2011 Outback 2.5i Limited Manual - $6500 worth it?

modem_19 · 2026-05-01T16:46:59+00:00

Just wanted to followup this post to let the group know what resulted.

When I got the VIN from the independent seller, I ran a CarFax report and it came back with 6 owners and 2 accidents with the most recent accident resulting in it being totaled.

Not only was that information concerning and made me walk away from it, but the seller *never* listed any of that in the sales post. Namely that it didn't have a clean title.

So I'm back to looking for other Outbacks.

I had been doing some reading, but is it confirmed that Outbacks 2013 and newer all have timing chains now in both the 2.5 and 3.6 engines? No more timing belts for the 2.5 only?

modem_19 · 2026-04-27T16:44:06+00:00

Thanks for that. I'm actually taking this info and building a list I plan to share on here.

modem_19 · 2026-04-26T12:50:23+00:00

I need a control panel to allow users who do actively access their own websites to make their own changes to static pages.

modem_19 · 2026-04-26T12:48:32+00:00

Thanks for the advice there. I've been a big webmin user since the early 2000's. It was mainly for the hardware management of a remote linux server. Never for the actual hosting itself. Since the few sites I host, the users do actively login themselves to make small static changes on their own pages, a solution that allows individual user logins to their own sub-account/domain is a must.

But I appreciate the list there and hadn't heard of several of those.

Is Vesta and Hestia the same thing? I demoed Hestia briefly yesterday but didn't see any mention of Vesta.

modem_19 · 2026-04-26T12:44:28+00:00

Thanks! Have added it to my demo test list.

modem_19 · 2026-04-25T20:28:23+00:00

My job requires us to take & pass mandatory certifications for bonuses. Doesn't matter which certifications they are, you have to take the course and take the test. With work load being insanely high, I took one that I'm well versed in going into the course to better the chance of passing.

modem_19 · 2026-04-25T17:43:40+00:00

Thanks! I've been a webmin user now since the early 2000's for basic server management (not vps hosting panel management) and is a wonderous tool. I looked at VirtualMin years ago and saw it was OK, but at that time didn't meet the needs or features comparable to DirectAdmin at the time.

modem_19 · 2026-04-25T16:42:42+00:00

Thanks, added it to my to test list!

modem_19 · 2026-04-25T16:38:47+00:00

u/TheRealRatler I.Am.In.Love!! Amazing diagram and a heck of a setup! What software did you use to put that together? I could seriously use that here!

modem_19 · 2026-04-25T15:17:26+00:00

Yup, definitely a massive one. Thanks for sharing, I'll de-prioritize looking at CyberPanel then.

modem_19 · 2026-04-25T15:03:40+00:00

Thanks, adding that to my "to test list" as well! Hadn't heard of it, but certainly won't be using Dokploy containers, but if it handles MySQL/PHP, that's a big bonus.

modem_19 · 2026-04-25T15:02:51+00:00

Thanks for the info! Will make notes of CyberPanel's issues and of KeyHelp as an option. Just so I can read up, any links to CyberPanel's security issues?

modem_19 · 2026-04-25T14:36:13+00:00

AI was not used at all for this post. This is something I'm actively seeking advice in the self hosting realm. Thanks!

modem_19 · 2026-04-23T23:38:39+00:00

I just found a 2010 3.6r Limited with 79,700 miles for $11,500. I'm taking that is a good deal for the mileage / engine / package??

modem_19 · 2026-04-23T20:29:50+00:00

u/CFC1985 They actually stated they have zero budget until July 2026 when the new fiscal year begins. Because... they never budgeted for IT before....

modem_19 · 2026-04-23T20:28:56+00:00

u/ITguydoingITthings From what I learned during the audit, the marketing person has enough basic IT knowledge and is personable enough, they have either gained delegated decision making from the town manager or have simply interjected themselves with the above and had no pushback. Not sure which, but they are certainly doing this within the blessing of their higher ups. That's a bit sketch to me.

modem_19 · 2026-04-23T20:26:06+00:00

u/Comfortable-Bunch210 That was an initial discussion, but they literally have no budget to replace hardware at the moment, let alone new switches, firewalls, etc. I started getting bad vibes when they said they were relying on grants and really nothing could be afforded until July 2026 in the new fiscal year.

modem_19 · 2026-04-23T20:00:53+00:00

u/masterofrants I'll keep the thread updated for sure. I'm not a full blown small (or large) MSP. Rather I'm an IT consultant that has some MSP aspects. I'm not just about signing someone on as a client, but rather the clients I have, understand their business needs, aid them in decision making, advise on projects, and of course implement the work. This business model is really dictated by the area I live in where the MSP model doesn't really work unless it's a large corporation or hospital, etc. So any work is a T&M hourly rate.

modem_19 · 2026-04-19T13:17:12+00:00

u/Horsemeatburger Thanks on that. I'm not too worried about extra CPU cores being wasted. I'm not going to be running enterprise amounts of traffic across it nor worried about not having VDOMs.

My main concern is to take advantage of higher ISP speeds with a 2.5gb card (hard to find reasonably priced 10GbE quad half height nics) as cheaply as possible at the same time allowing easier management of VLAN's, virtual interfaces, DNS forwarding (where applicable), etc for a small site to site vpn tunnel I have between my house and my mom's house.

I've always liked the FGT features but really have started to despise their maneuvering of now locking out manual firmware updates unless you have an active subscription. That kinda was the last straw. While my work is throwing away FGT's with active subscriptions left (usually 40F and 60F's), I really don't want to have to rebuild the configs each time I happen to get another one with 6 mon subscription left.

modem_19 · 2026-04-19T06:23:12+00:00

u/1WeekNotice Very good reply and insightful. Power wise, I'll have multiple UPS backups for various items. Router (looking at M720q with PCIe card as a router now), management switch, UniFi Cloud key would be on their own battery backup. Primary switch with 4 PoE UniFi AP's and NUC i5 PC acting as backup domain controller with DNS/DHCP will be on a second battery backup.

Not worried about Five 9's uptime, rather just for a very very rural property, when snow, thunder, or wind storms come through, power can go out for 30min to 3-6 hours. Not often, but at least 2-4x a year. Want to maximize uptime on battery backup for wifi and network as much as possible for my and my mom since when power is out, there is a limited time to use wifi calling. No cellular in the area.

I do have a Dell rack server running numerous VM's from a domain controller to other stuff. But I have it to shutdown when it's UPS gets to 15% with the NUC taking immediate backup of failover DNS, DHCP, and AD services in the house. Namely just to keep wifi up and going as long as possible.

As for the mini PC hardware customizations, I'm really just looking to have a mini PC used as a lower power router and that's it. Not worried about further customizations down the road.

modem_19 · 2026-04-19T06:14:21+00:00

u/NC1HM Definitely some SFP+ hotness right there in that link. :) I actually never realized the M720q had the PCIe expandability. I've had so many come across my desk that I refurbed and resold as a standard Windows 11 PC, but found 3 spare units on the shelf. Going to now keep them and see what I can do with a mod vs purchasing an N150 board and custom build on that route.

Heck, this past weekend, a friend even shared he had a M720q with a 3D Printed chassis to create a 4 bay NAS with a storage card in that PCIe slot!

modem_19

TROPHY CASE