I've been to see a gorgeous looking MY97 siver Impreza turbo. I've given the guy a deposit and I'm going to pick it up on the 1st September. It looks immaculate throughout, it idled from cold without any strange noises. All the body panels seemed in line etc etc.
However, it may be a bargin but it's still quite a chunk of money to hand out to a private sale.
I'm not mechanically minded but are there any golden rules as to what to look out for when buying a used Subaru?
Should I go to the expense of getting the AA or RAC to inspect it before handing over the rest of the cash? If I do, I don't want to waste the money if it's something I should have spotted myself and walked away.

Any advice would be very gratefully received

Thanks
Matt

 

Things to check.....

Piston Slap: noticeable knocking noise on startup from cold.
Smoke on startup could also spell problems.
Dump valve whistling when on boost during acceleration - not the background whine but like someone blowing over a milk bottle, its quite noticeable.
Any non-standard parts ?
Cracked heatshield on the exhaust may cause an annoying buzzing at certain revs.
Check the tyres as well - not only for the amount of tread left, but for uneven wear, and factor it into the purchase price.
Check service history and mileage very carefully.
Its always worth getting an HPI finance check and an RAC/AA inspection of the mechanicals.
Is the seller an enthusiast or member of the club ? If so, that should give you a bit of a comfort factor as to whether the car's been looked after (but not in all cases!)

Hope this helps,

Tony

 

Don't forget the CLUTCH ! Good luck.

 

We had quite a discussion on it over in the Ireland forum.

check

 

Thanks for the replies.
I've been lurking in this forum for ages and knew some of the things like piston slap so I made sure I listened for that.

There was no nasty blue smoke when it was started up from cold.
No dump valve pretending to be a flute.
It has got a quickshift fitted and I saw the bill for it and it was fitted in a Subaru garage (Leicester)
It's had the service book stamped at every serve interval(all done at Leicester or Nottingham Subaru dealers)

The reason he's selling it is because he's just got a bug eyed Impreza MY01 from Belgium.

I don't think he's a member of Scoobynet yet, although it was a member on here that pointed me to him (he sold him his MY01 wheels)

He was honest by telling me one of the rear tyres had a bulge on the inside wall (I wouldn't have spotted it unless I'd felt round the back of the wheel) and he' getting a new one fitted for me.
None of the alloys (standard) had been kerbed.

He's also had fitted a CAT 1 alarm/Imobiliser and a Tracker.

The Northampton Subaru garage is not manned by friendly people. It took 2 whole lunch breaks (answering questions) to get a test drive, and he still acted like he didn't want to sell me the car.

Whats the problem if it hesitates between 2.5k and 3.5k rpm? I didn't notice any hesitation but I am only used to a Calibra.

Once again, thanks for the replies.
Matt