2005 Subaru WRX - buy or pass on by?

[FXjohn]

175,000 miles. manual transmission. some dings and minor cosmetic damage. what would you offer, or just pass for something a little more reliable?

 

[NHGUY]

Probably been driven into the ground.I read that a lot of WRXs lose engines around 70-80K miles due to the harsh abuse of the "kids" owning them.If a regular Subaru chews up head gaskets,a turbo'd breathed-on one would only be worse.

 

[simple_gifts]

IIRC 2.0s do not have a HG problem, period. 2.5 different story... A coworker has one. Female driven, lots of HW miles; I wouldn't have a problem buying it.

 

[bigjl]

From what I have see. And read the only Scoob's with head gasket problems were the early ones. Certainly not as recent as a 2005, and the 2.5 is not known to blow head gaskets either. Is there something that people do to them in the US to cause them to be less reliable than they are in the UK. If it doesn't smoke, has no funny noises from the transmission + diffs, the clutch doesn't slip and there is no piston slap when warmed up(common when cold) the. If the rest is clean and tidy and the price reflects the miles then why not. If it looks like it has been DIY "tuned" and hammered with little mechanical sympathy then I would run away.

 

[joaks]

Who owns it now? If it is a young guy good chance it has been run hard. No HG issues on these

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: FXjohn

175,000 miles. manual transmission. some dings and minor cosmetic damage. what would you offer, or just pass for something a little more reliable?

Good running, complete, no CEL, it would sell for ~$7-8K in my area. Some folks I know just paid ~$10K for a 2005 Outback with over 100K miles on it. Kinda nutz IMO. Do you get snow in your area? As much as I love Subaru, I just don't see the point of them if you don't get nasty winters. Joel

 

[FXjohn]

It's a middle aged woman who owns it, and I doubt it was beat. She told me she only used subaru oil and didn't trust synthetic.

 

[LeakySeals]

Agree with others pass on the young kid selling a WRX.

 

[FXjohn]

We get some bad driving weather, although not last year. I'm on the MI border.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: FXjohn

We get some bad driving weather, although not last year. I'm on the MI border.

They're great for that. They'll do well with marginal all-season tires w/ the AWD and are little tanks with winter tires. Maybe shoot for $6K? Joel

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY

Probably been driven into the ground.I read that a lot of WRXs lose engines around 70-80K miles due to the harsh abuse of the "kids" owning them.If a regular Subaru chews up head gaskets,a turbo'd breathed-on one would only be worse.

Not really. Even properly modd'ed ones run fine into the 150k+ range. The 2002-2005 2.0L was a stout motor although light on low end power with a hard sling shot at 4000RPM+. On head gaskets the Subaru turbo motors are completely free of any issues with that. They fortify their blocks/heads to accept the high boost applications. 175k depends on past owners. I would not pay more than $4k myself for it. I had a similiar 2004 WRX and it was totally trouble free.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts

IIRC 2.0s do not have a HG problem, period. 2.5 different story... A coworker has one. Female driven, lots of HW miles; I wouldn't have a problem buying it.

Turbo subaru motors do not blow head gaskets whether 2.0L, 2.2L or 2.5L. A non-issue.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: rjundi

Turbo subaru motors do not blow head gaskets whether 2.0L, 2.2L or 2.5L. A non-issue.

I'm with you there, but they do have added complexity due to the turbo and need to have been maintained properly with oil/filter changes. There's that pesky "banjo-bolt" screen that can plug and smoke the turbo bearings. Like you say, $4K would be awesome, but I say best of luck with that in today's market. Joel

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: JTK

Originally Posted By: rjundi

Turbo subaru motors do not blow head gaskets whether 2.0L, 2.2L or 2.5L. A non-issue.

I'm with you there, but they do have added complexity due to the turbo and need to have been maintained properly with oil/filter changes. There's that pesky "banjo-bolt" screen that can plug and smoke the turbo bearings. Like you say, $4K would be awesome, but I say best of luck with that in today's market. Joel

Oil changes critical to the turbo engines. I am floored how reliable my 2004 WRX was over 8 years and my wife's current 2005 Subaru Legacy turbo with 150k is. I did remove the banjo bolt so no clogging worries on the Legacy. The WRX never had one. Both cars have given me very little trouble.

 

[fdcg27]

If this car has been maintained and not abused, it'll be as reliable as anything else on the road with 175K. Subarus are pretty well made and the two liter engine in this car was very well made. In snow, nothing beats a Subie. A seven year old car with 175K was obviously driven on either a long daily commute or on a lot of highway trips. I doubt that a middle aged female abused the car, although I'm sure that she must have enjoyed its thrust every now and then. Why else have a WRX? If you can buy the car for around the 4K rjundi is suggesting, then why not? It'll be entertaining to drive and shouldn't make any unusal repair demands.

 

[FXjohn]

I have a 4wd truck. thing is it doesn't do "AWD" well. Not as good as AWD for mixed conditions. One person said 6k, seems a little steep for something with 175k?

 

[Mr Nice]

Pass.

 

[joaks]

Subaru oil is synthetic. I think it sounds very good so far.

 

[FXjohn]

the premium gas is kind of a downer

 

[simple_gifts]

Originally Posted By: rjundi

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts

IIRC 2.0s do not have a HG problem, period. 2.5 different story... A coworker has one. Female driven, lots of HW miles; I wouldn't have a problem buying it.

Turbo subaru motors do not blow head gaskets whether 2.0L, 2.2L or 2.5L. A non-issue.

I was referring to NA 2.5; I wasn't very clear