A neighbor who knows I'm into cars wants my opinion on if a car he's looking at is a good deal. I'm hearing this second hand, so I don't have all the details yet. But he's looking at a Subaru Impreza with 123k for $5000.
I don't know what trim or year. I believe that I've heard mention around this board about gasket issues with the certain Subaru engines. Which engines/years have issues?
Thanks.
The 2.2's have flywheel warping problems. If you want a ridiculous amount of information, check out:
Impreza's with the 2.5 litre phase 1 motor were the ones with head gasket issues. They were in 98 and 99. From 2000 on, the 2.5 is quite solid. I've been wanting to do an engine swap in my 2000 2.5rs, but can justify it until the current motor dies....and it just won't. I'm thinking about replacing the oil with coca cola.
I've got a 95 2.2 with 200k we use as an autox beater and parts delivery car. It does 500+ miles a week on gas and an occasional oil change. Looks like heck, but runs great, cold a/c W can't kill it
sachilles wrote:Impreza's with the 2.5 litre phase 1 motor were the ones with head gasket issues. They were in 98 and 99. From 2000 on, the 2.5 is quite solid. I've been wanting to do an engine swap in my 2000 2.5rs, but can justify it until the current motor dies....and it just won't. I'm thinking about replacing the oil with coca cola.
You could have just said the 2.5L DOHC motor rather then phase 1 (cause that means a bunch to somebody who doesn't know impreza's too well). And I'm pretty sure the head gasket issue was for 1998 only (as the only year available with said DOHC motor).
my apologies. I could have said dohc/sohc, but phase 1 and 2 sound cooler.
sachilles wrote:my apologies. I could have said dohc/sohc, but phase 1 and 2 sound cooler.
Fair enough 
Sounds like I can tell him my initial reaction: $5k sounds like a reasonable price if the car is in good shape. He'll need to have it inspected before buying though. But if this is a 98-99, I'll caution him against it.
If you have to keep the stock cats, if they ever die is about $2200 for factory replacments.
I've seen head gasket issues on the later 2.5L Phase 2 (SOHC) motors as well. I've done two repairs myself - one leaked on the outside ('99 Forester) and one leaked inside ('00 Outback).
I have a 98 Impreza 2.2L coupe. I've put over 20,000 miles on it in the year I've owned it and the engine has never given me any trouble. FWIW, CR said the 98 Impreza 2.2L is a top used car choice in terms of reliablity.
Whether it's the 2.2L or 2.5L, make sure the timing belt was changed at normal intervals- both engines are interference-type. Also make sure the water pump is good. Water pumps tend to go south at over 100K. Subaru improved the head gasket material since the initial head gasket problems popped up, so if the car had it's head gaskets replaced and no further damage was done to the engine, you should be good to go.
Clarification to a Subaru noob: the "dohc" engine is actually a quad cam. It has two cams per head. If you don't know better, you could confuse it with a sohc engine which has two cams for the entire engine. The quad cams are the ones with the big, nasty head gasket failures. The sohc engines (2.5 only) can also develop head gasket issues but they are usually of the annoying oil leak variety vs the oil/coolant mix type.
The 2.2 is almost annoyingly bulletproof. We put 200,000+ on ours and did very little beyond basic maintenance. I've not heard of the warping flywheel thing. Our clutch lasted to about 165,000. They are great cars, handle very well and fall under 'fun to drive' in spite of being of Asian descent. Gas mileage is only mid-20s due to the weight of the awd system but you learn not to care.
Avoid 2004 2.5 L cars.
My mom had one and it needed a new shortblock at 70,000 km (42K miles). Apparantly the 2004's used a very short piston skirt and the result was really bad piston slap. By the time they replaced my mom's engine it sounded like a diesel idling!
ddavidv wrote:The 2.2 is almost annoyingly bulletproof. We put 200,000+ on ours and did very little beyond basic maintenance. I've not heard of the warping flywheel thing. Our clutch lasted to about 165,000. They are great cars, handle very well and fall under 'fun to drive' in spite of being of Asian descent. Gas mileage is only mid-20s due to the weight of the awd system but you learn not to care.
Thanks. This guy can't drive stick. He was also driving a Jeep before this. Fuel economy will be an improvement.
So the lower tech engine is the newer engine? Boy that goes against everything I've ever seen.
carguy123 wrote:So the lower tech engine is the newer engine? Boy that goes against everything I've ever seen.
Quite honestly, I think the head gasket thing has to be an anomaly for that year (or two). I've only had one 'baru, but I'd now consider myself pretty fond of the brand and their mechanicals. I've got an '02 wrx, convinced mom to get an 03 Forester and both have been absolutely bulletproof. Great cars.
The WRX's did not suffer the head gasket issues of the 2.5's, as far as I know. ALL 2.5's have the short piston skirts and slap is more typical than not. If you hear it a bit when it's cold and it goes away, that's considered 'normal'.
I bought a similar mileage 1998 2.2 Impreza wagon a couple years back for $1200. Body not bad (couple of dings), engine excellent, interior fair.
$5000 sounds high
I have a '98 Impreza 2.2 sedan that acts as my daily. What has been said about its bulletproof engine has been absolutely true in my case. I've only put about 6-7k miles on mine since I got it, and most of those are highway miles, but I haven't had a single problem with the engine at all.
I check the oil, coolant, belts, make sure it isn't making any funny noises or smells, then shut the hood and hammer down the road. Most of the time I drive it in the city, which nets me 21-23 mpg. On the highway I get between 27-32 depending on octane, tire pressure, and the weight of my foot 
She ain't much to look at, but she's paid for
Piad for. That's the best kind!
SVreX wrote:I bought a similar mileage 1998 2.2 Impreza wagon a couple years back for $1200. Body not bad (couple of dings), engine excellent, interior fair.
$5000 sounds high
And I just bought a '98 L wagon with 107,000 on it for $1800 - no rust, no dents, interior decent, leaks a little oil but doesn't smoke, already had the timing belt done. Even putting money into other deferred maintenance I'm only in $2500 total.
$5k seems very high for an older 100k+ Impreza. I could have bought a bugeye wagon with 70k and a new clutch for $6000.
