DeSubiefan Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I am looking at a 99 Legacy L wagon with 107K at a local Subie dealer. He was on the fence as to selling it or wholesaleing it out. It is literally the little old lady car. I test drove it and it drove and handled as expected. It is extremely clean. The paint is in good shape and the interior is immaculate. My mechanic ( a factory trained Subie guy) looked at it and it is in good shape. No signs of seepage from the HGs, no signs of leakage from the water pump, in fact, this car has far less oil seepage than about 95% of the Subies I have seen. Here is the catch: Someone has rigged up a small bottle on the firewall that catches ATF coming out of the tranny vent tubes. The tech who safety checked it at the dealer thought it was because the internal differential seals were bad. He said they will need to be replaced at some point, but there is no reason the car cannot run as is for some time. The tranny shifts normally, in fact, its very smooth. For $3850, is this worth the risk? Any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crash321 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I would use that as a bargaining chip. How expensive is it to have that work done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log1call Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) I suspect that bottle is catching oil out of your front diff... not the transmission. It is caused as your mechanic said by a seal leaking between the transmission and the diff. The job is quite complicated and not worth doing by itself, it's best done at overhaul time. The oil in the diff is meant to be very thick, the transmission fluid it has been getting in there is very thin. Since the bottle modification has been done, I would suspect this problem has existed for a while and your thick diff oil will now be far to runny to lubricate the diff. I would suspect that your diff might be damaged by now and simply fixing the seal might not end the story. if you are going to buy the car I would negotiate on the basis the whole transmission and diff needs an overhaul. I'd also budget for a rather dear overhaul rather than a minimum one. You may end up needing a whole new diff... which is above and beyond the normal cost of overhauling a trans. Edited March 2, 2009 by Log1call Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOthis Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Personally I would shy away from this car....If the guy has rigged something to temporarily fix the problem well than the problem is still there...I would browse around on the internet also before going to a dealer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVX_commuter Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Isn't the vents attached to the tranny case? Isn't the TC between the front diff and the tranny case? The TC runs in air. I think the tranny is over filled and the fluid is coming out the vents. That is what the vents are for. Does it have a foaming problem? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abog Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I dont know how abundant Subaru's for sale are in your area. My advise is avoid any car that has indications of a possible major repair. Even at a reduced price, this vehicle may be a headache and costly in the end. Pass on this one and keep looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 $3850 is too high for a plain legacy L with a trans problem. For that price the car should be 100% perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyKeith Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 KBB on a 99 Legacy L with 107k on it in my zip code (1 hour north west of Philly) is $4100 in for private party Fair condition. Good is $4700 and Excellent is $5100. KBB tends to be infalted somewhat so you have to use your own judgment, but don't forget that you're at a dealer and they add at least $500 over private party values. Now, if you're a shade tree mechanic you can get a known good trans from a junkyard for anywhere from $500 and up to $1500. If you can't do work like this you would expect to pay at least $480 in Labor to install a replacement transmission. (That's 8 hours of labor @ $60/hr which is a rough average of rates from places I've been lately) So, with all that said it seems like $3000 is the most I would pay for that considering the expense of replacing the transmission (which I would do since you have no idea how long it was driven this way and what has been slowly damaged but hasn't failed yet) and the listed value of the car. For those playing along at home I got the $3000 by subtracting the $1500 transmission and $480 Labor from the KBB excelent value since that's the absolute most the insurance company would pay you for it if it got totaled and then rounding down to the nearest nice round figure. Those are my thought. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef_tim Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 $3850 is too high for a plain legacy L with a trans problem. For that price the car should be 100% perfect. ^ This +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzam Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Yeah that's a bit high with mechanical issues. I bought a 97 Legacy with a 2.2 and 116k for $3600 and I only paid that much because the car was in what I considered excellent shape. It was well taken care of and I only had to do the 120k maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 way too high for a possibly costly problem. if diff and atf fluid is mixing then the internals of your trans or the diff gears might not last too long. ATF and gear oil are completely different fluids and the components requiring them shouldn't have the other stuff mixed in. buy this car with the idea of having it fixed. whether it's a menial problem or not i can't say for sure. but at worst case you're looking at replacing the transmission. if it's a bad seal internally, replacing the transmission with a used unit is your best option. My mechanic ( a factory trained Subie guy) looked at it and it is in good shape. No signs of seepage from the HGsyour factory trained Subie guy mechanic, needs to brush up a little bit. He should know that no signs of "seepage" doesn't mean much on this car, the Phase I DOHC EJ25 in this car does not leak externally at the head gaskets, that's not how they fail. That's on the later Phase II EJ25's only. Not that it's a big deal, but I wouldn't be paying full price for an unknown Phase I EJ25 with trans issues. That's two possible huge problems. I would want to know if the head gaskets have already been replaced - that's a nice feature to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 your factory trained Subie guy mechanic, needs to brush up a little bit. He should know that no signs of "seepage" doesn't mean much on this car, the Phase I DOHC EJ25 in this car does not leak externally at the head gaskets, that's not how they fail. That's on the later Phase II EJ25's only. Not that it's a big deal, but I wouldn't be paying full price for an unknown Phase I EJ25 with trans issues. That's two possible huge problems. I would want to know if the head gaskets have already been replaced - that's a nice feature to have. A 99 legacy L has a phase II EJ22. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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