Im looking for a winter car and just seem to be drawn to a 2002 and up Wrx. Anyone have any experience with older ones with miles, any common issues to look for?
head gaskets, and valve cover seals are all I can really think of.
Don’t these spin rod bearings often? Or is that another Subaru engine
The 5 Speed transmissions are pretty weak as well.
Maintenance is huge. The timing belt service interval is 105k miles, and a lot of people don’t do it correctly. Its common for the cam seals to leak on high mileage cars. Head gaskets aren’t nearly as common on these as they were the old 2.5 NA’s. They do spin bearings, but it seems there is usually direct correlation with abuse or lack of oil changes. Tranny isn’t the strongest in 02-03, but if it made it to high mileage it will probably be fine unless you launch it. 04+ are fine.
Things to look for that I’ve seen in the past-
They always have at least 1 torn cv boot.
Cracked oil line that feeds the turbo
Mods. Things like aftermarket intakes, downpipes, intercoolers, etc NEED to be tuned for. Look for signs that the car was modified and returned to stock.
Front and rear subframe rot. Front control arm rot (theres an active recall for this).
Gas tank leaking at the seam.
Check the pressure lines on the rack for corrosion-- they are not fun to replace.
Buy my Miata for a winter car instead! :lol:
They rust/corrode pretty bad. I had an 02.
EDIT: I had no reliability issues though.
Thats what I was looking for, Im thinking an 04 now at the least. Now to try and find one…
Nope. Turbo Subaru’s don’t have the head gasket problem.