Update on car, need tips for selling car / parts

[pdsd16]

Hey all, so I have a 2010 legacy gt with around 160,000 miles on it. Car started overheating and I replaced the radiator with an aftermarket radiator. Car was fine for a few months, but recently started overheating again. I did a coolant flush and burped the radiator. When burping the radiator, white foam came out of the radiator which makes me think head gaskets, and possibly even the block are shot. I am in a very bad place financially so I won't be able to get the car fixed and what I'm wondering is, what is the best way to get some amount of money for the car? Do I part it out? Do I sell it to a junkyard? Do I post it on fb marketplace and hope someone is interested in an older car that may or may not blow the next time it's driven? I'm not going to sell it to someone and lie about its condition, so any tips on getting the most for a car while still being honest would be helpful. If I could, I'd keep the car and have her fixed down the line, but I don't think I'll be able to do that right now. Any tips/advice would be helpful. Additionally, I have a set of Bilstein Coilovers for our cars - I bought them off of a member on this forum who said that he had them recently rebuilt, however I doubt this, as the front driver side coilover would clunk most of the time I had them installed from day 1. The handling/feeling of the car with them on was absolutely incredible. They rode better than stock for comfort, and better than any other car I've been in for sportiness - It felt similar to driving an older m3 - very taught/level/sporty suspension, but also very comfortable and soaked up bumps. I ended up taking them off and putting the stock suspension back on due to the clunking noise. If anyone is interested in that set as well, or has any tips for this situation, please let me know. Thanks.

[whitetiger]

i'd do a hydrocarbon block test just to confirm a blown HG, but assuming that is the case, you can sell it here with full disclosure on the engine, and you might get $3k-ish. i would certainly part out and sell all aftermarket parts if you can get the car back to full stock. One good angle is to sell it to a suby mechanic who can easily restore the car to sell or use for themselves. If the rest of the car is in good condition, they will be a viable option. Lastly, a full part out of the entire car will get you the most money but its the most labor intensive and time consuming, and i'm not sure what the demand for 5th gen LGT parts are.

 

in the instance of keeping the car, if its a HG issue, get an actual quote for repair from a shop who specializes in Subaru. At least that will help to confirm the state of your engine.

[creep_nu]

dunno what kind of shape he's in for another project, but i believe it was dgoodhue that's rescued a couple of GTs from folks on here with similar issues...

 

if you do sell, don't bring it to a junk yard, you'll get peanuts. if you do sell to a private party then just be honest and upfront with known issues and stress that it is sold as is and in need of repair. you won't get much but it'll be someone elses headache

[dgoodhue]

dunno what kind of shape he's in for another project, but i believe it was dgoodhue that's rescued a couple of GTs from folks on here with similar issues...

 

if you do sell, don't bring it to a junk yard, you'll get peanuts. if you do sell to a private party then just be honest and upfront with known issues and stress that it is sold as is and in need of repair. you won't get much but it'll be someone elses headache

 

Headgaskets on a 5th Gen GT are still cost effective to fix if the car in good shape otherwise. I was planning on starting on my current GT project in July, so I am not in a place to pick up another one.

 

I can't imagine that a junkyard would give you much.

 

I am not really sure there is much of market for 5th Gen GT part out (part outs are lot more work than you think too). Many of the parts are just run of the mill Legacy Parts (2010 GT don't even have the unique interior parts). The LGT engine part that are unique to the turbo and really only fit the 5th Gen LGT. 6MT is 5th Gen LGT only, the stock rims are low demand. The hood is in high demand though.

 

I would try to sell it to private party (craigslist / facebook marketplace) and be upfront if you don't want to repair. I think might get $4K ish with the market today.

Edited June 10, 2021 by dgoodhue

[NVAKeith]

One scenario for head gaskets causing overheating is the combustion gases displacing coolant in the radiator and causing the coolant reservoir to overflow. The car will overheat when enough coolant overflows that there isn’t enough left in the radiator to cool the engine. When my HG failed my reservoir overflowed but I caught it before the radiator got low enough to overheat. I drove the car for a few weeks in this condition waiting for a service appointment, I just checked/topped off the *radiator* every few days.

 

There are a few threads in the fifth gen section talking about diagnosing the HGs. It is a common enough Subaru problem and Colorado is the land of Subarus you might find an independent specialist that can fix it for less than you expect.

[creep_nu]

was just thinking...take it on up to carmax or carvana and see what they're paying...don't have to feel bad about defrauding a customer, and they're paying top dollar these days so may be worth a shot.

[NVAKeith]

True. They are gong to wholesale it anyway as it has high miles. We did that with a car that had a failing trans. We got close to book trade-in for it and it ended up at auction.

[creep_nu]

yep, friend got a quote on his outback with trans issues before subaru stepped up and paid for a new valve body, were gonna give 9100 for a '13 with 110k miles...not too shabby

[dgoodhue]

was just thinking...take it on up to carmax or carvana and see what they're paying...don't have to feel bad about defrauding a customer, and they're paying top dollar these days so may be worth a shot.

 

I checked Carvana when I was selling the 2011 GT I fixed last year. They offer me last year $4300 for my 2011 that was in excellent shape and had 126k miles. Maybe it’s different now but they either don’t like Legacy GT, LGT with higher miles or MT

[creep_nu]

yeah i think the 6mt thing may kill any value, they definitely do not want niche cars that are going to take forever to sell sitting in inventory, but never hurts to check

[pdsd16]

Thank you all so much for the advice/help! I called around for quotes on the gaskets and was quoted the lowest at 2700 and the highest at 4200, and one shop quoting as high as 12-14k as they suggested at the age of the engine I might need a new small block as well. Right now, I can borrow a friend's car when I absolutely need one, and can bus around otherwise for a bit, so I am hoping to save up for the 2700 option and try to go that route soon.

 

I also reached out to carvana and was only offered like $500, most likely due to the 6mt and that I indicated it wasn't in great condition due to the head gaskets. If I indicated a higher/better condition, I'm sure I would have gotten a higher quote, but I doubt it would have been too high. So, definitely planning on keeping her, or at least trying to for a couple of weeks and then I will re-assess then.

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

NVAKeith, the issue you're describing is exactly what my issue seems to be, so I am hoping just getting the headgaskets fixed will fix the issue entirely. Otherwise, the car is in pretty great shape except for the hood fading, so I am definitely hoping to keep her for awhile.

 

Thanks again!