thetommyboy2k Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Hey everyone! I just joined this site after finding a 1992 Subaru Loyale Wagon I'd like to buy. A dealership is selling it. It's a light blue with only 88,000-something miles. I saw the pics from all angles and I'm thinking about going tomorrow to look at it. It looks like it's in very great shape. They are asking nearly $4,000 for it. Is that a fair price or does the price need to come down some more? It has the 1.8L engine in it? Is the Loyale reliable? I've never owned a Subaru, so can anyone give me any pointers or guide me in all of this? Thanks in advance everyone! :-) Tommy Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 I bought a rust free one from a guy across the country last year. About 3k plus 1k for shipping. I'm in the northeast, so cars rust away. These cars have thier quirks. Read read read this forum. But they can be run reliably for long stretches also. 88k miles is nothing to me. First things to check or replace is timing belts and cooling system. It's common to expect to do a reseal on the engine, from the headgaskets up. It's mostly age related. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe5 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 To be honest, 4k seems alittle steep. Even for being on the east coast. Loyale's in near perfect condition rarely sell for more than 2k here in the PNW. If its truly emaculent, MAYBE 3k for being on the east coast. It should have the 1.8L SPFI in it. Reliability is all about how well its been taken care of. Headgaskets and broken timing belts are common problems. They can be pretty solid. Keep in mind though a challenge for you will be finding parts when things brake (and YES they will if you keep it for a while). At a price like that, you'd almost be better off flying to the PNW, buying one here for a 1/3 the price and driving it back! You could trailer back a whole parts car while your at it for a supply of parts. Just my 2 cents. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetommyboy2k Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 So nearly $4,000 is a fair price or should I try to get the price down? What all is involved in doing a reseal of the engine? Is it mostly head gasket related? Thanks, Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe5 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 4K is arguably too much money even if you didn't have to do anything to it. If you intend to reseal the enigine, the 4k is WAY to much. Reseal typically involves everything from the headgaskets and out (cam seals, rocker covers, timing belts, intake gaskets and people usually reseal oil pump and replace water pump at the same time). For 4k this should have already been done recently. Assuming the car is near perfect, I'd try to talk them down to 3k. If the car is not essentially perfect, its too much. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Loyale Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 (edited) 4K is too much. Offer them 2800. Is it manual or automatic? If automatic offer 1200. Low mileage means little as the seal don't care about it. A 26yr old seal on a 88k car is no different than a 300k car other than the 88k car will have dry seals from never having been kept wet through daily use. Edited January 13, 2016 by MR_Loyale 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetommyboy2k Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 They claim they already dropped it $1,000 already. I need everyone's opinion on this... do you think they would consider $2,000 if I had it in cash when I go there, or do you believe they would balk at it? Thanks everyone! Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 If it's perfect, and you don't have time to shop, maybe 3K to 4K is ok. I didn't shop a lot when I found the one I bought, but finding them around here is rare. It would have taken a LONG time [which I don't have] to shop long distance via Craig's list or the like. I posted on the for sale / wanted forum here, and got lucky. My #1 criteria was rust free, and the one that someone pointed out was still available. I ended up having to do a reseal sooner than expected, since it had a cooling system problem that lead to blown head gaskets, before I got it. In my book that beats fixing rust any day. I wasn't seeing any on ebay at the time either. They are rare, but also, how many people are looking for them? I'm not a great negotiator. If you have time, maybe offer a low number. If they don't take it, and it's still there in a week, offer $500 more. repeat until they bite. Of course, the risk is someone else may buy it. To really know what is a fair price in the area, you have to do a lot of research. I've done this on a smaller scale on ebay, on some items I was looking for. There were always a few up at any given time. Watched what they sold for on average. Adjusted my bids, and eventually got one for around the average price, without screwing around with sniping, etc. But it took a while. But I got to know how much time it took to save 5 or 10%. And then realized I was wasting too much time to save too little money. A car is a big enough thing to save real money, so worth some time to go through the process, but it's tricky when there are not a lot of the model around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyhorse001 Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Im not far from you, and i can buy clean ea subies all day for under $2000. I doubt the dealer would take $2000. He figures if you dont buy it someone else would. If you have cash, craigslist is your friend. If not, and youre doing a buy here pay here, then beware. Unless you HAVE to have a car NOW, and have very little cash, its a BAD idea. You pay 3-4 times the value of the car plus super hi interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetommyboy2k Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 Hey crazyhorse001! You got any leads on a Subaru Loyale wagon? You're not far from me at all, just one county over. I'm thinking about going to see the wagon I told everyone about. Thanks, Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Is it automatic or 5 speed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetommyboy2k Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 Quidam, it's an automatic, which is what I'm looking for. I went to look at the Loyale today. It's every bit as near perfect as the pics show. I was actually really surprised at the condition of it. The engine sounded strong. It was strange driving a wagon as I've never driven one before. The steering has a "tighter" feel to it when turning than any other car I've driven. It's hard to describe. It's not bad, just different. Everything right down to the seats were good. The seats were very comfy. Now for the price. The least they would take is $3750. The owner told the salesman (I believe it's a family business) over the phone (you could hear it as if it were on speakerphone) that they had already dropped it twice from $5950, then to $4950, now to $3950. I told him the amount I wouldn't go over and told them I couldn't go anymore. I left the ball in their court. The salesman was going to talk to his owner to see if he would accept less than $3750. Since it's snow country in the upper part of NC, they tend to go for more money and I passed quite a few Subaru's on the way back home coming through NC. What does everyone think? Tommy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Loyale Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) The price haggling phone call is used car salesman antics. It is priced way too high for a automatic. Bring out the KBB value for him. They smell a sucker. Don't be that sucker. Tell them you are a struggling student, your kid is sick and needs an operation, your dying mother want to see the mountain top one more time before she is gone. See how this works? I love Loyales, I really do. But they aren't worth that much in resale especially the automatic. Have you driven that car at highway speeds? Do a test drive trying to hit 65 or 70 in 3rd gear which is the highest gear on the automatic. Did you crawl under it to see if the axle boots are broken? Turn on the heater for a while and then the ac at least 10 min each to be sure there is no mouse piss in the hvac. 60k is the timing belt interval on the engine. Have they been done? If not. You are probably looking to pay a shop 2000 to do it and that is assuming they know Subaru EA82 and that each belt is 180 degrees different. Your $3000 car could top 5k before you can use it as a daily driver. Not trying to be Mr negative but don't want you to get taken. On the other hand if you have been taking apart cars since you were in the womb and have oil in your blood and the tools, time and money to fix whatever may arise, go for it. If you are the type that hires people to wrench on your car and changing a ball joint scares you then this will quickly eat up your limited budget and you will come to hate the car. Edited January 14, 2016 by MR_Loyale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Were the timing belts replaced? Was it resealed? If no to those, plan on doing them. Check the exhaust system while looking it over. Same with cooling system - Original hoses? they need to be replaced - all 7 of them. The OEM clamps are a possible giveaway clue - they are wire with a screw to tighten them, not the common stainless steel strap type. Original radiator with plastic tanks? Check that the fine fins between the tubes are all still attached to the tubes. What is the warranty? You are nearly always going to pay more from a dealer. The best way to get an idea of fair price in your area is others in your area. In my area, these are rare cars, in that kind of condition especially. I've had guys come out of parts stores to look at mine, remembering them, "wow, I had one of those years ago" kind of thing, totally amazed at the rust free condition.If they are common where you are, look on Craig's list, and newspaper classified adds. They are almost never for sale here, or really beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyhorse001 Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 No auto ea cars on cl right now. I may be able to hit up a buddy to see if he knows of any. That said search "subaru, by owner, on asheville nc craigslist. Save the ads and show your seller all the $1000, and under loyales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovemyGLWGN Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 The price haggling phone call is used car salesman antics. It is priced way too high for a automatic. Bring out the KBB value for him. They smell a sucker. Don't be that sucker. Tell them you are a struggling student, your kid is sick and needs an operation, your dying mother want to see the mountain top one more time before she is gone. See how this works? I love Loyales, I really do. But they aren't worth that much in resale especially the automatic. Have you driven that car at highway speeds? Do a test drive trying to hit 65 or 70 in 3rd gear which is the highest gear on the automatic. Did you crawl under it to see if the axle boots are broken? Turn on the heater for a while and then the ac at least 10 min each to be sure there is no mouse piss in the hvac. 60k is the timing belt interval on the engine. Have they been done? If not. You are probably looking to pay a shop 2000 to do it and that is assuming they know Subaru EA82 and that each belt is 180 degrees different. Your $3000 car could top 5k before you can use it as a daily driver. Not trying to be Mr negative but don't want you to get taken. On the other hand if you have been taking apart cars since you were in the womb and have oil in your blood and the tools, time and money to fix whatever may arise, go for it. If you are the type that hires people to wrench on your car and changing a ball joint scares you then this will quickly eat up your limited budget and you will come to hate the car. Excellent advice! Whine, cry, ... mom is sick, kids need new shoes... try; I borrowed $200.00 more from MoM, but this is all I can put together... and flash the cash.., drop it on the table... , and like everyone here has said, it is an older car, so it's either a love affair or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Loyale Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) If the stealer ship offers to finance the difference,run away. They aren't selling cars, they are selling shark loans. Edited January 14, 2016 by MR_Loyale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsyme Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Wow this was excellent. Summary from this thread: EA82 Timing Belts are rated for 60,000 miles / 97,000 KM verify no broken axel boots verify heat and AC functional and no smells 7 hoses in the cooling system check / and or replace Automatics are less desirable than the 5 speed manual, less desirable than the DL 5 speed amual I have a non running 1989 GL EA82 Wagon w/ 230,000 miles (I haven't owned a week yet), that I replaced the 2 timing belts. The longer belt on the driver's side was missing a stretch of teeth as wide as your hand. I'm getting through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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