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Flowmastered87GL

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Posts posted by Flowmastered87GL

  1. There is not $5000 of padding in a Subaru.  My parents just bought an Impreza and it was more like $1200 if I recall.  They got the car below invoice plus I was able to get a $500 Subaru Ambassador coupon to apply on top of that.

     

    The dealer should be willing to show you the invoice.

     

    Often times if you contact the INTERNET DEPARTMENT, not retail sales, they will give you a very good quote over e-mail and tell you what invoice is.  (I think the two bids I got were $200 under and $500 under)

     

    http://www.cars101.com/ used to show the invoice prices, but I couldn't find them tonight.  If you dig around on there maybe you can find them.

    • Like 1
  2. Expect the car to need at minimum:  Timing belts and water pump.  The timing belts especially are problematic on these cars.  In around 135,000 miles of use of a GL I had the timing belts break on me twice leaving me stranded on the side of the road.  On most of these that I had I commonly threw head gaskets, all oil seals, water pump, thermostat, plugs and wires, water pump at the car before being able to trust it.

     

    I love the GL series... but General Disorder is right... something newer like a Legacy or Impreza is going to be significantly more reliable.

    • Like 1
  3. 1996 OBS.

    3/8" ADF strut top spacers

    1997 Legacy Outback struts

    1997 Legacy Outback rear trailing arm mounts

    1997 Legacy Outback rear sway bar and mounts

    1997 Legacy Outback tires/wheels

    Kartboy STi rear endlinks on front sway bar

    Whiteline rear camber bolts

     

    suby11_zps5orqoxuc.jpg

    • Like 2
  4. So, Im having a clearance issue on the rear.  I have an 03 impreza wrx

    lifted with forester struts and springs.  I got my Grabber 215/65R16

    AT2's mounted on my stock wrx  rims.  The problem in the rear is the top

    of the wheel is hitting the lower spring/strut perch.  Not sure whats

    going on.  Could I maybe have the two rear struts switched around?  Not

    sure if that would make a difference.  I would post a pic on here, but

    not sure how.

     

    I'm not surprised they are rubbing, I have 205's on mine and 15's and I BARELY have any room.  I can't even fit a finger in there.  You may need different offset wheels.  Hopefully someone else has another solution, but I just barely scraped by on my clearances.

  5. It should be decently reliable if its been taken care of.  Since its turbocharged though everything under the hood is subject to increased wear.  The CV boots will wear out faster, hoses will wear out faster, belts wear out faster, the car needs oil changes more often, etc.   If you take care of the car it will take care of you.  The most critical thing to make sure has been handled is the timing belt.  Done with it should be the water pump and all the timing belt pullies and tensioners.  I personally would take a non-turbo car over a turbo one every single day of the week as far as reliability is concerned though.  But since you have the car already, all you can do at this point is make sure the car is meticulously maintained and it should be decently good to you.

  6. Got some toys for the car for Christmas.  Pictures coming after they are installed.

     

    Car will be getting new Kenwood speakers to replace the 21 year old paper units.

     

    A roof rack basket

     

    A trailer hitch with shackle recovery point

  7. If you have Russ / Richie do the repair up here in Portland the odds of success are better, but it will still likely fail at some point in the future.  My Baja has 184K and has some major oil seep from the head gaskets.   I am hoping to nurse it to 210K, reseal the engine and then run it til it blows, then replace the engine and so on.

     

    Personally I would do the timing belt, ALL oil seals, tensioners and water pump with the head gasket.  Even if they are a year old you know they were done right with quality parts and you should not need anything besides plugs and fluids for the next 105K

     

    The wagon you have will likely be slightly more reliable, but either one is a good solid car.

  8. If you are really looking into late model stuff I would go for a new model.  Around here in Oregon you can often buy a brand new car for less than a used one.  Example:  My parents just bought a 2016 Impreza Sport Premium CVT in August.  They paid around $21544 out the door brand new.  Used models one or two years old equipped the same but with miles on them were "asking" $24000 and up.  My parents got this deal on the car with no hassle at all... I just asked them to tell me what specs they wanted on the car and I contacted a dealer via subaru.com.  The lowest bid was about $500 under invoice.  I piled a $500 Subaru Ambassador coupon on top of that, they paid cash and we got a heck of a deal with no negotiation necessary.  I will note that we kept the paying cash deal a secret until the very end.

     

    We used Miguel Mesa at Carr Subaru in Beaverton Oregon (in the internet department)

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