commuter321 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I am a soon to be college student looking at the used car market and whats come across as reliable is subaru. I found what I hope to be a steal a 1999 2.2L subaru impreza 90,000 and no offense but elderly person owned(a big plus) I've looked on the internet and it was a selected run and it has optional 2wd/awd. My goal is to purchase a car that will last the next four years of college. I do perform regular maintanence on the vehicle I drive now (not a subaru, mercury grand marquis). The vehicle neither has the reliability nor fuel economy I need now. I'm hoping you car spread light on this car alittle bit as any information will help. And as car companies build car to fail at a magic mileage could you spread light on any further purchases I may need to make as the mileage climbs, as I will be financially strapped, once college starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I am a soon to be college student looking at the used car market and whats come across as reliable is subaru. I found what I hope to be a steal a 1999 2.2L subaru impreza 90,000 and no offense but elderly person owned(a big plus) I've looked on the internet and it was a selected run and it has optional 2wd/awd. My goal is to purchase a car that will last the next four years of college. I do perform regular maintanence on the vehicle I drive now (not a subaru, mercury grand marquis). The vehicle neither has the reliability nor fuel economy I need now. I'm hoping you car spread light on this car alittle bit as any information will help. And as car companies build car to fail at a magic mileage could you spread light on any further purchases I may need to make as the mileage climbs, as I will be financially strapped, once college starts. That 2.2 liter engine is good, if the maintenance was kept up. One of subaru's best engines according to most people. I got 330k on one of them before it starting going out, and 240k on another one (was still running fine when it was wrecked). On the other hand, I have one now that only has 160k that is smoking (poor maintenance history...) and a friend blew hers up at less than 100k (driving it on the highway in 2nd gear, 8,000 rpm). With good maintenance, I'd expect over 200k at the very least. Is it a manual or automatic? The one impreza I've owned had the manual tranny go out around 200k, but I've had better luck with the manual legacy trannys (which might be the same, I might have just gotten a bad one). For an automatic, the big thing to check is torque bind... if it hops when going in a tight circle, it probably has torque bind, which is not good -- usually a sign of running mismatched tires on it. All imprezas are full time all wheel drive -- I don't know of any that had selectable two wheel drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I'm not aware of any feature to select 2wd or Awd on any Subaru after 1993-4 when they stopped production of the Loyale. I'm going to guess what you've read about is a function of the automatic transmission to be placed into Fwd by installing a fuse for it. This ability is purely for mechanical reasons when using a spare tire, and the car should not be allowed to be operated this way for any extended period of time or damage to the solenoid that controls line pressure to the AWD transfer clutches will occur. As far as regular maintenance is concerned, the first thing I would change is the timing belt and all of the idlers, tensioner, and water pump. At 90k it hasn't reached the mileage interval but that belt is almost 13 years old. The older it gets the more likely it is to break, and if the timing belt on that engine breaks you'll be putting new valves in it to the tune of $800 - $2500 depending on if you fix it or take it to a shop. A full timing belt kit is only about $250 on eBay, and will only take a day or so to install for a first timer. There are also plenty of resources here on the board explaining the way to time the engine properly. Other than that, the only other major maintenance items are things like spark plugs and wires, filters, PCV valve, fluid changes, the sort of basic stuff that you would do on any other car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commuter321 Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 It is an automatic. And the fuse is the only way to access the two wheel drive. I am unfamiliar with torque bind as the only thing I drive is rear wheel drive. Is it a deciding factor or something that can be fixed. I may be purchasing the vehicle from our family mechanic and may try to get any "future repairs" taken care of as part of the deal. In regards to the idlers, tensioner and water pump is it necessary and how much would it run. I will be commuting daily to college and can't afford to have it down so any repairs done during the summer will eliminate lost time later. Thanks for the feedback it is much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 the FWD fuse is for emergency use only. if someone puts it in - it *usually* indicates that there is a problem - possibly with the transmission.. if they were putting it in to use the car as FWD or for gas mileage then that's just silly and there's really no way we can determine why or why they would do something that's not normal or shouldn't be done. you should run the car without the fuse in AWD - there are no gas mileage benefits to using the fuse because the vehicle is designed as a 4WD vehicle and carries all the hundreds of pounds of weight of the 4WD components and rotating mass of the driveshaft, diff gears, axles, 4WD bearings, etc. interference engine - the timing belt and all the pulleys should absolutely be replaced. at 10+ years old they need replaced by age even if the car has 100 miles on it. if the belt breaks then valve damage will occur - bent valves. the belt, pulleys, and tensioner need replaced. get the ebay timing belt kits they are inexpensive and include the timing belt, all the pulleys, and a new tensioner. they're actually easy to do timing belt jobs on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commuter321 Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Thanks I'll have to inquire about fuse activity before making the final decision. If there are any problems that could arise on the vehicle because reliability is going to be a must Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Thanks I'll have to inquire about fuse activity before making the final decision. If there are any problems that could arise on the vehicle because reliability is going to be a must right on. installing the fuse for FWD is no big deal - it doesn't hurt anything. but "why" someone did this is usually the looming question. it's usually done because something is wrong (torque bind being the most common issue). simply pulling the fuse out and driving it in All Wheel Drive will show what/if any symptoms it has. with fuse removed drive in tight circles in a dry parking lot. any feeling of braking indicates torque bind. not necessarily a big deal....but definitely something to ask about and look into. sometimes it's a simple fix - just change the trans fluid. sometimes it's more ominous and requires replacing a solenoid and/or clutch packs in the trans....a much bigger job though not terribly difficult actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Do you get much rust in your area? If not: Has the car always been in a rust-free area? On older Subarus I like to have a look at the rear crossmember for rust. If you can safely slide under the back of the car locate the rear differential. Have a good look up around the crossmember that sits over top of the diff and holds the lower control arms on. You _can_ replace these if they're shot and it's a fairly simple job but it's not very quick or easy. It's worth a look on a Subaru THAT old at least for piece of mind. A 99 2.2 Impreza should give you good service for quite a while as long as you take care of the upkeep like others have mentioned. The lighter weight of the Impreza makes the most of the 2.2 as well. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1997reduxe Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Yeah well what you meant was that you found a listing of that year on a site, and they said the car would be offered either as a 2wd or 4wd, right? Or you actually were told it is in 2wd? I would really try also to get any info you could get from the owner, maint. records, that kind of thing. It can reveal a lot about what you need to concern yourself with immediately as far as maint. needs. Or find out who did the work on the car, they would know its history. And when you choose a mechanic be sure to get your own copy of haynes or chilton's manual (along with this site) and evaluate the maint requirements yourself against what they say to get done. I used to have a mechanic do what he thought was the proper maint, but realized after a while he wasn't necessarily aware of all the proper things Suby... At 90,000 miles, that car would likely not only get you through school, but your first job as well. My old gf had a 95 with about 90k on it when I met her, I learned all my first Suby ignorance/chops from that car, and had she and her family had listened to me after we broke up (regarding the car) it would still be running, 12 years later. But it went to 300k. Where in PA, btw? You may get some good recommendations for shops on here. I used to live in Philly/Pottstown/Berks area. I know one great guy there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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