My New Ride

[buster]

03 Forester, Melissa Etheridge edition.

Not a huge fan of the color, but I wasn't after that. I was more concerned with how well maintained it was. Buying a car this cheap you're really taking a risk no matter what. A few people said to my wife "Is Mike a l*sbian?" LOL.

I like the power of this engien vs the Honda 2.4L My Honda, for whatever reasons, had a noticeable lag when accelerating. A friend of mine said it wasn't normal. I don't know because it was like that for years.

I'd like to get a Crosstrek in a year or two. I'm hoping Subaru slaps a turbo that motor.

131k miles. Really clean. Paid $4900. Hopefulyl it holds up for a year or two w/o any major issues. I'm prepared for the HG issue and know a guy that will do it for less than the dealer.







Who ever had it before, did some weird things to it. Is that heat wrap around the air filter box and what type of air filter is this?

 

[SLCraig]

Manual trans? Looks great to me.
I'd love something like that in manual but they are not easy to find.

 

[buster]

Yeah manual. We had bad storms yesterday and I tried to get the wheels to spin with no luck. Impressive AWD.

I plan on taking it to the beach soon.

 

[Danno]

Nice find. The heat wrap is on the AC/heater unit to insulate it from the engine compartment. The air filter box is the black box on the left.

 

[needsducktape]

I was just thinking that looked like a foil wrapped airbox.

Also previous owner removed the beginning of the intake and plumbing. There wasn't a massive exhaust muffler and an giant aluminum wing hanging off the back, was there?! LOL

As far as head-gaskets are concerned it is definitely a common issue. My 2.5 RS (1999) and 2004 Forester both had issues.

Make sure you change the Radiator fluid frequently and use Subaru's coolant conditioner. Oil Changes and monitoring the battery acid is key (If you're battery looks like its growing moss, change it).

 

[GreeCguy]

Nice ride and like others, I enjoy a stick shift but it's getting to the point that unless it's an econo box of some kind, you're not going to find it. Congrats and many happy miles ahead.

 

[needsducktape]

Originally Posted By: Danno
Nice find. The heat wrap is on the AC/heater unit to insulate it from the engine compartment. The air filter box is the black box on the left.



Not on my 2001 Forester. I just replaced the air filter and it was canter behind the engine....right in front of the intake manifold. Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, looks like the design was the same on this year.

 

[buster]

Thanks!

Should I be concerned about the air filter box? I didn't even think to look at that when I checked it out.

I was so bored of the Accord. Had it for 8 years. Great car but I needed something different.

 

[surfstar]

Nice. Looks like you already took the rainbow sticker off?

Here's to hoping your HG lasts as long as you own it!

 

[JTK]

Looks great Buster! I'm not familiar with the 2003, but at first glance I though the engine air cleaner housing was missing and they had a piece of black foam over the air intake tube! The later EJ253's have a large resonator box pretty much where your shiny metallic insulation wrap is.

You got the not so easy to find 5spd too! How do you like it?


FWIW, I've seen Soobies even in my horrifically rusty neck of the woods with over 200K miles on them.

LOL.. Pretty tough to spin the wheels with an EJ253 and AWD, although I can do a heck of a 4-wheel peel in the snow with mine, given how horrible the factory tires are.

 

[buster]

Originally Posted By: surfstar
Nice. Looks like you already took the rainbow sticker off?

Here's to hoping your HG lasts as long as you own it!

 

[buster]

I like the 5spd a lot. No complaints.

 

[KJack]

Manual Trans last forever in most cars. Better gas mileage too. Congrats

 

[buster]

This car will be seeing a good amount of beach use.

Subarus do very well in sand/snow. Having full time AWD is great and I like the gas mileage of the Subarus vs Jeeps.

 

[supton]

IIRC Subaru's are high geared in first, which may lead to shorter clutch life. YMMV. How are the wheel bearings? That rounds out the list of problems that I know of on these cars (HG, clutch, wheel bearings, rust), otherwise they seem pretty reliable. Timing belt motor, isn't it?

Good luck!

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: buster
Buying a car this cheap you're really taking a risk no matter what.

131k miles. Really clean. Paid $4900. Hopefulyl it holds up for a year or two w/o any major issues.


I say buying it that cheap you are NOT taking much risks, IMO. Thats the way I see it. It looks good.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Good luck buster and "Come to my window"

 

[buster]

^ Thanks. LOL

Timing belt was done around 112k.

Wheel bearings do seem to go on these. I expect to put some money into it down the line....probably HG/wheel bearings. Hopefully not a clutch but who knows.

 

[SuzukiGoat]

Ditch the normal battery and get an optima off Amazon.

Don't ignore your oil changes or try to go as thin as possible. Check the book for what they spec for your temps.

Almost bought my wife a forester, just for safety. They are incredible machines other than the headgasket issue.

Replace them with metal based gaskets and you're good to go. Not to mention more miles in short time seems to avoid the headgasket issue somehow...

 

[JTK]

Ugh.. the rear wheel bearings are a PITA. There's a big, long bolt you have to extract to drop the rear knuckle to get the half-shaft out of the way. If you try to torch it, you ruin the rubber bushings nearby and wind-up having to dig those out and replace along with everything else. Most shops familiar with Subarus will cut the bolt and replace it with new. It's a ~$400+ shop job.