disgoduc Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 The wife and I have a 2008.5 VW Passat wagon 2.0t Komfort and a '12 legacy sedan 2.5 premium pzev. Total the two of us have 5 vehicles. We are looking at downsizing and replacing the VW wagon and the legacy sedan for an older 2005 legacy Gt wagon (great lookers still today) with 78,000 mi. No need for both vehicles. What are some common problems to look for in older wagons? The car is VERY well taken care of and has has regular oil and fluid changes. Thanks in advance for all of your insight. Peace, Dave F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Capacity Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Not to scare you off, but, how much spare cash do you have on hand, are you good with tools, do you have at least one good floor jack and at least 4 jack stands ? These are great cars if you take great care of them. First off, the stock tune can/will burn valves or crack piston ring lands. How was that car driven ? was it used for short trips and not much highway ? These cars do very well when they are driven for long distances. Most of us when high mileage have very few problems compared to all the misfire CEL of cars with low miles from being driven in town and not highway. I'm at 229,000 miles and still have the coils, fuel pump, injectors, OCV's, all sensor except O2's that came on the car when I bought new late June 2004. I have replaced the steering rack and PS pump. 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgoduc Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 Thank you for your response Max. I'm very compitent around vehicles..( Couldn't afford to ride Italian bikes if I didn't work on them myself...) but by the same token I'm not willing nor do I have the time to tinker with the car every week if that is required. ..and by stock tune... Meaning stepping up to a programmer tune like the GIAC stage 2 in my VW or are you talking a specialized tune with dyno time required? I love my cars but the dyno time again is something I have no time for.... Dude you're scaring me..... I thought I had all this figured out... Peace, Dave F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike07LGT Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Thank you for your response Max. I'm very compitent around vehicles..( Couldn't afford to ride Italian bikes if I didn't work on them myself...) but by the same token I'm not willing nor do I have the time to tinker with the car every week if that is required. ..and by stock tune... Meaning stepping up to a programmer tune like the GIAC stage 2 in my VW or are you talking a specialized tune with dyno time required? I love my cars but the dyno time again is something I have no time for.... Dude you're scaring me..... I thought I had all this figured out... Peace, Dave F You can get an etune with the cobb accessport from one of the vendors here on the forum. Tuning Alliance will also give you a discount on the tune if you purchase the accessport from them too i believe. Older turbocharged cars unless they were really cared for are hard to find with little to no issues. Having the history of the car you are looking at, as well as getting a pre purchase inspection are both extremely important in deciding if its worth it to pull the trigger or not. Best of luck! 03 WRB WRX (RIP) 04 JBP STI (sold) 07 DGM Legacy GT (RIP) 12 OBP STI (DD) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henhead Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 One of the best things you can do is have a pre purchase inspection done by a reputable subaru shop in your area. When I picked up my 05 wagon I made sure that a compression and leak down test was included in the pre purchase inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJuan Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 ^^^ Yup, just gonna say that. On the '05 models, it's almost mandatory to do a compression test. Most of these will start drinking oil after 80k miles due to worn out rings or cracked ringlands. Plus, the head gaskets tend to go out between 100k - 125k, so keep that in mind. Of course these are the worst case scenario, but they are also the most common on this model year. It's the ying and the yang. My wife's balls are delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtea Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 If you have no time for a the things you've mentioned then you have no time for this car and the other things that can happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Capacity Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 There are a number of threads on here over the years I've been year that start out with, I just bought the car and the turbo blew on the drive home. 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgoduc Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 Wife and I Just went today and drove a '15 Allroad with 16,000 she liked it, I kinda liked it. Didn't seem to have much personality but nice nonetheless. Audi certified and 2 more years on factory warr. Only other awd system I trust to get the wife back and forth in the crazy MD winters is the Quattro/Halidex system. Still love the 4th gen Legacy wagons though.... Wish Scoob would bring the Levorg here but not fun holding my breath...Thank you for all your input. Peace, Dave F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttnio Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 ^ You can have one at a later time. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merc6 Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Co sign to all the above ^ You can have one at a later time. Good luck. Yeah, I keep seeing running vehicles around me for sale and try my best to not just jump head 1st into it and abandon my non running one. 2005 Satin White Pearl Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Unlimited 5EAT (Project Car) 2019 Agate Black Ford Explorer XLT 4WD (DD) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustCallMeNick Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 The wheel bearings seem to go on these Subarus too. My mom has a 2005 Outback with ~55,000 miles that had a rear wheel bearing get so bad that it sounded like metal in a blender. She's had a head gasket done too. The head gasket issues are much more common on the non-turbos and SUPPOSEDLY the newer 2010+ Subarus are less susceptible to HG leaks. I've had 2-3 replaced on my 2002 Legacy and 2-3 replaced on my 2009 Legacy. I also had the steering rack rebuilt in my 2002. Front control arm bushings get dry and cracked too. Also, Make sure the timing belt has been done. Another option instead of a Legacy GT Wagon would be to find a 2005-2009 Outback XT. It's very similar, just has more ground clearance and all the same "what to watch for" things would apply. These cars don't handle like miatas anyway and you have the bike as your toy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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