So, yeah. Hi there, I'm jlee's noob roommate. Whether I like it or not (I don't), I need a car. That being said, I'm always looking for second (or fifth, or tenth) opinions on what to do, so here I am.
Right now, my top candidates are:
'02 Impreza 2.5TS Wagon - 204K miles, seller claims 100% dealer maintained with clean CarFax (and possible maintenance records), no obvious exterior defects (several fairly high quality pics in the ad), no known mechanical issues. Plus, it's a bugeye. Seller is asking $3,650.
'04 Impreza 2.5TS Wagon - As of yet unknown mileage, no known mechanical issues. Seller claims clean title, but body damage is evident in pictures. (links to pics in question below) Seller is asking somewhere between $4,900-3,900 depending on which ad you read and where you look. More than $3,900 is possibly more than I can spend, so the decision does partly depend on price.
I haven't personally seen either of them yet, I'm going to try to see if I can check out both of them this weekend before work and get some more info.
So... Get the super-high-miles '02 because it's inherently more awesome (bugeye) and has zero body damage (and is slightly cheaper), or the newer, potentially much-lower-miles with body damage and possible mechanical damage (which will be determined with an inspection before purchase)?
Personally, I'm leaning towards the '02, and not just because it's a bugeye (though, I will admit that's a good reason). jlee's vote goes to the '04 regardless of mileage, but I don't recall if the body damage was a factor in that (I didn't even notice it the first couple times I looked at the pics).
Available pics of body damage (passenger front quarter):
http://images.craigslist.org/3m43F43H25Ie5W05Hed127518a5650cae106c.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/3Kf3La3J95N65E65F7d1290496141d9801853.jpg
So... What do the experts (or at least, more knowledgeable than I) say?
Right now, my top candidates are:
'02 Impreza 2.5TS Wagon - 204K miles, seller claims 100% dealer maintained with clean CarFax (and possible maintenance records), no obvious exterior defects (several fairly high quality pics in the ad), no known mechanical issues. Plus, it's a bugeye. Seller is asking $3,650.
'04 Impreza 2.5TS Wagon - As of yet unknown mileage, no known mechanical issues. Seller claims clean title, but body damage is evident in pictures. (links to pics in question below) Seller is asking somewhere between $4,900-3,900 depending on which ad you read and where you look. More than $3,900 is possibly more than I can spend, so the decision does partly depend on price.
I haven't personally seen either of them yet, I'm going to try to see if I can check out both of them this weekend before work and get some more info.
So... Get the super-high-miles '02 because it's inherently more awesome (bugeye) and has zero body damage (and is slightly cheaper), or the newer, potentially much-lower-miles with body damage and possible mechanical damage (which will be determined with an inspection before purchase)?
Personally, I'm leaning towards the '02, and not just because it's a bugeye (though, I will admit that's a good reason). jlee's vote goes to the '04 regardless of mileage, but I don't recall if the body damage was a factor in that (I didn't even notice it the first couple times I looked at the pics).
Available pics of body damage (passenger front quarter):
http://images.craigslist.org/3m43F43H25Ie5W05Hed127518a5650cae106c.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/3Kf3La3J95N65E65F7d1290496141d9801853.jpg
So... What do the experts (or at least, more knowledgeable than I) say?
Facebook
Twitter