2six

im hella new and i am trying furociosly to get my hands ona 02-03 wrx i like the bugg eyed and they have come down in price recently making them affordable to me. i was just wondering if u guyz have had lots of problems with breaking these things. it will be a daily driver ofr me and i will keep it mostly stock (for now) and do big things break or just small stuff. i can work on most stuff myself, but parts?

jdepould

iTrader: (2)

Biggest thing is to make sure that the transmission is in good shape, if the car was abused, chances are that the tranny won't hold up. Maintenence records are a big help, if you can see that the clutch was replaced prematurely then you should stay away from that particular car. If anything feels or sounds funky, well, just go with your gut. Although, reverse is kind of finicky, that's normal, double clutching usually gets it to cooperate.

cudaeh

nother thing to keep in mind when you get the car is; no matter what you hear 3k+ clutch dumps are never acceptible, and doughnuts will kill your center diff quicker than youd believe.

cudaeh

oh and people will rip you appart and offer no good information if you keep up the whole 'hella' and 'guyz' thing.
****, Im barly able to get any info from them with my refusal to care about my spelling.

adizon

iTrader: (25)

[QUOTE=jdepould] if you can see that the clutch was replaced prematurely then you should stay away from that particular car. QUOTE]

Some WRX's may have had there clutches replaced early due to clutch shudder(sp?), This is when the car is cold and you realease the clutch and it shakes like your were a new driver on a manual transmission. I think it may have to do with a weak pressure plate, not positive. This happened to me at 21K miles. I have an 02 WRX. The dealer replaced it for free under warranty.


I love my WRX, and it shifts smooth, but I replaced the shift bushings and also went with a short shifter (Kartboy). Over all I think the car has been reliable, it like the other guys were saying, if the previous owner/s drove like idiots then there may be premature wear. Do your best to feel the steering, and the handling. Listen for odd noises. Inspect under the hood is it clean, or just clean cause they Armoralled the heck out of the engine bay. Look for body damage or differences of color in the paint on both the exterior as well as the engine bay. Also maybe get a car fax. Bring a friend that may know what to look for if your not sure.

Hope this helps some!

2six

well i prallly wont get a warranty cuz i am definatly gonna buy used and probably private party cuz they are cheaper that way. hopefully i can find one that some mom or grandma owned, hopefully stock. so waht i am hearing is that as long as the tranny shifts smooth than i am good???

adizon

iTrader: (25)

Yeah, I think trannys are definately something to be aware of, just cause it's not cheap to replace, and it sounds like you are on a budget.

Also if you could do it stretch that dollar do it for WRX that has as little milage as possible for the year. I bought my 02 2 years ago for $17K with less than 17Kmiles on it. At the time I could have bought something cheaper but it would have been like an 02/03 with like 68K or 81K "freeway" miles. Remember it's not just the lower the miles the better, it's the condition of the car.

jdepould

iTrader: (2)

Just treat it like you would any used car purchase, the tranny is just something to be extra-aware of. If you take your time and go over everything thoroughly you should be A-OK.