What years were the Baja's made, did all years have a 5 sp option? Are the resales of the Baja low enough that I can find one pretty inexspensively?

I believe they were made form 03-06. They all have the 5mt option availible. And the price would all depend on what you consider to be inexpensive.

All the Baja info you could want: http://www.cars101.com/baja.html (note: at the top of that page you then have to click the model year you want to see the info)

 

April 2006 Subaru halted production of the Baja sport-utility truck in mid-April. Availability will trail off

...

2003 Introduced late August 2003, the Subaru Baja is designed to provide the practicality of a small truck with the comfort of a car.

 

As far as inexpensive resales, availability is less than other Subaru makes simply because there are less of them out there. Prices will probably vary too, because people who really want a Baja and are willing to pay for it will snatch up the one they want quickly. I would imagine the turbo versions especially. You may have to look nationwide such as on eBay, various craigslists, etc. if you can't find one in your area.

I just sold my '03.

 

I would say that demand for these little trucks is not high, but those who want one are willing to pay for it.

 

That fact alone is keeping the price high in MY area at least.

I noticed this on cars101.com news:

8/2 July 2007 sales total 15,438. Tribeca 1,680, Outback 4,338, Legacy 1,994, Forester 3,678, Impreza 3,713, Baja 45.

 

I'm assuming those are Subaru new car sales for July '07. Note the 45 Baja's sold. This indicates there may still be 'new' unsold Baja's available at dealers if that's what you're looking for.

 

It's kind of far from you, but I know on Buffalo craigslist for a while there was a yellow Baja for sale in Fredonia, NY. I think I've seen it down there a few times.

We bought an '05 turbo A/T recently for ~$15k. It had ~80,000 miles on it, but is in good condition (salesman-type bought it new and put tons of miles per year on it). As of a month or month and a half ago, there were still NEW '06s available in the Bozeman and Helena, Montana, areas. I think they were all N/A cars.

 

 

When we were looking for ours (looking for used), I saw what I considered to be considerably over-inflated prices on used Bajas in the Salt Lake City area. Here in Idaho there are very few of them and in my area the dealer will sell any used ones they get within a week. They're a little cheaper locally than SLC, but my point is that pricing in this part of the country is not going to be rock bottom unless you find a high-mileage one like we did that the dealer realizes has some hard-to-spot issues. Ours looked to need some repairs (oil on turbo-to-I/C hose, a leaking input shaft seal between A/T and front diff, and ATF that hadn't been changed probably ever; very dark in color. Alternatively, the mechanic who worked on it last may have been an idiot and put some ATF in the diff and some gear oil in the A/T before realizing what he'd done). That helped us get $3,000 off their asking price w/o much trouble at all. Auto-RX stopped the tranny seal leak and the turbo oil weeping just as I 'knew' it would, and now we have a 500,000 mile machine if we keep it that long.

 

Look around, find the deal you're looking for, be patient, and you'll have a great machine. Note that the suspension was changed for MY04. The '03s sit a little lower than the '04-'06 models. If you put a lift kit in it the new height will be the same no matter the year, but stock there's a difference. I think there's also a spring change for '04, but I may be wrong. There was no turbo available in '03, but as was noted earlier the 5-speed could be had behind either engine in all years. Also, note that the Baja "Sport" is the N/A model, and the Baja is the turbo.