Hello there.

I bought a WRX 05 Wagon on Saturday. I bought the car from "carshop" who are a car supermarket type place....anyway...naively I assumed the car would be have been checked over before it was sold to me, but today, upon getting a worried feeling in the pit of my stomach, I checked the engine oil and it was dry as a bone.
My question is; what would be the tell tale signs of the problems this would/might have caused, as if I can spot any I'm taking the car straight back....
Since I picked it up I've done about 200 miles so how bad might I have affected things?

Cheers in advance.

 

I would take it straight back anyway

 

No oil! Shocking.

 

Take it back.

Anthony

If they don`t agree to sort it, contact the local/national tabloids

 

might be worth getting an inspection, so its in black and white also, ammunition when you return it

 

The thing is there was lots going on with the deal (i.e I traded in my old car which had problems, finance, etc) so if I don't have to take it back I'd sooner not....I'll only take it back if I'm certain that the car has, or will have, a problem.
So what do you think the potential problems might be?
I appreciate the initial comments but I didn't pay cash at a Subaru dealership who I can go back to and swap for a similar vehicle.

 

would still have it inspected by Subaru at the least, (billed to the car supermarket) and if they say damage has occured then would be speaking to the supplier again.

If it has been damaged it may not be aparant untill many miles down the road when you will have trouble proving anything

 

Did the oil light come on or you just checked by chance and found oil low on the dipstick, could be a big difference in outcome

 

oil starvation = absolutely everything can go wrong with the car including the big end bearings which means a bottom end rebuild. Then there's the valvetrain that could have been damaged, the turbo..... anywhere the oil is meant to travel could have premature wear so look for white smoke, knocking noises from the engine, that kind of thing

 

How soon after turning the car off did you check the level? need to let it settle down for a few minutes without it running before dipping it... Just a thought.

Gaz

 

My dealer actually told me to leave it a good few hours before checking the oil for an accurate reading due to the nature of it being a flat four.

 

The oil light didn't come on I just checked by chance.

I had read that in the manual, so though I didn't leave it at first, I went back again after 5-10 minutes and still no oil.....

This has got me concerned though, maybe I should go and park it on a flat and leave it for a while and see where it's at....

Now I'm concerned that I might have over filled it! Man this isn't a good start to Scooby ownership!!

 

bit worrying that chap with the flat four you will need to leave it for a few hours pref on a flat ground then check it if you have run it for to weeks without checking it then i would suggest you check it every other day as a rule it should take 4 1/2 ltrs



dave

 

Well that's a bit more encouraging then, as I added 1L and that took it to over the "F" notch on the dip stick. If it takes 4 1/2L and I added just 1L to take it to full, then that would suggest it wasn't empty after all. Would you agree?

Cheers everyone for your help with this....I'm in love with this car and don't want to send it back!

 

hate to be the one to worry you more but its never a good idea to overfill an engine especially one with a turbo. Most people aim to keep the oil level just under full mark.

You might want to do an oil change and fill it up with some good fully synthetic oil to the correct level. Check the oil that comes out for any metal fillings.

dont know what else to suggest as I can understand it will be far to much hassle to try and take it back and prove that they gave it to you with out oil and prove it could have caused any damage...

best get someone well known to take alook at the engine and oil