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Another blown turbo question


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New member here. My wife and I each have a 2005 Legacy GT (hers - white sedan, mine - black wagon)

 

On christmas day her turbo fried. The dealership quoted us $2500 for the repair. Her car has 72,000 miles on it.

 

What turbo should we use to replace? Any recommendations for a replacement? We will have our neighbor replace it (he is a licensed VW mechanic).

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Erckmatt - Other members will chip in, but a few questions and comments:

 

1. When it "fried" on christmas, what happened? Did you hear any metallic grinding noises?

 

2. Did the dealership tell you what was included in that $2500? That's really extreme for just a turbo replacement.

 

....

 

When a turbo goes on this car, it can be a simple replacement (a few hour swap job, usually $1200-1500 with parts, labor, etc.)

 

Or it can do stuff like spit out parts into the engine and cause serious damage which can be really difficult to fix AND get rid of all the metal in the engine.

 

If it's simply a turbo swap, and you want to upgrade, you'll want to look into a de-catted uppipe and high-flow downpipe (about $650 in parts, give or take) and the a custom tune of some sort. Expect $2500 to be your final outlook, with a much more powerful car that has some greater reliability (in some areas) and less in others.

 

If it's just the turbo, and you want low cost, it should be $1200 with your friend the mechanic and a brand new turbo. Or less.

 

If it's more than just the turbo, and you aren't attached to the car, be prepared to take a hit and avoid a massive headache.

 

Just my .02

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Metal shavings will appear when the turbo goes, so a set of oil/filter changes and a magnetic oil plug would be really useful if you do it yourself.

 

But get specified what's included in the $2500 you were quoted - and what warranty they will give you on the repair and potential subsequent damage.

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Dealers always charge a premium. That is a similar # I was quoted when I thought my Turbo was blown.

For low cost options I would consider

1) Stock vf -40 (mildly used go for around $400)

2) vf-52

3) Brian Evo 16g Turbo (up for sale soon)

4) Subiedads vf 46 not a bad option as well

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this is a problem with the 05 lgt's. You are a ways out of warranty, unless you have an extended plan, but you need to fight this and get Subaru to either warranty your turbo and motor or shoot for them covering half the cost. There is alot of documentation about this problem. I'm in the middle of the same fight with Subaru right this second. My wifes 05 LGT just died at 60030 miles.

Good luck with yours.

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Not good to hear that this is a common problem as my 2005 LGT is sitting pretty with 93,000 in the driveway. Ugh, I think may get an extended warranty on it.

 

I'm hoping to replace with a new turbo. I appreciate the offers for used ones, but I'd like it as reliable as possible so I dont mind spending for a new one. Any suggestions for a new one?

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With some good maitenance, the turbo's on the 05's will last to 100,000 or better. Failure before is more likely attributed to lack of proper oil change intervals, clogged bango bolt (from dirty oil) and driving style (not allowing for proper warmup).

Good luck trying to get a dealer to honor a turbo warranty, they will almost always try to blame it on the driver/owner. I wouldn't bother with paying for warranty after 75,000. I have the gold plus plan and they balk at anything I tell them (at least the stealerships in South fla are like that)

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Not good to hear that this is a common problem as my 2005 LGT is sitting pretty with 93,000 in the driveway. Ugh, I think may get an extended warranty on it.

 

I'm hoping to replace with a new turbo. I appreciate the offers for used ones, but I'd like it as reliable as possible so I dont mind spending for a new one. Any suggestions for a new one?

 

I should clarify a little bit. It's not the turbo, but rather the screen in the banjo bolt that's screwed into the head and is the oil feed line to the turbo. So, the turbo doesn't get oil and blows. Subaru's Service Bulletin says to either remove the screen or to service it regularly. Dealership technicians have reported recurring turbo failures on completely stock 2.5 WRX, STI, Forrester, Baja and Legacy's. An Official Bulletin was issued from Subaru in Oct 2007.

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I'm waiting for a dyno plot of the Bryan Evo 16g Turbo . I think its going to be hard to beat given that the price (700's) , reputed reliability and performance. He has a few available right now. Even though my Turbo still runs good I'll be picking one up in the next few months.
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FYI - I have taken our 2008 LGT to two different service centers and asked about the banjo bolt. One service center seemed to know nothing about it (or much of anything), and the other recommended removing the screen ASAP. I decided to leave it in for now as the car is under warranty, and just run regular oil and change it every 3k miles. I would hate to have some other turbo problem and some other dealer not cover it because they found the screen was removed.

As soon as the warranty is up I will either pull the screen or upgrade to a bigger turbo/intercooler etc anyway.

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