Keeping/Repairing/Modding older Cars

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Al

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So many people on the Forester board are driving cars say older than 2008. Many have problems keeping them on the road. And yet there are many that are modding their ride. Usually they are people who are hard put to even pay for their car, gas, let alone other of life's expenses.

I often look at individual situations and "think" dude..do you have a clu? Foresters are great vehicles, but they are very complicated and repairs are expensive. Added to that they require a TB changeout at 107K miles. And really what needs changed is also 3 /4 idlers tensioner, and a water pump. Older subarus are 50% likely to need a 2,000 head gasket.

For many that choose to mod instead of doing needed repairs are many times dealt a harsh life lesson.
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It could be these are a certain subset of society where the parents buy the subaru (because it's "4wd and safe") but the kid has money for mods.

I have seen two distinct personalities drawn to subies... enthusiasts who take them to the limit and idiots who feel all the extra traction makes a good crutch for their bad driving or bad tires.

The idiots want to emulate the enthusiasts.

Subaru themselves aren't any dummy... they know the WRX is a "halo car" and people want their N/A subarus to bask in that same halo.
 
The reason is that Subaru drivers are nuts. They always have been. They're like Saab and Volvo drivers, they just love their vehicles almost to a fault.

I've seen more than my share of rusted out Subaru's come through my shop that the owners throw THOUSANDS at. New brake lines, new struts, new head gaskets, etc etc. It's almost comical, but hey it pays my bills.
 
Reminds me of when I needed rear shocks, now it's +7" and long arms. Too tall, crack open the TC to throw in a new output slip yoke delete, custom shaft, and on and on and on. Needed a $0.93 Dturdy5 seal, a Ford 8.8 and D30 re-gear later...
Some people just like their beaters, and will do things to them so they beat on them even harder
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Wish I had the time to
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Originally Posted by 14Accent
The reason is that Subaru drivers are nuts. They always have been. They're like Saab and Volvo drivers, they just love their vehicles almost to a fault.

I've seen more than my share of rusted out Subaru's come through my shop that the owners throw THOUSANDS at. New brake lines, new struts, new head gaskets, etc etc. It's almost comical, but hey it pays my bills.


You are describing my 16 yr old son perfectly, he really is nuts!!
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Before he even got his licence he started saving for a Subaru WRX, and when he finally found one, and bought it as is, it turned out to need an entire new frame due to bad rust. It cost him $4300 to get the car road worthy, but he's wanted this car for a long time so he'll probably keep putting money into it as long as it needs it. On the plus side, he's in grade 12 now and doing his co-op at a local auto repair shop. So if anything else goes wrong with the car from this point on, he can probably fix it himself (with their guidance) and only have to pay for the parts. It could be a great learning experience for him, and maybe he'll become a car mechanic (and they make a pretty good living in Canada if they work at the right shop)
 
Just bring back the Beetle, yes the old aircooled ones.....PS, we once owned a new 85 GLC Subaru, drove it til 2000, then it died...lol
 
Originally Posted by 14Accent
The reason is that Subaru drivers are nuts. They always have been. ... they just love their vehicles almost to a fault.
..... the owners throw THOUSANDS at them.


So, so, so, so, so true!
 
I can understand keeping/modding older cars. I do it as a hobby. Both of the vehicles in my sig I got for pretty cheap and have enjoyed owning/maintaining them and fixing the little things they have needed.

With that said spending thousands on a piece of junk just to keep it on the road doesn't make sense. Subarus are everywhere here, and I never understood why. My friend's sister spent close to $40k on a loaded WRX. It is a quick car and fun to drive with the stick, but the ride is garbage, the gas mileage isn't great, the interior build quality is lacking, and it already has some rust forming underneath (It's a 2015). It needs snow tires even with the AWD to go through more than 4" of snow. Thankfully hers doesn't have any engine issues, but her mom's Forester has consumed quarts upon quarts of oil since day one.
 
Always loved old cars and the love just gets stronger. Some people enthusiatically no-brain it at the "car store" and happily throw thousands away to depreciation and interest just because a tire on their old car was low on air. It easily defo both ways
 
I'm at the point now with my Honda that some people might just give up on it. The clearcoat is peeling badly on the roof so it looks awful. The AC no longer works, there is a water leak somewhere so the floor gets soaked when it rains. One of the headlights is burned out, and it's LED so it won't be cheap to fix (especially since the bumper needs to come off to change the bulb) So a lot of people would have given up on it and bought something newer. But despite the flaws that it does have, the car is still very reliable and I could probably drive it 3-4 more years easily and only spend a small amount of money in repairs. I certainly would spend way more money buying a different car (even if I bought a 5-6 year old used one)
 
Originally Posted by Patman
I'm at the point now with my Honda that some people might just give up on it. The clearcoat is peeling badly on the roof so it looks awful. The AC no longer works, there is a water leak somewhere so the floor gets soaked when it rains. One of the headlights is burned out, and it's LED so it won't be cheap to fix (especially since the bumper needs to come off to change the bulb) So a lot of people would have given up on it and bought something newer. But despite the flaws that it does have, the car is still very reliable and I could probably drive it 3-4 more years easily and only spend a small amount of money in repairs. I certainly would spend way more money buying a different car (even if I bought a 5-6 year old used one)


How many miles on it and what color? I kind of feel the same way about the 05 Matrix at times with its issues. But still runs and looks fine. Broken fog lamps, clock is out, airbag light comes on occasionally, intake manifold gasket needs replaced, missing wheel cover, etc...has 145k miles.
 
It's got 147k on it now and it's light blue. I have a real love/hate relationship with it. I forgot to mention the super squeaky shocks on it, that was my fault for buying super cheap shocks from E Bay, and then pairing them up with lowering springs, stressing them beyond their intended use. But it's actually fun to drive, with the lowering springs it handles pretty well and even with only 140hp it feels peppy since it's pretty light (2700-2800 lbs) Gas mileage is amazing! (45 MPG highway) And I can leave it parked anywhere and not worry about it.
 
Yep, nutty Subaru owner here!
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Just guesstimating at the mileage, but this is what my money has been on.

62k -Turbo replaced under goodwill from SoA due to oil getting past the seals, No charge
80-85k - Turbo replaced out of warranty due to sludging of banjo bolt filters and exceeding SoA's OCI, Around $2k.
104k - Replaced burnt exhaust valve. Also replaced timing belt, but did not do the idlers, tensioner and water pump. Head tech said that he doesn't see them go bad at less than 200k, Total cost was $4k after some haggling on parts costs. That was about $2k cheaper than a stock-ish rebuild from an aftermarket tuner..
110k - Did a Cobb Stage I reflash, paid for with Subaru credit card rewards and an additional $100.

At 177k, my engine is probably stronger now than it was at 100k. Every year that the Forester has gotten bigger, I started loosing interest in the newer ones. And when I decided that I may just go for a ginormous Forester (compared to my car) they drop the turbo. If you try to get a manual 04/05 Forester today, you'll pay $8-$9k for it. STI block, WRX turbo, and short gearing make for a very entertaining car!

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Originally Posted by Patman
I'm at the point now with my Honda that some people might just give up on it. The clearcoat is peeling badly on the roof so it looks awful. The AC no longer works, there is a water leak somewhere so the floor gets soaked when it rains. One of the headlights is burned out, and it's LED so it won't be cheap to fix (especially since the bumper needs to come off to change the bulb) So a lot of people would have given up on it and bought something newer. But despite the flaws that it does have, the car is still very reliable and I could probably drive it 3-4 more years easily and only spend a small amount of money in repairs. I certainly would spend way more money buying a different car (even if I bought a 5-6 year old used one)


I don't think your Civic has LEDs for headlights, normal halogen bulbs, unless someone retrofitted LEDs in it. I helped a friend of mine change the low beam bulb in her 06 Civic and I was able to pry the plastic wheel liner just enough to stick my hand in there and change the bulb. I did it in the parking lot no problem.
 
I put an LED kit in the Civic about 4-5 years ago when one of the HID bulbs burned out (the previous owner converted it to HIDs) The shop talked me into doing LEDs as they said they would last 10-15 years. So much for that idea. I don't want to pry out the plastic liner because if the clips break and that thing is loose, it will rub on the tires since the car is lowered. So the only way to get to the bulb is removing the bumper
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I would imagine most Subarus are driven in the North where it snows a lot and rust is an issue. I like fixing up cars as a hobby, so I can understand not wanting to part with an "old friend' like an old car. You can also save a lot of money if repairs aren't too costly over getting a new one.
 
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I think that generally speaking it's always cheaper to fix an old car than to buy a new one. But it's just a matter of whether or not you want to drive it forever or not.
 
Originally Posted by Patman
I think that generally speaking it's always cheaper to fix an old car than to buy a new one. But it's just a matter of whether or not you want to drive it forever or not.



It really depends if you can DIY, or have a good shop. Even my sister's 2005 Civic started getting expensive for her to keep alive, because the shops where she lives (Cape Cod) were pricey. Things like brakes were worth it for her to drive the 3 hours home so I could work on it because the shops would want $1000+.
 
True, that's a good point. I'm lucky because I have a friend who is a licenced mechanic and he comes right to my house to work on my cars. I just had him put all new rotors and pads on my Civic and it was only $460 CDN (about $350 US) total including labor, and that was for premium rotors and pads (it would've been $100 less for the economy stuff)
 
Originally Posted by Patman
I think that generally speaking it's always cheaper to fix an old car than to buy a new one. But it's just a matter of whether or not you want to drive it forever or not.


Exactly. I plan to keep my Club Sport forever; I'm the original owner, it's one of @200 built, and I love it.
 
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