I would highly recommend staying away from all Subaru vehicles with the 2.5L engines from 98-07. There is a reason there are so many of these cars for sale. There is a strong possibility that some of these cars have the overheating problem, the owner knows about it and are trying to sell a lemon. My theory is that the guy who sold the car to me put some stop leak in the radiator to temporarily fix it and sell it. That would explain why the radiator was clogged. Also, just because the car isn’t overheating now doesn’t mean it is immune to the problem.
Hope this helps,
Bryan
As an additional counterpoint to the post a few above mine, this sounds MUCH more like a previous owner problem than a car problem. Stop leak WILL crap up your cooling system, in the same way fix-a-flat craps up the inside of your wheels or AC refridgerant with leak sealant will junk up your AC system. Good mechanics don't use them, and many refuse to work on cars that have been treated with them because it will damage their equipment (particularly the expensive vacuum/charge equipment for cooling and air conditioning systems).
You replaced the radiator, but not the head gasket? If so, the cooling system issue was NOT fixed, which is why you still had problems...can't really hold that against the car. Also, if you continue to drive a car with a bad headgasket, you increase the chances of warping the head, making the eventual repair that much more expensive since the head (and sometimes block) have to be milled back flat to ensure a good seal for the new gasket (which may be why your uncle had problems if this wasn't done). You are absolutely right that the 2.5L engine has a propensity for popping headgaskets, but it's a known problem and not the end of the world to fix. And the catch is, EVERY car has something like that, whether it's the impossible heater core on Volvos, the weak automatic transmissions in Hondas, the oil sludge problems of Corollas, whatever. While all of them can be an issue, the internet has a tendency to blow them out of proportion. The majority of owners don't have these problems.
Sharing my own story, I own a '99 Subaru Impreza with the 2.5L engine. It was my uncle's car at the time, and at ~100-110K miles, his mechanic told him the HG was starting to go. The car was in for a timing belt replacement (normal maintenance, due every 100K miles), and the head gasket was caught early and fixed. Since then, no more problems. The car now has almost 200K miles, and the only maintenance it's needed besides oil changes was new rear wheel bearings @ 170K miles, which is pretty good considering how long the originals lasted.
Cars need maintenance, neglect it at your own peril. How many here follow the manufacturers recommendations? Meaning, and it varies by manufacturer, but generally: you replace the coolant every 5 years/100K miles, the brake fluid every two years, the oil every 5K miles (you do run a high quality synthetic to ensure long life, right?), replace the trans/diff fluid every 60K miles, your air filter every 15K, your timing belt every 60-100K, your fuel filter every 10K, etc., etc. The new coolant helps protect your cooling system from rust by replenshing the additives, extending the life of your water pump/thermostat/radiator, brake fluid is hydroscopic (it absorbs water), replacing every 2 years keeps the water content low and helps avoid frozen (rusty inside) calipers, leaking master cylinders, and junked up ABS pumps, regular synthetic oil changes help prolong the life of your engine by keeping wear low and protecting against low oil conditions (such as startup), high heat (towing, traffic jams, etc.), and sludge, new trans/diff fluids replace the used up additives like friction modifiers that help keep the gears meshing smoothly, synchros happy, and limited slips working. Filters (air, engine, fuel) need to be clean to do their job, etc., etc.........It's all written down and available for anyone that want to know and follow it, but few do.
It might seem expensive, but regular maintenance isn't bad to DIY, and if you keep up with it, the car should last you three times longer than your friends who run them into the ground. That turns out to be quite a savings in the long run. :)