i can get the car for about 250 , it runs and drives but has an oil leak, possible HG or VC. anything i should look for specificly ? the car is in great condition body wise. 220k miles with a rebuilt tranny put in at 120k.

Subarus have real problems with oil seepage from valve covers and head gaskets. I would replace the valve cover gaskets first, clean the area and recheck after a few days to be sure but they like to leak, especially on the drivers head towards the rear corner.

yeah they leak like crazy especially into the spark plug wells. Make sure you find out when the timing belt and water pump have been done. If they dont know, have em replaced its not that bad of a job.

If one head gasket blows out, surface the heads and do both as it will be a matter of time before the next one does it.

Im assuming thats probably a sohc 2.2 which isnt bad.. Trying to remember what years had closed and open deck designs as I know there was a benefit of one over the other.
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They have their issues but they're really easy to work on.

I just love that you can't screw up if you pull all the plug wires off without paying attention to what goes where. each contact on the coil points to its respective cylinder

well i got the car for the low low price of 225 , i could scrap it for 250 if i really wanted too. but its in too good of shape , even tho its an autotragic it gets up and goes pretty well , lots of smoke from oil buring off and i stripped out one of the alternator holes when putting on a new serp belt. i live out in the boonies so i drove it around for a few miles and besides needing a good tuneup everything seems ok , temp gauge didnt even go to half way. this is gunna be my summer project to get it ready for winter so i can put my focus away and rebuild it.

i did notice it appears to be very very easy to work on , unlike the focus. since the engine is in horizontal there is a ton of room to work on stuff.

Subbies are known to last from what I hear. I see many of them due to it being Texas and most subies are sold in the north west and other winter states more than down here.

Other than changing plugs (which really wasn't that hard) my subie is a dreaaaam to work on. Changing the oil was kind of a bitch just because I didn't want to take the bottom panel off at first. But once I did, the oil filter was literally right there in my face.

Honestly, i couldnt tell you much about the 2.2 other than they do have some oil issues as mentioned above. You will absolutely love the AWD come winter time. For 225 bucks you can't really go wrong, enjoy!

yes plugs are a bit lame as you have to move the air box resonator on one side and the washer fluid bottle (which likes to pee because you have to disconnect the lines for a second) on the other.