Buying Used 2002 Impreza OBS

[a monad of salt]

Hi all,

I'm considering buying an '02 Impreza OBS, used from a dealership in
Idaho. It's got 86k miles, and the dealership is asking 9,995 for
it. Also, it has a 5-speed transmission. Done a test drive, and
everything seems okay, except there's a bit of engine noise.
Additionally, when you rev the engine in neutral, there is additional
noise--it's not a clunking, it's more of a scraping, and i'm wondering
whether or not i should worry about this. Carfax tells me that
there's been two owners, and the first seemed to take good care of the
car; maintainance every 3,750 miles or so and the such. The car did
not receive the 60k dealer-recommended maintainance, and it was sold
off at 61k miles. A "fleet" company in the "eastern region" bought
the car at auction and put about 20k more miles on it, and there are
no maintainance records for this period on carfax. I was just
wondering:

1) Any thoughts about the engine noise? In gear, the thing is simply
a bit loud, but rev'ving in neutral produces that scraping/grinding
noise mentioned above (rev to about 3500-4000, lower rpm's don't make
the noise). There's some other noise as well, but it seems to be from
the nearly-new tires with rather deep tread that are currently on the
vehicle.

2) Has anyone here owned the model for long periods of time? How has
it held up? JD Power does not give the vehicle many bubbles in terms
of long-term reliability or mechanical reliability from the get-go...
How much does it cost to maintain? I intend to keep this car for a
long time, so i intend to give it the best care possible...

3) It's a bit rusty--the car is originally from MA and VT (no idea
how, specifically, it ended up here in ID), so that may explain the
rust. No rust on the outside, but the tailpipe and other metals
underneath the car are a bit rusty. Also, there is some rust on the
metal parts underneath all of the seats inside...

4) I haven't taken it into an independent inspector yet. I intend to
test drive it one more time--is there anything i should look out for
that will indicate some sort of major problem with the vehicle?

5) The only other competing vehicle right now is a 1998 Volvo 70V XC.
I've read that these cars come with their own set of problems--it has
about 95k miles and the dealer is asking 8,900. Any thoughts on how
these two vehicles compare?

Thanks for everything!

Happy Driving,

izak dunn
(e-mail address removed)

 

[a monad of salt]

*bump*

Did i not provide enough information? Really, i am most concerned
about the reliability of this particular make/model, so if anyone has
had experience with owning one, i'd like to know how they've fared.

thanks again
izak

 

[Mk IV]

a monad of salt scribbled:

Hi all,

I'm considering buying an '02 Impreza OBS, used from a dealership in
Idaho. It's got 86k miles, and the dealership is asking 9,995 for
it. Also, it has a 5-speed transmission. Done a test drive, and
everything seems okay, except there's a bit of engine noise.
Additionally, when you rev the engine in neutral, there is additional
noise--it's not a clunking, it's more of a scraping, and i'm wondering
whether or not i should worry about this.

Scraping sound?

Anyway, what you have to watch for is head gasket weeping, very common
on these cars. Common noises are: belt tensioner when cold, makes it
sound like a valve is clicking, and loose exhaust heat shield under the
car. Common complaints are: head gaskets (see above) and clutch shudder.

I drove a 2002 Impreza until this spring and loved the car. No problem
with it at all other than the occasional clutch shudder. I suspect that
it would've needed a head gasket job soon (under warranty) but I traded
it in for a 2004 WRX.

 

[isquat]

2) Has anyone here owned the model for long periods of time? How has
it held up? JD Power does not give the vehicle many bubbles in terms
of long-term reliability or mechanical reliability from the get-go...
How much does it cost to maintain? I intend to keep this car for a
long time, so i intend to give it the best care possible...

i have 05 OBS but i only have under 24k. Zero problems so
far but that's what's to be expected from a car bought
as new. with a very used car,
even the one that was built in japan all bets are off though.

5) The only other competing vehicle right now is a 1998 Volvo 70V XC.
I've read that these cars come with their own set of problems--it has
about 95k miles and the dealer is asking 8,900. Any thoughts on how
these two vehicles compare?

yes, OBS has an awd that works (50/50 split under normal conditions)
and vulva has the one that does not.

vulva might be cheaper to own since it's essentially an fwd
car that pretends to have awd and fewer things might have
gone wrong in those 100k. in my (limited experience) when
subaru starts to fall apart it's like a snowball rolling
off the mountain: the owner gets submerged in huge repair bills.
no experience with the xc.

used subaru: i just won't recommend it.
you have to ask yourself why two people walked away from that
car.

if you must buy used get as simple car as possible.
a one wheel driver like a taurus and a proper set of shoes
will be much lighter on your pocket.