Subaru Wagon Suggestions?

[AngliaGT]

Our Daughter (who will move back to New England later-
this year)is driving a '96 Corolla.It has over 220,000 miles
on it,& it's been a great car (for her).
We paid $1700 for it a couple of years ago,& it's going to need work.Rather than putting a lot of money into it,I was
thinking that it might be wise to find an affordable Subaru -
wagon out West,& sell the Corolla (letting her pay the - payments).
Any thoughts on this,or does someone know of a good used
one that's for sale for a reasonable price?She's looking at
under $2500.

- Doug

 

[Steve]

Subarus are good, reliable transportation. May be tough to find a decent one in your price range, the good ones tend to retain much of their value.

 

[jessebogan]

Doug, research the subaru head gasket problem, and shop accordingly.It affects different engines in different ways, some more troublesome than others. Also, budget for timing belt change, along with ALLLL the idlers and water pump before sending her across country. Great cars, but like all cars there are weaknesses, best to avoid the bad ones straight off. As far as I know, they won't bend valves if the belts break, but they twin cams are a bugger to pull the heads off of to fix the head gaskets. (Bonus points scored for a car already fixed with paper verification....)

 

[Banjo]

Yup.. Like Jesse said, the head gaskets/timing belts are the primary weakness of the Subaru boxer engine. They almost all leak, It just depends on to what degree.
Subaru is a good car, excellent in the snow.and tend to run for a looong time with regular maintenance.
Stay basic for best economy. the higher models sometimes use more expensive, harder to find parts.
The greater Ithaca area is loaded with them.

 

[AngliaGT]

Thanks for the replies.As old as she is,she's still our "Baby Girl".
I want her to make it on her own,but want her to be safe.
The Corolla has 249,000 miles on it.We had it at the local Toyota
dealer,where a friend of mine works,that sold us the car.I thought that if
he looked at it,the evaluation would be fair,& done right.
Our Daughter took the car into the dealer,& the estimates for repairs
were as follows....

Front camber bolt kits (& alignment).......... $194.72

Spark plugs................................... $80.00

Ignition wires................................ $140.00

Engine air filter............................. $30.00

Clutch fluid replacement...................... $74.95

Belts ........................................ $220.00

Right brake light replacement ................ $20.00

Rear struts& bump stops ...................... $1,070.00

Engine valve clearance inspection ............ $250.00

Engine oil leak diagnosis .................... $186.00

Distibutor cap & rotor ....................... $150.00

I bought the parts at the local Napa store - total cost was
$227.22.Am I wrong in thinking that this is a little bit high?
Remember - this is a car that's not worth much more than $1500.

- Doug

 

[Banjo]

I'd spring for genuine Toyota Ignition parts. I've seen issues from aftermarket cap, rotor, and wires. As for the plugs, get either NGK or Denso. DO NOT put Bosh platinums in any Toyota. they do not work well. otherwise I think you're on the right track. That estimate is high, but if you told him you wanted to make sure the car was up to snuff, he was only giving you a thorough list of issues that should be taken care of. the prices are typical of current shop rates. I don't think he was trying to stick it to you.
when dealing with a car like that, almost any repair is going to exceed the value of the car. the calculation you have to make is, is it still more economical to repair this car than to buy a new one. I feel if the car is reliable, and not rusting in half, and the annual repair costs are well below car payments on a newer car (That likely will also need repair within the year) then it makes more sense to repair the current car, regardless of it's resale value.
If it's reliability is in question, that's a different story.
YOu now know what this car needs... What issues will you be buying in a car for under $2500.

~steps off his soap-box~

 

[TRDejaVu]

My wife and Daughter both have Subaru's and love them. I echo the points to look for listed above, but keep on top of them and you will be OK.

My Daughter's car got rear ended by a Jeep in a traffic stop shunt a few months ago. The front of the Jeep took visible damage to the body. When the Subaru went into the shop, they took the rear bumper off and found zero damage. All they had to do was repair a small bumper cover crack and touch up the paint.

 

[JPSmit]

I would toss in Volvo and Saab as possibilities also. Both excellent crash records, not AWD - but, wise driving can overcome that. In my experience Saabs and Jags have the highest depreciation of just about any car so are a real bargain.

 

[TRDejaVu]

While my Wife and Daughter have the Subarus, I have a Saab 9-5 Aero. I bought it used and you get one heck of a car for the nicely depreciated price. In the winter I put snow tires on it and that added to its "winter" mode means that it does quite well in the snow.