Things to look for on a high mileaged Forester

[Stevo F]

I'm going to look at a 2003 Forester tomorrow night. It appears to be a very clean, well kept vehicle but does now have 223K miles (many of them highway) on the clock.

The owner has receipts that show , among other things, that timing belt and headgaskets were done at 180K miles (which is my main concern as I don't want to buy something and turn around and have headgaskets done). It also has 4 evenly matched Michelins with 23K miles.

Is there anything specific to Foresters or EJ251 engines that I should be looking for? (as of the 7 Subaru's I've owned, I've owned neither of these). I know to check for torque bind, etc...

It was in Pennsylvania for 11 years, so I plan to taker a look underneath and the subframes and floors.

Is there anything else I should look for on a 200K + mile vehicle that I hope  to take to 300K or better?

Here is the listing:   https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/cto/6703832917.html

 

 

[idosubaru]

My first question is why is the vehicle on the market?  I want to try to avoid cars on the market due to symptoms (noise, intermittent symptoms or annoyances, chasing repairs, overheating, etc).  I like buying from people who are moving, just had a child, retired, or got a company car (like really did, not just using it as an excuse for selling)...clear reasons to get rid of a car. 

If it's a private sale you can get a better feel for that.  If it's a lot car then you have to do some more digging and interpretation.   I prefer buying from owners, they tend to be honest, fair, or at least east to read whether you should walk or continue discussing.  That philosophy works better for $5,000 - $10,000 cars but still not impossible on older cars too.  

I like the Michellins - it suggests a previous owner was willing to purchase quality equipment and they're not just putting something cheap on it with the intent of flipping it for a buck.

PA is terrible for rust - i'm 7 miles from the line.  

You must verify top brand headgaskets were used (Subaru or Fel Pro) and ideally the heads were resurfaced, but many places don't do that and if properly done there isn't massive evidence it matters much. 

Who did the headgasket repair?  Headgaskets, while not hard, are more akin to open heart surgery and job quality matters more than other jobs. 

You also need new timing pulleys - those are more likely to fail than the belt.  Particularly the lower toothed idler.  They're so easy to replace - I can do it in an hour, I would just plan on doing it myself to make sure it's done right - new complete AISIN or Subaru timing belt and 3 pulleys and the tensioner.  

[carfreak85]

The fuel filler neck in the passenger's rear wheel well can rust through, so check for that!

[1 Lucky Texan]

do tight circles on a paved lot - feel for any binding/jerking - could be torque bind, if 5 spd trans, do this after the car is fully warmed-up.

do highway entrances at full throttle as well as exits with max engine braking - watch the temp gauge.

 

[Stevo F]

Thank you, everyone. This is a private seller- the situation is it was owned by her sister who passed away last year so she has had it since then. I talked at length with the owner yesterday, who came across as very intelligent. She said she has receipts for something like $5,000 of work over the last several years her sister had it, so I should be able to get more detail about the headgasket and timing belt job. She actually told her sister not to invest so much in an older vehicle, but her sister loved the car. 

The rust potential is a concern. We previously had a 2005 Outback Sport that spent 9 winters in the Wilkes-Barre area and the front subframe was rusted through, with a lot of surface rust on the rear subframe. The brake backing plates literally crumbled apart in my hands. I ran a VIN report which showed this car was in PA for 11 years, 3 in North Carolina, and 1 in Virginia.

I know the EJ251's headgasket failures result in coolant leaks, but are these mostly external? (is checking the overflow tank for bubbling more an EJ25D thing or should I do it this car too)?

[idosubaru]

52 minutes ago, Stevo F said:

I know the EJ251's headgasket failures result in coolant leaks, but are these mostly external? (is checking the overflow tank for bubbling more an EJ25D thing or should I do it this car too)?

Correct - 2003 forester factory installed gaskets typically leak coolant externally, sometimes oil. 
Which usually suggests, but doesn't confirm, the engine wasn't significantly overheated prior to the repair like EJ25D's frequently have happen and then subsequently end up loosing rod bearings sometime later.  Starts as a very slow wetness, seeping, takes a while before it starts to drip...someone changing the oil sees it before it ever exhibits symptoms. 

Replaced headgaskets can vary in failure modes and will rarely push exhaust gases into the coolant like the EJ25D and give random/intermittent bubbling/overheating.  Given the circumstances it doesn't seem like it's being moved for those reasons though. 

Edited October 2, 2018 by idosubaru

[Stevo F]

Thank you- I ended up buying the car Tuesday night. The owner took $2,200 and has many of the receipts. The headgaskets were replaced at 180K miles by a Subaru dealer. The ticket indicated coolant was leaking onto the steering rack. So far no signs of anything leaking on the garage floor, but I'm going to spend a lot of time with it this weekend, so I'll get underneath and take a look around. The interior needs a good cleaning and the paint could use some detailing

I drove it home 40 miles on the highway and it handled great- no way you'd think it was a 200K + mile car

[1 Lucky Texan]

Subaru Coolant Conditioner has helped folks with coolant drips/seeping. Install ONLY one bottle and ONLY as directed.

[Stevo F]

I actually flushed the coolant, replaced thermostat with Subaru OEM, and replaced heater hoses,a nd filled it with Subaru long life coolant last night. I have the cooling system conditioner but and hesitating putting it in because many people have said it's basically stop- leak and might clog the engine or heater core.

[idosubaru]

It doesn’t impact properly running vehicles. Subaru was putting it in 100s of thousands of cars for the last 15 years - theres billions of miles and over a decade of data and history showing no issues on well maintained vehicles.  So there that and all the anecdotal reports or hacks with issues. It’s not magic or mystical what’s happening,  people just don’t know or talk about it.

People limping along and trying to put off repairs, maintenance and ignoring symptoms willbe refilling coolant, getting low, overheating, adding stop leak, then running low and overheating again and those products don’t work well in those situations with low coolant, full of air, overheating situations  

Yiure fine to use it now.  Moving forward you’ll want to repair leaks/overheating quickly - which doesn’t sound like an issue for someone buying high end coolant and replacing hoses preemptively, or drain the stuff out if you plan on delaying repairs (which doesn’t sound like you)  

You’re also fine not to use it - there are people repairing these and not using it.  

Dealers don’t typically resurface heads so Id probably be tempted to use it in this case but I wouldn’t sweat someone who doesn’t. 

On factory installed gaskets the Subaru conditioner would stop like 99% of existing initial external coolant leaks. It was very effective on initial leaks of factory installed gaskets.