What the what? WRX Content

Among my mental gymnastics, I sometimes hunt down WRXs, including 92x aeros. Is it me or are the vast majority either in need of head gaskets, rod bearings, rust repairs, in parting out status...

Or are the good ones being hoarded

In reply to Docwemple :

about 90% of used subarus in general on marketplace near me have the phrase "needs engine" in the description section. idk if its the vaping boy racer types not taking care of them and killing them or what, but I still kinda want one

In reply to gixxeropa :

Oh, me too. It's one of the very few common cars that I semi lust after. Not exactly sure why. So few cars now are really worthy of desire. Hell, even my 65 mustang really wasn't/isn't all that. 

Wanted one bad but the vape tax is high. Got a MS3 instead. 
 

Knew a guy who blew the engine at 40k. Apparently doing donuts is a no no. 

They rusted horribly.  There were parts of the body that either didn't get painted or had very poor coverage.  Reach in to the rear strut towers, feel the "outside" of the tower, and you will find a shelf that can't get much paint but does collect dirt and moisture.  Most likely you will find a hole there.  This allows moisture and dirt and salt into the innards of the shell, which is compounded by Subaru apparently buying precorroded steel from Italy.

The '08- up chassis is much better because they not only seemed to use better steel, but they no longer had rear strut towers.  Unfortunately they all had the 2.5l engine which was a bit more displacement than the EJ architecture could reliably handle when force fed.

The 2.0 DOHC engines were not particularly head gaskety, but memes gonna meme.  The most common failure I have seen was burned exhaust valves.

In my direct experience, any Subaru is in the "needs engine" category whether you know it or not. And they don't need a turbo for that. That's based mostly on the 2.5.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

The engines are good for about 200-250k miles, the chassis are generally good for 10-15 years... I would say the engines are overengineered 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I haven't seen one make it to that number yet. 
1997 Legacy GT: one engine replacement before my parents purchased it at about 60k miles, the second engine ate the head gasket 90k miles later.
1997 Legacy GT: one engine grenaded due to some internal oiling problem while still under warranty. The replacement failed immediately, I think it was the same problem. I think it also suffered a head gasket failure later in life at around the 160k mark on the chassis.
1998 Outback: engine was running until the alternator belt went and took out the timing belt which bent valves - not the engine's fault. But when I pulled the bottom end apart, it was just about to lose all the rod bearings. Well under 200k on the chassis, I forget what it was. 160k, maybe?
1996 Legacy 2.2: spun the rod bearings. Mileage unknown, but I know it was not the first Subaru engine that had been in that Vanagon.

So, while I do very much like the cars when they're running, I just assume they are about to expire.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I sold my 2002 wrx that's now with clownkiller with 244k on untouched engine and trans including clutch. 

I've had good luck with them personally but the some of subsequent owners didn't.  Wheels bearings have been the only persistent issue. 

2000 Impreza 2.2 sold to Per at about 150k-175k if I remember correctly. Ten years ago.  Apparently the next owner blew it up.  

2004 Forester XT.  Was. My wife's DD from 75k to about 150k.  Downpipe and tune for about 50k of those.  At least two sets of rear wheel bearings. Apparently the next owner blew it up but might have been his fault since he was replacing his blown up WRX with it.   

2002 Impreza at 180k.  Currently own it. Bought it from the original owner.  Original motor.  I need to do the timing belt soon but runs well. One rear wheel bearing so far. 

2007 Impreza 206k sitting in the backyard. Unknown engine history.  Friend just got rear ended and it was totaled.  Definitely needed rear wheel bearings when it was wrecked.

2014 Outback. Roughly 60k miles. My parents bought it new and haven't had any issues. Low mileage since they are retired. 

 So were these power plants pretty much expendable during the late 80's to the mid 90's....during the rally WARS???

spandak said:

Wanted one bad but the vape tax is high. Got a MS3 instead. 

I want an MS3 though and the outlook there is almost as bad.  Either needs an engine, has just had the engine replaced, or has a slew of questionable mods (hood dump exhaust, "makes 520whp", 3 foot long dildo shifter) and will likely need an engine very soon.

759NRNG said:

 So were these power plants pretty much expendable during the late 80's to the mid 90's....during the rally WARS???

The EA82T engine would crack a cylinder head if you looked at the car funny, and couldn't make all that much power because of the cylinder head design and the engine had only 3 main bearings.

The early Imprezas couldn't make much power before the transmission or one of the axles broke.  That said the closed deck EJ20 from the early STIs is considered the stoutest EJ engine.

Docwemple said:

Among my mental gymnastics, I sometimes hunt down WRXs, including 92x aeros. Is it me or are the vast majority either in need of head gaskets, rod bearings, rust repairs, in parting out status...

Or are the good ones being hoarded

Doc, I really thought you were joking there at first about the head gasket thing. 
 

My experience on the ground is razor thin, but Ive had this discussion a few times at the recent rallyCrosses: "They are terrible cars (at being reliable) but they're the only game in town so I keep buying/fixing/racing them"

In reply to P3PPY :

There are a LOT of cars you can rallycross besides Subarus.  Civics, Golfs, and Neons are extremely popular if you can find them, although the Civics have weak engines and the Golfs have weak transmissions and the Neons are harder to find than Civics and Golfs.  Speaking here of four lug Civics and Golfs, general rule is if it has five lugs it's NFG.

DC Region seems to be half BMWs in the field

Miatas are pretty much the RWD staple everywhere else, although there a smattering of MR2s (all three generations) and 924/944 Porschen.  924/944 made a great chassis but the price has gone up a bit since the days nobody wanted them.  Then again, Miatas with a hardtop are also pretty expensive nowadays.

Various family members all thought the had to drive a Subaru. Most got the forester one got the wagon. All were purchased new. I was asked before purchas if they were good cars and I told them no. Motors tend to fail. Non of them made it to 70 k all had motor failures.  4 cars total. All but one drive Toyota rav4 at my recommendation. 
 

Oh on a side note. Have you ever told a family member that something is bad and will fail but they do it anyway and then some how when it fails it is your fault.   Ya this is what Subaru is to me.  Some how when I told them they will fail and don't buy one and they do it anyway and they fail it is my fault that they got a Subaru?  I think they were dead set on getting them and were not wanting my opinion as much as they wanted a pat on the head telling them they did good.   
 

One forester basically almost caused a marriage to fail. A family members wife hated it from the get go. They take 8-10 hour rides up to northern Maine to there vacation place. The car was always over heating going up hills but the dealer kep telling them there was no problem. Finally it puked a head gasket in the middle of no where Maine. His wife said get a new car but after a $700 tow back to the dealer that the dealer declined to pay (the car was only at 28k mikes at this time.) Dealer waranty only replaces the short block.  Takes a month. Three months later the car is in for an oil change and the tech reports that the head gasket is leaking and car needs a new motor. This was at 31k. The car was always dealer serviced from new. Since it was now over 30k he was told not under waranty. My friends wife lost her mind at the dealer and stormed home and let's say it was ugly at home.  The car never got a new motor. The owner of the dealer told them since it was an external leak they would add block seal as the Subaru recommended fix.  The car was driven across the street to the Toyota dealer and traded in on a brand new RAV4 hybrid.  There marriage took a while to repair and the whole thing is still a sore spot with them.  They have not got to the look back and laugh stage yet and it has been years.  So yes Subaru I guess your slogan "This is love". may not be what you intended but it certainly is one version of it.  

The good news is once you drive one you stop wanting them.  I had a big boner for a WRX Wagon, bought one, drove it for 9 months.  Couldn't wait to be rid of it.  Wasn't particularly bad, but the interior was a miserable place to spend time, it rode poorly, and got the gas mileage of an 18 wheeler.  

ProDarwin said:

spandak said:

Wanted one bad but the vape tax is high. Got a MS3 instead. 

I want an MS3 though and the outlook there is almost as bad.  Either needs an engine, has just had the engine replaced, or has a slew of questionable mods (hood dump exhaust, "makes 520whp", 3 foot long dildo shifter) and will likely need an engine very soon.

They can be. Low RPM boosting was known to blow engines. Carbon build up is a problem.
 

I mostly blame tunes though. The stock turbo gets pushed hard with a tune and without one it runs out of air before redline. I wanted to fix that on mine but in the land of CARB that wasn't an option. I sold mine at 80k and it didn't even burn oil. 

93gsxturbo said:

The good news is once you drive one you stop wanting them.  I had a big boner for a WRX Wagon, bought one, drove it for 9 months.  Couldn't wait to be rid of it.  Wasn't particularly bad, but the interior was a miserable place to spend time, it rode poorly, and got the gas mileage of an 18 wheeler.  

If we haven't talked you out of one, you probably know this already but supposedly the Saab interior is significantly better. I haven't spent more than a minute at a time in a Subaru but my 92x is a pleasant place to be. 
 

...or was. Until my wife stored chicken poop fertilizer in it. But whatever. 

My 2004 Forester XT is still going strong on the original engine, but it only has about 134k on it. It's been religiously maintained. 
I had a 2002 WRX that I bought with over 225,000 miles on the original engine.

I think some of the biggest problems are questionable modifications and lack of maintenance. Part of that was an oil change interval set in the owner's manual that was later reduced *and* the fact that yes, they do use oil and most people don't check the oil level as often as they should. 

Like any other machine, things go wrong, and if you ignore them, they get worse.

I quite liked our 2.5sohc Forester. Got it from mom at 100k and put another 50k on it. Drove pretty well, very practical, garbage fuel economy. Sold it with only an EGR code.

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

Yep, with all the hype in the early 2000s I purchased an 03 boy racer blue WRX wagon with 12,000 miles from a car guy. It wasn't my dd but was fun to drive in rainy conditions. A year later I sold it to a young man that just had to have it. Never looked back.

There's a 4 letter tuning company that cut their teeth on tuning Subarus. Employees openly mocked WRX/STI reliability. Only about 20% of the employees  drove Subarus, and most of those were brand new hires.

Had several 2.5s and they all made it to 200K unless crap parts in timing belt kits failed.  Had a bad water pump and idler bearing almost take motors out.  My turbo baja dies at just under 200K but I blame that on a previous mechanic.  They put the timing belt on with 2 cams a notch off, and plumbed the overboost valve backwards.  Once I found the timing belt problem it ran great for 200 miles then I jumped non it and instant 17psi soon to be followed by a broken piston.   The motors do not tolerate bad maintenance, bad parts and bad mechanics.  Not that the baja has a new engine it runs great.  Should probably sell before something else goes.

I got on the WRX hype train when they came out and ended up getting a 2002 bugeye wagon in 2008. By 2012 when I sold it at 185k miles, the body was starting to rust to the point you could see the small bubbling beginning in fenders, etc. The chassis wasn't far behind, if I recall this generation had issues with control arms and subframes rusting out. 

I'm guessing the people who bought them were mostly after a sporty car with AWD for snowy climates, and as you'd expect they've mostly succumbed to rust. The survivors are holding onto a bit of a price hike for nostalgia and just for the record, they're not very good once the "cool" factor wears off.