There is a white WRX for sale in my town. I've been thinking about buying it for a while now, and I think I'm ready to commit. I'm sick of the Cavalier. No power, no traction (it's winter here 7 months of the year, or so it seems) and no cool turbo sound. I'm going to take it for a drive and check it out in my dads garage tomorrow or the next day, and I was wondering if anyone knows any problem areas on these cars I might want to watch for. I'm not planning on drag racing it or anything so I'm not worried about the 'weak' tranny that breaks when you launch it. Any help would be appreciated.
wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good. 
LOL
if you want a WRX because it comes equipped with a "cool turbo sound" than you should probably stick with the cavalier.
Only thing I know of is that the WRX has a weak drivetrain.. you say you wont be racing so I guess that doesnt matter.
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cavmania wrote:if you want a WRX because it comes equipped with a "cool turbo sound" than you should probably stick with the cavalier.
Only thing I know of is that the WRX has a weak drivetrain.. you say you wont be racing so I guess that doesnt matter.
Yea he needs a bad ass 4g63 or a honda to own this world
make sure the car goes into all gears smoothly... just because you don't plan on racing it doesn't mean that the previous owner didn't beat the crap out of it... also, is the car modded? if so, what's done to it?
how many miles?
and for the record, the drivetrains aren't THAT weak... I rallyx my 02 fairly often and have yet to have ANY problems with my tranny. i just passed the 114k mark... as long as you aren't grinding or missing gears, they hold up pretty well.
I know an absolute spoiled dip@!#$ who picked up an '05 and any issues he had were from his abuse. The car has held up great for him and his careless driving, hell not even heavily modded.
It's AWD, I don't consider the drivetrain necessarily weak, I consider the complexity of it's workings and abuse and then to me any issues are pretty understandable.
actually if it is an 02, the drivetrain is pretty bulletproof most of the time. im around a ton of subaru guys all the time and the 02's take a TON of abuse and can still want more.
cavmania wrote:if you want a WRX because it comes equipped with a "cool turbo sound" than you should probably stick with the cavalier.
Only thing I know of is that the WRX has a weak drivetrain.. you say you wont be racing so I guess that doesnt matter.
I think turbos sound cool. Is there something wrong with that? Did you miss the part where I'm talking about more power and more traction? I think both of those HEAVILY outweigh the sound of the turbo, but I still think it's cool.
And I'm not sure how many miles, but the car is stock as far as I know, it's been parked quite a bit lately because the owner is over seas and his brother is selling it. I'll get back to you guys after I take it for a test drive. I'll look for mods... but other than that just sounds like the usual things I should be looking for when buying a car. Thanks.
wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good.
LOL
a few typical things u wanna check on any subie would be the head gaskets and valve cover gaskets, if theres any oil on the back of the motor toward the lower back of the heads have the cam seals checked. oil leaks are the devil on these cars and are very common, and if the owner wasnt pretty regular with oil changes the head gaskets are HIGHLY known to fail and leak. valve cover gaskets just leak oil a tad if its got decent milage on it. axle boots dont last too long either(ive seen em go at 50k) so if its a 100k+ car definately check em out. if its a well maintained subie then all should be well. you can get a wrx with a perfectly clean motor, flawless drivetrain and a gorgeous body, but ive seen some disasters in the time ive worked for subaru, it seems to vary from car to car, and owner to owner so its always better to be safe and check
strat81 wrote:just because you don't plan on racing it doesn't mean that the previous owner didn't beat the crap out of it
thats so unbelieveably true its not even funny.
also as strat said, make sure it shifts into all gears smoothly. ive seen quite a few where they grind going into first (obvious enough to hear/feel if you test drive it)
drivetrains arent too weak really, they will hold up to some pretty good abuse. excessive abuse is bad for any car though...
if you plan to do work on it lemme say... some stuff is a @!#$ pain in the balls, but theye pretty damn reliable.
hope that helps, and good luck with this.
and good god do not get an aftermarket bov... it makes the car actually run worse. and a lot worse gas mileage. plus you do kind of get laughed at in the subaru world for having an aftermarket one and not needing it. the recirc on those helps a ton!
definetely keep the recirc... also, if the car has exhaust work done, it can really lean the car out without some form of engine management.
i haven't heard of too many headgasket problems with the 2.0. the phase I n/a 2.5's were known for headgasket issues though...
my 02 doesn't use any oil.
as for the drivetrain... a buddy of mine was putting 320whp/300 lbs/ft through the factory 5spd with an upgraded clutch and his tranny lasted through 6 months of hard driving before it finally let go. (by hard driving... i'm talking barking all 4 tires into 2nd gear)
Excellent info guys. What are the best forums for these cars? ClubWRX? I know J-bo has helped me out many times with the ol' Cavalier, it sure helps to have people to ask.
And if your buddy was spinning into 2nd for months before the tranny gave out, then I've pretty much lost all doubt that I shouldn't be worried. The only modifications I wanted to really do to the car would be some nice rims and tires for the summer, and some nice studded winter tires on the stock rims. I live in the middle of butt-@!#$ no where I can't really dyno and tune and all that fun stuff... yet.
wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good.
LOL
Nasioc would be the best bet. A ton of BS to sift through, but LOADS of awesome information.
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Tristatetuners.com
IGOTBANNED.NET
OceanStateDubs.com
yea i agree about the BOV as well. keep the recirc.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Monday, February 23, 2009 7:18 PM
i would say register for nasioc but never post haha. its just full of a holes, worse than on here. you cant ask a question without everyone talking to you like they are gods.
you wouldn't necessarily need a dyno tune... there are off the shelf "stage" maps (cobb accessport, opensource, turboxs utec, etc) that should keep the car running safely if you choose to mod
nasioc has alot of information but as mentioned, there's very few people on there that will actually HELP you. search is your friend.
My buddy recently baught a transformed wrx with an sti motor. His tranny had a problem though, ended up costing him like $4500 or something like that.
Otherwise it sounds pretty mean and looks nice under the hood.
Well I went and checked it out today, too much rust for my liking, I'll keep my search going. I'll bring this thread back if I find anything.
wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good.
LOL
Well I went and checked it out today, too much rust for my liking, I'll keep my search going. I'll bring this thread back if I find anything.
wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good.
LOL
