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View Full Version : Buying used Legacy GT!



D_Sp8s
Fri May 20th, 2011, 07:29 PM
Okay, here's the situation. I am looking at buying this 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Limited w/ 105,000 miles new timing belt (and all tensioner pulley's), water pump & spark plugs, and new tires with 1,000 miles on them (Continental Extreme DWS), and new radiator.

There are, however, 2 problems with the car:
-Damage to the right front quarterpanel
-"4th cylinder misfire" code showed up recently after a rough idle and "check engine" light. I checked up on this, and it looks like it needs a new fuel injector.

Everything else looks like it's in good condition.
I am going to have my mechanic check it out on Monday.

He is asking $10,000 as is.


From KBB.com:
Condition Value
Excellent - $12,360
Good - $11,510
Fair - $10,110

What do you think, good deal? Bad deal? Go for it!? Run Away?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2574/5726684241_8c334470a3.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/5736881700_2d93f76ded_z.jpg

Foolds
Fri May 20th, 2011, 07:40 PM
I have a 2005 legacy gt with 79k miles on it and love it. But I have had some problems too. I have a rough idle and miss fire on #2 that turned out to be a bad piston.. they had a large batch of bad pistons in the 2005 model year. I would pay a bit extra to have them do a compression test on the motor when you take it in to have it looked at.. that will tell you alot. Anything else been done to it performance wise?

Im not sure what kinda life guys are getting out of turbos but I know older turbos were good for about 100k miles then needing replacement. Let me know if you have any other questions.



I run the same tires as that car and they are great!

I think hes a High on his price thought with those two issues..

Pharmgirl
Fri May 20th, 2011, 07:41 PM
Don't trust Subaru boxer engines, especially if they have been running synthetic. I would totally pass on anything with a "misfire" Major red flag.

Foolds
Fri May 20th, 2011, 07:44 PM
Don't trust Subaru boxer engines, especially if they have been running synthetic. I would totally pass on anything with a "misfire" Major red flag.

Odd I had 3 subarus 2 of the 3 have run synthetic oil.. the first on Synthetic just went 268k miles before some lady made a left turn infront of one of my employees and smashed it..

Ps My First Subie has 170k Miles on it and I beat the HELL out of it and it still runs great!

Foolds
Fri May 20th, 2011, 07:57 PM
http://www.subaruofkeene.com/synthetic-oil.htm

Subaru is now requiring it in 2011 turbos

brennahm
Fri May 20th, 2011, 08:08 PM
Expect head gaskets...

Foolds
Fri May 20th, 2011, 08:11 PM
Expect head gaskets...

Subaru got most of those issues worked out in 2003 I think.. I havnt heard about alot of lgt's losing head gaskets

Zach929rr
Fri May 20th, 2011, 08:20 PM
I'd offer 9, draw the line at 10, maybe 10.5.

drago52
Fri May 20th, 2011, 08:33 PM
Expect head gaskets...

yep. I had a forester with head gasket issues.

King Nothing
Fri May 20th, 2011, 08:55 PM
No wagon. No care.

Wrider
Sat May 21st, 2011, 04:47 AM
If it's the 4 it's especially bad with head gaskets. Personally I'd take it over to Summit Auto up in Denver.
http://www.summitauto.us/ Note: website has music in it
These guys ONLY do Subies and they fucking rock to work with.

madvlad
Sat May 21st, 2011, 05:20 AM
Check for head gasket issues, valve cover gaskets, check the plugs to see if they have oil and I they do the valve cover gromets are done too which are quite common for subarus. If there's a cylinder misfire check compression for sure but I would most likely walk away from it right meow! Lol subarus after 80k start asking for some $$$$. My friend had the same issue on his 07 non turbo legacy and they had to put a new block in (thankfully he was under warranty)

Pharmgirl
Sat May 21st, 2011, 02:35 PM
We put a 2.5 STI engine in our 04 WRX after the engine went about 2 years ago for a spun bearing. Full synthetic (Mobil 1) got so thin, we almost burned the new engine up. Super Rupair in Boulder has said that Subaru will not acknowledge not to put synthetic in the high compression, but they are no longer using synthetic and we have changed back to regular. It was a fun surprise almost losing that second engine. Just a heads up. It may only apply to the turbo'd engines.

fasterlaster
Sat May 21st, 2011, 07:40 PM
We put a 2.5 STI engine in our 04 WRX after the engine went about 2 years ago for a spun bearing. Full synthetic (Mobil 1) got so thin, we almost burned the new engine up. Super Rupair in Boulder has said that Subaru will not acknowledge not to put synthetic in the high compression, but they are no longer using synthetic and we have changed back to regular. It was a fun surprise almost losing that second engine. Just a heads up. It may only apply to the turbo'd engines.

If the synthetic got so thin then there is something in the recommended weight of the oil that is incorrect. Synthetic is much much better at keeping the correct viscosity than dyno oil. The dyno oil is multi-weighted only because of additives which break down over time and heat. Unless the oil was sent to a lab for testing and it proved to be a faulty batch I would suspect something else cause that problem.

Foolds
Sat May 21st, 2011, 07:46 PM
We put a 2.5 STI engine in our 04 WRX after the engine went about 2 years ago for a spun bearing. Full synthetic (Mobil 1) got so thin, we almost burned the new engine up. Super Rupair in Boulder has said that Subaru will not acknowledge not to put synthetic in the high compression, but they are no longer using synthetic and we have changed back to regular. It was a fun surprise almost losing that second engine. Just a heads up. It may only apply to the turbo'd engines.

You didnt read my posting.. Subaru is now Requiring in 2011+ turbos and recommending in Turbo's below that.

D_Sp8s
Fri May 27th, 2011, 08:35 AM
I did a TON of research, read and considered all of your comments.....AND.....

BOUGHT IT! :w00t:

I took it to my girlfriend's dad, who owns his own mechanics shop in Arvada...

ALL JAPANESE REPAIR - 3034566494 - Off of 55th and Wadsworth.

...he checked the compression, determined it needed a new fuel injector, replaced it as well as a couple other minor things. Now it's running very smoothly.

I've only had it for a day but I really like it! Leather seats, steering wheel & shifter, heated seats, front & side air bags, dual auto climate control, power seats, 6 CD, symmetrical AWD, etc......and oh yeah.....a 250 horse, 250ft-lb, 2.5L turbo Subaru boxer engine!

Anyways, thanks for all the help!

fasterlaster
Fri May 27th, 2011, 08:45 AM
I've only had it for a day but I really like it!

And that's all that really matters. Congrats.

Ghost
Fri May 27th, 2011, 12:55 PM
And that's all that really matters. Congrats.

Yep. Enjoy it! I expect you'll love it--in the winter, yes, but all-around the legacy is a fantastic car, even in the dry (especially in the canyons).

As to the synthetic concerns, I'm on my 7th Subaru, I used to work at a dealership, and then moved to corporate, I've run all 4 of my turbos on synthetic and never had any issues with any of them and SOA is (finally) supporting it officially.

Injectors do lose efficiency with age/deposits etc, it's just how it goes. Replacing them around 100k miles isn't uncommon.

Turbos last as long as they've been well-maintained--I've seen them go at 30k from abuse and oil starvation, and I saw an 04 FXT with 212k miles on an all-original engine/turbo (though it was mostly highway since the guy was a sales rep--and he ran synthetic oil fwiw).

Head Gaskets are less of a problem for most 2004+ Subarus, though the nature and placement of the engine does make them prone to failure with excessive mileage and age (especially if you don't regularly service your coolant system).

T-belts are "wear" items, and are designed to be replaced.



Also, check out www.awdpirates.net (http://www.awdpirates.net) (local AWD/Subaru forums) and www.NASIOC.com (http://www.NASIOC.com) (national Subaru forums) and www.legacygt.com (http://www.legacygt.com) (national legacy forums)

Any of them have their share of assholes, but overall they can be very helpful to Subaru owners with questions of any/all kinds.

Anyway, I hope you love it!

Foolds
Fri May 27th, 2011, 01:18 PM
Im on legacy GT.. I have a Open Source tuning laptop and one of the guys on Legacy gt does E-tunes that are very good.. Hit me up if you want to use any of my stuff or got questions.

D_Sp8s
Sat May 28th, 2011, 09:33 AM
Yep. Enjoy it! I expect you'll love it--in the winter, yes, but all-around the legacy is a fantastic car, even in the dry (especially in the canyons).

As to the synthetic concerns, I'm on my 7th Subaru, I used to work at a dealership, and then moved to corporate, I've run all 4 of my turbos on synthetic and never had any issues with any of them and SOA is (finally) supporting it officially.

Injectors do lose efficiency with age/deposits etc, it's just how it goes. Replacing them around 100k miles isn't uncommon.

Turbos last as long as they've been well-maintained--I've seen them go at 30k from abuse and oil starvation, and I saw an 04 FXT with 212k miles on an all-original engine/turbo (though it was mostly highway since the guy was a sales rep--and he ran synthetic oil fwiw).

Head Gaskets are less of a problem for most 2004+ Subarus, though the nature and placement of the engine does make them prone to failure with excessive mileage and age (especially if you don't regularly service your coolant system).

T-belts are "wear" items, and are designed to be replaced.



Also, check out www.awdpirates.net (http://www.awdpirates.net) (local AWD/Subaru forums) and www.NASIOC.com (http://www.NASIOC.com) (national Subaru forums) and www.legacygt.com (http://www.legacygt.com) (national legacy forums)

Any of them have their share of assholes, but overall they can be very helpful to Subaru owners with questions of any/all kinds.

Anyway, I hope you love it!


Thanks for the good info. I have been on legacygt.com but not the others. I'll check them out!

D_Sp8s
Sat May 28th, 2011, 09:35 AM
Im on legacy GT.. I have a Open Source tuning laptop and one of the guys on Legacy gt does E-tunes that are very good.. Hit me up if you want to use any of my stuff or got questions.

I'm not too familiar with any of that...what can you get out of your laptop/E-tunes. (Is that the same as iTunes?:silly:)

sag
Sat May 28th, 2011, 11:34 AM
theres quite a bit of power to be had out of reflashing the ecu. especially when combined with a turboback exhaust. but yeah subarus are hard on their oils and mobil 1 is garbage for subarus. thought everyone knew that. go with rotella synthetic.

Foolds
Sat May 28th, 2011, 12:11 PM
I did a Stage 1 was able to up the boost from 11 to 15.4lbs all that requires is a Cat back exhaust I think.. Read up on it on Legacygt the tuner I used was Infamous tuning

kbahus
Sun May 29th, 2011, 09:57 AM
Don't open source it, buy a Cobb Accessport and be done. You can switch maps, go back to stock easily, clear/check codes, and use it as a gauge pack. I highly recommend Shell Rotella 5W-40 synthetic or Motul 5W-40 only in the turbo boxer with 3-4k intervals. Oiling issues are the number one cause of dead Subaru engines followed by bad tunes. Also the turbo motors do NOT have common head gasket issues like all of the other n/a boxers. Enjoy the new ride!

Ezzzzy1
Fri Jun 10th, 2011, 11:06 PM
Foolds for president! Sounds like he knows his shizit!

Compression test would tell you a lot about this car.


If the synthetic got so thin then there is something in the recommended weight of the oil that is incorrect. Synthetic is much much better at keeping the correct viscosity than dyno oil. The dyno oil is multi-weighted only because of additives which break down over time and heat. Unless the oil was sent to a lab for testing and it proved to be a faulty batch I would suspect something else cause that problem.

+1. Maybe a water leak? Thats what the word thin always makes me think when it comes to oil.

Foolds
Fri Jun 10th, 2011, 11:23 PM
Don't open source it, buy a Cobb Accessport and be done. You can switch maps, go back to stock easily, clear/check codes, and use it as a gauge pack. I highly recommend Shell Rotella 5W-40 synthetic or Motul 5W-40 only in the turbo boxer with 3-4k intervals. Oiling issues are the number one cause of dead Subaru engines followed by bad tunes. Also the turbo motors do NOT have common head gasket issues like all of the other n/a boxers. Enjoy the new ride!


why skip opensource? Log the Shit out of your tune no matter who your tuner is to be sure you have a safe tune.. If you got questions post your logs on legacygt and people will look them over. Accessport is going to be a wear tune due to being a off the shelf(conservative for every legacy GT tune) and may not always be best for your car! A tune for your car if well done will be for YOUR CAR and can be made how you want it.. Mine is a conservative tune that is made for MY car and pushs about a lb more boost then the Cobb did when I had it. Smother power band too and better idle.. I had to clean up the idle on my Cobb by increasing the idle RPM. Also we are a Mile High and Cobb's tunes are not made for that issue.

Foolds
Fri Jun 10th, 2011, 11:23 PM
P.S. Open source cost about 1/3 of what a Accessport does and has more ability's to be a gage pod, logging, and error code reading.

Ghost
Sat Jun 11th, 2011, 08:20 AM
P.S. Open source cost about 1/3 of what a Accessport does and has more ability's to be a gage pod, logging, and error code reading.

Accessport can be, and typically is, custom tuned by any local tuner. Off the shelf maps are Ok, not great. Instead of OS, get an AP and get a full tune.

It can also store multiple maps for multiple tunes and swap them on the fly. I can have my 91 octane, my e85, my 93 octane, my valet mode all loaded and ready to go as I need them--can't find e85? No problem, just swap to 91 and you're still good to go. Want to go back to stock? Swap it.

A good tuner can do nice things with Open Source, but in no way does it compare to the AP, and you can use the AP as an aux gauge for light diagnostics.

And, for tuning, go to The Boost Creep Ltd. and ask for Harvey.
http://www.theboostcreepltd.com/

kbahus
Sat Jun 11th, 2011, 08:46 AM
The average Joe does not have the knowledge or ability to use open source effectively, nor would I trust yahoo's from the lgt board to tune my maps. I personally don't trust any tuners except for one, and he works at AMS in Chicago now. If asked, Harvey is the only tuner in the Colorado area I would recommend to people.