mdjdc Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 I'm looking at a 97 outback here in Richmond, va. The car is clean and has a 5 spd, but the guy wants 2500 for the car with a blown HG. I told him that is way out of the ball park, but he insists it is a good deal for the car. I'm going to wait him out and see if hewill come down. I made him an offer of 1000. and he summarily turned it down. I told him to keep in touch. What do you guys think a fair price would be? Mind you I haven't gone to see the car and test drive it yet. It might need clutch work too. It has 187K on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 as someone who has bought a number of 97 legacy's i can tell you that you are right. if it was a pristine GT sedan with low miles and great paint....then *maybe* it would be worth it to someone who wanted that car, but basically only for someone that wanted it, not for flipping it. 190,000 miles, that's terrible. and a wagon, wagons are a dime a dozen, i can basically buy one or two a month pretty easily. (saw one yesterday for instance!) i'd give $500-$1,000 for that car. no way i'd give more than a $1,000 and it would have to be really nice cosmetically for that. and even then only because nice looking cars sell well. he's pulling the (blue book value -minus- cost to fix) card. market don't work like that slick. two funny notes: if that was close to how the market operated he'd fix the dumb thing himself, but he's not! and, he'd never buy the deal he's trying to sell, even for whatever replacement car he gets in the future! he'd roll his eyes if he was on the other end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdjdc Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 Funny how it is when you are selling the car. It is worth so much morethan when you are buying. I'm not willing to budge on that price. Too much of me goes into getting these back on the road, even if they are built for other people. Yeah, ultimately I'm going to sell it, but I want to make a profit. Not just break even. Thanks for your input. as someone who has bought a number of 97 legacy's i can tell you that you are right. if it was a pristine GT sedan with low miles and great paint....then *maybe* it would be worth it to someone who wanted that car, but basically only for someone that wanted it, not for flipping it. 190,000 miles, that's terrible. and a wagon, wagons are a dime a dozen, i can basically buy one or two a month pretty easily. (saw one yesterday for instance!) i'd give $500-$1,000 for that car. no way i'd give more than a $1,000 and it would have to be really nice cosmetically for that. and even then only because nice looking cars sell well. he's pulling the (blue book value -minus- cost to fix) card. market don't work like that slick. two funny notes: if that was close to how the market operated he'd fix the dumb thing himself, but he's not! and, he'd never buy the deal he's trying to sell, even for whatever replacement car he gets in the future! he'd roll his eyes if he was on the other end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 GG is correct for my neck of the woods. I go 200 to 2k depending on the car. But with the few specifics you've mentioned I'm with Gary. Under 1k Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 I'm not willing to budge on that price. i wouldn't either. there's no way that car will sell for that anyway, so it's not going anywhere. you should print out a bunch of ebay or autotrader adds, i didn't look but i can tell you for sure you'll see the same vehicle/miles for that price without blown headgaskets! you can buy perfectly good running 97 era subaru's with nearly 200k for well under $2,000 that don't need headgaskets. and a wagon, a wagon!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdjdc Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 yeah, it's a wagon. I'll just wait him out and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crash321 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 The guy must be on crack, with the cost of fixing these cars (a shop doing the repairs) you'll easily spend $1500 or more, plus a clutch, seals, t belt ,waterpump while you have everything apart. Mine has 154,000 and I have to pull the engine to reseal it next spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmithmmx Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Wow, that is the highest I have ever heard for a blown HG. I would not pay a dime over 600 for that car. I have a 98 OBW 154K 5 Speed with a re-sealed engine and I am hoping to get 3K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 (edited) yeah, it's a wagon. I'll just wait him out and see what happens. have a couple of your friends call and offer him 400 - 600$, just to warm him up. make sure he has your number handy, at some point some one will offer him 900 and he'll take that because the cash is in his face.?!?! Edited December 27, 2008 by johnceggleston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Another thing to consider here is that you are incurring all the risk in this transaction. Sure, it might "just" need HG, but you might also find the heads are warped, or the long block is screwed up. $1000-$1500 to have the HG done professionally is just a starting point. Plus, with those miles, the bottom end might be ready to fail. I'd be thinking 2.2 swap myself. I paid 2500 a couple of years ago for a high mileage 98 OBW with bad HG, but it was driveable, was a stick and had an excellent body, new tires, CV axles, etc. I was having a very hard time finding a decent Subaru with a 5-speed and I wasn't that worried about overpaying a bit. If you're buying to flip, it's obviously much more important not to overpay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I'm looking at a 97 outback here in Richmond, va. The car is clean and has a 5 spd, but the guy wants 2500 for the car with a blown HG. I told him that is way out of the ball park, but he insists it is a good deal for the car. I'm going to wait him out and see if hewill come down. I made him an offer of 1000. and he summarily turned it down. I told him to keep in touch. What do you guys think a fair price would be? Mind you I haven't gone to see the car and test drive it yet. It might need clutch work too. It has 187K on it. Way to much. I would pay $500 up to $1000 if it had a nice body. I have sold these with new head gaskets for $2500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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