| > The Legacy Turbo didn't used to attract the racer types (they went for | > the Impreza) but a lot of cars have fallen into the hands of fourth or | > fifth owners who have "uprated them to 280bhp because I know that's | > what they do". | | And that kinda puts me off a bit, TBH. I *may* try to get a later twin | turbo instead, preferably straight off the boat from Japan via a | reputable importer[1]. |
I know what you mean. With these cars I think it's important to go for one that's not been fiddled with too much.
With the GTB I bought a few weeks ago, I went for one that had been imported new, so that I could see (and understand) a service history. Since the twin-turbos have never been an officially imported car, the only people who buy them are those who know what they're after, and I think they tend to attract a few more of the nutters. Certainly, I came across a lot of cars that were on a second engine after only 60k miles or so. Not a good sign.
At the top end of the market, David Hendry
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some good cars, but you pay for it (
*very* nearly bought a newone from them back in April, and then sanity returned). A lot of the"specialists" seem to speak a load of flannel, which didn't give me agreat deal of confidence, so I ended up buying privately, a 97000miler which I'm hoping gets through its first service without too muchwailing and gnashing of teeth. I wasn't intending to buy a GTB withthat many miles on, but it had done most of them as a companydirector's car in the first two years of its life, so must have been amotorway car, and the price was right. I can see pros and cons for the early single turbo against the later cars. The later ones are quite a bit quicker, but are more highly stressed and less relaxed on the motorway due to the lower gearing. They handle better, but have a harder ride. They've got more toys but are harder to get serviced and much more expensive to insure (more than twice the cost for me) and less economical (but we don't buy these cars for their fuel economy, do we?).
If I thought I could get away with it, I'd keep both my Subarus, but my wife has pointed out that since we already have a Jensen, a Mini and a Renault, two Subarus is more than we really need. Ho hum.
| > I'm going to be putting my own car up for sale in a couple of weeks, | > but I promise not to put the hard sell on :-) | | Come on, gissa some clue! | It's a saloon, Red Mica, registered May '92 and of course a UK car. I bought it in February 2000 from a retired engineer who had owned it from new and driven all over Europe, racking up the 128,000 miles it had reached when I got it.
It's experienced each of the niggling things that the single turbo Legacy always seems to get - leaky sunroof (sometimes get a wet seatbelt), juddery brakes (solved this by replacing front calipers, discs and pads), and noisy tappets (never solved it entirely).
Since I've had it, I've replaced oil and water pumps and cambelt as precautionary items; the steering rack, back exhaust section and a shock absorber were replaced last year. The rest of the exhaust is original (they seem to last forever) and the new section is genuine Subaru.
The car has done quite a few miles with me, and so far this year has done trips to the Orkneys, North Yorkshire and numerous trips to Wales (we're relocating to South Wales from Petersfield in Hampshire later this month). It's never missed a beat, and spends most of its time on the motorway.
It went through its MOT in July needing only a replacement tyre, and since all four had over 45000 miles on them, I got a full set of Goodyear Eagle F1s. Since then, I've only done about 200 miles in it, as the newer car is taking the load.
There's no rust that I can see. The paintwork is fine for a 1992 car, with a couple of tiny car park dings. The paint has faded and flaked a little on the plastic rear spoiler and the bonnet scoop. Other faults
- the bootlid seal could probably do with replacing, and the previous owner fitted a circulation fan on the passenger side of the fascia, which has left a couple of screw holes. There is a mark above the sun visor on the driver's side. The electric aerial was snapped by a kind student at the school where I work.
It's a non-aircon car.
The previous owner fitted a couple of Recaros (nothing fancy, out of a Manta GTE, I think) which I replaced with some nearly new Recaro Comforts that I'd inherited. Since these are probably worth as much as the car, I will be putting the previous Recaros back in. They were fine, perfectly okay for the job, with no rips or tears, and much much better than the original Subaru seats (which are in my loft).
Work it will need in future -
- The clutch was replaced at around 108,000 miles, if I recall correctly. Although most of my miles have been on the motorway, I can't imagine it's got that long to go before it needs doing again.
- The rear brake discs have not ever been replaced, so I would imagine that they will need doing sometime soon.
I intend to put the car through a service at my local Subaru dealer before putting it up for sale, so that I know it's okay. I'm going to see how the new GTB fares in its service first (if it looks like I've bought a wrong 'un, i might keep the older car).
Phew, that's the most I've written in a long time!
David Hills '92 Legacy Turbo '99 GTB