2003 Forester XS - 170k body with 40k engine. Worth it?

[mthoudek]

Hello everyone,

 

I am new to the community and about to take my first step into the Subaru world. Please keep in mind that I have little car experience and almost no mechanical savvy, and that we are in need of a car and have a pretty fixed income (grad students).   I am seeking advice about purchasing the following used Subi with the following specs:

 

2003 Forester XS Wagon.  170k on the body, but with a 40k engine in it (a 2L engine as opposed to the XS's 2.5 - avoids piston slap problems, increases gas mileage a bit?)

* No accidents

* Not a salvage title

* 3 month/3,000 mile warranty

* The engine was replaced because the previous owner ran it out of oil

* Leather, sunroof, heated seats, 6-disc changer

* Interior/Leather is in great shape

 

The dealer did the following:

* New tires (80%+)

* Replaced front and back pads and rotors

* Replaced timing belt kit (water pump, etc.)

* New doors and bumper (the previous owner had spray painted the old ones for some reason)

* Willing to replace windshield (a small chip)

* Willing to fix leaking right rear strut (after our mechanic discovered it)

 

They are asking $6500 to have all this work done and the car is ours.  We know that a new(er) engine does not mean a newer car, but I understand that it can add up to $800-1000 to a price at a dealer.  Given all the other work they have done and are willing to do, what are your thoughts on this price and purchase?  

 

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[nipper]

New doors and bumper? replaced engine?

 

Back away slowly, no RUNAWAY!

 

No one just installs new doors and a bumper because they were spray painted, they just respray them.

[lstevens76]

Yeah, the new doors worried me.  Bumper covers don't because they are always getting mangled one way or another.

 

Is this the same dealer that had the '02?  It sounds to me like they buy beat to hell cars, fix enough to sell them and make a profit.  

 

It's one thing if they are fixing "everything" that wrongs, which they obviously are not, but when they are doing just enough to sell them there's a problem.

[mthoudek]

Thanks again, everyone.  We have decided to move on after all.  

 

Much appreciated for your time.

[trueforger]

For what it's worth, make sure the dealer has replaced the idlers and timing belt with a NEW one. I ended up with a problem Subaru and think the dealer, or pusher man, swapped the timing belt with another used one and called that,"replaced". Also stripped out more than a few bolts in engine, nothing was tightened to spec, actually loose rod cap nuts, leaking from several places from poor assembly, bad HG job.