Is this worth it? 2002 Outback

[gdcpony]

Sorry for the long post. I hope you bare with it.

 

2002 Legacy Outback

 

Well I drove it today and it was great. the typical slight tapping I have come to expect from Subis, but great ride and behavior. Color is blue/silver with every option minus moonroof and leather (the leather is actually one I hate anyways). Still has all the mats, the little holder in the wheel well, owners manual, and all the little things you expect to be gone by this time (even a sales brochure with the clor combo it is circled!). All the features work right down to the CD player (yep, I brought one just to test it). The body has no rust at all (rare for Ohio), the mechanical parts have some light rusting on the brackets and such, but nothing I have not seen worse in them. I crawled as far under as I could looking for signs of any leakage (wet gaskets, seals, ect.) and found none.

 

The CarFax shows it to be a three owner, but the last two are the dealer it is at and a guy who kept it for all of two months. It also shows oil changes every month and a half at a dealer as well as tune ups and inspections. It also shows every little bit if maintenance I am used to seeing owners skip. The tranny fluid and filter, timing belt, even tire rotations were apparently recorded. The only negative it shows is an accident in '03 with rear damage inspected by the same dealer.

 

There are a few things with it. It is missing the driver's side fog lamp guard. The paint is worn off the running board right where the driver's foot would rub as he got in and out. There are a couple of VERY slight gaps in the panels that I wouldn't have noticed had I not been looking for problems. I don't see the diff fluid in the report either so MAYBE they got skipped.

 

The big item is the mileage. Obviously, it was used for a long commute or as a driving vehicle. It has 177k on it. Normally, a wise man would walk away right then, but its condition and the way it looked (I love the blue) made me look closer. The fact that all my vehicles have 120k+ on them and my old 88 Chevy truck has 220K on it plus the other vehicles I have had go over the 200k mark probably helped out a bit. I know Subi's are notoriously long lived, but how long lived? How big of a hit is this?

 

The asking price is $5990. I have $6000 to spend from the sale of another car (my last flirtation with a Mustang is at and end, ending nearly 2 decades of having one in my garage). I was thinking of offering between $5k and $5500 out the door and see if he takes it. We are ready to sign the check as soon as the wife approves of it (mileage scares her too, and she has yet to see it), and the price is reached

 

The goal is to get the wife to like the car well enough to part with her Exploder which will soon eat us out of house and home getting it's 13mpg. It's a V-6 too! The 350 in my truck does better (20+ with no load). Then maybe I can get another one (I like Subis after one good one my wife made me sell cause it "looked like a granny car").

[bheinen74]

not bad. I cannot give my 03 baja (with no accident record no paint work ever, no rust, perfect carfax) can't give it away right now.

 

serious. has no value at all and i will figure 8 race it this spring then crush it. i am the 2nd owner, all highwya miles, no paint ever done on the car. cant't pay someone to buy it.

 

I get 30 mpg avg, and have the gas receipts to proce it. nobody wants a high mileage car, wheter its a subaru, honda, ypts, etc.

I might trade it for a dodge neon, and sell the neon which apparantly people want.....roll eyes and not sure where to take this thread from here.

 

of you like it, go for it, but the accident report s a biggie. go for one without any damage prior to you taking possession if -you fear the accident

Edited April 8, 2011 by bheinen74

[gdcpony]

not bad. I cannot give my 03 baja (with no accident record no paint work ever, no rust, perfect carfax) can't give it away right now.

 

serious. has no value at all and i will figure 8 race it this spring then crush it. i am the 2nd owner, all highwya miles, no paint ever done on the car. cant't pay someone to buy it.

 

I get 30 mpg avg, and have the gas receipts to proce it. nobody wants a high mileage car, wheter its a subaru, honda, ypts, etc.

I might trade it for a dodge neon, and sell the neon which apparantly people want.....roll eyes and not sure where to take this thread from here.

 

of you like it, go for it, but the accident report s a biggie. go for one without any damage prior to you taking possession if -you fear the accident

 

I would jump on that Baja were you in my area. Sorry you aren't. No Baja's at all for my price range in any condition in this area. I would stretch the budget a little for that one though. Looks nice. Must be location. Here all Subi's are pricey.

Edited April 8, 2011 by gdcpony

[logic23]

Give me a ring I am a subaru mechanic in columbus. I can give you some info for what to look for in this car. I also buy fix and cars like this for much less and all issues fixed. Ill PM you my info.

[gdcpony]

Give me a ring I am a subaru mechanic in columbus. I can give you some info for what to look for in this car. I also buy fix and cars like this for much less and all issues fixed. Ill PM you my info.

 

got it. thanks. I will call tomorrow.

[Olnick]

Sounds pretty nice. To me the mileage isn't as big a factor as how well the car was taken care of. That seems to be pretty good from your description, even well documented. I don't know much about '02 models, whether headgaskets are a concern or not--you might want to research that on here.

 

I think they're probably asking way too much. Did a quick calculation on Edmunds and they put value at around $3500.

 

Take your wife back with you and go for a good long test drive--open road speeds, city street crawl, windy backroads. Watch the temp gauge and check the fluids after some spirited driving.

 

Then, if you still like it, let them know--but that you're really concerned about the "high mileage" and the "rear damage." Make them a low offer and give them your phone number. If they want to move it, they'll call!

 

Good luck.

[gdcpony]

Sounds pretty nice. To me the mileage isn't as big a factor as how well the car was taken care of. That seems to be pretty good from your description, even well documented. I don't know much about '02 models, whether headgaskets are a concern or not--you might want to research that on here.

 

I think they're probably asking way too much. Did a quick calculation on Edmunds and they put value at around $3500.

 

Take your wife back with you and go for a good long test drive--open road speeds, city street crawl, windy backroads. Watch the temp gauge and check the fluids after some spirited driving.

 

Then, if you still like it, let them know--but that you're really concerned about the "high mileage" and the "rear damage." Make them a low offer and give them your phone number. If they want to move it, they'll call!

 

Good luck.

Covered the test drive part. I ran the KBB and got 5550 with the -50 from the CarFax. But that was "good condition" private seller so not too reliable.

[Olnick]

Don't believe KBB, that's a dealer's tool--it's always high. Go to Edmunds and get their TMV (True Market Value), it's supposedly based on actual sales.

[idosubaru]

That's a terrible deal. $5,000 might make it more palatable.

 

With an accident and high miles I'd want a better deal than that. This car is prone to headgasket issues - 2000-2002's have an extended 100,000 mile headgasket warranty campaign by Subaru...not a big deal but with that mileage??

 

To inspect the head gaskets you want to check the rear of the engine where the head meets the engine - they leak externally there usually. Very common.

 

Is this at a dealer or private seller? I prefer private sellers on newer cars like this if I can find one. Not hard to find a good, honest seller on newer vehicles, and who's more likely to sell a car themselves - someone with a great car or one with issues?

 

Have you tried autotrader or craigslist? Check the prices there - ignoring the first few that are always really high and insanely priced. Remember your mileage and an accident when comparing. Have you compared the price to tools like that?

 

I have a 2003 Legacy GT wagon, it's the dark blue even, that will be for sale really soon for $5,900. 85,000 miles, new timing belt, runs and drives great, I'm replacing the hood, light, and fender from a kid hitting the car in front of him.

[1-3-2-4]

people get scared of high mileage subarus?

 

when I had my 95 legacy I picked it up with 195,065 when I crashed the car it had 236,917

 

I'm about to buy another with 220K on it as long as it's well maintained it should not give much of an issue.

 

And like everyone private selling is basing off the KBB.. the most overpriced Subaru on any site has to be the 1998 Forester..150K + and people still want $6-8k for that car..

Edited April 8, 2011 by 1-3-2-4

[Rooster2]

I am thinking the car is prolly still good after rear end crash, and with high miles. Asking price is way too high. Like others have said, don't go by kelly Blue Book figures, go with Edmunds or NADA listings, they are real world figures.

 

Just to give you a comparison, I bought a 99 OBW ( 7 years old ) with 148K miles in good condition for $4,600 in 2006, here in Indy. You are looking at a similar model that is 9 years old with 177K miles for almost $6,000.

[idosubaru]

right i agree, the mileage isn't the point. it's the high price and mileage, the high price and been in an accident. the high miles, high price, and headgasket prone motor.

 

that's top dollar for something not worth it to me or the majority of the market. one look at autotrader and it should be pretty obvious that this is a terrible deal.

 

i just looked at 4 2002-2004 Subaru's for a friend of mine today. These are high dollar 02-04 H6 LLBean OBW's - with only 100,000 miles we found 4 around $7,500 in perfect condition.

 

$6,000 for a far less valuable vehicle, smaller motor, twice the miles, a worse motor, been in an accident, multiple owners....it's just a terrible deal.

Edited April 8, 2011 by grossgary

[Ricearu]

i almost bought a 2002 obw with 100k down here in the south from a dealer for 4500. Run away. CRAIGSLIST is your homie. if you like that body style, go ahead and buy one that has 170k+ because you know at that point the head gaskets have been done! lol.

[eryque]

I just paid $5900 in a private sale for clean and well-maintained '02 with the all weather package and 106k miles. Timing belt, water pump, and head gaskets had all been replaced.

 

That was the low end for a car like that in my area. Anything lower in price was older, in rougher condition, had problems, was a lower trim level, had more miles, or was a combination of those.