Here it is.... a 2003 Subaru Legacy L Special Edition Sedan with 63,2XX miles at the time of purchase... for only $2990 OTD.





Hey wait a minute, one of those goes for about 7.5-8.5K, what's wrong with it, you ask?

it's got piston slap... that's it... the seller thought it needed a new engine and that is why he got rid of it cheap. I slapped a new timing belt on it along with a new tensioner and idlers and most of the noise is gone now. The Subaru dealer indicated that it is piston slap and to just drive it until you are ready to repair it...

it has new tires (Bridgestones), new brakes, moon roof, 16" wheels, and working everything and drives like a freaking slot car.

I just got done with clay bar and 3 step clean polish wax job and it is looking sweet. The pix are from when I first picked it up.

I drive a 2002 CL type S and in the winter time it really can be a chore when the snowfall exceeds about 9 inches...

and yes, that is my CL-S in front of it and my previous accord that I sold to my friend in 2006

 

Wow great find!

 

 

Nice find...until it needs to be repaired.

 

Nice pick up!

 

I power washed the floor mats and I swear that 20lbs of dirt came out of each one lol....and they turned from brown back into charcoal gray... gonna have to do the same to the carpet but that is a giant pita to remove from said car

 

Looks sweet - Good deal!

 

My mother inlaw picked up a high mileage Legacy on the cheap a while ago. The thing was beat up pretty bad but it had a solid powertrain that ran like a champ.

Good pick up on the Legacy!

 

nice pick up.

 

I would never expect it to have problems at 63,xxx miles. But still a good find. They are awesome winter cars.

 

piston slap and timing belt idler leakage are pretty common on subarus

 

i read the headgasket also was an issue with early 2000 subys.

oh well for $2900 it was cheaper than my motorcycle i guess.

 

well there is an update to this thread... The Subaru will be going under the knife for the piston slap on Wednesday. Mileage at the time of surgery will be just shy of 69K.

 

I dropped off the car this morning and I should know what the damage is on Friday

 

upgrade the headgaskets once you there... they start leaking around 100k

 

Managed to get a 92 SC400 for $2000. AC leak was the only issues. 230,000 miles. And still lights up the rear wheels. Love and hate depreciation at the same time!

 

they were already leaking and they would have been replaced regardless as the heads have to come off

 

what is the cost of the repair?

 

approximately $3K, I have not got the specific estimate other than $1k for teardown (that will go towards the final $3K)

 

At that price, wouldn't it be cheaper to find a lower mile motor, refresh it, and swap that in?

 

I did that once before and I was not overly impressed with the results. Besides this one will be just like new and backed by a real warranty

used Subaru motors with 60-70k on them go for about $2K including shipping and there really is no warranty to speak of (you know the blame game starts when something goes wrong)

 

Esitmate is in $2800 and change

 

Ouch. Just doubled the price of the car.

 

yeah but no more engine problems, I hope :crossed:

 

Jesus. Was the piston slap fix necessary? I always thought it was merely a NVH issue, not related to imminent mechanical failure.

I can understand fixing the HGs, but...

 

Costco ,

Well it also solves another problem that was starting to creep up, the head gasket issue, I was already starting to smell antifreeze and it was seeping past the heads so that was the final push to get it done. I talked to my service advisor and he indicated that the engine was also starting to leak in various places so why not get it done? When I am done, this car will easily last me a quite a few years more

 

This thread peaked my interest, I'm thinking I may very have to sell the CL, 164,xxx, no balljoints, no brake disks, no struts, electrical problems, no abs, trans is throwing codes. Damn I will miss her. Still runs great! I'm making sure the back up Corolla is running strong.

I'm thinking, 1g CL 5-speed, 2g TL, SC 400, 2g CL, 3g Maxima and for practicality just in case i actually can find one, an AWD Matrix. Wondering if the CL wheels will fit the Corolla, that would be awesome.........Oh Don't mind me, just came in to think.

 

The outcome of the repair

new pistons and rings installed
new front and rear main seals
new oil separator
new gaskets everywhere
new assembly bolts
new head bolts

new boots on PS rack
new Schroeder valve in AC

the car is pefect now

The final cost was $3748.

 

Good deal!

 

Gotta love "estimates".

 

Change thread title to "What kind of car can you get for less than $7k"

 

If it wasn't leaking fluids I would not have fixed it but the leak is what did me in

to be fair though, you really are NOT (generally speaking) going to find a decent car under 10K that does not need some sort of repair

 

I can find plenty of cars under $10k (and under $3k for that matter) that don't need engine rebuilds.

 

want a cookie? I only fixed the engine because it was starting to leak.... I already put nearly 8 k on it before I rebuilt the engine...

 

repair or standard maintenance....cause if you mean repair, then I fully disagree.

 

repair as in something broken, maint due like timing belt, tires, brakes, you name it. you either spend it in the price or you spend it in bringing the car up to snuff. I choose the latter route as most Subaru in my area that are $6-8K are WELL over 100K miles. I really did not want to spend more than 8K on a car so I took one that that needed some TLC and brought it up to snuff and now it should last me at least the next 5-6 years as a DD based upon mileage that I drive per year....

I wanted true awd drive car that could handle the snow and this one was it.. it does have some added extras coming like LED fog lights, LED headlamps, and if I can find one on the cheap, a manual viscous limited slip rear differential...from a GT Legacy (for some reason they share the same FD as the auto rear diff..

 

I bought a 95 pathfinder for $2300 and spent $600 for a clutch...over the next 5 years I put in a radiator and tires. Thats it. Barely spent anything. Bought it with 167k miles, sold it with 215k.

Got a 97 Jeep grand cherokee for $700...put in $500 plus a new radiator in the last 3 years.

But its all been standard wear and tear.

 

1st gen RL's.

Tons of them out there that don't need repairs and have been maintained. And nearly all of them are under $10,000.

 

what do they look like?

 

every single one of them in my area have a min of 125K and most are 155K+