Hi, how do you feel about high mileage cars? How many miles do you feel are too many miles to put on a car a year? I have been looking at a few cars that have 180+k miles. Circa 2002-2005. Maybe around 15k miles a year, or so. Original motors. Money pits waiting to happen? Obviously it's tough to comment on cars that you only see the picture of on the internet, and it might depend on how the car was treated through those miles. My favorite is the 2008 WRX with 230,000 miles on it. Only around 30k a year.
@Hamuga, I would say for your money, you want a car with the lowest amount of mileage and one that has been taken care of (if possible with maintenance records). Exceptions to this is of course if you are up to the challenge to handle any and all maintenance issues (either by yourself or pay others to do that for you) that may arise from owning a high mileage car. I am personally not very mechanically inclined (can do small maintenance) so I tend to stay away from older and high mileage cars. For the 9k-10k that MY08 WRX is asking for you can probably get a lower mileage older WRX. Patience is the key when it comes to buying a car!
That is way too many miles for a wrx. But then again, anything over 0 miles on a wrx means it is about to blow.
Thanks greenwar. When I said my favorite, I didn't exactly mean I was looking to buy it, but using it as an example of a extremely high millage car. Yeah, my 2003 wagon was only 123k miles and it had an eventful time in the shop due to misfires.
Well, these subaru motors are hit or miss to begin with, so mileage is less of a concern to me than maintenance. Also, I'd look at duty cycle over total miles. I'd rather have a 5 year old car with 100k miles of mostly long hwy commutes than a 10 year old car with 50k miles of mostly short, city commutes. Especially locally. Goddamn potholes. Everything down to the frame takes a beating.
I've had several of them with well over 200k miles. My parents' last 4 cars were all Subarus with ~250k miles. At that point, it's down to the maintenance. A car with 200k or so would need to show pretty good signs of maintenance or be very cheap to interest me.
This is a broad generalization, but the turbo 2.0L is typically more reliable than the 2.5L turbo. As others have indicated, a properly and well maintained car will be more reliable (duh).
For high-mileage turbo cars, from what I've heard "were the valve clearances adjusted at some point" is a good thing to know.
I have had several subarus with over 200k. my current 92 has 230k and I've had a 97 that I sold with 320k. But they were cheap and had religious maintenance done to them as well. If you are prepared to spend money to update parts they seem to do fine.
Honda Civic Dx. Super low maintenance, super high mpgs, i averaged 42/tank in the summer, and will run over 300k easily. My 98 Civic had 287k when i sold it to my brother inlaw. He drives it a bunch and the only problem so far is the exhaust rusing out. Crazy side note, it is on the stock clutch still! Super soft pedal for maximum comfort!
Yeah, sorry I didn't say turbo only but that is what I am looking for in my next car. It's good to hear both sides of the turbo/no turbo miles. I was thinking of going to see a 2002 wrx with 180k on it because of the price and before pound even go see it they dropped the price because of "valve issues". Problem averted.
Keep 2-5k cushion in the budget for pretty much any used turbo Subaru. Unless all the usual issues have been addressed recently.
It was nice to meet you last night! Are you looking at the higher mileage cars to keep the price down? What kind of budget are you thinking of, if you don't mind sharing
Depending on the milage of the car, you could also buy an extended warranty for it. Saved my butt on my 04 wrx many times and I bought it with 102k. I say depending on the milage because some warranty companies won't sell it to you after a certain point.
Yeah. I had a great time last night. Thanks. Hoping to pay less for a car with more miles. But trying to find that balance between cheap now with lots to fix down the line vs expensive now with hopefully less to fix later. I am hoping to sell my current car for ~3k and I have 1.5k in cash and want to finance 10k or less. I would say $14k is my max but I would rather keep some money on the side for fixes and maintenance. Just in case. It would be a weekend warrior car as I ride the bus to and from work and have the family car for weekly stuff. So a higher miles car would be fine as I would not put a lot on a year. I just want something semi reliable. Thanks.
I vote that you get something in the 4-5k range with high miles and throw 5k aside to put in a new motor. I thought about buying a newer car about 4 years ago but decided to go the route of financing a new motor. Payments for the 7k that i borrowed to do a hybrid motor were alot smaller than the newer car payment. I bought a 2010 STi 2.5L and used my heads, harness, and ECU. That is my opinion on a weekend warrior car anyways.
I agree, but everything in that range that I have seen is completely falling apart not just the motor.
Well i've seen a couple of killer shells sell here over the past few months. That 04 STi shell that sold for 4k just needed a little love to be up and running. Maybe look in the 7k range?
Yeah, my biggest problem with buying a shell is I don't have the tools or knowledge to turn it into something that moves under it's own power. I can gain the knowledge but I don't have a garage, and I would rather start with something that is at least running and try and go from there. Also taking out a loan is no where as good of an idea as saving up and paying in cash, but it's the option I have right now and I doubt the bank would like to give me money for a shell. Otherwise I could keep driving the car I have now with no car payments. (Which would not be the end of the world)
The 7k i had was for RS Motors to do the work. I had the new block and parts delivered from Morries. They did everything and i ended up throwing a brand new suspension, tires, and gauges in too with that 7k. Maybe just keep saving the cash and pay in full.
Ahh, ok.The safe bet would be to save up and get something next summer. But I am only patient enough to not buy the first 6 cars I see. 7th car is a winner no matter what it is! Yeah, I have looked at it, but it's a bit out of my price range,a nd it would make Ryan cry. (Maybe he would cry? I am not sure)
To be fair you know everything is very new. Fresh transmission and motor means you wouldn't have to worry about those very expensive failures for a while. When you buy a high mileage original motor wrx/sti plus add the probably imminent engine failure you could have just bought a more expensive car in the first place.
Very true. Sorry, I didn't mean to turn this thread into what car should that one guy who doesn't have a Subaru buy. More of what people's general feelings on higher miles on a used car. Thank you.
I spent about 16 hours over a couple days going through a 2004 WRX with 240k miles on it before I bought it. I got the price down to a fair point with the intention of saving up some money to rebuild the motor in a year or two...here it is two years later and at 250k miles it's showing signs of low compression on the even side head... This was a one owner car, all maintenance done regularly on it and even has the OEM clutch and turbo on it still. Over the summer I am replacing the clutch and rebuilding the motor and replacing the turbo. I feel like I still got a good deal since the body is in super shape and I'm doing the rebuild with the help of a friend to save on labor. It all comes down to patience, perseverance, and negotiation when buying a used car. Find something you like and thoroughly check it out. If it checks out and you can negotiate a viable price for it, then it's meant to be yours.
Just go with the most sensible advice that you got at the beginning of the thread. If it was cared for and there are service records to show you can feel pretty comfortable about your purchase but have that little rainy day fund just in case. I have yet to take either of the turbo EJ engines that I have owned to even 50k but have friends back home with 100+k engines that have done nothing but routine maintenance. The way some folk talk on this forum make me wonder why it's not called MNiusedtohaveaSUBARU or MNSUBARUSSUCK
It is a defense mechanism to combat the nutswinging fanboys that would otherwise give terrible advice. Otherwise MNsubaru would start to turn into /r/subaru on reddit where every single person is congratulating some dude who paid $24k for a ****ing stock 2007 FXT sport (this was in 2014). This actually happened and I immediately never went back to that place. You love subarus and think they are reliable because you have only had brand new ones so I personally think it is valuable for people in the market for used turbo subarus to know that there is a good chance they will be spending a lot of money out of pocket on their "new to them" car shortly after buying it.
Oh ok, I must have totally misread "But then again, anything over 0 miles on a wrx means it is about to blow." A tad drastic don't you think? Yes, I'm butthurt and want to steal your avatar...
OP, did you check this one out, looks like the price is getting more reasonable: http://mnsubaru.com/threads/testing-the-waters-05-wrx-74-000.48349/ When you find a car you're serious in, I would really recommend taking it to a Subaru specialist mechanic to check for the usual issues, and a compression/leak-down test, and a coolant hydrocarbon sniff.
Fanbois on the left side of the scale, Nhibbs on the right side, truth in the middle path you will find
Honestly, the issues are pretty narrow and very well documented. Unfortunately the fixes are rarely cheap. Even if you do all the labor yourself like you did, you're still out at least a couple grand once you factor in gaskets, seals, fluids, etc... Higher yet if you do all the "while you're in there" preventative maintenance stuff. I'll stick to my previous advise of factoring in $2-5k in powertrain repair money if you go with a used turbo model. I'd spend more time checking the frame, body, steering, and suspension components for wear, signs of previous repair, and of course signs of collision damage. I'd also recommend shopping out of state since local prices are inflated and ime, anything that's been daily driven for more than 3 or so winters will show signs of problematic corrosion (regardless of brand and upkeep).
Ha, I am a bigtime Fanboi and proud of it. That is why I joined this forum after all, but I prefer to refer to myself as the EJEvangelist
I assumed it was sold after nothing new being posted for a month. I will check into it. Thanks. I agree with the check in as well.
I bought mine with 185k miles for $3,800. I sold the motor for $1,000 and the transmission for $500. After that I slapped a few new parts on it and it's been working pretty well for me.
