My wife and I drive a 2005 Impreza wagon. Recently I bought a 5-speed '98 Forester S with alloy wheels and 280,000 km for $1000, for my son, 19. The main problem was that a previous owner had treated it an off-road vehicle, not an all-road vehicle, and some of the 'maintenance' had been problematic.
- all four caliper slides were rusted solid.
- a rear brake caliper bracket bolt was snapped off with only 2mm of the broken stub holding the caliper bracket in place.
- rear lower control arms bent from someone jacking the car.
- first exhaust flange welded (because the gasket was leaking...). why not replace the gasket?
- gearbox exhaust support cracked, tack-welded and broken again. Taking the support off and fixing it properly must have been too difficult.
- rusted under-floor box sections in the front wheel well and rear end of the sill rails had been filled with expanding construction foam and covered with fiberglass. The sill jack points were unusable because of this.
- inner rear shock towers and fuel filler cavity and filler neck rusted because dirt not cleaned out after 'off road' trips.
On the plus side,
- the engine had been serviced with new head gaskets, and it ran perfectly.
- good paint and good interior despite the high mileage
- no wheel bearing issues
- good tires, clutch and no transmission problems
Now, most people would have scrapped this car because of the rust. Fortunately, the rust was pretty localized (good Subaru rust proofing), and while it took me three weekends to cut it out, fabricate some new box sections, partial wheel well panels and rebuild it, the car is now solid, and I can actually use the jack points on the sills. Thank goodness for angle grinders and MIG welders.
- replaced the two rusted power steering tubes on the rack (a common problem apparently)
- repaired the rusted fuel filler neck and filler cavity
- freed the tie rod lock nuts so the alignment can be done.
- replaced all rotors, calipers and pads.
- replaced the worn out and soggy (first replacement) KYB GR2's with new GR2's and new strut insulators. The rear insulators were rusted out, and the lower M14 mounting bolts needed a 4 foot lever to loosen them. They must have been done up to over 200 ft-lbs instead of the needed 50-60. Both rear bump rubbers (on the strut shaft) were broken.
- replaced a broken front spring. One had already been replaced, a likely legacy of the 'off-roading'.
- replaced a stone-holed headlight with one from a wrecker.
The only remaining problem was a somewhat rough idle and an intermittent misfire error on cylinder #3, which seems now to be solved by replacing the ignition coil assembly with one from a wrecker. The engine now idles noticeably smoother and the misfire has not returned.
My son now has a very solid and safe vehicle for about $2600. I have impressed on him that he got all my labour free, and this would have doubled price if he had to pay for it.
SD