Urban Coyote

Haahaa....he's only had it 1 year! Says he wants to get a truck instead Poor misguided soul......

Yeah, rust for me is a huge issue with me, especially with Canadian winters and salt on the roads. I was considering and passed up another Impreza that was an '09 model but already has the start of rust bubbles under the paint on the back hatch. The owner said they had never undercoated the car either so who knows how badly it was going to rust in the next year or so even if I had undercoated it from that point on. I'm not sure if US citizens pay taxes on used cars from private sellers, but we have to in Canada, so once the taxes are added on and our government takes it's chunk out of our hides, that 12K car actually more like $14k. No fun.

Ok, thanks! Edmunds and KBB put the value for a private sale between $9500 - $11500 depending on the condition. The car is in good condition but it has a few small surface rust spots developing on the hood and roof. Does being in Canada have a big effect on these valuations? Should I expect to pay more than that here? I check the Canadian Black Book website and it put these car at over $16,000! I think there may be something wrong with that calculation....it's not a WRX for goodness sake. The owner wants $12000 or more...I think that's a bit steep for a car with over 100,000km on it.

There's a 2008 Impreza 2.5i with the sport package (not an outback sport) in my area for sale for $14,000. It's got 102,000km on it and appears to be in good shape. Although I have not run a report on it myself yet, the owner says it's clean. Is $14k a bit on the high side for a car that's 5 years old and has over 100,000km on it? UC

I'm looking at two Imprezas for sale and was wondering if anyone has a CarProof account and could run a number for me? JF1GH61649G807886 Having a hard time trying to decide if I should go for one of these cars or not. One is a base trim 2009, blue with 99,000km, in decent shape. Private seller. The other is a 2008 sport trim, white with 85,000km....but has a fender bender listed on the CarProof the dealer gave to me. I'm not a fan of white cars, but it's a nicer trim with fewer km and a lower asking price. Dealer has this car. Thoughts?

Thanks for the responses! I would LOVE to get a new 2012 2.0L Impreza but it's just not in the cards right now.....too expensive as new vehicle. If it doesn't crop up with any major issues in the next few years I will almost certainly try to pick one up off the used market. My dear old Legacy is just a hair off of hitting 350,000km....probably next week sometime. Everything just seems to be wearing out so I've decided to start shopping for a reliable used vehicle. One of my main questions is do the newer Subaru 2.5L engines still have prominent head gasket issues? Say 2007 and newer. I put a lot of Km on my cars (40K+ a year) so I need one that's going to be able to handle the distance. Reliability, safety, and a car that I will enjoy driving would be nice. Everything I want is in a Subaru....except for the MPG, and considering how much I drive it might be a deal breaker. I haven't made up my mind on that though. Do the newer Subarus also all still have timing belts.....I thought I read somewhere that some now have chains? Again, I appreciate any and all input UC OMG....just on a side note the local Subaru dealer wants me to bring my Legacy in for a trade in appraisal. *LOL* At 350K I'd probably have to pay them to take it!

I'm starting to look into replacing my old '98 Legacy with a smaller hatchback. What are people's thoughts on the 08-09 Imprezas? What are the typical issues with these cars and what sort of realistic MPG do they get? I'd be looking for a manual, not an automatic. The other potential is a Matrix .... but I hate the thought of giving up the AWD, yet at the same time I drive a lot and don't want something that's going to eat me out of house and home on gas. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

No he did not. He started trouble shooting the issue by taking readings of the current engine oil pressure as is to see if there actually is a drop in pressure, or if the sensor switch is actually faulty. My question still remains though....what are acceptable engine oil pressure readings, and when does the pressure get so low that the sensor is supposed to trip and the light come on?

Does anyone know at what engine oil pressure the oil light is triggered to come on in my model Legacy? It's a '98, 2.2, L wagon. My brother got these numbers when he did a pressure check. 12 psi @ 600 rpm (idle) 70 psi @ 4500 rpm The light is still tripping and coming on.

325,000km = 201,945 miles. I'll check the oil, but I've never noticed a fuel smell in it. I just did an oil change about two weeks ago. I'm using synthetic 5w30 and have been using that for the last 6 years.

Thanks a bunch! I'll pass along all of your suggestions to my brother so he'll have it when he gets home and is able to look at the roo. I hope you're right and it's just the screws, but I'm going to play it safe and get a pump anyway so when we have the car apart I'll have the part ready to go if it's needed. I'll also get the o-ring and Ultra Grey. The car is getting on in years and has a little over 325,000 km on it. I drive it over 100km a day to commute to work. UC

I think the oil pump in my roo is starting to fail. I had the oil light start to come on yesterday while out driving my 2.2, '98 Legacy wagon. I first noticed it when it flickered barely on and off when the car came to a stop and had to idle, but would go out when the rpm's were above 1500 when driving. Got the car home asap with the same symptoms. Each time the car came to a stop where the rmp's went below 1500 the oil light would come on. I kept the car turned off when I had to remain stopped for more than a second. After consulting with my brother he believes the oil pump is starting to fail and needs to be replaced. Does this sound right to you guys? Could the symptoms represent another issue? Next question. Other than the oil pump itself, what other parts/gaskets should I purchase for the replacement? My brother can do the replacement, I just wanted to make sure I have everything he needs for the job. Thanks!! UC

Thanks! I had a 'tiny' bit of hope that it may have fit, but of well. Thanks for the honest answer without the unnecessary sarcasm of the previous poster. UC

Well the rust monster has finally started to rear it's ugly head in my 1998 legacy L wagon. I noticed along the bottom of the front passenger side door the corner edge is rusted through. I know the only way to repair this sort of rust is probably to replace the whole door and someone in my area has an impreza of the same color that they are selling as a parts car. Sooooo....the question is, will a 1998 impreza door fit a legacy? Thanks! UC

On of the dash lights is out on my '98 Legacy (the one behind the rpm read out). I've never replaced a dash light and was just wondering if this was difficult or not to replace or worth the effort? UC

You read my mind! The Nokian brand is notoriously hard to find around here. The only ones I've been able to find the Hakkapeliitta 5s. I think from what the dealer said they can come studded and none studded. What are the advantages / disadvantages of studs on tires? I drive about 100km each day with a good chunk being highway driving. Are studded tires overly loud? How do they handle and wear over time?

Yeah, I've been very happy with the hakkas I've had and will take a look for them to see if anyone in my area carries them. They're not the easiest tires to find in my area. I think the people who are able to drive all year on all seasons are pretty lucky. I find the difference between a set of all seasons and a dedicated winter tires to be like night and day. I tried to drive on hard packed snow on a set of Toyo all seasons and felt like I was going to slide off the road. Put a pair of winters on and there's no problem. I don't find there's any comparison between cheap tires and good quality ones either. I'll go for quality in my tires every time. UC

Was just wondering what the trend in quality winter tires was these days? It's been about 4 years since I last purchased winter tires so I'm about due for a new set for my '98 Legacy. I'm in the Canadian east (Nova Scotia) so we can get a lot of wet, slushy, heavy snow. The ones I currently have are Nokian hakkapeliitta's. UC

Ok, so I found out on the weekend that I need a new spring for my hill holder mechanism that is located under the hood of my '98 Legacy, 2.2. My brother did a temporary fix of the spring and it's working relatively well at the moment, but I should try to get a new one soon......so called Subaru. Of course you can't just buy the spring, you have to buy the whole mechanism for $300 CAD! The spring itself looks relatively mundane and I was wondering if a trip to the local hardware store would produce a spring similar to the one used on the hill holder system? I would rather get a new one than one from a salvage yard that could be 50% rusted out to begin with. Anyone know the specs/tension of this spring by chance?? UC

Hi Guys, Just FYI, when we looked we found out that the spring on the hill holder system under the hood was broken. Fixed it up an everything is working great again UC

Hi Guys, Thanks so much! My brother is the mechanically inclined one in the family so I'll print off your suggestions and bring them over to his place this weekend when he has the chance to look at the roo. UC

The hillholder on my '98 legacy seems to be 'sticking'. When I come to a stop pointing uphill it won't easily release when I try to get going again. Any ideas what could be causing this? I don't have any problems when stopped on the level or downhill, but the slightest uphill and the breaks won't let go and drag for a while. If I tap the breaks a bit they seem to release after a short distance. I did recently have the gas tank replaced and they put in new break lines in the back at the same time. Originally I noticed the break pedal went a bit closer to the floor than usual before it would firm up. I thought there may have been a 'tiny' bit of air in the lines still, but hadn't been able to get the car into a shop to have it looked at. Just about the time the hillholder started acting up the break pedal seemed to adjust itself.....a.k.a went back to the more typical travel distance before firming up. Anyway, any thoughts? Thanks!!

I have almost 230,000km on my 98 Legacy L right now and hope to go many many more with it if I can keep the rest of the car in good working order. It was doing great until just recently when everything seemed to start to fall apart. Since I got the car 4 years ago I've replaced the gas filler neck, both front axles (torn boots), a front bearing (sp?), a flange in the exhaust system, the timing belt and now I have a leak in the gas tank system somewhere yet to be determined. One front axle, exhaust flange, the bearing and the gas tank all cropped up in the last 6 months.....blahhh. I hope this is just a bad run and issues will settle down for a while after the gas tank is fixed. My old beat up Loyal made it to 330,000km and was nowhere near as well maintained when I first got it as my current Legacy, so I hope the Legacy will keep going a LONG time.

Thanks porcupine73. I went to read the article but I don't think it will help me a whole lot as my Legacy is a 98 and the article mentions that Subaru only started putting the vapor recovery system in it's cars in 2000. Thanks nipper! I will try to take a look in the next day or so. I priced up a replacement tank and work from a local garage and they said between $800-1200 CAD I realize it's a lot of work to get the darn thing out to replace, but WOW! I filled the tank this morning to about 2/3 and didn't notice any major gas smell when I got to work, but I will check again when I leave to see if anything has changed. Etc looks like we're both in the same situation, you have exactly the same car as mine. UC

Sorry, I should have mentioned that the filler neck was replaced two years ago. There also doesn't 'seem' to be much effect on gas mileage that I've noticed. I'm curious about "little lines and stuff under there for evaporative emissions". Can you check on them from the trunk or back seat if you pull up the carpet inside the car? What's the best way to go about "looking around" to get an idea of what might truely be happening? Urban Coyote