Armchair Bronco Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 I'm shopping around for a used Subaru Impreza in the 2001-2005 range and would like some suggestions on what to look for. This would include things to ask the seller (either private or a dealer) over the phone as well as a checklist of things to look for on the car itself if I take it for a test drive. I do NOT work on my own cars, so I have no hands-on experience in this area, but I am pretty technical and enjoy researching new things, so I'm certainly capable of learning a lot from some "How To" videos or websites. The car would initially be shared by my 3 teenage kids over the next 4-8 years (4 years of HS, plus 4 years of college with visits during Christmas and the summer). After that, I'd probably want to keep the car around as a reliable standby and maybe spruce it up (new paint job, leather seats, upgraded stereo, etc.) Call me "Old School", but I just love the looks of the 2005 Subaru Impreza. The bugeye models from 2002-2003 are also very cool in a quirky way. Please educate me (price; mileage; maintenance issues like timing belts, head gaskets; what to look for in an engine bay; manual vs. automatic issues; how to check for rust, etc.). (I started a similar thread for a specific vehicle that my wife didn't like, so I'm casting a wider net this time around.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 torque bind. test drive on dry days on pavement, drive with wheel turned to full lock (left/right doesn't matter). let car coast around like 3 full circles. any sense of braking indicates torque bind. it'll be obvious slowly or herky jerky. if you can't tell, then it's not doing it, it's not like it's an art and hard to tell. and headgaskets are about the only thing you need to know. they leak externally underneath at the head to engine mating surface. that's the two major things you need to look out for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair Bronco Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 ^ Thanks for the tip. I'll add these to my used Subaru Impreza checklist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair Bronco Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 Here's a link to a "Subaru Buyer's Guide" on rs25.com: http://www.rs25.com/forums/f106/t73880-used-subaru-buyers-guide.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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