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UPDATE II

 

It's Official, I am now the owner of a 2013 Camaro V6 6 spd. I wish it could have turned out better for the Legacy, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

 

THANKS TO ALL for their honesty and who helped steer me away from a potential mistake.

 

 

UPDATE: In a few hours, I'm starting the road trip to inspect the car. Even though this is the first car I'm going to be looking at, I still like what I see so far

My car was totaled by a DUI driver and I only have so long with the rental (12/28/15) and like I mentioned a need a car quick.

 

With any luck, this Subaru will turn out to be 'the one' and I'll be "one of you" in a few days (*I* inspect the car *The Wife* decides if the money is going to be spent ;) )

 

---Original Message---

 

Fact is, I need a car quick and I had a few requirements:

1) Manual Trans

2) 6 disc in dash CD

3) Decent on gas (I drive a LOT of highway)

4) I have to LIKE the car

 

I found a car that matches all of my requirements, a 2006 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT, with 140,000 miles. Finding an AWD car was a plus (NE Ohio winters).

 

I was just warned about the dreaded 'head gasket issue' and oil usage. How much of an issue is it really? Especially on a car with 140K.

 

I'm supposed to go inspect the car TOMORROW (12/21/2015) and it's 1 - 1.5 hours away. With the alleged "issues" do I even bother, or is this something that by 140K has likely already been fixed?

 

What should I look for or be careful about? Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

DonM

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The head gasket issue is for the non-turbo 2.5 engines.

 

The gt which has the turbo charged 2.5 has the potential to become a very expensive car to own if maintenance was neglected.

 

They do typically consume oil, but it varies a lot.

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Honestly - unless you have $6k+ stashed away for an engine rebuild I would pass. At 140k the Turbo / Cylinder 4 ringland is just about ready to break. If the turbo has been replaced by the dealer, that means run away. So double check if the car is on the original turbo.

 

I am biased because every day people post with these exact issues (Help, just bought the car and turbo / ringland broke!).

 

If the car was on the stock tune for all 140k of those miles it's pretty much guaranteed there are some issues with it. If you do decide to go ahead and inspect it spend the $250 and get a compression and leakdown test.

 

The head gasket issue on the non-turbo 2.5 engines is significantly cheaper to deal with.

 

This was just posted and I agree with it 100%

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5299424&postcount=1

 

Dear new owners. do more research before buying one of these cars.

 

A) if you are not mechanicaly inclined, do not buy

B) if you are broke, do not buy

C) if you don't understand basic maintenance/ preventative maintenance, do not buy

D) if you are clearly some sort of special, do not buy

 

If you inspected the car and then moments later your 3 turbos deap, metal in the pan, Check engine flashing, no start... running rough, then you did not inspect well enough.

 

Please if you are thinking of walking the legacy road, do yourself a favor stop and really think about it.

 

These cars are getting old and they are not Honda / Toyota reliable.

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Thanks for the help guys, even though I really liked the car, I found out I would be the 8th owner (the dealership has owned it twice per the carfax). They could give (sell) me a 5 year/100k warranty but after what all you've said, I'm really doubtful.

 

Looks like I might not be one of you after all, sorry.

 

Many thanks for all the help though.

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Just an update so this thread doesn't go without a happy ending. My wife surprised the crap out of me when she sent me to a distant Chevrolet Dealer to look at 2 new cars. I was thinking either "Sonic" or even worse a "Spark."

 

When I get there, the salesman is in on the act and makes wait while he brings around not one, but TWO black Cameros. One is a '13 with 25k the other is a '14 with 45k. Both have the 326hp V6 and a 6 speed. The '14 had two wide white stripes going down the hood, roof and trunk, while the '13 has a rear deck spoiler...I'm kind of partial to the deck spoiler ...The all-black makes it look like Darth Vader's Camero.

 

We will know for sure by Sat if I get one and which one it is. I'll keep you posted.

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Honestly - unless you have $6k+ stashed away for an engine rebuild I would pass. At 140k the Turbo / Cylinder 4 ringland is just about ready to break. If the turbo has been replaced by the dealer, that means run away. So double check if the car is on the original turbo.

 

I am biased because every day people post with these exact issues (Help, just bought the car and turbo / ringland broke!).

 

If the car was on the stock tune for all 140k of those miles it's pretty much guaranteed there are some issues with it. If you do decide to go ahead and inspect it spend the $250 and get a compression and leakdown test.

 

The head gasket issue on the non-turbo 2.5 engines is significantly cheaper to deal with.

 

This was just posted and I agree with it 100%

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5299424&postcount=1

 

 

 

These cars are getting old and they are not Honda / Toyota reliable.

Very well said.

 

I had been a longtime, dedicated owner of my 2006 LGT MTX and took very good care of it. No argument, it was a fun car and was Stage 2 since very early in its life. I was meticulous about maintenance, and drove it to about 140k miles just recently.... I wonder if the OP is looking at my car! (It was silver, and I'm happy to detail more about it if desired). I just traded it in for a Cadillac ATS, so I'm out of the Legacy game now...

 

Anyway, the point made is very important. I have always heard that these cars are very reliable, and I guess they were in the past. Many of my friends had them and reported great 200k+ reliability with them... but the turbo motors can't do this, apparently. The key being the ringland issue, that I had never heard about until recently.

 

In my case, I had to drop the car due to a possible exhaust valve leak, which really annoys the hell out of me. I discovered that these cars have a solid-lifter valvetrain... which anyone who knows older engines knows these should be adjusted. I don't understand why Subaru never provides this info or the need for valve adjustments... awful.

 

I fully blame Subaru for the "loss" of my car. I was on the original turbo and such all this time, and I wasn't a "granny" with it either. The car served me well for the past 10 years, so I can't fault it for that, but I still can't forgive Subaru for the stupidity of an un-maintained solid-lifter setup.

 

Anyway, if anyone is thinking of buying my car, do beware. I traded it out for a reason... and it's likely not a cheap solution. I will miss that car (my first new car ever) but I'd say the "lifespan" of these turbo motors is right around this timeline... so stay away unless you plan to work on the motor yourself!

 

Good luck!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Congrats DonM on your vehicle!

 

I would have definitely steered you away from my car (which seems like the one you were looking at)... I would still be interested to know if the one you saw was mine. I would be happy to PM you further details about it to identify it more easily :)

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Congrats DonM on your vehicle!

 

I would have definitely steered you away from my car (which seems like the one you were looking at)... I would still be interested to know if the one you saw was mine. I would be happy to PM you further details about it to identify it more easily :)

 

I doubt it was yours, I'm in NE Ohio and the car has spent it's whole life here. I would like to thank everyone who gave me advice and the warnings about the car, who knows, if it wasn't for the great people on this forum I might have bought the car.

 

As for what I got, I did choose the '13 Camaro with the spoiler. The test drive was amazing! I've owned two 5.0 Camaros in the past and this one blows the doors off both of them, power and handling - can you believe it, 323 hp from a N/A V6! I picked it up last Sunday and I'm still getting use to all the electronics in the car. I'm not worried about winter driving because it has an LSD, traction control and a 6 speed manual, and I've driven RWD cars in bad weather with none of those.

 

Mods are plentiful (but not cheap) for this car and the first thing I'm going to do is a custom Cold Air/Ram Air by modifying the stock airbox and using some 2.5" defroster duct hose and maybe an ABS fitting or two. It's what I did with my Suzuki and there was a big difference in the butt dyno and the gas mileage.,

 

Anyway, here is a pic of the car, it's a dealer photo, but it IS the actual car. Stay Safe and have fun everyone ...

 

 

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/500/maybe_Christmas.jpg

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In my case, I had to drop the car due to a possible exhaust valve leak, which really annoys the hell out of me. I discovered that these cars have a solid-lifter valvetrain... which anyone who knows older engines knows these should be adjusted. I don't understand why Subaru never provides this info or the need for valve adjustments... awful.

 

There are no "lifters" like in pushrod engines. The lifter makes the connection between the camshaft and the pushrods.

 

These are double over head cam motors, therefore no pushrods, no lifters.

 

the part that makes the connection between the camshaft and the valve in sohc and dohc motors is called a follower, or more commonly known as a bucket.

 

Subaru does have a specification for the Valve Adjustments, i believe that may be what you were thinking about

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It's the 3.6L 'LFX' engine rated at 323 hp @ 6,800 and 278 Ft lb torque @ 4,800 The engine has a 7,000 rpm red line AND gets ~29/30 mpg highway with a light foot.

 

It runs on 87 octane, although I found that by pulling a few under hood fuses, will reset the engine computer and you can run high octane fuel good for a few HP as well as being E85 capable

 

As far as any of the timing chain issues you may have heard about, those were in the 2010-'11, "LLT" engines and has been eliminated since mid '11. The "LFX" engine is also 21 lb lighter than the LLT.

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What do you plan to run for snow tires ?

 

It has BF Goodrich Radial T/As on it now, which is the factory issue. I've had good luck in the snow with those, plus I'm putting two 80 lb sand bags in the trunk over the axle. That plus an LSD, traction control and a manual trans and I should be OK. This is my 3rd Camaro and I personally didn't have much of a problem with the other two in the snow. Besides, if we have a really bad spell, I will drive the wife's 4wd Explorer to work.

 

What gets me is the LACK of tire options in this size - 245/55/18. There are a couple of winter tires and a couple more high-performance summer tires, but not much else.

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