New member 97 GT question.

[11marka]

Hi everyone. I am new to this board.

 

I have had one Subaru in the past (82 Wagon) it was a great car. I bought it with 125,00 miles for $1000 and sold it with 225,000 miles for $950. The guy I sold it to drove it at least three more years.

 

Now to my current problem.

 

I recently bought a 97 Legacy GT. The car is in excellent condition inside and out. It has leather, moonroof etc. It has never been smoked in and seems to be in all-around great shape. The only thing is that the dealer told me it had leaky valve cover gaskets and gave me a better price if I agreed to fix them myself.

 

I replaced the gaskets but I am still getting a leak. From reading archived posts it seems like it may be the cam seal. Apparently this is a ongoing problem with this year model.

 

I have two questions:

 

1. How much should it cost to have a mechanic fix this leak and also replace the timing belt while he is at it? (The car has 88,000 miles)

 

2. A friend of mine works at a Subaru dealer and they just took in a 2000 Outback Limited on trade today (98,000 miles). He said it is in good condition except for the front bumper cover (damaged by hitting dog), I have a friend with a body shop that can fix that. Would I be better off selling the 1997 GT (I would need to get at least $5,500 as it sits) and getting the Outback ($7,500) or just fix the GT and keep on driving it?

 

The reason I ask is that I read a thread:

 

http://www.toad.net/~rrubel/outown.html

 

This guy has had to replace his seals several times and I don't really want to get into that.

 

I also like the idea of the additional ground clearance the outback offers. I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

 

Thanks

 

Mark

[cookie]

I am sure some of the folks will have the price of a reseal in your area. There is more that should be done at the same time.

I think your current car would have a 2.5 phase 1 engine. If this is correct the following applies, otherwise never mind.

You will find several opinions here I am sure but I think the Outback has a phase 2 engine. If it were up to me I would go for the Outback as with a phase 2 you get much less chance of head gasket failure.

The other thing you could do is change all the seals on your current engine and just budget for head gasket failure if you had it. The good part is that a good gasket job fixes the problem on a phase 1 so it would probably be good untill you sell the car.

At this point I have had too many friends have head gasket problems on phase 1 engines to be a big fan of them.

[subeman90]

Listen to cookie.... he is right....and I totally agree with him 100%

[11marka]

Thanks for you insight. I appreciate the info and will take it to heart. I did have a couple of additional questions though. . . .

 

You wrote: "The other thing you could do is change all the seals on your current engine and just budget for head gasket failure if you had it."

 

My question is (A) How much should it cost to do all the seals? And ( How much does a head gasket repair normally run?

 

I looked at the 2000 Outback last night. It needs a little body work on the front bumper but nothing major. The paint on the Outback is just okay. It has good tires, nice interior, double moonroofs, heated seats etc. Since it is a limited it is fairly loaded.

 

The only problem is that to get the Outback I would need to sell the GT very quickly. And I would need to sell it "as is" because my mechanic just went into the hospital for bypass surgary. Does anyone have any idea what a nice GT would go for on Ebay on a quick 5 day auction. Of course I would need to disclose the oil leak. Other than the oil leak the car is in excellent condition. It has good leather, nice 16" rims, good paint cd, etc. Plus it only has 89,000 miles. I know that on Ebay I would not get as much as if I took my time selling it here but if I take too long the dealer is going to wholesale the Outback. I would like to try to get $6000 for it the GT but I suppose if I had to I would accept a bid for $5,500. As it is I will be losing money, I just need to decide which way I will be losing more.

 

The GT looks nicer than the Outback as far as how clean it is and everything, but I am sure I can get the Outback cleaned and the lower cladding painted. That would help a lot. Also I am not nuts about the gold wheels on the Outback although I do love the extra ground clearance.

 

On the Outback the dealer wants $7,800 plus any "doc" fees and whatever the service dept. spends with a mandatory oil change and inspection.

 

Probably with tax and everything I would be looking at $8,500

 

 

I am sure some of the folks will have the price of a reseal in your area. There is more that should be done at the same time.

I think your current car would have a 2.5 phase 1 engine. If this is correct the following applies, otherwise never mind.

You will find several opinions here I am sure but I think the Outback has a phase 2 engine. If it were up to me I would go for the Outback as with a phase 2 you get much less chance of head gasket failure.

The other thing you could do is change all the seals on your current engine and just budget for head gasket failure if you had it. The good part is that a good gasket job fixes the problem on a phase 1 so it would probably be good untill you sell the car.

At this point I have had too many friends have head gasket problems on phase 1 engines to be a big fan of them.