Benny Boo-Boo Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 Hey all, this is my first post here and I need some advice. I'm looking at an 02 Impreza Outback Sport w/5 speed. It has 111,000 miles and the dealer is asking $8750 for it. I don't put alot of miles on my car so the mileage isn't too much of an issue with me. I 've always heard Subarus were good for the long haul, but after doing some homework I've seen alot of concerns with the head gaskets on these cars. Do you guys think this is a good investment? The car is great shape and tomorrow I get to look it over good and take it for a spin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blitz Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 The '02 OBS is good transportation. If someone bought it, fueled it, and maintained it for you, at best it would be a subsidy. Investment, no. Sirius is a good short-term investment. Gold and Silver are good long-term investments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 Semantics aside, if you take good care of the car, you will get well over your $8750's worth of enjoyment and reliability out of the car. I believe that is what you meant by a good investment. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outback_97 Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 That's a lot of miles, but the price is probably consistent with what they'd ask around here too. If you have a little more room in your budget I think you should consider one with lower mileage, or a TS which will be cheaper than the OBS at similar mileages. Just my $.02. OTOH, highway miles would take less of a toll on the car than many short trips, so maybe that's not such a bad thing. We have an '03 TS which is 97% the same car, 98% if you don't consider the paint scheme, and we love it. Very good transportation. We should do a FAQ about head gaskets. The problems you've probably read about are mainly the Phase 1 2.5l engine, which was used from roughtly '96 to '99 and is a DOHC engine. In some cases it experiences an "internal" leak which can be very tricky for mechanics to diagnose and reproduce. Subaru has revised the head gaskets for this engine a few times over the years. Since they don't admit to a problem and it often happens out of warranty period, there's no good data on what percentage of engines suffer this problem. The car you're looking at has the Phase 2 2.5 l engine, it's a SOHC and some of these experienced external HG leakage, much more noticeable and the consequences of it happening seem less damaging. The HG concerns mainly affected '00 to '02 engines IIRC (not sure on that). Not sure if '02 was subject to the "coolant conditioner" service campaign, which is pretty much a stop-leak product added to the coolant by the dealer. On the plus side they extended warranty coverage if you had the additive added. Supposedly my '03 is not subject to this, evidently they had fixed the problem by then. Bottom line: I would not worry about HG's on an '02 SOHC engine. You could find out from service records if the "coolant conditioner" was added but that warranty was something like 7yr(?) / 100k miles and you're past that anyway at over 100K. Message boards like this tend to amplify problems anyway... most people don't seek out places like this unless they're having problems, so you hear about the bad more than the good. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benny Boo-Boo Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 Thanks for the info guys. Yeah, by investment I just meant if it would be a smart buy. I took the car out and it rides nice. Wouldn't of thought it had nowhere near that many miles. They won't move on the price but they will throw in a new clutch, water pump, and timing belt. The only thing that concerns me is that I'm a little cramped being 6' 4". Gotta love that all-wheel drive in the snow though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outback_97 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Benny BB: We're about the same height... for what it's worth the Impreza is fine for me for four or five hundred miles in a day... longer than that and I feel cramped. We drove from Billings MT to SLC UT (650 miles) in one day recently and my body didn't like that, but I don't know if I would have been comfortable that long in any car, I just don't like to drive that far. The Legacy OB does offer a little more room, it's not a huge difference but noticeable. I'd say the OB is more comfortable, the Impreza more fun to drive. Good luck with your decision, I think you'll like Subaru. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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