Anyone know much about legacy’s ?

[Neil97rs]

I sold my x5 last night and I’m in the market for another car
Been offered a 2003 legacy twin scroll turbo auto for a really decent price.
However I know very little about them apart from the usual things to look for with a used car does anyone know anything in particular to look out for

Bid on a bug eye estate at bca on Monday but went for way more than book price and is now back for sale at a traders for 4500 which is 1k more than its worth

Would be our every day family car so need some space but don’t want anything too boring

Anyone help me out with what the legacy is like as an everyday car
Also tempted by the 3 litre r :

[SpecB]

I may know a guy......

The twin scrolls are great cars can see up to 300BHP fairly easily and reliably however they use different turbos to the impreza so simple upgrades are harder over 300.
The Auto box is actually pretty good (We have a 2.5 N/A Auto outback) with a manual override which makes it a semi auto. I run the 3.0r (Spec B trim) as my daily and it's a lovely engine (mins the 6 speed manual though).

I'd take my Legacy over any incarnation of my Bugeye from the std spec to the 400+ animal it became. The legacy is far more comfortable and the interior finish outshines both the Impreza and the forester (Foresters are the same floorplan as the imprezas so actually apart from headroom no bigger than an Impreza) - I'd also choose the legacy over a forester BTW (We had one of those too and my dad also has one).

Issues to look for:
Exhaust Y piece rusting through - stainless off the shelf is expensive and hard to find so either mild steel replacement (Gerlach on eBay) or custom is the way to go. Drop links - consider these almost a service item especially the rears! If you can get a Spec B version (GT-B as a turbo) the bilsteins do start to knock after a while but can be had from Martin (Hallie on UKLegacy) for a very good price (£530-£540 depending on spec). Other than that if an import rust if not undersealed and re-map for UK fuel. I'm happy to show you around the 3.0 if you want and you can see what the Auto is like in Sians car as well (Outback but same box). Stereo upgrades re a total pain as you need to replace the A/C controls as it's an integrated unit (£250-ish for the adaptor kit for the dash).

[Frenchie]

Looks like Nick has pretty much answered all your questions. That's what I like about this forum.

[Neil97rs]

Thank you for helpful info so many options out there I cannot believe the prices of the 3 litre r so much car for the money

[asperformance]

Twin scroll can be problematic engine wise if not suitable mapped for UK fuel as they run mega aggressive timing as std
book figures dont do them justice on the road as the combined twin scroll and quad AVCS gives so much 'punch' they put a lot of more powerful cars to shame...........

[Neil97rs]

Change of plan completely just picked up a vw Passat estate

[Red Baron]

Originally Posted by Neil97rs

Change of plan completely just picked up a vw Passat estate

How old and what's the mileage, there's something to look out for on the diesels between 2006 and 2010?

[Neil97rs]

Originally Posted by Red Baron

How old and what's the mileage, there's something to look out for on the diesels between 2006 and 2010?

2008 and just over 100000 miles

Isn’t the stupid dpf filter by chance is it ?

[Red Baron]

Oil pump balancer shaft at anywhere between 80 and 150k, I'm keeping my fingers crossed I have the larger 100mm drive shaft that went in from 2010 having just hit 109k, other than 2 exhaust gas temp sensors and a turbo actuator it hasn't been too bad in the last 51k.

[Neil97rs]

Originally Posted by Red Baron

Oil pump balancer shaft at anywhere between 80 and 150k, I'm keeping my fingers crossed I have the larger 100mm drive shaft that went in from 2010 having just hit 109k, other than 2 exhaust gas temp sensors and a turbo actuator it hasn't been too bad in the last 51k.

Hopefully this one will be good for a while
It’s had a new turbo . Cambelt change at 86k
Full service history etc so will be nice to have something that can get me to the kids grandparents in Lincolnshire and not cost me £130 in petrol like the old x5 did

[Red Baron]

I took mine to Germany for the weekend and I reckon we could have done there and back on a tank, did the journey back without stopping, really comfortable, they have a few little issues but no more than any other car. How long ago was the turbo done, can be a sign of the oil pump giving up, actuator can be changed separately from the turbo, if the VNT stopped working it can be a sign of short journeys clogging up the vanes. Don't let VW near it with their emissions fix otherwise it will need a new EGR as well although I think they're doing these under warranty now if they fail after the fix.
Had mine nearly 3 years.