Im currently looking at a 04 Forester XT. It has 102,xxx miles on it, Auto trans. Just had the Timing belt, water pump, and tensioner changed. What things shoud i ask/look for on these? I did see that where the turbo connects to the TMIC, it looks like it was caked in oil. Any thoughts on that? Any problems/defects I should be aware of? Im pretty much cluless on Foresters. Thanks! -Brandon
Well as far as the engine goes, if you know anything about sti's or the subaru 2.5 turbos... you know about foresters... they are the same in terms of the way they work and such. Are there any mods done to it? do you have a link of some pictures or anything like that?? Where you buying it from? how much?
No mods at all. I know it has the same block, but what about the pistons and rods? What turbo comes stock with that? A small town dealer has it for sale, he bought it from a dealer that a guy just traded in for it. It was purchased new and they said he has all the maintenense records. There asking 10,500. Which that is the cheapest i have found by far.
The stock turbo on the foresters are TD04 (same as the wrx) The oil is probably from blowby (which seems common with turbo'd engines)
Hopefully the service mentioned above was done at a dealership. My 04 XT had the same oil problem on the 90* elbow but since putting a vf39 in, I haven't seen any oil on it, although it's only been 5-6k miles since the turbo swap. Mines an automatic so my main concern is the tranny. Idk maybe the previous owner brake boosted too much or what but the tranny doesn't shift as nice as other manufacturers automatic. I've had 3 Auto Subaru's before and the tranny felt similar so maybe it's normal. My wife loves it and she wants more torque.
Yeah, they tend to last too long and provide many miles of trouble-free service. ........ Oh, wrong from a CONSUMER'S point of view. I guess I've worked at a dealership too long. :laugh:
only issue I have read about is when you start upgrading the turbo... then it starts having issues... but it can be modded to work... but thats typically with bigger turbos like 20G and up... I have a 4eat in mine.... it does some funny things occasionally but nothing crazy.. I am at stage 2.. have been for over a year... the biggest drawback I think on the 4eat is not having the same control for beating the snot out of it... but it still is more than capable in teh dirt or mud... the 90-10 split sucks in teh higher gears, but really who needs 60-40 (or whatever) in 4th and 5th?!?!?! If you wanna take a run in mine sometime I am at Dunwoody till 4:30 everyday m-f.... cant miss it.. its the brownest white car in the lot..
I bought my 04XT in February for $8000 with 120k on it...I'd try to get that price down a little...Mine is also a manual so I don't know how that compares... I've looked around a lot, and from everything I've read, the motor has the same internals as the STI. If someone knows otherwise please tell though. And mine also had oil/crap caked between the turbo and intercooler.
I know i wont be able to talk him down on the price, cause that is the cheapest one for the miles in a 500+ mile radius. Plus my honda is starting to throw another CEL on me!! So i kinda want to get the deal done! I took the car in to my mechanic on Monday and they gave it a look over. The one guy worked at a subaru dealership for 5 years. Said it looked good. Sounds like this Thursday well be at the dealership making the trade!! Ill keep you guys updated!!
do it!!!* i just picked up a an auto xt about 2 months ago... and i love it... then there will be 2 in the roch area so i don't feel so alone
I really like my XT a lot! I run a ported VF39 with the STi intercooler and ecu along with a few other goodies. I push it pretty hard every now and then and the only trouble that I have is when it's uber cold, the gear selecter doesn't want to go to it's home. I am going to take out the short-throw kit and see if that helps it this winter.
^^ no 5mt wants to go to its home when its cold. when was the last time you changed the fluid ted??? that may be all she needs.
I've never changed the fluid as Fong told me that he uncle-scottied her just before I bought it. Suggestions for bestest fluid?
buy some extra s from the boys at tonka other wise straight valvoline, not synthetic is what I am using in my fxt and it works really good. better then scotties mix and better then the amsoil I used in my wrx.
Are you sure want to use Uncle Scotty Cocktail in your tranny? I heard nothing but bad thing it about the cocktail.
Well today is the day, emptied out the Civic, and got the OK from the bank. All we got to do is head on down there around 3pm and sign some papers!! Its always sad trading in/selling a car. But i know once i get behind the FXT, ill be fine! Its the whole waiting part that sucks!!
AWESOME! Congrats STiM! Be sure to take some pics. You're going to LOVE it!!! The thing I love about my FXTi the most is that No-one see's it coming, it's a total sleeper.
same here... couple times now people have said "i did not expect to see it pull like that" Its awesome!! and I have the stock td04 turbo where gridlocked has the vf39 which is a better match for the 2.5 l
I've suprised a few cars before but what's funny is most people don't even know what kind of car it is.
Its offical!! I have one in a garage!! Its AWESOME! Took a cruise to Rochester and back. The wife absolutly loves it too! gotta wait for the camera to warm up to get some clear photos! Should be up in about an hour!! Already took the roof racks off!
I see pics. Looks great! Giant moon roof! Was close to picking up an '04 XT before my WRX wagon came into my life.
make sure you are logged into both www.mnsubaru.com and mnsubaru.com they are different websites and if your not logged into both some pics wont show up. also, very nice looking fxt. you are luck you got a sun roof. I wish mine had that.
