peas

My 3.0R wagon is getting a little long in the tooth now (~240km) and I'm looking to replace it. My options as I see them are a BP 2.0GT facelift with lower kms (wife isn't super keen on that) or the 5th gen 2.5GT. I have read that the 2.5na and the FA20 seem to have a higher than comfortable chance of developing CVT issues coming into the km range that I can afford (~100km mark). I'm not 100% on the styling when compared to the 4th gen but have seen some tidy ones around with contrasting wheels and a slightly larger but similar style to stock boot spoiler so its not a deal breaker for me. Manuals seem to be very rare and hence $$$ plus the wife can't drive them very well so I'm a bit stuffed on that front. These will all be a JDM spec which is the bulk of what we get here in NZ. Has anyone owned both of these or has anything that they really don't like/do like about the 5th gen that may sway me?

Hey guys. I have a MY05 3.0R wagon with just over 200km on the clock. Love the car, nothing better than the family bus upstaging someone who thinks they are more than they are in an entry level Euro! All pretty standard, some kakimoto mufflers and aftermarket alloys but otherwise stock... and fairly reliable. Could anyone tell me if they have had to do a water-pump on these motors and what km it was at when it failed? Cam chain is well and good but some long interval service items get a bit harder!