Andyscoob

Hi, this is my first post so please be gentle...

I am looking to buy a MY99 and I have just had it inspected by the RAC and have had the following response on the telephone:

1./ The bonnet safety catch is defective - it could fly open. He thinks this is probably lack of use and a couple of squirts of WD40 may do the trick - but it needs checking and sorting;
2./ There is no wheel brace and - more importantly, no unlocking socket/nut, which means that the wheels cannot be removed (without, presumably, wrecking them)
3./ The RH headlamp levelling mechanism doesn't work - this is electrical so may be motor, relay, wiring, or poverty from not being used;
4./ The whole of the front underside on these cars is protected with shielding and the shielding and a pipe in front of the engine bay is showing signs of rust and looks like it could do with replacing. He doesn't know what the pipe is for (!);
5./ When he arrived the car was running and had been running for a while so he was unable to carry out a cold start test. Apart from not being able to see whether the battery had enough life to start the car from cold, or check for smoke and nasty noises, a batch of these cars had engines that exhibited severe rattling when starting from cold. This was caused by a fault on either piston 1 or 4 and most were corrected by Subaru recall. This involved piston replacement. However as this one is an Irish import Subaru may not have done this rectification (assuming it was one of that batch, which is not known). He would not recommend buying it without first trying a cold start and listening for problems - which is most obvious from the passenger seat as it sounds like the glove compartment area has developed a severe rattle.

What are your thoughts, especially on point 5.

Thanks very much for any help

Andyscoob

IanW

The main cars that were affected by the knocking noise on startup were the MY98 cars from memory.

Iwan

1. Not sure, pass.
2. I had a puncture the day after picking up my P1 and the locking wheelnut key was missing. Luckily i was right by another Subaru dealer and they were able to brute force the locking nuts out (which trashed them), a new set with new key cost me about £25. Every key is different.
3. Not sure, pass.
4. Not sure, my MY99 didn't have any rust underneath. Is it a Jap import that's never been undersealed?
5. Sounds like 'piston slap' he's on about, quite common and i believe it's usually fixed under warranty (engine rebuild) in serious enough cases (if you can talk the dealer into it). I'd steer well clear if there's no warranty left to be honest.

yoza

Is it cheap ?

If its not, wait for a mint one, plenty about.

Andyscoob

I think that I will have to hear it from startup, thanks for the help.

5. Sounds like 'piston slap' he's on about, quite common and i believe it's usually fixed under warranty (engine rebuild) in serious enough cases (if you can talk the dealer into it). I'd steer well clear if there's no warranty left to be honest.[/QUOTE]

AudiMan

Andy,
If you are at all susp' walk away !, I'm surprised the RAC actually inspected it because of the type of car, (the AA wouldn't inspect one for me when I was looking) but judging by the things they have listed it sounds like the inspector doesn't really know what to look for anyway. Be aware when these cars go wrong it's expensive !!!, if you are keen on this particular vehicle it may be worth paying a Subaru dealer/specialist to check it over. The really important thing with cars such as this, is history, bills and receipts or to buy from someone who obviously knows the vehicle inside out.
See if there is anybody who lives near you on this forum who would be willing to look at it with you.

Ian..

Pastor

point 4 is probably the short pipe that runs under the drive belt. This is part of the heating system and is a common rust point. Should it fail then your engine will lose all coolant. In short it requires replacement. Get a quote from a Subaru dealer for this and knock the repair cost off the asking price.


Sounds like a bit of a dog to me, especially suspicious about the owner warming it up.

Andyscoob

£6901 60,000 miles, cheapish

Jamescsti

I'd be sceptical about point 5 sounds like they are covering something up to me!

Andyscoob

The car has been standing for a while and is not taxed. See what the owners explanation is!

Thanks for all your help

Pittsey

Don't buy it. It's very easy to get carried away especially when you see it in the flesh or get behind the wheel. But be patient, there's plenty of decent 1's around. I wouldn't buy it on point 5 alone. Never trust someone who doesn't start the car from cold.

hoskib

iTrader: (1)

agree it does sound a bit suss that it wasn't available for a cold start, but there's a lot of genuine reasons why this was the case aswell as dodgy ones.

bottom line, if you've got any doubts, leave it. there's bundles more out there to chose from

another note though, if you have another RAC/AA inspection done, fully expect them to come back with loads of faults, most relating to nothing serious at all. they've got to justify the £200 odd they charge and will go over the car with a fine tooth comb and note every niggle.
when i had one done they kicked the **** out of the car, listing this and that and paint had been done here and it may have had a knock. my reply was 'well they can forget me buying that one then,cheers.'
to which he replied 'oh, well it may not be that bad' and gave me a valuation price of the car that wasn't a million miles away from the asking price
basically digest everything they say and in the report, then make your choice

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

Andy, I wouldnt buy from what you've said there. It sounds like a dog. I've just sold a MY99 62K, FSSH, full decat, STi panel filter, Eibach springs, ceramic brake pads, Baileys dumpvalve plus all the standard gear plus T&T... £7500, I also had it serviced and valeted for the lad. It was mint. Im sure if you have a good look on autotrader website and on here AND be prepared to travel for the right car, it will be a journey well worth making. That fact that there are niggling defects like the headlight adjuster etc means that if the little things havent been sorted, what are the chances the other important stuff has been neglected... Optimax, warm up/cool down, service every 6 months/6000 miles etc etc.... wait for the right one... you'll know when you see it.. it will look like its been loved and cherished, not neglected. There'll be no doubts. Deffo!

All IMO of course

J

uk_Mo

Hi Regarding point 5 I would walk away i'm afraid like the guys on here say there's plenty out there for sale don't rush in feet first. I looked at 14 subarus before buying the 1 i have a 1995 WRX Import FSSH, 1 owner, 36,000 miles minted condition and beleive me it wasnt easy walking away from a few the money was burning a hole in my pocket so to speak. I know how exciting and tempting it is just to buy the first 1 you see but hang in there buddy a good 1 will appear soon.


I would stay well clear of this one sounds a bit dodgy to me.

chris's scooby

Walk away mate, there's enough of them about.