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My first question is why is the vehicle on the market? I want to try to avoid cars on the market due to symptoms (noise, intermittent symptoms or annoyances, chasing repairs, overheating, etc). I like buying from people who are moving, just had a child, retired, or got a company car (like really did, not just using it as an excuse for selling)...clear reasons to get rid of a car. If it's a private sale you can get a better feel for that. If it's a lot car then you have to do some more digging and interpretation. I prefer buying from owners, they tend to be honest, fair, or at least east to read whether you should walk or continue discussing. That philosophy works better for $5,000 - $10,000 cars but still not impossible on older cars too. I like the Michellins - it suggests a previous owner was willing to purchase quality equipment and they're not just putting something cheap on it with the intent of flipping it for a buck. PA is terrible for rust - i'm 7 miles from the line. You must verify top brand headgaskets were used (Subaru or Fel Pro) and ideally the heads were resurfaced, but many places don't do that and if properly done there isn't massive evidence it matters much. Who did the headgasket repair? Headgaskets, while not hard, are more akin to open heart surgery and job quality matters more than other jobs. You also need new timing pulleys - those are more likely to fail than the belt. Particularly the lower toothed idler. They're so easy to replace - I can do it in an hour, I would just plan on doing it myself to make sure it's done right - new complete AISIN or Subaru timing belt and 3 pulleys and the tensioner.

The fuel filler neck in the passenger's rear wheel well can rust through, so check for that!

Replaced all 4 struts1st x and timing belts...3rdx in 12+ yrs 1993 Loyale 4wd Wgn Goodtimes!!

99 Forester/Impreza, and 2000 to 2005 - all models (with 2.5's). Block is *cracked*?!? Really? Post pics or it never happened. GD

^^^^^^such a good post get an OEM spin on filter. be sure the air/oil separator plate on the back of the engine isn't seeping too.

Thank you for the pictures. Been trying to describe the whole rear fiberglass cover to a couple people! I saw one. Once.

There are two on car-part.com 100-139 miles away from you. On is $350, the other is $300. That is about the right price. Keep your core till it is done and change the spin off filter and drain and fill the donor. Change the rear main if you can while in there. Some guys say no need, but I always do. Sometimes they want a core charge, other times no. Ask ahead of time. Should be a 60-90 day warranty. I usually pick it up and try to talk them out of it.

front and rear final drives must match. Some folks swap in rear diffs with a new trans of different FD. But best to find direct replacement of course. checked car-part.com? LKQ? maybe try ebay local pick-up and craigslist in case someone is parting-out.

in the past, you could get a cap from an 05 filter kit (throw the filter away), and a 928 metric o-ring for under $75 or so - be sure to inspect any used fuel pump's cap closely - new o-ring would be a good idea too. check; https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Subaru-42072AE00A-Fuel-Filter/dp/B00L2OWO2U/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1538484308&sr=8-6&keywords=2005+subaru+fuel+filter there's a 'dimple' on one of the cap's tabs that I guess is intended to be a stop - don't overtighten and force the dimple over the edge of the plastic lug it's on.

this car is fighting to stay dead.so first it was head gaskets then the transmission issue. after that it drove 8 miles home sat for 40 minutes and then wouldent start. that metal cap with the o-ring on the fuel pump popped off and blew the o-ring out. so fuel pump came out re attached the cap and bent the metal tab back stuck a hose clamp around it and it ran again managed to put 80 miles on it. my step dad is gonna bring another fuel pump from the parts car when they come to pick it up next week.

Great job - put it on bittorrent when you find a place to host it. That way it will be out there and once the hosting goes away it will still make the rounds. GD

I’ll see what I can do. I got up to chapter 11 (transmission stuff) and then copied I think 18 which is the transmission linkage. Its on my phone right now. This week I got a dead friend, a dying German Shepherd , and I think I’m getting in a divorce. May take a few days to figure it all out.

Well, I couldn't find an old ratty wheel to cannibalize for my aftermarket wheel adapter, so I just used mine. Made a plastic bushing to center the pilot bit, and holesawed away. Then flattened out the little bend on one edge with a BFH, and drilled and tapped for the new wheel. Best thing about this method (other than being cheap) is the horn and turn signal cancel cam work just like factory! I had this same style wheel back in high school in a 72 Opel GT that I stuffed a 1963, 215 CI. aluminum Oldsmobile V8 into, and always loved the wheel.

Well, I finally took the plunge after limping my 13" maypop baldies with belts showing along as long as I could, till one did pop. Just didn't want to buy any more 13s. So after many hours of reading about 6-lug swaps here, I decided that would be the cheapest, easiest route. The problem with most of the threads here is they are all about off-roading with lifted cars. There was very, very, little I could find about doing this swap on a stock height car with low-profile tires. What little there was had no pictures anymore because of photosucket. So I took a trip to the only pick-n-pull in the area. Really, a terrible yard, with absolutely no organization whatsoever. You have to go over the whole yard usually, just to start and see what's available. And many of the cars are so packed together, you can't even walk between them. I found one set of 15" steel Isusu 6-lugs in the offset I figured I would need. 60 bucks for the set... pretty happy about that. And they were actually going to charge me extra for the mixmatched, flat, half-bald tires that were on there (??) but they removed them for free. Now, these wheels are well made, but HEAVY!! The center flange that I had to drill was 3/8" steel and the rest of the center was a healthy 1/4". I was gonna weigh them before I got them on the car, but I was too excited to stop and do so. Really, part of me just didn't want to know. I was gonna hit up someone here to send me a front hub, maybe one with stripped splines, to use as a template, but I ended up just taking one of mine off, and bopping two of the studs out. I then made a drill bushing with a nut by first drilling out the threads with my pilot drill bit, and then, with the nut spinning on the pilot bit, I dressed down the OD with a right-angle grinder (shadetree lathe), till it just pushed inside the stud holes. Bolted the hub to the wheels, drilled the pilot through the bushing, then drilled to 1/2", Bob's your uncle. After hours of brooding over tire size, I finally settled on 205/50R15s, which are ever so slightly taller than stock, and filled out beautifully on the 7 inch rims. Wallyworld got me Hankooks for 50 bucks each, and they really look like great tires. Took hardly any weight to balance, which is a good sign for the rims and tires. Fit without issue on the front, but it gets close in a couple of spots. The rear... was going to rub the inner fender lip under compression. I've never rolled any fenders, but I remember an old hot rodder telling me about using a baseball bat to do so. I couldn't find a full-size wooden bat anywhere locally, but I did have a piece of 2" PVC electrical conduit. Started out driving the car forward with the conduit rolling between the tire and body. With a stick and a string on the loose end of the conduit, so I could guide it (would work better with 2 people). Then finished by letting the car roll back down the driveway while levering the conduit down to push the flange up. Worked great. Then, after some cleaning and Krylon, I can't stop looking at it!! Now, I have yet to try and drill a chamfer on the new holes so it will accept a traditional lug nut. For now, I just have regular nuts and lockwashers on the drilled holes, and center the wheels on the car with the factory holes. It's smooth as glass at 80 mph, so I think I can go back now and chamfer the drilled holes, as long as they are perfectly centered around the stud. Or, I could just get some flat-bottom chrome acorn nuts, and leave well enough alone.