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What to do with an old Subaru XT in good condition?


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from what I have seen with some rubber parts of cars over the years is it seems it needs to be worked. Leave it motionless for long periods and you start to get rot and decay - perishing. If these air bags are rubber and been sitting for years I would expect rot. The air lines from the pump and its distributor system in the front left guard/fender space lead all through hard to reach places in its 2.5mm OD line - very hard to trace a fault if there is one in the nylon pressure line.The computer that drives suspension in RHD cars is under LHS front seat.

 

I think the main drift here is if you have problems with air suspension you suck it in and go std unless you have lots of hair to pull out, money to burn.

 

Have you put a deposit on it yet ?

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from what I have seen with some rubber parts of cars over the years is it seems it needs to be worked. Leave it motionless for long periods and you start to get rot and decay - perishing. If these air bags are rubber and been sitting for years I would expect rot. The air lines from the pump and its distributor system in the front left guard/fender space lead all through hard to reach places in its 2.5mm OD line - very hard to trace a fault if there is one in the nylon pressure line.The computer that drives suspension in RHD cars is under LHS front seat.

 

I think the main drift here is if you have problems with air suspension you suck it in and go std unless you have lots of hair to pull out, money to burn.

 

Have you put a deposit on it yet ?

 

No deposit, doesn't work like that. Friend made an offer, later he changed it to buying it outright, lump sum, in cash by the 4th of July.  After that its not for sale. Not gonna mess with that, lol. Just try to have the cash in time,

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so i bought a xt6 with a bad clutch and non-working air suspension 2 months ago. i put legacy front strutts and springs, loyale wagon rear springs. where the hub mounts to the strutt is wider. but i believe thats only the xt6 and the 4-cyl xt's used the ea82 stuff in front. if so you'd want to use the ea82 stuff instead. i did end up using forester hubs and brakes and 02 wrx wheels to clear the brakes. i've been driving this car daily for just over a month now so it shouldnt be to hard. figuring out how to get the air suspension going may be difficult. id sell you all my air suspension parts as spare if your interested, i dont mind holding stuff either. just pm me.

Edited by edian727
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Bill has missed the point of this being a non XT6 - caught up in the excitement

 

But still wants you to buy it like the rest of us :)

Edited by jono
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buy it. once you get it fixed you can drive up to corvallis and show it off. A friend and I have a few xt6 projects we are working on over the summer so your car would be well apprecaited just 40 minutes down the road!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, heres the bottom line...
I don't have the money for it, he really didn't want to sell it I think, and really....
If I got it I would have to replace the engine for more horsepower up the mountain grade, and, well, no offense, but if I am going to do that, and fix something up, I would rather do it with my 1983 T-Top Brat, which is twice as sexy. In a way, I don't know what I weas thinking, caught up in Subaru lust or something, lol.
I would LOVE to take the 5 speed trans out of it, but even if I could, that would be in some way wasting the XT, which is a cool ride.

Nope, I will comfortably pass this up with no regrets, as I do so Love my Brat, and want to put my time, work, and money into it instead, especially since it REALLY needs more horsepower and likely a new engine itself.
I would be trying to fix up two vehicles. Nope, the Brat wins this one, lol....

 

Now how to improvise and tweak things to get some horsepower in the Brat until I can get a better engine.

Thank you all for the quality input, and although the guy says after the 4th of July it will not be for sale at all, if he were to change his mind I will be sure to post here in case someone here lusts after it, lol...

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Ok guys... I think I talked him into/out of it, if people are willing to make an inspiring offer, he may sell.
We will be washing it up to take pictures of it. What's it really worth? - Not bluebook, what's it REALLY worth to Subaru freaks, eh?
​This car deserves to be fixed up and put back into road service after 25-30 years of being parked!

​Location: East of Redlands, CA.

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Development - We got the XT down where we could do something with it, lean it up, etc.
Some wires have been chewed through by rats or whatever, Windshield has a crack in it.

My friend is wondering if its possible to get a wiring harness instead of repairing the assorted wires...

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I've replaced one pneumatic strut for the tune of $380 about 20 years ago, shortly after I had more trouble with the system and remedied the problem with installing coilovers the car rode better and I was quite happy with it BTW it was a xt turbo

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From everything I've heard I think that car is worth about $1,000 to $1,500 depending on rust. That's my .02

 

No problems with rust that I have seen, interior looks perfect.

Had to get a new battery for it.

The accumulation of dirt on the outside over the years means that we have to wash it and let it soak with wet towels over and over to remove the grime without harming the paint, lol...

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I've replaced one pneumatic strut for the tune of $380 about 20 years ago, shortly after I had more trouble with the system and remedied the problem with installing coilovers the car rode better and I was quite happy with it BTW it was a xt turbo

 

I have been able to find pretty much all the components individually, so repair rather than replacement seems pretty practical.

Otherwise, yes, replacement would not only be expensive, but almost impossible to find the intact struts at all.

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he hit the nail on the head with valuation - get it running and it's a $1,300 vehicle roughly. you might get more if you sell it to some highschooler as a first car.

 

nearly worthless if they're not running.

$1,000 - $1,500 for average condition decent vehicles that can be driven immediately without eye grabbing damage/paint peeling.

$2,000+ if low mileage, great paint, well maintained, etc.

 

replace the wiring harness with a used one - I have some spare XT, XT Turbo, and XT6 parts/cars.

Edited by grossgary
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