Anyone have any experience with the WRX, especially as a high mileage, durable car?
Does it require a lot of expensive maintenance or does it fall into the category of bullet-proof Japanese autos -- assuming reasonable driving habits?
Thanks for any info you might have about this.
Neil
Heaps of old Subaru WRX's floating around here in Sydney. Think Subie's generally are well built. My mates WRX has 200k and it's 4 years old - still travelling great. No major repairs either - though he does take good care of it - but he does give a thrashing time to time
If you look at online auto papers in Australia you'll find heaps of 97 onwards - they liberty turbo from the early 90's are still floating about heaps too. Just to give you an idea.
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2003 22:44:18 EST)(news04.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com)
Thanks for the info. Actually, I am looking to sell my 1998 Volvo S70 T5. It's a great car, comfortable and very powerful, but with 209,000 kms on the odometer, it is now costing me a fortune to keep it on the road. I reckon the last year has cost me about $5,000 (Canadian) in repairs.
That is why I asked whether the WRX (or STi, for that matter) are durable, low upkeep cars. I hope I never have another experience like the Volvo again.
I think you'll find that an unmodified WRX will cost much less to maintain over 120k miles than your Volvo. The WRX is very easy to work on, which helps keep labor costs down, and is rated just short of Toyota and Honda in most objective measures of reliability.
And with any Japanese make, there's the advantage of being able to buy low priced, low milage, used engines and transmissions from Japan. In effect, it means that catastrophic engine failure can be corrected for a couple thousand dollars if necessary. Engine replacement for a car built in the US or Europe is going to cost much more.
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2003 22:44:18 EST)(news04.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com)
this is true.
you can get a 2.0 liter wrx shortblock for 1500 from a subaru dealer, which includes a full gasket set. the 2.5l sti shortblock is surprisingly priced the same. that's nice!
heads for either are another story, at least from a dealer.
either way, the fact that enthusiasts out there are getting almost twice the power output, and racking up the miles every day, should indicate what kind of margins you have.
jm2c ken
ken
I have almost 44k on my '02, and I purchased it in January '02. I replaced tires and front brakes at 35k, and the only service i've paid others to do is a 30k service that ran about $300 at an independent Subie shop. I change the oil every 3k myself with OE filters at $5 a pop. It seems durable and well put together, and considering the fun to drive quotient, it's a steal. I look to get 100k out of any vehicle and any more than that is gravy. I can't afford to drive 24k miles a year and have repair issues and not be able to trust that it won't leave me stranded.
If you want some cheaper maintenance, buy a Civic and you'll get 150k out of it with occasional oil changes.
hey vic,
USD... get it here:
hth ken
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