'99 RS Aspen White 39k miles
04-08-2010, 04:16 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Reno, NV
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Car Info: 1993/2000/2001 GF4 mostly red
'99 RS Aspen White 39k miles
Alrighty, I finally got around to listing this thing with a few pictures.
1999 Subaru Impreza RS 5 speed, 39,110 miles (as of this minute). It has a long history and a lot you should know if you're interested in buying it, so bear with me. First up, obligatory picture and album link:
Photobucket
I'm assuming you will all have questions about the car, so I'll do my best to create a complete FAQ for you here.
1 Is it a flawless car that was buried in a salt mine for the last 10 years, or did it live in the real world?
I hope the answer to that one is self-evident, but here's a summary of notable flaws. It has cut front fenders, and the bumper skin is cut for an FMIC and is pretty beat up. I intend to replace and repaint all 3 of these items. The carpet has a hole cut in it on the passenger side of the center console had an electrical cutout switch mounted. I intend to replace the carpet as well, if I can find a clean one for a reasonable price. There are a few scratches and dings on the rest of the body that are hidden with touch-up paint and are minor, but there. The rear fenders were rolled long ago, seemingly by a team of drunk monkeys with a baseball bat and astygmatism. They're pulled somewhat, and the flaring is not smooth. On the plus side, you can drop 255s under this car without doing any further work.
2 Did you forget anything?
I'm pretty sure that's it. I didn't count a few missing things that I'm still trying to source, but I expect to have those taken care of soon. If I do think of anything else, I will add it to this part of the post, and mention it at the bottom of the thread.
3 Is it really only 39,000 original miles?
Yes. Not "39k on the motor" not "since I got it fixed after it was totalled" not "well I swapped the cluster 80,000 miles ago." 39,000 actual miles, your VIN report of choice will verify this. The VIN is JF1GM6754XG401789.
4 Is it salvage title?
Didn't you just check the VIN? No, it is not salvaged/rebuilt or any other negative type of title. No, there's no lien. Yes, I have the physical title. Due to a retarded NV law, the odometer reading is listed as "exempt." This means that the car was at least 9 model years old when I transferred the title. I *might* be able to dig up the copy of the seller's title, but can't guarantee it. Again, refer to the VIN report I expect you to run if you're serious about buying the car.
5 Do you have more pictures of the [blank]?
No, but when I get a spare hour or two this weekend I will take a bajillion pictures of inside, outside, engine bay, etc. Please don't make picture requests until AFTER you see the big fat photobucket album posted.
6 Did you do the timing belt, HGs, spark plugs or other engine maintenance items?
Well, it only has 39,000 miles, so why would I? Well, turns out I did because the engine was burning oil on me all last year and I never resolved the problem. So when I decided I was going to sell it, I pulled it to be rebuilt.
7 Okay, so what's the story with the rebuilt motor?
It's essentially new. New rings, bearings, gaskets and seals in the entire engine. Crank was polished, cylinder honed, and professional assembly of the short block performed by a local shop. With the help of Reno's local Subaru maestro mechanic, the heads were rebuilt with new seals, including valve guides. The odo was 39,012 miles when I cranked it back up after putting it back in. that's right, it's not even broken in yet. I've driven it about 100 miles so far, keeping it under 3000 RPM and 50% throttle for the first 60 or so, as high as 3500 PM a little bit here and there since. At 200 miles I'll bump it to 4000 RPM and slowly let it rise with mileage after that. At 300-350 miles, I'll park it until it sells probably. I bought my first RS new in October 2000, and drove it 106,000 miles, and it didn't burn or leak oil when it was totalled. It will be properly broken in. Or, you can buy it from me today and do the rest of the break-in yourself. Either way is cool by me.
8 So what else is replaced or rebuilt?
Practically everything. Wheel bearings were done preventatively last spring before autocross season and have about 2500 miles on them. The brake rotors are brand new, they're not even seasoned yet because I'm grannying the car around for break-in. New pads are waiting until I can drive the car hard enough to properly bed them, or I'll just put them in the car when it sells and you can do it. Both ball joints and outer tie-rod ends are brand new. Coolant, oil, air/oil filters, gearbox oil, diff oil, spark plugs are all new. I did NOT replace the clutch, because it had plenty of material left. In hindsight I should have done it anyway just to go with the rest of the newness, but it's still working perfectly well. No slippage. Tires are not new, but have lots of life left. They're Kumho somethings-or-other, I'll know which after Mad Ra88it reads the update here and tells me what they are. They're on clean but lightly curbed stock 5 spokes, which look just like what's in the pictures already posted. I'm keeping those because it's April, you probably don't need my Dunlop 3Ds, and I do. With the exception of oil changes and spark plugs, this car should be trouble-free for 100k miles.
8a Do you have receipts for the parts?
Mostly no. I've been working on my own cars so long I've never thought it was important. I think I can get a copy of the invoice for the engine rebuild (obviously the most important thing) but the rest, pretty much no.
9 Does it have any mods?
A couple that I couldn't quite find stock replacements for. H&R springs, HKS shift ****, and Whiteline steering rack bushings. That's it. Nothing else.
10 How long have you owned it?
Since December '08.
11 What do you know about it before then?
Plenty- and so do a lot of you actually. The original owner of the car is Shiv Pathak of Vishnu performance fame. This is the original Project RS in SportCompactCar that got a lot of us (including me) hooked on these cars to begin with. Go dig out your SCC back issues, and take a look at the small sticker in the corner of the back windows, the sims badge under the left taillight, and the SCC 10th anniversary sticker on the quarterpanel in front of the rear wheels. Same car, I promise. When Shiv moved on to tuning and developing on the WRX platform, he sold it to a friend who used the now heavily modified car at the track. This is why the car has so few miles. It went through several drivetrain iterations before he decided to sell it, and I ended up with it. When I bought it, there was a stock WRX drivetrain running on a TEC II. I took allllllll of it out, and put it back to 100% stock- with a twist.
12 Okay M. Night, what's the twist?
When I put it back to stock, I used a 2001 RS drivetrain. Bulkhead harness, ECU, engine manifold, everything. Mechanically, this is a 2001 RS. No MAF sensors to go bad. There are no splices or merges of the harnesses. As everything is 100% OEM, this car will pass CA inspection and be certified as an engine swap and be smoggable if that's a concern for you. In other states, they either won't notice when you smog, or you can get it certified by an inspection at your local DOT/DMV office. All OBDII systems are present and functioning.
13 Did you autocross it, track it, street race it, take it off sweet jumps or otherwise use it like a car and not a commuting appliance?
See #12. But then see #3,6,7,8 and 9. Yes, it was a track car (and at one point was ungodly fast). But the drivetrain is not original and is new/freshly rebuilt for the most part.
14 Okay, so it's fully awesome. How much?
More than you can afford pal- IMPREZA. Seriously though, I want a lot. KBB retail is ~$7800. I'm asking $9000 once the repairs/replacements I've already listed are done. This is as close as anybody will ever again get to buying a showroom-fresh GC/GM RS. It will be reconditioned to a higher degree than basically any dealer would do to put this on the lot. It's possibly the last RS to ever be sold with this few miles (at least publicly) and will be nearly flawless.
15 I'm poor/cheap/ignorant and I can't/won't pay that much. Are you negotiable on this price?
Sure, I'm negotiable. But "negotiating" means providing me with a tangible reason that I SHOULD lower the price for you. Online pricing guides are irrelevant. Other RS sales recently ARE relevant, but only for relatively stock, very low mileage, very good condition cars. I'm also willing to possibly give a break to people who can demonstrate their awesomeness, and how deserving they are to own the car at all. Bonus points for correct swap plans or autocrossing/tracking it. Points deducted for ****ty "budget build" plans. Buy a less awesome RS if you don't think this car is worth what I'm asking.
16 Why are you selling this lump of epic awesomeness anyway? What's wrong
There are only two options for me for an RS- track/autocross car (which this car ruled at) and daily driver. I was going to do a badass engine build and push this car up a class, but I decided that I'm not limber enough to keep crawling in the back to adjust the rebound on the coilovers I have. And once a cage went in... impossible. So that left DD, which was a good idea, except I pretty much have to have a wagon with AWD as my DD. Hence putting this up for sale to fund both of those things. I have a nice 2004 FXT for my DD, and the engine build is going in my old beatass '93 L wagon.
Is that all?
For now. Please go to my RS25 thread or PM/IM/email me with questions.
1999 Subaru Impreza RS 5 speed, 39,110 miles (as of this minute). It has a long history and a lot you should know if you're interested in buying it, so bear with me. First up, obligatory picture and album link:
Photobucket
I'm assuming you will all have questions about the car, so I'll do my best to create a complete FAQ for you here.
1 Is it a flawless car that was buried in a salt mine for the last 10 years, or did it live in the real world?
I hope the answer to that one is self-evident, but here's a summary of notable flaws. It has cut front fenders, and the bumper skin is cut for an FMIC and is pretty beat up. I intend to replace and repaint all 3 of these items. The carpet has a hole cut in it on the passenger side of the center console had an electrical cutout switch mounted. I intend to replace the carpet as well, if I can find a clean one for a reasonable price. There are a few scratches and dings on the rest of the body that are hidden with touch-up paint and are minor, but there. The rear fenders were rolled long ago, seemingly by a team of drunk monkeys with a baseball bat and astygmatism. They're pulled somewhat, and the flaring is not smooth. On the plus side, you can drop 255s under this car without doing any further work.
2 Did you forget anything?
I'm pretty sure that's it. I didn't count a few missing things that I'm still trying to source, but I expect to have those taken care of soon. If I do think of anything else, I will add it to this part of the post, and mention it at the bottom of the thread.
3 Is it really only 39,000 original miles?
Yes. Not "39k on the motor" not "since I got it fixed after it was totalled" not "well I swapped the cluster 80,000 miles ago." 39,000 actual miles, your VIN report of choice will verify this. The VIN is JF1GM6754XG401789.
4 Is it salvage title?
Didn't you just check the VIN? No, it is not salvaged/rebuilt or any other negative type of title. No, there's no lien. Yes, I have the physical title. Due to a retarded NV law, the odometer reading is listed as "exempt." This means that the car was at least 9 model years old when I transferred the title. I *might* be able to dig up the copy of the seller's title, but can't guarantee it. Again, refer to the VIN report I expect you to run if you're serious about buying the car.
5 Do you have more pictures of the [blank]?
No, but when I get a spare hour or two this weekend I will take a bajillion pictures of inside, outside, engine bay, etc. Please don't make picture requests until AFTER you see the big fat photobucket album posted.
6 Did you do the timing belt, HGs, spark plugs or other engine maintenance items?
Well, it only has 39,000 miles, so why would I? Well, turns out I did because the engine was burning oil on me all last year and I never resolved the problem. So when I decided I was going to sell it, I pulled it to be rebuilt.
7 Okay, so what's the story with the rebuilt motor?
It's essentially new. New rings, bearings, gaskets and seals in the entire engine. Crank was polished, cylinder honed, and professional assembly of the short block performed by a local shop. With the help of Reno's local Subaru maestro mechanic, the heads were rebuilt with new seals, including valve guides. The odo was 39,012 miles when I cranked it back up after putting it back in. that's right, it's not even broken in yet. I've driven it about 100 miles so far, keeping it under 3000 RPM and 50% throttle for the first 60 or so, as high as 3500 PM a little bit here and there since. At 200 miles I'll bump it to 4000 RPM and slowly let it rise with mileage after that. At 300-350 miles, I'll park it until it sells probably. I bought my first RS new in October 2000, and drove it 106,000 miles, and it didn't burn or leak oil when it was totalled. It will be properly broken in. Or, you can buy it from me today and do the rest of the break-in yourself. Either way is cool by me.
8 So what else is replaced or rebuilt?
Practically everything. Wheel bearings were done preventatively last spring before autocross season and have about 2500 miles on them. The brake rotors are brand new, they're not even seasoned yet because I'm grannying the car around for break-in. New pads are waiting until I can drive the car hard enough to properly bed them, or I'll just put them in the car when it sells and you can do it. Both ball joints and outer tie-rod ends are brand new. Coolant, oil, air/oil filters, gearbox oil, diff oil, spark plugs are all new. I did NOT replace the clutch, because it had plenty of material left. In hindsight I should have done it anyway just to go with the rest of the newness, but it's still working perfectly well. No slippage. Tires are not new, but have lots of life left. They're Kumho somethings-or-other, I'll know which after Mad Ra88it reads the update here and tells me what they are. They're on clean but lightly curbed stock 5 spokes, which look just like what's in the pictures already posted. I'm keeping those because it's April, you probably don't need my Dunlop 3Ds, and I do. With the exception of oil changes and spark plugs, this car should be trouble-free for 100k miles.
8a Do you have receipts for the parts?
Mostly no. I've been working on my own cars so long I've never thought it was important. I think I can get a copy of the invoice for the engine rebuild (obviously the most important thing) but the rest, pretty much no.
9 Does it have any mods?
A couple that I couldn't quite find stock replacements for. H&R springs, HKS shift ****, and Whiteline steering rack bushings. That's it. Nothing else.
10 How long have you owned it?
Since December '08.
11 What do you know about it before then?
Plenty- and so do a lot of you actually. The original owner of the car is Shiv Pathak of Vishnu performance fame. This is the original Project RS in SportCompactCar that got a lot of us (including me) hooked on these cars to begin with. Go dig out your SCC back issues, and take a look at the small sticker in the corner of the back windows, the sims badge under the left taillight, and the SCC 10th anniversary sticker on the quarterpanel in front of the rear wheels. Same car, I promise. When Shiv moved on to tuning and developing on the WRX platform, he sold it to a friend who used the now heavily modified car at the track. This is why the car has so few miles. It went through several drivetrain iterations before he decided to sell it, and I ended up with it. When I bought it, there was a stock WRX drivetrain running on a TEC II. I took allllllll of it out, and put it back to 100% stock- with a twist.
12 Okay M. Night, what's the twist?
When I put it back to stock, I used a 2001 RS drivetrain. Bulkhead harness, ECU, engine manifold, everything. Mechanically, this is a 2001 RS. No MAF sensors to go bad. There are no splices or merges of the harnesses. As everything is 100% OEM, this car will pass CA inspection and be certified as an engine swap and be smoggable if that's a concern for you. In other states, they either won't notice when you smog, or you can get it certified by an inspection at your local DOT/DMV office. All OBDII systems are present and functioning.
13 Did you autocross it, track it, street race it, take it off sweet jumps or otherwise use it like a car and not a commuting appliance?
See #12. But then see #3,6,7,8 and 9. Yes, it was a track car (and at one point was ungodly fast). But the drivetrain is not original and is new/freshly rebuilt for the most part.
14 Okay, so it's fully awesome. How much?
More than you can afford pal- IMPREZA. Seriously though, I want a lot. KBB retail is ~$7800. I'm asking $9000 once the repairs/replacements I've already listed are done. This is as close as anybody will ever again get to buying a showroom-fresh GC/GM RS. It will be reconditioned to a higher degree than basically any dealer would do to put this on the lot. It's possibly the last RS to ever be sold with this few miles (at least publicly) and will be nearly flawless.
15 I'm poor/cheap/ignorant and I can't/won't pay that much. Are you negotiable on this price?
Sure, I'm negotiable. But "negotiating" means providing me with a tangible reason that I SHOULD lower the price for you. Online pricing guides are irrelevant. Other RS sales recently ARE relevant, but only for relatively stock, very low mileage, very good condition cars. I'm also willing to possibly give a break to people who can demonstrate their awesomeness, and how deserving they are to own the car at all. Bonus points for correct swap plans or autocrossing/tracking it. Points deducted for ****ty "budget build" plans. Buy a less awesome RS if you don't think this car is worth what I'm asking.
16 Why are you selling this lump of epic awesomeness anyway? What's wrong
There are only two options for me for an RS- track/autocross car (which this car ruled at) and daily driver. I was going to do a badass engine build and push this car up a class, but I decided that I'm not limber enough to keep crawling in the back to adjust the rebound on the coilovers I have. And once a cage went in... impossible. So that left DD, which was a good idea, except I pretty much have to have a wagon with AWD as my DD. Hence putting this up for sale to fund both of those things. I have a nice 2004 FXT for my DD, and the engine build is going in my old beatass '93 L wagon.
Is that all?
For now. Please go to my RS25 thread or PM/IM/email me with questions.
04-08-2010, 04:38 PM
#2
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 161
Car Info: Subaru STI 2006
This is the most informative "for sale" thread I have ever seen...
It was a pleasure just reading it even though I am not in the market for such an awesome vehicle.
Good luck with the sale.
It was a pleasure just reading it even though I am not in the market for such an awesome vehicle.
Good luck with the sale.
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