PICKED UP! used 04 Forester XT NEED ADVICE! Luther's Ford $14K out the door 04 Subie Forester XT 67K miles Stock - Clean Carfax: shows dealership services regularly and roughly driven 11K/yr Test Drove it, it drives nice and everything appears to be working fine. Kind of late to turn it away now since wife has put down $500 deposit since I was so excited to get it. Drove it home just 5 minutes ago. Popped the hood and my bro double checked it over and found 1 issue. Caked Oil/Leak! Oil level looks fine. Is this possibly a major issue? Should I return the car? Sorry for crappy cell phone pics. Front Shot Some Underbody Rust (Expected): Some Caked Oil on the turbo coupler: Here's the leaking oil from the intercooler (Shot from underneath the intercooler): Oil leaked onto the transmission over time... Someone ran fingers on top of the trans, you can see the small streaks so obviously the Dealer Techs saw this:
I work with your brother and he was telling me about your purchase. Congrats! Post up some pics when you get her home.
I replied there too lulz. Drove around a bit, sure enough another drop of oil formed between coupler/intercooler. Looks like it's the 90 degree coupler between turbo-intercooler. I'm guessing oil from turbo? I've seen some oil from my ALL Trac's turbo too but it doesn't form as much as this.
I have oil on top of my turbo coupler as well, and just started smelling a bit of oil after I did my spark plugs. I wonder if I have the same problem. Other than the little oil issue, what do you think of the car? How do you like the 2.5??
I don't see his Forester for sale in the for sale forums... Other than that... my wife absolutely loves it. And so do I. The 2.5 XT is no V8, but it has potential even with the 4eat
Update: Just got a call from the dealership. They said the coupler was loose and did not notice any leaks. I insisted that yes there was a small leak and that there shouldn't be any excessive oil coming out of the turbo. I'm sure all they did was tighten the hose clamp and wiped it off. If AWDImprezaL says something is wrong... I'm getting my money back this Monday. Now... does anyone know if I'm going to lose any money on this purchase if I do return it?
I think it's somewhat normal if you search around. Mine had oil with the td-04 but not a drop with a vf39, so I'm guessing it's probably a turbo issue although my td-04 ran fine.
Returned it... was too narrow anyways. Passengers in the back seats were cramped... now readily looking for turbo Legacy so if anyone sees one please let me know asap.
My 4th gen Maxima has way more back/front seat room than the Forester... The Forester is based off of the smaller Impreza platform isn't it? So wouldn't you think that the Legacy platform would give me more space (Yet to test drive one... the freakin 05 LGT @ Morrie's was sold the first day... ='()
Was about to pick up a LGT but the seller shafted me. So... it's been about 3 weeks now. I've been really missing the Forester... Starting to doubt if I made the right decision returning it...
then go back and buy it I have NEVER run into an issue of not having enough room.. that includes a weekend trip to our cabin with our kids, bikes, clothing, food, etc packed in... oh I do have one problem with not fitting.. we have 4 kids.. its a 5 seater.. so 4 + parents = 6... but thats why we have a minivan and I am looking to trade it for a landcruiser
Ah that's why. So the FXT is more of your "personal" car (I already have one...). I'm looking for a family car more. The worst part is that it's not like I even have kids yet... I just want to be ready for em... So looking into a Highlander or Pilot w/ 3rd row seating (My two younger bro's are usually always with me). But then again... what happens w/ all this space when they start driving themselves??? So many questions... so much to consider...
well if you want a subaru.. the get a Tribeca.. but for $30+K I would be getting a Tahoe or Landcruiser... way too much to pay for a small car
Just for reference... if there is a bit of oil in the intake (turbo, hoses, intercooler, etc... it could be a sign of major problem. In a stock WRX or FXT, the boost is not high enough to have much blow-by unless there's potential problems. Common problems would be a failing turbo, a piston sealing issue (wear or broken ring-land), or possibly the breather valve for the crank case. A compression test will help identify major issues quickly. Glad you returned it. I own a 2004 FXT, and they are nice (and very upgradable ), but you don't want to buy into a problem. Oil doesn't belong outside the engine... LOL, and is never a good sign.
