Ok, now that I have my girlfriend's car up and running again, and i am turning Cool Runnings into a LeMons racer, Ive been floatin around craigslist for cars. Ive peeked at Miatas, E30s, P71s, but this Impreza caught my eye. I have called and am anticapitating a call back. Anything I need to know about these Imprezas? Timing belt? Interference motor? Mega failures?
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/cto/1164243365.html
I've been thinking along the same lines lately. A friend of mine has an 02 Impreza WRX wagon w/lowish mileage and Tien suspension kit with 17" rims that he's been thinking about selling (as soon as he figures out a price). Will include original rims in the sale. He's downsizing as he also has a newish Jag, a Grand National, a TransAm (modded to be a Bandit clone), and E-type Jag and an older Jag coupe being restomodded.
I've been wondering if that would be a better starting point than my 99 base model Miata. The Miata has an open diff and needs the standard autocross upgrades. I'm getting tired of thrashing the right rear tire autocrossing it. Thought that maybe jumping the the WRX wagon would be less work than modifying/upgrading the Miata. But then again the Miata is paidfer and has a low mileage motor from a 2000 Miata in it now after a water pump failure last year. I can do everything I want (including adding limited slip) for about half of what the WRX would cost. But then again the WRX would give me more room. But the kids are grown and the wife and I take her Camry whenever we go someplace together and I have an old 95 F150 XLT extended cab truck to haul what won't fit in the Miata.
Are you Meridith by chance? Cause it looks like she may have beat you to the punch
They do have a timing belt, but they are non interference. The only problems i know of with them are failing cats (betweeen $250 and $2200 to fix depending on where you get the cats from, what year the car is and what state you live in), and clutch chatter.
thatsnowinnebago wrote:Are you Meridith by chance? Cause it looks like she may have beat you to the punch
haha, nope not meridith, oh well if she got it than good for her. I still want one though
haha just found another one, just posted up!! looks a bit ragged, but oh well...
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/cto/1193254195.html
This thread may help a little.
We've put about 1500 miles on the car since we bought it. It's fun to drive, even with the automatic trans, and I drive it 1-2 days a week. It's a '98 L wagon and I paid $1800 for it with 107,000 miles. I've put about $700 into deferred maintenance for a total of $2500.
I'm taking care of the little things now I had the wheel bearing fixed. It sounds like a caliper is sticking a little. I figure I'll put rebuilt ones on it when I do the front brakes. The electric windows are slow. The engine clatters a bit at startup, but conventional wisdom says all old Subarus do that. Burns a small amount of oil but doesn't seem to be spotting anywhere.
yup, that definately helped out, kinda had a feeling about the timing belt, heard they are thirsty for oil. See what this person has to say when i hear back from them...
I want another GC Subaru--either a sedan or a wagon. The best to get (aside from the RS) are the 96+ 2.2 versions. After 1996, they were all AWD.
Call me stupid, but after she's done with this car, half of me wants to flog it at rallyx, and the other half wants to build a 2.5RS wagon out of it.
The two Craigslist cars you posted are 1.8's. YAWN. Unless you plan on swapping in a turbo engine I'd avoid them for anything other than commuter duty.
Per is right on about the 2.2, though the 165hp of the 2.5 is hard to resist. 2.2's were 135 upon debut and gained a bit around 98 when the ignition/injection/heads were upgraded. The 2.2 is a very sturdy engine.
The 2.5 has the head gasket issues, some worse than others depending on the year (dohc vs sohc). You either want a service history that shows they've been done or a really low price to cover the $1500 or so it will cost to have a shop do it.
The timing belt is a 90k mileage interval thing and isn't a huge big deal, other than you should replace all the front seals, water pump and tensioners while you're in there.
Aside from the occasional wheel bearing, these cars are very sturdy and surprisingly fun to drive for an Asian car.
thats exactly what im looking for is just a daily driver. I am gonna start dumping money into my fiat so this will just take me back and forth from work to home. If i had more money right now to play with, i would definately pick up a 2.5RS, always been a sucker for one of those...
1.8 & 2.2 motors are bulletproof. The auto trans can have some issues. 200,000 miles isn't uncommon
The auto trans in my 108,000-mile '98 L shifts great - just like the day it was made. In fact it's probably more solid than the engine. YMMV of course, and I'd still rather it was a 5-speed.
i had a 95 legecy l with awd and a 5 speed and the 2.2. would get up and move though and fun to drive. bought with a 210,000 on it and repalced the clutch, tuneups and thats about it besides brakes, and replaced the borken front sway bar...then it handled really bad..i have under steer. i got rid of it since the crack sensor went out and i trashed the new clutch in it , and blown sturts, and then sold it to one of the guys on here in milwakee... and his name is one the tip of my touge too...he posts qutice a bit around here.... i am thinking about getting a new one though
I like the 2.2L 5-speed AWD Impreza combo. I've had several including my current 2.5L Outback. My sisters old AWD '95 Impreza (2.2L with the automatic) is still running and has over 300,000 miles on it.
Timing belts are easy to do IMO along with most of the other maintenance items.
Per Schroeder wrote:I want another GC Subaru--either a sedan or a wagon. The best to get (aside from the RS) are the 96+ 2.2 versions. After 1996, they were all AWD.
Want mine? Sell it to ya cheap!
Just get one, mang. My '98 2.2L 5MT coupe triples as a daily driver, winter beater, and dirt-road hoonagemobile. It's fun leaving my friends' pick-ups in my dust ,especially when they gloat about their off-road prowess! I get about 26-28mpg (mostly highway), depending on the level of hoonage. It has yet to break anything no matter how hard I beat on it (recent vandalism aside).
hey razer, where and how much and details?
Question: If you buy one, will you rallycross it?
Comment: You should rallycross it.
Concern: I am concerned you will not rallycross it.
maroon92 wrote:Question: If you buy one, will you rallycross it?
Comment: You should rallycross it.
Concern: I am concerned you will not rallycross it.
This belongs in the magazine. Seriously speaking.
