NorthWolf Posted May 20, 2005 Share Posted May 20, 2005 I'm considering buying a '97 Outback Limited with 85,000 miles. The dealership says it's got piston slap and has marked the sticker price down appropriately ($6,500 versus $8,000-9,000). The dealership also gave me a ballpark estimate for a mechanic to repair the piston slap ($1500-$2000). I am buying a new car to replace my '97 Outback which I lost to an accident. (with 135K miles...poor ole girl, she would have gone a lot longer too) It was also a 2.5L engine. IMHO, they both sounded pretty much the same. Other than the piston slap, the car is in excellent overall condition...very clean and looks well taken care of. I did a Carfax report and it came out clean. I actually test drove it today and was pleased by it's performance. Everything else seems fine...the steering, brakes, shifting/transmission, and everything else feels okay. It just has a slight 'knock'. I called my mechanic and they said that Subarus are noisy. These guys are import specialists and they have lots of experience with 'Rus. I am having the car inspected by them on Tuesday. I also did some research online and apparently piston slap is pretty common in this kind of car. The general feeling I got from reading about it is that piston slap is not that serious of a problem...is this true? What are your experiences with piston slap? Is it a dealbreaker for this car? I really LOVED my Outback and want to get another one with less than 100K miles on it, but Subies that haven't already been driven into the ground are really scarce. I like this car, but I want to know if the piston slap is something I should walk away from. Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted May 20, 2005 Share Posted May 20, 2005 It's a deal breaker if the piston slap is still present when the engine is warmed up. My car slaps in the morning, and again if left off for over four-five hours. However, it disappears soon after the engine temp needle hits normal. IF the slap gets worse as the engine heats up, don't walk away, RUN away :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwatt Posted May 20, 2005 Share Posted May 20, 2005 I'm considering buying a '97 Outback Limited with 85,000 miles. The dealership says it's got piston slap and has marked the sticker price down appropriately ($6,500 versus $8,000-9,000). The dealership also gave me a ballpark estimate for a mechanic to repair the piston slap ($1500-$2000). I am buying a new car to replace my '97 Outback which I lost to an accident. (with 135K miles...poor ole girl, she would have gone a lot longer too) It was also a 2.5L engine. IMHO, they both sounded pretty much the same. Other than the piston slap, the car is in excellent overall condition...very clean and looks well taken care of. I did a Carfax report and it came out clean. I actually test drove it today and was pleased by it's performance. Everything else seems fine...the steering, brakes, shifting/transmission, and everything else feels okay. It just has a slight 'knock'. I called my mechanic and they said that Subarus are noisy. These guys are import specialists and they have lots of experience with 'Rus. I am having the car inspected by them on Tuesday. I also did some research online and apparently piston slap is pretty common in this kind of car. The general feeling I got from reading about it is that piston slap is not that serious of a problem...is this true? What are your experiences with piston slap? Is it a dealbreaker for this car? I really LOVED my Outback and want to get another one with less than 100K miles on it, but Subies that haven't already been driven into the ground are really scarce. I like this car, but I want to know if the piston slap is something I should walk away from. Thanks so much! Piston slap or no piston slap.....any time a dealer tells you they've "marked down the price", I'd be very concerned. Were they really planning to sell that car for 8-9000 bucks to begin with? I mean, we know it's a Subaru, and they do hold their value well, but it is approaching 9 model years old and has 85K miles on it. Are they telling you they've "marked it down" so they can cast that line and reel you in? I'll bet they were really looking to get 6500.00 for that car to begin with... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98legacywv Posted May 20, 2005 Share Posted May 20, 2005 I have a 98 subaru legacy gt 2.5 5 spd im selling for 7200$ with 64000 miles on it.. in excellent shape.. a mechanic told me it had some piston slap.. for 100$ you can transfer the 2.5 months of guardian warranty left on the car to you too.. then if you decide its a problem you can have a mechanic tell the warranty company that there is a problem and put another engine in it.. I have been told the piston slap is an issue.. and i have been told its not an issue.. i replaced all the head gaskets and basically the entire cooling system.. just 2,000 miles ago.. I thought I would be a bigger fan of subaru than i ended up being with this car.. then again.. immediately going several thousand in debt to fix all the head gasket issues days after buying the car kinda destroyed any hope of that.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbhrps Posted May 21, 2005 Share Posted May 21, 2005 NorthWolf, My 97 OBW LTD developed the piston slap at 23 000 km and still had it at 138 000 km when I traded it. In winter, until the engine warmed up, it was loud and then tapered off, but you could still tell it was there. All the research I did led me to believe that it would not substantially shorten the engine's life. The car was otherwise great. Then I retired and treated myself to an 02 OBW LTD. It slaps slightly when cold, but at 96 000 km hasn't gotten any worse. And if it does, I'll drive it until I get the urge to treat myself again, in say 4 or 5 years. There is no need to be afraid of the piston slap, unless its something that would just drive you crazy, or if in 2 years time you're going to try and sell the car. It may well scare off many potential buyers, unless they too know that its not a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted May 21, 2005 Share Posted May 21, 2005 It must decrease in volume as the engine heats up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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