wren Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 Hi there, I'm new to the forums, but not to subies. I had an 02' WRX wagon for years and spent some time over at NASIOC. I don't know too much about the legacies however and what potential problems may occur (apart from rear wheel bearings). Normally I would do a lot more research into this but I am very pressed for time and basically have to make a decision on a car in the next 2-3 days. I've looked at (and driven) an 05' LGT Wagon, 5eat, with 74,xxx KM on it. No warranty left, and I'm 99% the wheel bearings have gone. No service history whatsoever (don't even know if the 72,xxx service has been done). Subaru of Canada tells me the rear wheel bearings are under warranty for 8 years, 130k km so I think I'm ok there, but wondering about potential issues. The car is listed for $15,800. Do I stay away? Or try and get the car for something in the $12k-$14k range and take a chance? I plan to get an inspection done on the car, but before I go and spend the money on that I wanted to hear from the collective if it's worth getting into it. I appreciate any help/suggestions you guys could provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeblow Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 I wouldn't do it. Not on a turbo'd car. There are plenty of other LGTs available. Just check the for sale boards here. It's cool; I'm with the band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 The lack of a complete service history normally has no bearing on final price. You can use it as leverage, but don't expect the owner to budge. It's the unfortunate truth. Personally I'd look at another car. I have jumped blindly before and I got lucky, but I always try to avoid such cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wren Posted May 10, 2010 Author Share Posted May 10, 2010 As I said, pressed for time, shipping/importing from the US wouldn't really work for me. I appreciate the help, I was afraid I'd get that answer being as it's a turbo. Edit: I understand the buyer may not budge on price, but I was thinking of it as saving myself $2k-$3k to put aside for repairs should they be necessary. If I couldn't make myself a bit of a buffer, I wouldn't buy the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 74K KM = 46K miles, right? At that mileage the owner is 10K miles over the 36K service interval, you can look it up if you are more comfortable but the 2 things I would be worried would be the service of the banjo bolt on the turbo and the transmission fluid condition. My Legacy had 32K miles and was spotless. It had no service history either but a visual inspection confirmed the condition. Price is a bit high imho? Try to bring it closer to 14K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 A stack or receipts won't tell you if the car is going to fail the mile after you drive it off of the lot It is useful information, but not critical. If you have the VIN, any Subaru dealer (if they are nice) can tell you what service has been done at a Subaru dealer on the car Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wren Posted May 10, 2010 Author Share Posted May 10, 2010 It's Canada, as a general rule, subies (and most cars) are more expensive. This one is at the low end of the scale as it is. If/when I get it inspected, I'll ask to have the banjo bolt on the turbo looked at carefully. edit: I have the VIN, and 4 dealers in town won't give me anything. There are new privacy laws in Canada that prevent this apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 If you are going to have them look at the banjo bolt, you might as well have them have a replacement done. Better yet maybe have them pull it out altogether. There's threads on the what and why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John M Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 I've gotta say, as much as I love my car I have zero receipts. It hasn't been to a dealership since the odo read 4 miles. I did the fan relay recall myself. Oh, well I do have the receipt for the engine build. It still doesn't prove my oil change intervals or anything else about the upkeep of the car. If the car you're looking at runs fine, go for it. It's not like the turbos are known to last a long time even if you changed the oil ever 1k miles. Get the car, go ahead and get the Tbelt done along with new drive belts & coolant hoses and you're set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilrabbit129 Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Depending on how comfortable you are doing your own work, or having work done, if you can set aside 2-3k then it might be good. Just keep that in mind when negotiating. I bought mine from a Subaru dealership mainly because I don't have the time,space or knowledge to do a lot of my own work. If I did I'd probably take bigger risks. Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 A stack or receipts won't tell you if the car is going to fail the mile after you drive it off of the lot It is useful information, but not critical. This. I wouldn't necessarily let the lack of paperwork dissuade you, if it's the car you want and appears to be in good condition. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. In other words: SEARCH before you post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gire Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Welcome Wren. The mileage is pretty low on this car, and the price is nice. Hell, I was hoping to get at least 18-19K for my car if I were to sell it today (it has 66k kms on it). I guess that is out of the question now. Rao is right, receipts for oil changes , services etc might be peace of mind but who knows how it was treated day to day? That is the excitement of buying a used car. I'd try to work off a couple Grand from the price and pocket that for a rainy day as you said. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notthesnail Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 I paid less for my 06 last summer, but the milage was 50k higher. Offer 14 (ish) and see where it goes. 72k service includes a trans flush, which is about $180 at the dealer. You'll probably want to refill both diffs, too, and maybe an oil change. It's been beaten to death, here and elsewhere, but you can't go wrong with the Subaru fluids, or maybe Amsoil. If you do the trans yourself, or not at a dealer, Amsoil specs the same filter for the trans and engine oil. Trans filter at the dealer is $48, which is about triple the cost of the oil filter. Get the car, have some fun. See how long it stays stock. I dare you. I'm autocrossing mine this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boymk123 Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Hi there, I'm new to the forums, but not to subies. I had an 02' WRX wagon for years and spent some time over at NASIOC. I don't know too much about the legacies however and what potential problems may occur (apart from rear wheel bearings). Normally I would do a lot more research into this but I am very pressed for time and basically have to make a decision on a car in the next 2-3 days. I've looked at (and driven) an 05' LGT Wagon, 5eat, with 74,xxx KM on it. No warranty left, and I'm 99% the wheel bearings have gone. No service history whatsoever (don't even know if the 72,xxx service has been done). Subaru of Canada tells me the rear wheel bearings are under warranty for 8 years, 130k km so I think I'm ok there, but wondering about potential issues. The car is listed for $15,800. Do I stay away? Or try and get the car for something in the $12k-$14k range and take a chance? I plan to get an inspection done on the car, but before I go and spend the money on that I wanted to hear from the collective if it's worth getting into it. I appreciate any help/suggestions you guys could provide. Ask them if they know the previous owner was a mechanic? Does the car have any mod? I would risk 12-13k for a bone stock car with non-service record... Because some ppl like me, I never have any record for my car, simple enough, I have mechanic friends who will do every services and oil changes for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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