Hi, I am about to purchase a used 02 wrx with 43,000miles. I was wondering what kind of things should i look for before purchasing? Thanks in advance

 

Dealer or private? Do you know the car's history or previous owner?
The thing to be most concerned about is how the car has been treated and whether it has been modded and returned to stock. There seem to be a lot of such cars turning up on the used market now, and you wouldn't want one of those if it has been driven hard or abused.
If the car is stock and has not been modded, and has been well maintained and adult driven, it may be a good deal depending on the price.
The best way to go about checking it out would be to find a good independent mechanic or shop in your area that is familiar with these cars, and have them look it over thoroughly. If the dealer or owner refuses to allow this that is a red flag right there, walk away and keep looking.
To get recommendations for someone to use for this service, ask in your local area forum here on i-club and also over at NASIOC.

 

the tranny is the biggest single issue with the 02's. Make sure it shifts cleanly and doesn't grind between gears. Especially on cars that are beaten, but also in some cases on cars that have "not" been beaten by their owners, the transmissions can fail with relatively low mileage. On modded cars, you may run into denial of warranty claims related to this citing abusive driving practices. As mentioned, make sure the car hasn't been beaten. If it's stock, make sure it's always been that way (look for telltale signs of removed/replaced stock parts, things like stripped intake clamps, noticably un-rusty stock exhaust bolts, etc.. are good telltale signs). If it's modded, take it to your local dealer and ask them flat out if they would consider the vehicle to still be warranteeable.

if it's clean, good tires, brakes, etc. and the 45K service is completed, a reasonable price should be somewhat less than 17K at a dealer, and probably around 15K private party, depending on your region.

If it's less than 14K, and you cant immediately tell why, suspect a rat.

 

The car is said to be stock and adult driven. He is the 2nd owner and has replaced the clutch previously at an Subaru dealership due to "shudder". The car as has an extended warranty till 2008.

 

But for how many miles? The warranty will have a mileage as well as a period of years, so it may not be that big a deal unless it's covered to a much higher mileage than the existing powertrain warranty. The factory powertrain coverage is 5 years/60K so as long as the car is stock that coverage will still be in effect, and most potential (and expensive) failures will be powertrain related.