I've done a bit of research on the EJ series engines and have learned quite a bit, mostly from wikipedia. Everything seemed to point to this being a pretty good peice of technology, specially around 2008 when it won some award for best 2.5 liter engine. Then I stumbled upon some article talking about how the 2.5 liter engine is arguable the worst engine out there, because of a poorly designed head gasket. I've read some reports claiming that it has been fixed, others saying that to this day it hasn't been fixed. I even read one claim saying that 90% of these head gaskets will go bad before it reaches 100,000 miles.

I don't beleive everything I read on the internet, so I thought I'd ask you guys. When I go to pick out a donor car, should I avoid certain models? For those curious about the models in question, I've read reports of this happening on the years from 1998 - 2005. Thanks in advance for your insight.