I was wondering if there is any way to know what has been done based on "detective" work with no old invoices?  You buy a car with two prior owners and the last one kept none of the prior owner's paperwork.    He had the vehicle for 30K miles and did not apparently do any major work.

thosl,

 

The answer is no, unless the work for both owners was done at the same Subie dealership, as they would have records under the VIN number.

 

Other than that you are at the mercy of very careful inspections, looking for nuts and bolts that show a wrench has been on them, or for parts that have obviously been changed because they show very little corrosion compared to the rest of the surrounding parts.

Easy way, look for fasteners that have been rotated or have wrench marks on them, anything that has non-subaru parts or has different grease/dirt lines than what's around it, duct tape, anything shiny and/or new, bite marks, service stickers, that's all I can think of right now.

I'm sure more will chime in with other suggestions.

 

Twitch

When we bought our 2005 Impreza with 129K miles I could tell from the untouched timing cover bolts that it still had the original timing belt. I told this to the salesman and got a lower price on the car.

I'd look more for signs of previous accident damage that went unreported. This is quite often overspray on weather molding, rubber strips, bumper supports under the cover, peeling around headlights on bumper covers, paint on bumpers, fenders, hood, etc. being a shade or 2 off from the body, over spray on the foot sills when opening the doors, poorly aligned fenders, bumper covers, doors, etc. Run fingers under the lip of each fender (top side of fender lip, reach under fender lips and run finger on top of the metal, full circumference) and feel for bondo that oozed out, drill holes, etc. Look under car and see if the exhaust is dented with concrete scrapes suggesting it was curbed or ran over something big, check the floors, etc.

 

Look for missing screws, bolts, nuts on engine and engine covers, look for freshly wiped grease, etc. Though if buying from a dealership, they might have done routine maintenance, and usually they have engine compartments detailed.

 

If engine sounds good and idles smoothly, and runs/drives OK, doesn't over heat or have weird odors or sweet odors, chances are the car is OK. I've bought cars with questionable histories and slightly "off" colorings on bumper covers, etc. but they ran, drove, and shifted correctly and didn't pull and stopped as they should, and put 60k+ miles on them as I knew they were mechanically sound from testings.

 

If ZERO history and non timing chain, I always go through and do a full oil change (full synthetic), plugs, wires, fuel filter, timing belt, air filter, check coolant, power steering fluid, brake fluid, trans fluid (manual or auto), inspect CV boots if it has them, check brake rotors and pads, check ALL the lights, check power seats, windows, locks on each door, sunroof, heat/AC, vents all work and each button functions, etc. etc.

Edited March 30, 201610 yr by Bushwick

Red silicone.

Thanks for the observations on this; good mechanics can spot these things like others can't unless they know what to look for.  With my third owner car (I think), I'm pretty sure maintenance was done on schedule.  First owner was a university teacher, second one a hospital worker/family man.