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jlee's new daily driver thread - looking at a Forester XT. Update - now buying FXT!

jlee

jlee

Lifer
She is in my driveway! 😀
scoobiex.jpg


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Signed the loan today - 48 months at 3.69%, monthly payment of $167. Per the credit union, NADA book value is over $11,000 and I paid $7390 with documentation fee. Can't complain! 🙂 It'll be paid off when the truck sells anyway, but for now it's easy to swallow.

http://picasaweb.google.com/NHTacoma/2004ForesterXT#
We settled on $7355. I am in love..hoping to pick her up tomorrow or Wednesday. 🙂
Those pics were taken to illustrate the flaws I found - definitely not taken with the intent to make the car look as good as possible. 😛 She's a little rough around the edges, but for a daily driver that I won't be paranoid about scratching? Perfect!

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I found a 2004 Forester XT 5sp with 103k on it for $7999. I'm going to look at it tomorrow. 18 city, 23 highway, 210hp/235tq (underrated, people are saying 240ish flywheel), quarter mile in 13.8 (.3 slower than a Cayenne Turbo). Skidpad is horrible, but it's a non-Porsche/BMW SUV/wagon/whatever so that's to be expected. Same motor as the STi, but detuned / less aggressive cams / smaller turbo, built for low-end torque. 2400lb towing capacity - enough for a couple snowmobiles and a trailer. 🙂


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I used to have a Tacoma and I absolutely loved it...Toyota bought it back when the frame rusted out and I bought an '05 Tundra. It books (private party) for $340 less than what I paid for it over two years ago and only has 50k on it.

I've been thinking lately - do I use the truck? Sure...tow cars, move crap around, etc...but I realized that, the vast majority of the time, I'm moving crap for other people. WTF. It's not unpleasant to drive, but it's not fun either - so I'm thinking about selling it and buying a Subaru.

I've always liked the WRX wagons - lots of space, no boy-racer looks, plenty of grunt, but I'm not overly familiar with them and I'm not sure on their reliability either. I know a friend of mine has had really bad luck with his Legacy GT (blown turbo just under 60k, then a cracked oil feed which, I think, nuked the engine).

They're great in snow and look like a blast to drive, and also I imagine they're much more comfortable for four people than my truck with the rear half doors. TONS more interior cargo space, but obviously no bed space (which would suck to lose, but really I don't use it too often anyway).

I can't have a fixer-upper, though - I need something 100% reliable, so I'd keep it stock (or very close to it) with maybe a decent stereo. I've put about 13,000 miles on my truck in the last 25 months, and I would expect this to get about the same amount of use.

http://burlington.craigslist.org/cto/1795037044.html
http://burlington.craigslist.org/cto/1768659627.html
http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/1810223836.html

Any thoughts on the car or the idea in general?
 
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I'm hoping it's easier to find an adult-owned wagon than a sedan, but I don't know..just started looking around.
 
People are such wimps in here. Every time anybody wants anything the least bit sporty its "oh don't buy that its been beat on" bah. Cars are tougher than you people think. People beat the snot out of regular boring cars too and those are more likely to be driven by non-car people that don't give a crap about maintenance.

Anyway the thing to worry about on WRX is the glass jaw transmission. I think they beefed them up at some point but not being a subaru guy I don't know when that was.
 
Mine has been very reliable at 20,000+ miles a year.

My BCS died because of my mods and the secondary air pump system got fouled. Maintenance is expensive unless you do everything yourself and the oil change intervals are only 3200 miles or so as recommended from the factory.

I know you want a wagon and hawkeye wagons are extremely hard to find, but I would really look for a 2006 if I was in the market, the EJ25 has a much better torque curve and comes close to matching the EJ20 Stage 2 output right from the factory.
 
I have a buddy selling his silver wagon, He's just finishing replacing all the motor / tranny mounts. New clutch and a few other goodies. He's in MI though.
 
ayabe said:
Mine has been very reliable at 20,000+ miles a year.

My BCS died because of my mods and the secondary air pump system got fouled. Maintenance is expensive unless you do everything yourself and the oil change intervals are only 3200 miles or so as recommended from the factory.

I know you want a wagon and hawkeye wagons are extremely hard to find, but I would really look for a 2006 if I was in the market, the EJ25 has a much better torque curve and comes close to matching the EJ20 Stage 2 output right from the factory.
Click to expand...

I'd love a newer one, but part of my goal here is to put some more safety cushion in the bank. If I buy a car that costs what my truck is worth, that won't help much. 😛

http://burlington.craigslist.org/cto/1788875705.html - $14k 🙁
http://providence.craigslist.org/cto/1803866270.html - $14.5k will trade for truck, but Tacoma/Frontier 🙁
- $15.5k..love the color, but too much $$ for me.

Plugers said:
I have a buddy selling his silver wagon, He's just finishing replacing all the motor / tranny mounts. New clutch and a few other goodies. He's in MI though.
Click to expand...

I don't mind driving, if it's well worth the trip.
 
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I've got an 05 with nearly 60k miles on it. Apart from some early teething problems it's been damn reliable. And the problems it did have (had to have a rear diff replaced, semi common issue on early 05's but warrentied) were not bad enough to make it undriveable.


However there are somethings to look out for. First of all, just stay away from the 02's. In fact I would recommend not going lower than an 04, unless you like the 'bugeye' look of 02-03. The reasons for this being the transmissions were much weaker in these years. However, nearly every year a tweak here and there was done to the transmissions. Basically, as long as you don't clutch dump it from 5k every day it'll probably be fine. Just know it is a knotchy gear box, it doesn't help that 1st gear only has one synchro so difficult to get in at low speeds(doesn't indicate a problem unless it grinds badly). Reverse has no synchro, so if you can't get it in the first time pop the clutch real quick to spin the shafts a touch.


Now, 02-03's also used slightly different spring mounting caps in the wagons, and also used different sized rear brake pads. Since 04-07 used the same size on all these points, I'd recommend going that way.

04 apart from the exterior redo also saw some interior changes. Some new seats were added, and probably a few other items that i can't remember right now.

05 saw the biggest change. The 2 piece seats carried over (not considered to be as comfy for long distance as the 02-03 ones, but still fine for me at least), but the dashboard and steering wheel got completely redesigned. This carried over until the last model year of 07. Also in 05, different rims, headlights got a smoky look, and the side trim was painted(an option on previous years).

---

If you can find an 06 that would be ideal. The 2,5l engine is a bit nicer to drive due to added torque and it accepts mods a bit nicer.


However, I love my car. Platform is very capable, it's not 'too' hard to work on (spark plugs kind of sucks), and parts are reasonably affordable. In fact if you wanted you could probably change every single component in the car with an aftermarket one, just how big it is for these cars.

If you do get one though, I highly recommend getting a cobb accessport and tuning it pretty soon after you get it. Just stage one is a nice improvement over stock and really helps smooth it out. The stock tune tends to be rather 'unlinear' in its power delivery.
 
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Hmm. I really didn't want to end up breaking even, but if I did, I would have a lot more fun driving during the winter...and I should be able to make an even swap with my truck (lining up the KBB's, ~50k is $17,735, 85k is in the 14's, and my truck is mid-15's).

An 06 would be almost as fast as my MR2...that's almost taking the fun out of having a toy car! 😛
 
14k...

for a DD you might want to consider the Legacy GT 05-06 wagons. I know you said you had a friend with bad luck but the 05-06 offers more comfort then the WRX and the same 2.5L engine. i think this is more closer to the NEWER 09+ 2.5L WRX so there are a LOT of mods out there or just for simple repairs. A LGT will obviously be a LOT more cheaper to insure and have higher chances of being adult driven.

I've seen a lot of 10-13k LGT wagons but most are nearing 100-150k. I've been tempted to buy a 5-7k blown motor one and swap in a nice rebuilt/newer motor in it and still come up on top.

But my G35 is a solid car right now but i realize i will have a lot more fun and mod potiental in the LGT/WRX wagons and more space. I love wagons, my friends and GF tell me its an old man car but i love them and the panoramic roof.

Also are you just stuck on the WRX? opted to look at forester XT option? The weird BAJA that is a like a el camino type car/pickup bed.
 
thedarkwolf said:
People are such wimps in here. Every time anybody wants anything the least bit sporty its "oh don't buy that its been beat on" bah. Cars are tougher than you people think. People beat the snot out of regular boring cars too and those are more likely to be driven by non-car people that don't give a crap about maintenance.

Anyway the thing to worry about on WRX is the glass jaw transmission. I think they beefed them up at some point but not being a subaru guy I don't know when that was.
Click to expand...

Performance cars are MORE likely to get beat up on than non-performance cars. That's just the way it is.
 
jlee said:
I'd love a newer one, but part of my goal here is to put some more safety cushion in the bank. If I buy a car that costs what my truck is worth, that won't help much. 😛

http://burlington.craigslist.org/cto/1788875705.html - $14k 🙁
http://providence.craigslist.org/cto/1803866270.html - $14.5k will trade for truck, but Tacoma/Frontier 🙁
- $15.5k..love the color, but too much $$ for me.



I don't mind driving, if it's well worth the trip.
Click to expand...


I'll send ya a PM with his info.
 
why not just use the MR2 more often, that way people can't make you help move stuff? 😛

cars are too much f'in money IMO. motorcycles FTW 😉
 
Fenixgoon said:
why not just use the MR2 more often, that way people can't make you help move stuff? 😛

cars are too much f'in money IMO. motorcycles FTW 😉
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Winter. It sucks. 🙁

snow3xg0.jpg


Already have a motorcycle, but it doesn't like snow. 😛

T2urtle said:
14k...

for a DD you might want to consider the Legacy GT 05-06 wagons. I know you said you had a friend with bad luck but the 05-06 offers more comfort then the WRX and the same 2.5L engine. i think this is more closer to the NEWER 09+ 2.5L WRX so there are a LOT of mods out there or just for simple repairs. A LGT will obviously be a LOT more cheaper to insure and have higher chances of being adult driven.

I've seen a lot of 10-13k LGT wagons but most are nearing 100-150k. I've been tempted to buy a 5-7k blown motor one and swap in a nice rebuilt/newer motor in it and still come up on top.

But my G35 is a solid car right now but i realize i will have a lot more fun and mod potiental in the LGT/WRX wagons and more space. I love wagons, my friends and GF tell me its an old man car but i love them and the panoramic roof.

Also are you just stuck on the WRX? opted to look at forester XT option? The weird BAJA that is a like a el camino type car/pickup bed.
Click to expand...

Aesthetically, I don't like the LGT wagon. :/ My friend is selling his 05 sedan and I could probably get a decent deal on it, but his motor scares me.
 
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If the engine was rebuilt on the legacy then probably be just fine now. As mentioned, look into a Forrester xt. The ground clearance might help with all that snow up there. Also they are less likely to be beat on.
 
Don't forget about the Saab 9-2X aero.

They only came in wagon form and it would appease the other members here since it probably hasn't been beat on by a boyracer 🙂

I also think they're selling way cheaper than their WRX counterparts just due to the name badge.
 
Another turbo car is just going to siphon money away from your MR2, you know this right? It always starts with oh "just" a boost controller and wastegate spring...
 
jlee said:
I've never liked Saabs, but that is basically a WRX, right? Is it like Geo Prism / Toyota Corolla, or do you pay a Saab premium for stuff?

Edit: http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/1801026233.html - whoa, you're not kidding...way cheaper.
Edit2: That's a non-Aero..disregard. :/
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The only thing not Subaru on that car is the slightly revised front end. All the other parts are from the Subaru parts pin. However with some improvements, like the steering rack was from an STI(thus quicker), and springs were slightly different.

Probably cheaper to insure as well.
 
Demo24 said:
The only thing not Subaru on that car is the slightly revised front end. All the other parts are from the Subaru parts pin. However with some improvements, like the steering rack was from an STI(thus quicker), and springs were slightly different.

Probably cheaper to insure as well.
Click to expand...

Yeah, unfortunately it looks like they're getting hard to come by.

The Wikipedia article on it has good info on the differences between the WRX and 9-2X Aero.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_9-2X
 
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