Older Impreza as a winter car?

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Jarlaxle

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My wife's friend has realized that she wants to stop driving her beloved Camaro (2001 Z28 SS) in the winter. One of her co-workers is selling his car, a Subaru Impreza. (A rabid Subaru fanatic, he took delivery of his new STi last week.) It's a 1999, 5-speed, AWD, fairly basic as far as options (steel wheels, no cruise, cloth seats, no foglights), and surprisingly, has no ABS. It was bought by him in 2001 with 10,000 miles, has service records dating to then, got a new clutch 2 years ago and a full brake job (master cylinder, pads & rotors all around, front calipers) a year ago. Only downside I can come up with is it having very high (190K) miles.

So...worth $1200?
 
Absolutely worth it. $1200 for something that runs well is a good deal. Throw 4 Blizzaks or Hakkapellittas on it and you're good to go...

I can't think of a worse snow car than a Camaro...
 
If it runs good and the body isn't dropping off then its worth that all day long.
If you need parts for that car i know a little known yard in MA that has plenty of these things and sells used parts old school.
You know "give me 10 for this and 5 for that, wheels 5 bucks each if you take em off". Not this 50% of retail like some of these crooks.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Thanks to cash for clunkers, any car that runs for that money is worth it.


The rants about cash for clunkers are getting a little tiring. What was it - three years ago??

I call nonsense. $1200 is a good price for a good running car with AWD.
 
Originally Posted By: Brons2
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Thanks to cash for clunkers, any car that runs for that money is worth it.


The rants about cash for clunkers are getting a little tiring. What was it - three years ago??

I call nonsense. $1200 is a good price for a good running car with AWD.

Up here in rust country its a big deal unfortunately.
 
$1200 sounds like a good deal, throw a set of winter tires on and you'll be able to stop better than if you had ABS. Any rust?
 
even if it is rusty, as long as it starts and goes, I'd be all over that for the winter.
my neighbor had a dusty rose kind of colored impreza for a few years, a dorky little pink auto trans toy car that his buddies made fun of.
but you can bet they were calling him in the winter when they couldn't get to work! that car was unstoppable in the snow, w/ just all seasons on it!
 
+4 on getting the thing. ABS might be helpful if half the street is ice but in snow I'd rather have non-ABS for the "plow effect" of locked tires. Not to mention on a well used car ABS is one more system that could have an expensive fault that could cause you to fail state inspection. I've been under an impreza of that vintage and they aren't as bad as the 80s ones for rust (Still Usable But All Rusty Underneath) but of course you should check your specific car. They do leak oil from the valve cover gaskets, a non critical problem if it's not critical.

Keep the "pizza cutter" rims, if they're 14 inchers get something like a 175/70/14 to cut through the snow.
 
Originally Posted By: Brons2
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Thanks to cash for clunkers, any car that runs for that money is worth it.


The rants about cash for clunkers are getting a little tiring. What was it - three years ago??

I call nonsense. $1200 is a good price for a good running car with AWD.


I dont think he is debating the price. $1200 is a steal in my opinion. it is true the cash for clunkers effect is still going very strong. i am seeing some prices falling on the true junkers but its still very hard to come by.
 
late 1990's Subarus with ~200K miles on them and not so pretty bodies routinely sell for $1500 in my area.

Engine wise, you'll have to worry about head gaskets if they haven't been touched. I'd be surprised if they hadn't at this point.

The 4EAT auto trans can go 300K miles. A maintained 5spd man even longer.

Joel
 
$1200 for a well-kept Impreza for winter use? Absolutely go for it. Put some cheap snows on it and drive circles around all the suckers in their SUVs. I wouldn't sweat the lack of ABS if it's a 5-speed, either.

My Impreza RS was unstoppable with mounted snows. ABS and a rear LSD certainly helped, but I was also worried about damaging it should something happen so I still took it easy. Having a similar car, no-frills and with very little money sunk into it would have been awesome.

She should buy it. Now.
 
Yes. I don't have ABS on my Civic and did fine in Upstate NY winters. Just remember you don't have it. I went from an Olds with ABS to this one without and learned quickly enough to change my reaction.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Absolutely worth it. $1200 for something that runs well is a good deal. Throw 4 Blizzaks or Hakkapellittas on it and you're good to go...

I can't think of a worse snow car than a Camaro...


If things get TRULY hairy, she can get to work in her husband's Jeep...but actually, with a set of Firestone Winterforces on base-model 16" steelies, the Z is pretty good. In fact, she had no trouble cruising past a doctor's stranded Audi A8 last winter.
laugh.gif
(The idiot had summer tires on the car.)

The Camaro is the first car she has owned with ABS.
 
Last edited:
It has 15" wheels, tires are 195/60R15. I'll check it on a rack before she buys it, but the body looks OK. There is a crease in the passenger door (not repaired fully, but sanded down & hit with paint so it won't rust), the paint (maroon) is faded, but it seems pretty solid. My only concerns are rust and the fact that 190K is a LOT of miles.
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
My only concerns are rust and the fact that 190K is a LOT of miles.

Since it's only a winter beater, why would either matter that much?
 
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