Esteban32696 Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 Should I buy this '92 Legacy AWD wagon?[ non turbo]5 spd, 183,000 miles.Clean car in & out. Details; Car is at a local shop & owner has not paid the $550 service bill. It was making a lot of valve train clatter & owner told mechanic to change timing belt, oil pump, seals, etc. Car did have good oil pressure before, but oil was very dirty. He changed all items & it is still noisy.It has only run about 15 minutes since work was done.Owner may abandon car & I can probably pick it up for the repair bill.All else, appearance-wise seems to be good. What is your opinion of this car for about $600???? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 That's cheap, even if it only lasts a month! Buy it, drive it, and see if the new oil can wash away the sludge that is likely causing the clatter - tappets. I would run a full synthetic 5W-40 oil and replace the oil filter after 600 miles, and top off the oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 It sounds like this one was subject to poor routine maintainence. The car has a potential life of 300k miles or more with proper care. $600 is cheap for such a vehicle. If I were looking for a daily driver I'd jump on this one. Book value on this is about $2500 and the difference in price to value would go a long way for any initial repairs you might need to do in the first 6 months of owning it. Also, timing belt replacement is one of the major repair costs you wouldn't need to worry about for another 55K miles. Valve clatter might very well go away with the next few routine oil changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerFahrer Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 I say yes. 183k miles isn't a lot for these cars, even if they HAVEN'T been taken care of... I know several guys who regularly beat the crap out of their 200K mile poorly-maintained 90-94 Legacies and still can't break them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 So far (including my vote), you have a unanimous YES! I just simply love mine, and I got it as a (semi) derilict as well (my step daughter did not want to pay to replace the clutch and ball joints). I have worked on the car several times since then, and each time I have done so, I have fallen even more in love with the car. Then there is driving it. I have 140K miles on it and the car responds like a sports car. This from a wagon no less! This car was designed to be very easy to work on, and if you can do your own work at all, grab this car without hesitation. Oh, and I'm new to this forum, so "Hi" to everyone out there. My Subaru: 1992 Legacy L wagon AWD, 5 spd, blue, 140,000miles and going very strong!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esteban32696 Posted October 27, 2004 Author Share Posted October 27, 2004 I am wondering what the repair costs may be if I need to replace valve lash adjusters, etc, etc, to quiten this car down. Any estimates on the cost for a SHOP to do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Snag it, man. Even with the cost of a complete motor replacement, you'll be money ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canajun2eh Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 I am wondering what the repair costs may be if I need to replace valve lash adjusters, etc, etc, to quiten this car down. Any estimates on the cost for a SHOP to do it? About 2.5 hours labour, plus cost of 16 lash adjusters. Don't know your cost for these adjusters, but figure about $40 each. You can do this work yourself. You need a 10 mm and a 12 mm socket wrench. The work is done with the engine in the car. It probably won't need all 16 to be replaced -- 2 or 3 is more usual. In fact, in some cases, only the O-ring on each adjuster needs to be replaced. They can get hard with age, thus leaking and preventing the adjuster from pumping up properly. The O-rings cost about $3 each from the dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbianchi Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 buy it buy it buy it, the 2.2 subaru motor is one of their most bulletproof motors, if the rest of the car is sweet you'll fall in love with that car and gladly repair any and all needed stuff and be smilen all the while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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