pics. Let me know if you have any questions. I hope they will help you make your decision a little easier.

crunchierthanthou · May 11, 2008

zactayaus, did you try twisting the buckle stalk at all? That will move the buckle lower and the locking latchplate won't be up against the hard plastic of the beltpath.

Other than that, my only concern would be the lack of a headrest for Josh. Does the 1997 have one in the outboard positions?

edit: I did a quick search and it looks like the 97 should have headrests. outboard only, so you probably couldn't do a RSTV or 86-Y in the center. and while I'm thinking about it, you can get tethers retrofitted for all 3 positions. :thumbsup:

zactayaus · May 11, 2008

crunchierthanthou said:
zactayaus, did you try twisting the buckle stalk at all? That will move the buckle lower and the locking latchplate won't be up against the hard plastic of the beltpath.

Other than that, my only concern would be the lack of a headrest for Josh. Does the 1997 have one in the outboard positions?

edit: I did a quick search and it looks like the 97 should have headrests. outboard only, so you probably couldn't do a RSTV or 86-Y in the center. and while I'm thinking about it, you can get tethers retrofitted for all 3 positions. :thumbsup:

I did not try twisting the buckle stalk but I'm sure that would have made it a lot easier for me to install. I didn't even think about the headrest issue. So yeah hopefully the '97 will have headrests.

TerisBoys · May 11, 2008

Thanks ladies!

As far as I know, the 97 does have headrests outboard. Ryan's got at least another year in his Nauti harnessed (he's AT the second to top slots), and I'd still have my van for when I've got all 3 boys (William doesn't live with me full-time) - 3 across would only be necessary if something was wrong with the van or the roads were bad in the winter.

Off to see if it's still available. And convince Brian that it's more practical than a small extended cab pickup (which doesn't have seating for the boys OR the better gas mileage).

southpawboston · May 11, 2008

TerisBoys said:
IT fits what I'm looking for and then some...Decent gas mileage (better than my 18-20 mpg minivan)

have you bought it yet? does it have the 2.2L or 2.5L engine. my sister has a 99 legacy (same as the 95-99), with the 2.5L engine and it gets 22mpg on the highway... not much better than your minivan. :twocents:

TerisBoys · May 11, 2008

No - not yet.

We're still debating the macho pickup vs the practical mom-mobile.

It has the 2.5L. Thanks for the info on the mileage though! I assumed since it was a 4cyl that it'd be better.

Anyone have/had a 97 Subaru Legacy wagon?

TerisBoys

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