Hey! I've had two WRXs that I bought new, a 2002 and a 2009. I never did any mods to either. I've sold them both and have a practical car now (yawn) and I want to buy a used Subaru. I miss the AWD and the turbo. So, I did a few searches but haven't seen the all-in-one used car buying guide for turbo Subaru cars. If there is one, please let me know! Also helpful to know would be if someone brought one of these to Morrie's Minnetonka, what do they charge to go over a car, and what does it include? So other than driveability checks (weird shifting, acceleration, braking, steering) I think the list should be something like this: 1. Get a compression check- a. 2.0 bad compression can mean burnt valves b. 2.5 bad compression can mean bad ringlands -- Either case means what, a few thousand in repairs at a shop? 2. Disconnect intercooler pipe and check for oil in there a. blown turbo? 3. Other turbo checks? a. excessive noise? b. I saw on another forum that turbo timers are not needed as the turbo is somehow cooled by coolant, or something circulates and cools it after the car is off. Is this true? Is there ever a coolant leak in this part of the system? 4. Tell tale signs of modifications- a. If a car has gone "back to stock" but was advertised as "never modded" is there a way for the untrained eye to check a few things? Like fasteners obviously missing in certain areas of the airbox etc.???? 5. Level checks a. of course coolant doesn't belong in your oil and vice versa b. is there a diy diff check that can be done? c. unusual coolant visuals or "smells like burnt toast" type things to check for? 6. Anything unique to Subarus that you all can mention? When I was buying my house, I was nervous about a few things, I had it inspected and a friend said "do you like the house? because anything can be repaired." This is true with cars, so often the question is, how much are you willing to spend! Knowing what you are starting with is often a hard question to answer. There are always the "should I buy this car?" forums and hopefully there can be a good resource for getting the basics out of the way before people get emotionally involved! Thx!
1. Bring it to a mechanic to have them check it out if you do not feel comfortable. Not sure what Morries charges... but a 3 minute phone call could answer that question. A few things about your list.... There is blow by on cars. I have always found oil in my TMIC and my turbo is not blown. This is the reason you see an aftermarket part like AOS (Air Oil Separators) or Catch Cans on a lot of cars. So oil in the pipes is not that cut and dry. Never heard of this, don't know if it is really possible to make a 100% reliable guide for this. 1. Modded cars are riskier to buy. You may be fine and nothing bad happens, or you might have everything blow up right away. There have been more than a few people pulling the short end of the stick on a used modded car. You never really know the intelligence of the owner(s) before you. You also don't know the limits that the car has been put to. However, mods does not always equal issues. Try and buy from a local member to gain a more educated history on the car. There are knowledgeable people on this forum selling their cars. Pick up one of those and you have the ability to see a more honest history of the car. 2. Non-modded cars - either have been returned to stock looking conditions or have really never been modded. An educated eye will be able to pick out a "returned to stock" car... for example somewhere like morries. Now with that being said the stock tune is crap, so pick your poison. A stock tune (depending on the age/year of the car) can be worse off for the engine than a good tune. Again, it's sort of a gamble. Everyone has their opinions on this. Some people buy new and flash a better tune right away. A good idea but the problem won't be known until you dig into it. Therefore the cost will be unknown. Ask them what they did to the car, when they did it and ask for documentation/receipts. Ask them what oil, filter, fluids they did use. Ask them how many miles they went before changing the oil, diff, cleaning the air filter, cleaning the MAF, changing the tranny fluid... again ask for documentation. The more you know the better off you are. If they took it to the dealer it should be on carfax. Really you can just look for some cars and ask the group what they think when you find a car.
Horrible idea, you should be banned from the internetz. jk, it's a great idea and I'm glad you bumped it. I don't think I've seen a compilation either and it looks like you're off to a good start. Suggestions in red: General things I look for in used cars: Overall wear and tear, general upkeep, and cleanliness. Not the perfect indicator but if there's a broken $10 window switch that's taped over it makes me wonder what else was neglected. If the exterior looks like it was never washed it makes me think how long they stretched something as simple yet vital as the oil or air filter change intervals. Or you find a few chicken nuggets and a half eaten snickers bar under the seat shame on them for not implementing the 5 second rule. But really, you couldn't spend 30min vacuuming out your car before putting it up for sale? Do you skip wiping your ass bc you intend to shower later that day? Lazy. But call me if you need a detail... I won't wipe your ass though... unless your name starts with a J and ends in an osh and you look like you used to sing in a boy band. On cars like this that tend to get rallyx/autoxed a lot I look at the underbody for excessive rock dings or dirt/grass jammed in hard to clean crevices in the suspension and wheel arches. Autox'd cars typically have a lot of wear on the outside of the tires and sometimes marks on the center console from the seatbelt buckle rubbing. Sometimes helmet marks in the headliner from getting in and out of the car too. But really, with these cars specifically, if you find these things and they're not disclosed up front (or they're outright denied), move along and find a better example. This aint some limited issue Ferrari we're talking about. There will be better deals and better examples if you're willing to look for them.
Just keep in mind that a ppi that includes a compression test can literally double the cost of the inspection depending on the car and what's done during the inspection... in general $100-200 is the going rate depending on what's being done. I've seen some $300+ ppi quotes, but not on subarus. Have a 3rd party do the inspection (not the dealership unless it's a cpo car). Most seem to prefer an independent shop over another dealership. Most "speed shops" and "tuner shops" offer some sort of inspection.
I used this buyers guide prior to purchasing my 05 STI. http://www.iwsti.com/forums/gd-general/89922-used-sti-buyers-guide.html
