My neighbor is looking at buying a 1998 Impreza L with about 104,000 miles. He is looking to take the vehicle down to his vacation condo in Mexico. Here is the craigslist ad: http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/cto/2519249843.html He has all the paperwork for the engine rebuild that was done. Head gasket, timing belt, water pump, etc. The paperwork said the transmission was rebuilt but that it was sent somewhere else for the rebuild. The shop that did the work is SVS in Duluth. If anyone has any input this I would greatly appreciate it. I think my love of Subaru has rubbed off on him.
Good question. The biggest question would be if anyone has any familiarity with the shop that did the work. Google reviews show them as being great. I just don't have any knowledge of the Duluth area. Looking at the receipt for the work, the seemed to have taken care of the common issues I know of. It seems like a safe buy to me. One owner, low miles for the year, head gasket work done, timing belt, etc. I told him I would throw a post out here and see if anyone had any input. Also checking to see if someone says; "hey look for X and Z to blow up after a transmission rebuild" or "X and Z tend to be problematic". My neighbor expressed interest in a pre-purchase inspection, so If anyone one on the boards are near Apple Valley. We might be looking into that as well. His biggest concern is driving a car down to Mexico and have some issues arise that he could of taken care of here. Sorry if that's still a bit vague.
SVS is excellent. I trust Phil as much as anyone I know, and his dad, Mark, is no slouch. If SVS did any work on it, it was done right. I have to admit, I'm a bit suspicious of how it was treated since it needed a trans rebuild at only 100k miles. That doesn't typically happen at that low miles unless they were beating on it or hauling. But if it's got a fresh rebuild, even that probably won't be too much of an issue.
RS-Motors is a jump up 13 from Apple Valley. Might want to give them a call. Otherwise there are several shops and individuals on the boards around the metro that can probably help you out.
Great info, really appreciate it! Will most likely see if RS can take a look at it, unless someone speaks up sooner. Neighbor is going to give SVS a call too and see if there is any extra work they recommended be done. Apparently the A/C doesn't work. Not too concerned over that though. Thanks again everyone.
why on earth would the 2.2 need to be rebuilt at 100K? its a 2.2, they dont have the head gasket issues, rod bearing issues, or piston slap issues, sounds like the whole car was extremely abused.
Good timing on the post. I got a copy of the invoice for the repair. Apparently the timing belt broke and bent valves. Starting to sound like a bad deal. Again thanks to everyone's time and comments on this.
If it has been properly rebuilt then I would say it would be worth more than the same car with a stock motor. All new gaskets belts and such would be a definite benefit in my mind.
I tend to agree, atleast its stuff that you don't have to worry about at any point soon then, as you know it was done right and done rather recently.
Yea, broken timing belt just means it got neglected a bit. But if Phil had his hands on it recently, it's in good shape. Was the transmission done at the same time? Kind of odd that Phil wouldn't do that himself (he rebuilt the 700r4 in my 4runner).
