That's a very big and dangerous IF.
If you take the time to actually make sure it's of a good standard it's hardly dangerous.
You speak to me as if I have not ever owned or worked on a Subaru. I have owned 3 Subarus.
1. NA 05 Subaru RS 2.5 engine non turbo
2. 04 WRX 5 speed 2.0 engine turbo
3. 05 WRX Automatic 2.0 engine turbo
You speak to me as if I have never seen or worked on a Subaru.
My dad owns just about
seven times as many Subarus as you have ever
owned, stretching from non turbo, to turbo, to manual and automatic. I
myself have worked on at least ten of them.
I do agree the non turbos are more reliable but......
Both are perfectly reliable. Poor maintenance? Most engines will fall through with exception to truly bulletproof engines. Turbocharged variants are not
as reliable, sure, but this should come as no surprise as they're performance engines at the end of the day. Good maintenance will give a good experience for the owner. This is common sense.
There is absolutely NOTHING easy about changing the plugs on a Subaru. Nothing. When the first thing you say is "Unbolt the engine mount and jack up the engine" That's an instant indication of how something that is normally very easy on other cars (usually takes 10 minutes) will take hours on a Subaru. And there is much more to it than just unbolting the motor mounts. Don't forget the pitch stop mount located UNDER the intercooler on top of the engine. Plus battery needs to be removed, coil packs, and MUCH more especially if it is a turbo. I have had these cars to at least 6 different shops including a Subaru dealership and they are not easy to work on. I wont even bore you with the details but one does not just simply change spark plugs on a Subaru.
They're not
easy, but they are not 'devil's work' as you make them out to be. My dad can do them in an hour, and probably even less after discovering that unbolting the engine mount and jacking up the engine makes the plugs much more accessible. Seeing Slash is a mechanic, I'm sure he would be fine as well. If we go by your logic, when we were working on one and doing compression tests to discover cylinder problems, installing and removing the sparkplugs just once would have taken all day, when in fact we did so multiple times to troubleshoot.
Yes as I said finding a Subaru that has not been abused, and has had the proper maintenance, for under $1,000 is borderline impossible.
@Zyla managed to find a mechanically well one for $500, I'm sure if he would have looked around finding another first generation nonturbo Legacy would have occurred.
Hell no. Motor mounts need to be removed, coil packs removed, Battery, pitch stop mount, intercooler if it is has a turbo and much more. And that is just to get to the plugs. Re inserting the plug is a nightmare since the plugs are horizontal in the engine compartment facing the tires on each side of the car. Yes its a boxer so 2 plugs face the passenger tire, 2 plugs face the driver tire. On top of that the valve covers are only about 2 inches from the wheel well. Try to visualize putting a spark plug into the hole of a valve cover counter sunk into the engine horizontal to the wheels. Seriously. Good luck.
Never have I once seen, or had to myself remove the wheels.
Exactly its dang near impossible especially up north to find a reliable, non abused, Subaru for $1,000 that has been properly maintained. If the trans goes, its a minimum of $2,000-$3,000 since the trans and transfer case are combined. If its a manual, even more expensive.
While the five speed is weak for something like a performance car, for normal application it's fine. Four speeds are another story, with these being an ancient design and are known to be junk. Stay away from autos and you'd be fine.
Also, someone mentioned Zylas old Legacy, I don't recall that car exactly as the epitome of reliability.
I don't recall
@Zyla's Legacy
developing any problems, but what I do recall was the transmission
was already faulty when he bought it.
Obviously, stuff like the battery and coil packs have to go (okay, way more than "a few things"), but I've never heard or seen anything about touching the motor mounts.
And I did say naturally aspirated motors. I don't even want to imagine what you have to do on the turbo motors.
I only mentioned the engine mounts after my dad discovered it was easier to simply unbolt them and jack the engine up.
If my dad can do it, I'm sure someone as handy as Slash could.
I won't argue with you, you're a cool dood, but your example didn't do your argument a favor 
