good mechanic for inspection?
 

Hey, I'm a newb from the bay area and going to be getting a used impreza pretty soon. I've always been a fan of Subarus and my Golf is about to blow up. Had some questions and I know this forum is for mostly wrx/sti, but I'm looking at getting a hawkeye outback sport if I can and the bay area community seems stronger here than on naioc. Love that body style and don't have money for modding, so I just want a practical wagon for cruising and surviving the winters of Colorado when I move there next year.

I am going to be checking out a car this week in San Jose and wanted to know a good place to take it to get checked out. What kind of things should I look at when it comes to this model? From some research it looks like timing belt/water pump and the head gasket. If i'm looking at a car in the 100-120k mile range, should I expect the gasket to be ready to go pretty soon? How much does that cost around here?

Timing belt is due at 105K so it should have been done already. Head gasket would have already happened if it was a problem one and been fixed, IMO, so ask. If not, it is a potential concern. Also look for valve cover gaskets leaking, common around 100K. Plus normal stuff for any car with that kind of mileage - steering rack leaks, CV boots, hose condition, etc...

Mann Engineering is in Santa Clara and can do an inspection. I think last time I had him do it, it was $80 or $100.

Im new to subarus too but here are some subaru specific things that I checked when purchasing my car (in addition to the above post):

-All 4 tires matching brand/model (unmatching suggests PO unaware about the possibility of increased differental wear)
-Rear rocker panel/ wheel arch rust
-Coolant level and color
-Engine oil dipstick for milky appearance
-Front passenger CV axle boots
-Ask about overheating
-Leaks surrounding passenger side valve cover
-Leaks surrounding powersteering pump

Awesome. Thanks a lot for the info. The car I'm looking at is at a dealer and pretty much the only one in the area, so hopefully everything checks out and it's not too much of a hassle. Dealing with my current car and researching a new used one is fuvking stressful. lol

For the record there are LOTS of Subaru's for sale in the area. Don't let the dealer jerk you around
[url]https://www.beepi.com/buy/subaru?sort=relevance[/url]

[QUOTE=Lowend;3640358]For the record there are LOTS of Subaru's for sale in the area. Don't let the dealer jerk you around
[url]https://www.beepi.com/buy/subaru?sort=relevance[/url][/QUOTE]

Yea, but when it comes to non-turbo Hawkeye wagons, they're not so easy to come by. That site seems to not even want to deal with anything before 2008.

You should hopefully be able to find any major maintenance info with Carfax or dealer records if you know where the car was serviced. For example, I purchased a 2000 Impreza 2.5RS Sedan back in May, and was able to get it's history from the dealer it was serviced at. As others have mentioned, the head gaskets probably would have already been handled by that amount of miles. For this car, they failed at ~80k miles and were replaced by the dealer, who did the whole timing belt job at the same time.

[QUOTE=wombatsauce;3640371]You should hopefully be able to find any major maintenance info with Carfax or dealer records if you know where the car was serviced. For example, I purchased a 2000 Impreza 2.5RS Sedan back in May, and was able to get it's history from the dealer it was serviced at. As others have mentioned, the head gaskets probably would have already been handled by that amount of miles. For this car, they failed at ~80k miles and were replaced by the dealer, who did the whole timing belt job at the same time.[/QUOTE]

Cool. Good to know. Luckily the carfax for this wagon is made public so I can call the places that serviced it. Lots of "vehicle serviced" but no details. Thanks.

Checked out the car and it had been listed before the dealer had even gone through it and 'reconditioned' it, so I kinda got to see it in a more raw state, dog hair all over, but legally wasn't allowed to test drive. Cracked windshield, dings on passenger side and scratched up bumper [from dogs and a minor rear ender], and hopefully tires, would be repaired. The timing belt still had pretty fresh looking print on it, hoses seemed good, valve covers were clean and leak free, so it looks like a nice car.
[IMG]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8509/28614966894_6a2e6bb4fe_b.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8232/29237625935_58d3b65e49_b.jpg[/IMG]

Interested in making the drive to check this one out. Has every option I want, but that price seems a little crazy.
[URL="https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=RecentSearches_false_0&formSourceTag=112&newSearchFromOverviewPage=true&inventorySearchWidgetType=AUTO&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=c5827&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=c7765&zip=95037&distance=200&searchChanged=true&promotionsOnly=true&formSubmissionTracer=true&modelChanged=false&filtersModified=true#listing=148229331"]https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=RecentSearches_false_0&formSourceTag=112&newSearchFromOverviewPage=true&inventorySearchWidgetType=AUTO&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=c5827&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity2=c7765&zip=95037&distance=200&searchChanged=true&promotionsOnly=true&formSubmissionTracer=true&modelChanged=false&filtersModified=true#listing=148229331[/URL]

Looks like a pretty nice car. May just be lighting, but looks like the front bumper cover has been repainted or replaced. Dog hair is easy, and easier with a vacuum with a rolling brush and/or a lint roller thingy. Smell may be more of an issue but there are ways to address that too (or it may not bother you). My 2000 Impreza's seats were furry and covered with snacks but it cleaned up nicely.

How were you able to see the timing belt? Curious about that.

Regarding the price on the other car, when looking for cars that are getting 10-11 years old, the nicer ones will be priced higher. Just the way it goes. I might have a similar ask for my 2002 WRX w/ 72k miles.

Lol, I'm not the most knowledgeable about engines and after a little research, I was looking at another belt. :o Definitely want to improve my knowledge and learn how to work on my own car. That's one of the reasons I joined these forums.

might just be the lighting on the bumper but I'll check it out. Figured it was original because of the scuffing on the corner.

Not too worried about the interior. I didn't notice a smell, but I wasn't in the car for long. The dealer will probably clean it up pretty good.

So I called the shop that had done the most work to this car over it's life and the owner of the shop wouldn't give me any info without contacting the previous owner because it was 'personal information'. wtf is up with that?

The carfax on the other, more expensive, outback sport only showed oil changes and tire rotations. Is it safe to say the timing belt would have failed by 115k miles, or am I looking at a car that could have it fail at any time?

[QUOTE=OldGregg;3640544]So I called the shop that had done the most work to this car over it's life and the owner of the shop wouldn't give me any info without contacting the previous owner because it was 'personal information'. wtf is up with that?

The carfax on the other, more expensive, outback sport only showed oil changes and tire rotations. Is it safe to say the timing belt would have failed by 115k miles, or am I looking at a car that could have it fail at any time?[/QUOTE]

Iirc the timing belt can be a ticking time bomb after105k, it's especially important because of the interference type design. I forgot to mention earlier that you can also look into a Saab 92x linear, you might find one in better condition and price than its Subaru equivalent. I picked up my 92x aero for 4900 at 111k mi, although it needed allot of maintenance done it was in reasonably good condition

Timing belt will not necessarily just fail at a given mileage, but after 105K you are cheating death. It could go another 10K or it could go tomorrow.

[QUOTE=OldGregg;3640544]So I called the shop that had done the most work to this car over it's life and the owner of the shop wouldn't give me any info without contacting the previous owner because it was 'personal information'. wtf is up with that?

The carfax on the other, more expensive, outback sport only showed oil changes and tire rotations. Is it safe to say the timing belt would have failed by 115k miles, or am I looking at a car that could have it fail at any time?[/QUOTE]

Well that sucks. I agree with what was said above on the timing belt. Better safe than getting a whole new engine.