YeuEmMaiMai Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 (edited) My wife's 2003 Legacy is being consumed by the Rust Monster and I need a car to hold her over for a few years while I finish killing off our house payment... (got 2.5 years left) https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/782970565/overview/ https://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/Report.cfx?vin=4S4BRCJC1B3430707&partner=CAA_0 I would take it for a test drive of course and go have it inspected. I figure 2-3 years or about 40K miles I would likely go in and go OTD for $5K Edited October 25, 2019 by YeuEmMaiMai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creep_nu Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 CVT at 264k is scary to me, but it looks clean, dealer maintained, in there for service *every 3k miles*? i'd take the gamble. price feels just a touch high, but that's the subaru tax we all know and love... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVAKeith Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 Definitely gotta go into it knowing CVT could drop at any second and have the ~$2k set aside to drop in a used one. If no warranty I’d try for $4,500. Their website header mentions “select” used cars get powertrain warranty for life. Maybe they’d be willing to negotiate in a year powertrain at the posted price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgoodhue Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 264K miles is a lot of miles. The car has had a lot of service history (but not details)from the dealer which is a positive, but I would hope by this point it has had the suspension replaced and timing belt done a couple times. With a little luck the the CVT was replaced under warranty. A lot of thing can wear out at that high of mileage. One major repair would essentially total the vehicle. I wouldn't be surprised if the dealer got that car for $1000 trade in. Most new car dealers want to make 2000-3000 on used car to pay the staff, building overhead and potential warranty repairs. Another issue is that in 2-3 years, it will be hard to get rid of a 300k mile car. The car could easily average 1500 year in cost when all said and done (purchase price - resale price + repairs) Personally I would rather spend a little more money for an average mile vehicle even if you have to take a loan out. (I am not sure if you were going to pay cash or not) If you want to stick to $5k budget, you could get a Legacy as those seem to be a value to me (you may not want 2 5th Gen Legacy's). The Outback do seem to hold a constant premium over the Legacy though, so even though they cost more to purchase, they also sell for more when they are older. (For instance a 2005 Outback still has a $2k premium over a 2005 Legacy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted October 25, 2019 Author Share Posted October 25, 2019 ^I just need a place holder that will last 2-4 years, I am taking the VIN to Bloomington Subaru today to see what I can find out... Cash only for this purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLlegacy Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 I personally would look for something with less mileage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted October 25, 2019 Author Share Posted October 25, 2019 how about this one lolololol https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/789950376/overview/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLlegacy Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=531315824&zip=55077&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D55077%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26maxPrice%3D7000%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26marketExtension%3Don%26makeCodeList%3DSUB%26searchRadius%3D100&numRecords=25&maxPrice=7000&firstRecord=0&makeCodeList=SUB&searchRadius=100&makeCode1=SUB&modelCode1=SUBOUTBK&digitalRetail=true&clickType=listing That would be a better bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD123 Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 If I were looking for an older, high mileage car, I'd consider looking for vehicles outside the rust belt. Otherwise, it's probably gone, but I'd get this one! https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/791288996/overview/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexmed2002 Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 I personally would look for something with less mileage. I wouldn't even touch that car. Wayyyy too overpriced. You shouldnt pay more than $3500 with that mileage, which makes me nervous... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgoodhue Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 If I were looking for an older, high mileage car, I'd consider looking for vehicles outside the rust belt. Otherwise, it's probably gone, but I'd get this one! https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/791288996/overview/ I wouldn’t touch a 4th Gen GT for his wife. Too many turbo failures and resulting short block failures in that generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted October 26, 2019 Author Share Posted October 26, 2019 ^that car is also salvage....the title is clear but when you see the original pix u know what is up Search Results Web results 2005 Subaru Legacy - Front End Damage - 4S3BP686X54318482 ... https://autoauctions.io › public › 2005-subaru-legacy Vehicle photos, selling price, and auction history for this Black 2005 Subaru Legacy; VIN: 4S3BP686X54318482; Front End Damage; Clear Title; (WI); 131285 la ... Technical Specs Estimated Repair Cost $4,072 Estimated Retail Value $4,882 Damage Ratio 83% Body Style: Wagon 4 Door Color: Black Engine Type: 2.5L H4 FI DOHC F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD123 Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 Based on the record, it's definitely been hit and repaired, but it has a clean title - not a salvage one. Body repair is pretty expensive - if the hood and bumper were both damaged, you can easily be up around $4k for the repair. The repairs you need to be leery of are where the frame was damaged (repair cost is a lot higher, and the chances of it not being done properly are higher). That car has really low miles for the age, so if the engine checks out (compression and leak-down), there's no signs of lots of mods on it, etc. It should be just fine. I wouldn't buy a used GT (or WRX or STi or Forester XT etc.) without thoroughly checking the engine out. Otherwise, it's got the 5eat (which I'd rather have than an early Legacy CVT), is a wagon, and will be much more fun to kick around in. If you could get them down a bit on the price, to maybe 4500-4750, it'd would be a great 2 year car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted October 26, 2019 Author Share Posted October 26, 2019 nope, not touching it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexmed2002 Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 nope, not touching it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD123 Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 It's probably a bit too much car for you guys anyway On a more serious note, too many folks dismiss vehicles as "not worth it" without doing the requisite performance checks, etc. - same deal for vehicles that they consider a good risk. For any used vehicle, you want to evaluate engine health, etc. - you never want to take a vehicle based on appearance, etc. If you aren't able to either do, or have done, things like compression, leak down, detailed inspection, etc., then used vehicles are a bad idea - but if you can, there are lots of great deals out there. A clean 05 2.5GT wagon is a pretty rare find - it only has 130k on it - that's around 10k a year! If looking it over it's clean, engine checks out, etc. it's a solid car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexmed2002 Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 It's probably a bit too much car for you guys anyway On a more serious note, too many folks dismiss vehicles as "not worth it" without doing the requisite performance checks, etc. - same deal for vehicles that they consider a good risk. For any used vehicle, you want to evaluate engine health, etc. - you never want to take a vehicle based on appearance, etc. If you aren't able to either do, or have done, things like compression, leak down, detailed inspection, etc., then used vehicles are a bad idea - but if you can, there are lots of great deals out there. A clean 05 2.5GT wagon is a pretty rare find - it only has 130k on it - that's around 10k a year! If looking it over it's clean, engine checks out, etc. it's a solid car. That's a 13 year old car that you're mentioning though. And a car with 264K miles is never trustworthy either. I'd rather throw $5,000 towards a Honda or an Acura with less than 115k miles since that's nothing for those cars. A subaru with a CVT is just not the best thing to bet on @ 264K miles. I mean they even had to extend the warranty on them for crying out loud... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD123 Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 ok - so cliff notes for my other post - any used car is a risk - you have to check them out before buying. If they checked out, I'd take the 13-14 year old 2.5GT wagon over a newer 2.5i all day long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted October 28, 2019 Author Share Posted October 28, 2019 ok - so cliff notes for my other post - any used car is a risk - you have to check them out before buying. If they checked out, I'd take the 13-14 year old 2.5GT wagon over a newer 2.5i all day long. so would I, but not that car that has been banged up and repaired by someone in their back yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD123 Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 So is there anything wrong with the repair? You can't tell much of anything from the potato quality pics on the website. You need to look. If it were just the bumper and hood, and they sourced used parts, or probably more likely, they are a body shop guy doing work on the side, the repair could easily be good as new. At $4k, there almost certainly wasn't frame work (again - have to actually look) - for a car that age, I am way more concerned about the moving parts than anything cosmetic. It just needs to be "good enough" - certainly not show quality! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 dream world = everything done right reality = do just enough to get the car flipped doubt me? go look at Sarmac's channel, he does good work over all but you can still see him cutting corners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgoodhue Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 ok - so cliff notes for my other post - any used car is a risk - you have to check them out before buying. If they checked out, I'd take the 13-14 year old 2.5GT wagon over a newer 2.5i all day long. so would I, but not that car that has been banged up and repaired by someone in their back yard. You should be able to find a 2005 or 2006 OBXT in your price range with similar mileage as the LGT Wagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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