Possible Baja purchase need opinion

General talk about the Subaru Baja.

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Winterhawk
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Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:00 pm

Possible Baja purchase need opinion

Post by Winterhawk »

Found a Baja that needs obvious cosmetic help which isn't my problem. I can estimate what the cosmetic issues will cost me, but the I have zero Baja experience on mechanical costs. Even though I can do some things myself I'm trying to determine what a dealer or Indy would charge me so I have some leverage in the price. All that can be confirmed is the plugs were changed and the oil changed. The timing belt and water pump were changed 60,000 miles ago. Since it has approx. 150k and I cant verify if the clutch was ever changed so if I were to buy this truck then I need assume a new clutch, flywheel, rear seal, assume brake flush and possible new pads/rotors, and go all the way and replace the timing belt again with water pump, idler, etc. plus new coolant and other fluids, plus assume the turbo is on it's last leg. Does this sound reasonable and does anyone have a clue on what I should assume for parts and labor on all this stuff? With all the mechanical work plus approx. $1500 in cosmetic work it would then be a really nice truck but the price must be right or I walk. I'm tempted to walk anyway because of the unknowns. Although Turbo MT's are scarce they aren't rare by any means, I've found at least 20 in the last month, but they're either too far away, or the price is way too high to take a risk.
Whidbey Island, WA
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kamesama980
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Re: Possible Baja purchase need opinion

Post by kamesama980 »

Parts and labor could be $1500 or could be $6k depending on what parts you get and what the labor rates are near you and where you take it. For the most part, that's just stuff you budget for. You don't subtract repairs from the price of a vehicle unless you KNOW they're needed. Rather than asking a public forum and getting wide ranging answers then complaining because the shop cost in NYC isn't as low as rural kentucky, I'd suggest going to some local shops and getting quotes rather than asking the internet that won't be working on your car.

Clutch-drive it and see. VERY dependent on previous owner. I've driven cars with 240k with a clutch that grabs well enough I broke other stuff. I've also seen cars that needed a new clutch every 50k miles.
Turbo-same thing. totally dependent on previous care and use.
Brakes-test drive it then take the wheels off and see.
brake fluid, coolant, drivetrain fluids, etc-yes, safe to assume it's needed but so does every other car. That's part of why depreciation exists. If they're asking top-dollar you can argue down but if they're already under BB, you're just being annoying.
timing belt, seals, etc.-you can't subtract that from the price unless it's actually due/overdue. If you know it's been done and it's working, I wouldn't worry about doing it preemptively.
-Russell
"You don't get to judge me for how I fix what you break"
03 sport 5mt
05 turbo 5mt vf39 and other STI bits, 3" turbo-back
Winterhawk
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Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:00 pm

Re: Possible Baja purchase need opinion

Post by Winterhawk »

Thanks for the reply/info. Passed on it, but someone else bought it. I'm in no hurry at all so will wait for the right one.
Whidbey Island, WA
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