July 27, 200421 yr Hi, Im new to your site. I am going to buy my first Subaru in the next few weeks. The one i am currently looking at is an '86 Gl turbo powere coupe. It looks to be in nice condition but i still need to test drive probably next week sometime. I am wondering what are specifics to look for when buying this car to make sure it was well maintained and is still in excellent condition as seller posted. Thankyou Oh and it has a 5 spd dual range tranny and the asking price is 1200
July 27, 200421 yr Its an ea-82 so he should check timing belts right? i donno what else... i am gonna be needing this same info tho so any help?
July 27, 200421 yr cars and hidden gremlins..... ea82 has timing belts, pretty easy to replace, really should do it on a car thats new to you....unless he has papers showing recent replacement the timing belt tensioner pulleys have a bearing in em, thats the first thing that broke on a sube for me, no test until you get in there. they shouldnt have slop, and certainly shouldnt sound dry.... turbo? i hate em, but lots of people run em with no trouble.. the bearings go out on em.. no test that i know of axels, ball joints, tie rod ends, even the steering rack are cheap and easy to replace so dont worry too much about that its the lifters (tick tick tick) and the headgasket/head crack that really put the shivvers in whats left of my spine... tick tick tick can be intermittant, and i havent heard any conclusive cure, short of really laying out the chips and replacing em head gasket can be partially diagnosed by looking at the underside of the oil filler cap, for light or dark brown foam... means oil and water are getting it on, and thats bad... also check the antifreeze when its cool, if it isnt clean and green, problems.... those are just a few of the obvious ones off top of head maybe you can get someone more experienced to go with you, but there is no guarantee even then... roll the dice, buy the car, and a basic tool set. these arent the give-to-your-mother-in-another-state cars, they are more tinker-mobiles that are incredibly easy to fix. and ea82's are still common enough that you can find entire parts cars for peanuts. no shortage of experiment/repair documentation here either
July 27, 200421 yr just for the buying rep, make sure he's got all the maintenance receipts and the title. check the dates and what they replaced, and also where the repairs/title were located. i almost got conned into buying an 87 xt with a broken speedo for a grand. if i could buy it as a parts car now, i would... for 300. it ran but it wouldnt have for too long: brakes were nearly toast, shocks were shot, engine struts were loose, tires were bald, odo fried at 150,000 in 1994, no a/c, broken tape deck (not even cd player/radio), bad wiring, stuck in 2wd cuz button wouldnt activate, 5mt with non-working 5th gear, completely trashed interior/exterior, rust, etc. etc. etc. bottom line, if you want to use this car without replacing EVERYTHING, get one with a clean title and smog. oh, and before you buy it, make the seller do the smog for you. make sure to see the paperwork on it and then consider it to be truly worthy. some people dont care about this stuff and just gut the car for fun and completely rebuild it. i say if you want to use this as a daily driver follow the advice given...and anything else you can think of. good hunting this, by skeet a.k.a. scott
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