edrach

NADA lists an '87 GL AWD hatchback for my zipcode: Pricing on a classic/exotic (pre 1990): Original Low retail Average High retail $8,293 $2,125 $2,650 $3,525 * This Retail price is based on a clean vehicle history report . Don't make a $2,650* mistake. Get a Free VIN Check today. Find out why AutoCheck is better than Carfax. KBB doesn't list anything prior to 1992. I love NADA!

The initial quote and check from the estimator on our '82 Brat was $450. A fair value (from a local dealer was $1500 to $2500) which I agreed with but we had other comparables gathered over a period of 6 months. We finally sued the taxi driver in small claims courts where our comparables averaged over $3000; the taxi driver could not offer ANY comparable values to counter our data; after adding adding in expenses and such the judgement was for $3475. It was a tough fight (I filled a 3" binder with all the paperwork and such) and since the Brat was an "extra" car I wasn't pressed to settle any earlier. Part of the settlement was we got to keep the car which is still in use today.

I took a peek into Auto Trader and found zero at any distance. Search Results You searched for: Car Type: Used Cars Body Style: Hatchback Make/Model: Subaru GL Year Range: 1987 - 1990 Price Range: $1 - $15,000 Seller Type: All Sellers Finding comparables will be tough; but also tough for the insurance company. Check with your local dealers and ask them if they can find a replacement for you.

Don't wait for that to happen. Do the homework and search for it. The information is out there but it won't come back to you unless you actively seek it out.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Bratman2 and Uberscoober are giving you pretty good advice. I can't add too much too it but I will anyway. It's totalled. As such you can likely buy it back for $50 or so as salvage value; it'll cost them more to tow it to a wrecking yard and sell it for scrap. If you can find another in similar shape the parts in this one will be worth your while (IF you can do your own work for most of it). Establish a value for your car. Search online for NADA, Edmonds, and Kelly Blue Book; they will all have different values for your car. Don't let the estimator tell you that you have to prove the condition of your car; it's their job to dis-prove it if you can't agree with their estimate. Find comparable prices on-line (Auto-trader, craigslist, local classified ads and other sources). Visit your local dealers (Subaru and others if needed) and ask them what they would have your car on the lot for re-sale prior to the accident. Start a book of printed out comparables; as rare as your car is, establishing a fair and correct valuation for your car will take some time. If the estimator gives you a check for his estimate, DON'T cash it even if he says they'll give you another check if the value is higher--they won't raise the amount and they'll never give you another check if you cash the first one. Get the name and address of the person who hit you and make sure you have a record of it. If you have to file a small claims action for the car's value, you'll be suing the driver and NOT the insurance company. We were rear ended by a taxi driver in our Brat and it took a while for the police to serve the subpoena even though we had that information in our paperwork. Get in touch with your state's insurance commissioner and find out what the laws are concerning property settlement following a traffic accident. The insurance company will claim they are following the laws. In our case nothing they told us was true. One item is, if they can't repair your car they need to make you "whole". That is, replace the car with one of equal value and conditon; and if they can't find one you should get money for the established value along with the cost of registration, title change, and sales tax if you could find one. That's only the hassle of getting fair compensation for your car. Your injuries are another whole ball of wax. See a doctor, chiropractor, whatever you need to insure you'll also be compensated to get you back to your pre-accident condition. In any event, don't sign anything until you read and UNDERSTAND what you are signing. Consult a lawyer if you need to. Doesn't mean you have to sue, but someone on your side needs to advise you of your rights in this matter. Best of luck with this.

Very cool, but how many of my children do I have to sacrifice to buy this! Anyone have a price on this? Not that I'm going to buy this, but I'm curious.

Having done the 5 lug conversion on the rear of our '82 Brat it dawned on me that I should order a new set of rear rotors while they were still available. Most of the ones on Rock Auto are pretty pricey and I'm never positive that it's the 5 lug version or 4. I googled one of the closeouts and found them $2 cheaper on Amazon! I'll order mine as soon as I confirm they are 5 lug from the seller and count on Rock Auto to have given the correct p/n for a '89 XT6. http://www.amazon.com/Centric-Parts-121-47007-C-Tek-Standard/dp/B001KNYTY4 Amazing what can be found on Amazon! Yikes, $2 cheaper for one rotor; $23.45 shipping for one! Back to Rock Auto. Interesting, shipping charges from Rock Auto FOR TWO rotors was $12.32! Ordered mine before they run out.

The reason for the fewer posts is that the rear assembly from an XT6 is an easy, straight conversion: take the old parts off and put the new parts on. No need to dink with conversion axles, swing arms, ball joints or anything else.

Absolutely keep the receipts. My experience has been to get used axles at Pull a Part and re-boot them when the existing boots fail. New or commercially (somehow I think I have a spelling issue here) rebuilt axles have a tendency to fail well within the warranty period. The exceptions being rebuilt axles from MWE in Colorado.

You might check the gearoil in the rear diff anyway. Even a little water might not be good for it. Glad to hear it was the brakes.

Voltmeter in the car is notoriously inaccurate. Hook a digital voltmeter across the battery terminals to see what is truly accurate. It's normal for voltage to drop a little under load.

Pick the appropriate forum (old gen, new gen, or others) and click on New Thread in upper left of screen.

Jack up the back end (BOTH wheels off the ground) and try the test again. An open diff: turn one wheel and the other should turn in the opposite direction. Limited slip diff: opposite wheel will turn in the same direction. If it stll won't turn, make sure the car is properly supported and disconnect the driveshaft from the front flange of the rear diff. Only four bolts. If it still won't turn, either the diff is frozen (pretty rare failure) or the handbrake is keeping the wheels from turning. If you had the rear of the car under water (salt water to boot), you might have gotten some water inside the diff (there's an air vent at the top which would allow water inside). If you got water inside, I could understand the rear diff seizing up. Check the rear fluid by making sure the FILLER plug is not seized and then drain out the oil through the drain opening; hopefully there's no water in there with it. Re-fill the diff with 75W90 gear oil and hope for the best. Worst case, you have a bad rear diff. Just replace it with one from a wrecking yard. Our local pull a part yard will sell them for around $40 with a 30 day guarantee. Just make sure you get one with the correct ratio (most likely 3.900).

18 Volts at the battery terminals with the engine running indicates a bad voltage regulator in the alternator (most of the brat alternators have internal regulators). Cheapest fix is to find a used alternator at the wrecking yard and replace the bad one. Secondly, it sounds like you have a defective battery that's not taking a charge. Sounds to me like an open cell. Any autoparts store will gladly check your battery and hope to sell you a new one. Also, they would check your alternator too. An open cell in the battery could also result in no load on the alternator which could account for the 18V reading at higher rpm. In any event, have both battery and alternator checked. Which year Brat? I'm not sure when Subaru went to the internally regulated alternators. Early models (like the gen1 version) might have had external voltage regulators.

I liked the pics and it looked like a "cozy" gathering. You had great weather from what I could tell. Sorry I missed it this year.

I'm sure one of the moderators will move this to the New Gen forum soon enough. But if your car is anything like my Impreza wagon (1997), you likely have a broken wire in the harness up in the top right corner where there's a 90 degree bend in the cable an lots of flexing every time you open the hatch. Common problem on my model. I've had to repair it twice. The annoying thing is that the wire breaks inside the insulation so you can't see the break to repair it.

Last poster is correct. The dash can be replaced with the windshield in place. Not easy to get at the front screws but it can be done. On the other hand, if the windshield is already out, dash replacement is easier.

Well you didn't get the temp sensor, but doesn't look like it was a wasted trip. I know they are further away for you but both Lynnwood and Arlington are larger with more inventory (Arlington is WAY larger).

Check out the Tacoma PickNPull. They should have a number of EA82 cars in the lot. Grabbing a few temp sensors will insure that you find one good one. Google picknpull.com/inventory to see what cars they have in the lot. Bring your own tools and it costs $1 to get in.

Turning on the defrost will increase the idle, since defrost turns on the air conditioning along with a relay to increase the idle to compensate for the extra load on the engine.

Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking when I scheduled this on Dec. 5 (C-day). No fun being on a water only diet on Sunday. I might come up to McD's and meet with folks but I won't be heading into the mountains this year.

If I remember correctly, you don't need to have the drive shaft lengthened. The original two piece drive shaft works just fine. In the case of my '84 Brat, the area around the center bearing was pretty rusted out and I elected to have a one piece drive shaft made for it. It cost around $150 (that was almost 10 years ago). For some advice and a kit to make the install easier, contact bratsrus1 here on the Board.

+1 on the AAA. Get the Plus which tows you free up to 100 miles (I hear a rumor that there's a 200 mile version now also). When all three of my kids were driving, we used up the 5 free tows almost every year. Now that they are moved out, I hardly ever use it; but it came in handy last week coming back from Portland when the Forester started to overheat. Glad to hear it passed emissions. Only one more pass needed in 2013 and after that your car is exempt since it's over 25 years old.

We have a '99 Forestor (another SOHC) which we bought with 100k on it. Now at 154K after three years and we're still happy with it; it's my wife's daily driver. Quite sure that everything Subaru '97 and later is interference type engine.

I haven't been down there recently, but I think he's still in business. He parks his van in a side street just south of the State emissions place on 6th avenue south in Seattle. He's generally not there on Mondays since he works on Saturday.