Info on 2005 Baja Please

[WhtMke]

I'm looking to buy an 05 Baja in the next week or so. Was wondering if anyone can give me some insight as to what I should look for and known problems to look for when I go to look at her. Here is a little bit of info I've gotten about the car. 2005 Baja, 185,000, 2.5L, auto, had timing belt and all components done, water pump and head gasket done. Front pads and wheel bearing and exhaust from the cat back. He said it needs tires. And comes with a bed extension. He wants $3000 or best offer. One question I do have, does the rear window go down on the Baja's? That would be kinda cool in the summer time. Moon roof open, rear window down. Thanks once again for all of your help. You guys have helped me along the way as I work on the 99 Legacy (aka, Ruby). She has been the best $300 I spent all of 2017. She just turned 120,000 as of 01/17/2018.

[subarubrat]

First off, great price! They are selling for more than that in my area.

 

The rear window is fixed, below is a pass-through hatch that can fold down onto the rear seat when it is folded down, handy for hauling 2x4s, ladders, etc.

 

There isn't anything special about the Baja problem wise, my best advice is to run it hard and get it up to temp then pull over and look for problems like leaks, steam, smells etc. Check the oil and water for any contamination, metal flake, sludge etc.

 

Are you leaving it stock or wanting to modify it? The 2.5/auto combo isn't a jaw dropper but it is OK for stock, if your considering a lift and bigger tires I would strongly suggest buying a turbo version with auto.

[golucky66]

Turbo or NA?

[idosubaru]

Not much specific. Rust, bushings, exhaust struts but that’s all ordinary stuff an expected in an older higher mileage vehicle.

 

Were heads resurfaced and what brand of head gaskets were used? I wouldn’t rule out one that wasn’t resurfaced if everything else sounds like it was well done. But a cheap flipped blown headgasket car can easiky be either extreme.

 

Headgasjets blew - look for signs or ask leading questions to gauge how badly it was overheated. Signs of spray around battery or that cover. Deformed/wavy (think - melted) timing covers or compromised paint and headlight (from repeated hot coolant I presume) around the overflow tank are two that I’ve seen. Rare but I’ve seen a couple like that. One of those I recommended a friend not considering and it was literally knocking right after he bought it and the engine was quickly junk.

 

Torque bind - although for that price torque bind is an easy fix anyway and not a big deal.

[GeneralDisorder]

It's just a 2004 Outback with no roof in the back. It is treated identically for inspection purposes. 

 

The 2005 Baja is quite odd in a lot of ways as it was a continuation of the 2004 Legacy chassis when all other models had moved on to drive by wire, etc. So some things to note - the 2005 Baja is hard to find certain parts for such as the engine computer - it is specific to the Baja and one year only. I'm sure there are other items as well. 

 

GD

[subarubrat]

It's just a 2004 Outback with no roof in the back. It is treated identically for inspection purposes. 

 

The 2005 Baja is quite odd in a lot of ways as it was a continuation of the 2004 Legacy chassis when all other models had moved on to drive by wire, etc. So some things to note - the 2005 Baja is hard to find certain parts for such as the engine computer - it is specific to the Baja and one year only. I'm sure there are other items as well. 

 

GD

True, but the ECU is easily open source tuned and with minor changes you can use an STi ECU and have low hanging fruit ECU tuning.