Hey Scotty! I have been looking at getting a used truck and the Subaru Baja came across my screen. Hardly ever seeing them on the road brought up red flags for me. Were they reliable cars or an endless money pit?
Its a Ute! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)
I mean Subaru's aren't really known for reliability. Try one of these... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTa_0JcE6xE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVZLzXEifk
Edit: Oh and since your shopping for a car check out Autotempest.com to find the perfect truck for you at the best price
The Baja is basically an Outback with top of the rear section cut off to make a smallish bed. So it's not really a truck if you're looking for something for towing or heavy loads. Subaru non-turbo 4-cylinder engines when these were built had head gasket problems that usually show up around 100,000 miles. (Starts as an external leak and then gets worse. Turbo engines had better gaskets not prone to failure.) The engine has to be removed to replace the head gaskets. Although Subaru engines are not difficult to pull out it is still more involved than a head gasket job on a typical inline 4-cylinder engine.
Subaru automatic transmissions are a weak point, a Baja would have a conventional 4-speed trans. (Manual 5-speed is a better choice.)
So, basically the same caveats that apply to the Baja that would apply to any Subaru Outbook of the same model year. Also since it is actually a passenger car it is not suitable for heavy-duty truck use.
