Hello, ive wanted a subaru for ages now and now i may have the chance to get one, but... it has 115,000 miles on the clock, its a 99 turbo with fsh an its about £4500, is the mileage a worry? it looks very well looked after.
thanks for any advice

 

A well looked after fsh car is far better than a thrashed / abused low miler. Providing it drives fine I wouldn't let the mileage put you off. How many owners has it had and how long has the last owner had it. the big service is 90k check this has been done.

 

Ok thanks, ive mailed the seller asking about the owners and the 90k service, ill post answer asap.

 

115k Miles would put me off, there are some things you cannot service eg. nuts and bolts in places you dont even know exist. 115k miles in a scooby is like 160k miles in any other car, due to the hammer they get! I dont care what anyone says, but I have still yet to see a scooby not be thrashed away from the lights,

Some are taken very well care of yes, but 115k miles is a lot for me

 

One of my mates is looking to sell his scoob soon. Its a MY99 with about 80k on it. I think he is looking for about £5000. FSH and with a long list of mods, including a remap by Andy F.

http://www.thechief.dreamhosters.com...hief/Chief.JPG

Search for him on here, his username is The Chief

 

wot a load ov crap

 

thanks for the help guys, its from a shop i hope to finance it so im afraid i cant look at a private sale. id be looking at under 80k if i had the cash but i dont so i was hoping 115k would be ok. ill see what the fella says about the 90k service.

 

I've had 3 scoobs now a wrx wrx sti and a uk turbo both imports low mileage with no history one went pop(sti) and the other started to smoke on start up and the the head gasket blew both standard cars.But the uk one with 120k and fssh running 1.3bar for the last 2 years has not missed a beat its a blinding car and bloody quick.Just my 2pence worth

 

Well not really is it mate, you dont buy a subaru to prance to town and back do you? otherwise you would buy a GL

3 figure mileage is a lot in any car, im just saying in my own opinion, and I am sure some would agree, that I wouldnt buy a subaru with 115k miles on it, they take a lot of hammering in their lifetime.

 

I drive my car (MY93 WRX) every day, to and from work, and have also driven a lot around the country and been to Italy and back in it.
Since I've had the car I've done over 120,000 miles, and it's done over 165,000.
In all that time, I've had one or two wear and tear items fail (top hose, fuel pump, clutch and just changed the radiator).

Now, I wouldn't say the scoob has had an easy life (it's been maxed out in top, done quite a bit of high speed continental cruising, and also been more than a few 'spirited' runs) but I don't drive like a loon all the time. I would guess that less than 5% of the car's life has been driven hard on boost (probably considerably less).

I don't cane it away from lights all the time.....maybe done it once or twice, but what's the point?
I think you need to look for a car that's been looked after, rather than just mileage........

 

Personally I wouldn't get finance from a garage. I would go to a bank or somewhere similar and get a loan and get a car with lower milage.

115k is quite a lot. And lets face it, even well looked after cars get hammer - this one has done a lot for a '99.

Just be careful and take it for a really good drive, not just round the block. Make sure you are 100% convinced

 

bought my my97 3years ago with 107,000 miles on it with full history,
it's got 147,000 on it now and it goes perfect, have kept up with the servicing though.

 

Yep as above, goto your bank get loan and buy private.just be patient and wait a better option will come along soon.

 

Cheers Paul - yep its going and i'm gutted that it is going

 

I drive a high mileage scoob (104k) and although it has an engine rebuild (so now only actually at 70k ), it still drives and handles like a low miler.

If your budget only stretches to a high miler, then as long as you service it well, then there should be problem with it being a reliable and good car to own

 

Thanks for all the advice guys, the reason its from a garage is its a special finance garage for naughty boys
there is a few there to choose from this one is better for my buget but its about 300 miles from my house so i wanted to do all my research first.

 

I see 34srm has struck again!

I really was under the impression that the general idea of forums was for constructive comment! Haven't you sold your car yet?


Smallzip - whereabouts are you?

 

Im in crawley, west sussex an the garage is just south of leeds

 

3 figure milage was a lot in 60's 70's and early 80's cars, but times change.

I have just sold one of my subaru's, it had 165k on it, still going strong

I had a 3 series BMW with 197k on it when I got it, still going now 2 years later

another that springs to mind was another jap car that had 470k on it before he sold it, still running MOST oe parts (not brakes etc)


So long as it has been looked after, there should be no probs

 

I would not let that mileage put me off.

More Important things are FSH, not necessarily a Subaru one backed up with receipts.
Condition of the car, exterior and interior.
Condition of the seller and how/where they live may give a clue as well.
Has the car had many owners, when was the last change of owner, etc

Is the car coming up for a ballistic service, cam belts, fluids, pads, etc. This could be a 500.00 service so a negotiation point and maybe why it is beng sold, this then begs the question has the car really been maintained properly, etc.

I would rather have a high miles car that has been looked after than a low miles track slag or car used for traffic light GP's.

Buying from enthusiasts is often a good thing although if the enthusiast is into Max BHP modding then maybe not.

 

Smallzip you have PM

 

My My99 has 103K on the clock, She's running 330BHP and I've only had to replace a couple of sensor's (Knock, Lambda and Maf), Two windscreen wipers, Brake pads oh and a gear box but that was down to the power hike.

Mine is serviced on the dot with quality fluids (Motul) and always run on optimax/V-Power.

I drive the car how it's supposed to be driven

As It's been said, cars last alot longer than they used to and I wouldn't be put off by 115k providing it's been looked after.

A simple test is to look at the tyres, If they are all the same make (nothing crappy) and have plenty of tread. If someone has has spent money on the tyres they are more liking to have looked after the car when it comes to servicing.

If your worried, i'm sure the garage offer a warranty

 

thats a real good test, i like it. never thought of that one cheers!!
ill call the garage today an post the info later that 90k service is a dealbreaker IMO.

 

hiya im gonna pop in my 2p worth.

my first turbo was an imported wrx, approx 72,000 miles/km, 95 n-plate. looked ok, just needed a valet. had problems from day 1. 6 months later it developed bottom end knock, so sold it for literally pence, lost lots of £££ on that car. i swore i wouldnt get another one until i found a good example.

luckily this example came along 7 weeks later, in the form of a uk turbo 2000 in sexual chocolate red. guy off here (donny_daz) was selling. its my99 t-plate. thing that worried me was it had 120,000 miles, a lot anyone will agree for what was a 7 year old car. but, and its a big BUT, the car had £4000 odd spent on a new short block, turbo, all sorts, far too much to list (but all the important stuff) at approx 71,000 miles.

i got the car in the end for what i consider a good price £3800. h.p.i. clear, lots of service history, and in general much better condition than its predessor.

so basically the cars engine (the most expensive part) has done effectivly 50,000 miles, well nearer 53,000 since ive had it. had it serviced fully (at scoobybits) and jason and chris commented that it was a spot on car. serviced with new cambelt, oil, fule filter etc, and wll it was in need of was a new radiator (common to last upto 100,000 miles) as it had a little leak. wear and tear item, like the brake discs/pads whcih were also eventually replaced too.

thing is fella, i budgeted for some expense when i bought the car, especially wear and tear item on a higher mileage car. if i look after and service regurlarly, theres no reason why i cant get another 100,000 miles from this car, with choice mods to the engine/bodywork too.

i personally would go to the bank, and sort out a loan for about £5k. with that, you can get a average mileage later classic, around 98-2000 (one with the later interior and twin airbags). if you look around, you will find a good example, especially private, as dealers, franchisers always sell for more than necessarily what the car is worth, they have to make money on top for overheads etc. thats why if you know what your looking for regards problems, go private, especially on an older car. younger scoobs, yes, as warranties etc can be helpful.

if i was you id get a mechanic mate/relative to have a look at some cars with you, get an idea about the cars history, any pending prolems, m.o.t., tax etc, and go from there.

moral of the story though, car could have 150,000 miles and run better than a 50,000 thrashed one, you just need to know what your looking at. luckily for me mine had only needed wear and tear items as said above.

good luck anyways...

andy

 

I would go to the bank and get money from them, far better deal . I worked in the car sales business a few years ago ( hey , i was stuck for a job ).
It was an eye opener for a start. Thay make shedloads of dosh getting you finance.
I just bought a standard 99 Wagon turbo with FSSH, 65 thou on clock, un marked and well looked after, private sale for £4,300....

 

Ok i spoke to the guy today about the car, its got FSH an it has all the correct stamps from the same garage from new, the fella said the clutch is slipping when the turbo kicks in so he will put a new clutch in.
it doesnt say the cambelt was changed at 90k so id do this straight away if i bought it, but as for servicing it seems someone has looked after it up to the 90k mark.it comes with a 1 month warranty and it has had 4 owners. ive checked the price on auto trader and it seems its worth the money what do you guys reckon?

 

I wouldn't take it. The 90k cambelt change isn't cheap and should have been done 25k miles ago! I would agree with most folk though, don't let high mileage put you off. A Subaru engine is just as reliable as any other engine if you take care of it. Is it FSSH or just FSH?

 

no doubt the car will do alot more miles if its been looked after, but my personal opinion is 119k is high milage in my eyes specially on a quick aggressive 2.0. i dont like high milage cars (100,000) plus for me unless its a BMW Jaguar etc then these will go round the clock again.

also 4500 seems alot for 119k maybe its just me. I payed 4500 for my 95 WRX with 60,000 on the clock and body was in good condition and had brand new 18" rims on.

my experience is wait and wait and wait some more for a really decent car which is what i did, was very fookin hard not to just buy the first example i saw but i hung on and im very happy.