ryankenn

I'm finally abandoning my failed attempt at owning a NA made vehicle, and I just wanted to get a reliable sedan with a 4 cyl engine and auto tranny.

I found a Silver 2002 GT at a decent price at a dealer willing to take my truck in trade, and after taking it for a test drive I have a few questions.

The trunk on this particular car had some mold growing in it, on the top of the carpet, right at the latch. When I went to close it after seeing this, I noticed the latch didn't actually work. I'm fairly confident the trunk had pop spilled as I saw some, and this combined with the unlatched trunk lid caused it. I would like to hear if anyone else noticed any moisture problems in their trunks, or if over time the latch would not work as well as it was when new.

Second, this is the first boxer type engine I've ever really seen or heard. ( other than WRX's BLATTTTing around my area ). To me, on startup it seemed somewhat rough, almost diesel ish'. During my testdrive however it was rock solid at idol and almost silent, so I'm sure it was just something while being outside the car I wasn't familiar with.

Any other items I should look closely at for these cars as far as common problems? Every option seemed to work fine, even the heated cloth seats, something I havn't seen before. I'm used to leather only.

Finally, whats the maintenance like on the AWD portion of the drivetrain? Is it a fickle thing, or is it routine like most until something goes wrong?

Thanks, I did search around abit for clues, but I thought it couldn't hurt to post this anyways.


Ryan

DLC

My 00 has had some moisture problems from rain/snow, but I'm still not sure where it's coming from. Mine has the rear spoiler, and it might be leaking through there, or on the driver's side through some seal. I also don't know if the owner before me had removed the rear lights, which can sometimes lead to leaks.

Boxers are a little different, but shouldn't sound diesel-ish. They usually idle pretty low, but are smooth and shouldn't make much noise other than maybe an exhaust rumble. If you're serious about it, maybe go look at a few other normally-aspirated 2.5s at a Subaru dealer, if possible. It should give you a better basis for judgement.

The AWD needs simple fluid changes and attention to maintaining tire sizes all around. It's viscous center, with an open front and possibly a rear LSD. It's very uncommon to have any mechanical part of the AWD system fail, even after 200,000+ miles.

ryankenn

Buy I ended up buying a 2002 Legacy L SE. Black with grey interior. Has the nice wheels and body kit, just no leather or sunroof.

As part of the deal, its getting new paint, so that will be nice.

Now I'm just trying to track down exhaust,intake and suspension options in these forums. I see Borla makes a header, but where are all the catbacks??

DLC

There are no known places that make a midpipe. The Stromung and Random GC8 high-flow cats work (I have a Random), and the muffler section is also identical, but the midpipe is approximately 4" longer than the Impreza. The best recommendation I'd have is to get whatever headers you want, a high-flow cat (if you want to go that far), muffler section and have a custom midpipe made in whatever diameter best matches the muffler section.

As for intake, Cobb is considered the best. It's the most expensive, and the loudest at WOT, but was developed on a dyno and made a huge difference on my GT. The best compromise for a suspension would be some KYB GR2s from Tire Rack and some H&R or Whiteline springs and a Whiteline rear swaybar.