Used Buying Tips for a 2001-2005 Subaru Impreza Sedan

[Armchair Bronco]

I'm shopping around for a used Subaru Impreza in the 2001-2005 range and would like some suggestions on what to look for. This would include things to ask the seller (either private or a dealer) over the phone as well as a checklist of things to look for on the car itself if I take it for a test drive.

 

I do NOT work on my own cars, so I have no hands-on experience in this area, but I am pretty technical and enjoy researching new things, so I'm certainly capable of learning a lot from some "How To" videos or websites.

 

The car would initially be shared by my 3 teenage kids over the next 4-8 years (4 years of HS, plus 4 years of college with visits during Christmas and the summer). After that, I'd probably want to keep the car around as a reliable standby and maybe spruce it up (new paint job, leather seats, upgraded stereo, etc.)

 

Call me "Old School", but I just love the looks of the 2005 Subaru Impreza. The bugeye models from 2002-2003 are also very cool in a quirky way.

 

Please educate me (price; mileage; maintenance issues like timing belts, head gaskets; what to look for in an engine bay; manual vs. automatic issues; how to check for rust, etc.).

 

(I started a similar thread for a specific vehicle that my wife didn't like, so I'm casting a wider net this time around.)

 

 

 

[idosubaru]

torque bind. test drive on dry days on pavement, drive with wheel turned to full lock (left/right doesn't matter).  let car coast around like 3 full circles.  any sense of braking indicates torque bind.  it'll be obvious slowly or herky jerky.  if you can't tell, then it's not doing it, it's not like it's an art and hard to tell.

 

and headgaskets are about the only thing you need to know.  they leak externally underneath at the head to engine mating surface.

 

that's the two major things you need to look out for.

[Armchair Bronco]

^ Thanks for the tip. I'll add these to my used Subaru Impreza checklist.

[Armchair Bronco]

Here's a link to a "Subaru Buyer's Guide" on rs25.com:

 

http://www.rs25.com/forums/f106/t73880-used-subaru-buyers-guide.html