Baja buying advice

[MIGUEL1101516]

Hello,

I am new here a friend who owns a baja recommended this site I am glad that he did. I am finding a lot of useful information here just off the bat I wanted to go ahead and get an idea of what I should be looking out for when purchasing a used Baja. Known problems anything that could help. I would be very interested in hearing what the fellow enthusiasts have to say so that I can keep it in mind while trying to search . While I do try to search for info on the web you can imagince info is hard to come by.

I am looking for a 2006 turbo baja preferably any advice would help thank you.

[bajaguy]

Welcome!

Friendly suggestion - do a quick search of looking to buy or something like that and you'll find a handful of similar postings with answers.

[MIGUEL1101516]

Thank you for your advice. Besides the norm is there anything that is specificly important for the baja known problems..things to look out for?

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

[dorelse]

As for the Norm...you're aware of the Head Gasket issue's on non-Turbo Baja's (and all Subie's) from this era? If you're not in a rust belt area, you won't have rust issues as too much of a concern.

[Acro2pilot]

Go turbo, the extra power over the NA Is a dramatic improvement and making more power is a fairly simple path. If you go NA you will end up with a more complex process of swapping in another engine if you want more power. The turbo also has some more robust hardware, stronger axles, and a few other bits. Normally I am very anti automatic transmissions but in this case it makes sense if you intend to go to larger tires, it really helps compensate for the lack of lower gearing. Bajas are tough and tolerate allot of abuse and modification, and there aren't many problem areas. After market support is good but you have to look at comparable models to find parts that fit your Baja but aren't listed as being compatible. Like if you need headers, but for a 2004 STi.

If you find a candidate take it for a long test drive, get it up to temp and do some 0-80-0 Mph runs then pull over and give it a good look over for leaks, odd smells, steam, etc. If you do identify a problem remember it is a 10 year old truck at best and will have age appropriate issues, but put it into context what you see. If it looks and runs great but the power steering pump is leaking so what, $160 and you have a new one. But if you find oil in the water your looking at a headgasket change which is more involved.

[wmx]

I just purchased a 05 Turbo,,Im from Ny,,everything up north is a rusty an worn looking,,I researched alot, an found a low miler in southern pa,, super clean, no rust,, initial test drive was like a new car!,, but as i got her yp to temp sn did a few hard pulls, and on the third run the Turbo went south, wasn't a very nice sound,,never the less, 2k later im lovin the liile trk! Seller Sad,,Customer Happy!
Moral These Are a Fun Toy, not 100% recommend for a daily commuter!
But Really Fun Ride!

[Acro2pilot]

I would 100% suggest one as a daily. If you look at the big picture from bottom of the market to top of the market few cars deliver the magical combo of performance / cost / cost of operation. Ignoring other cars I own and asking why I own a Baja my answer is simple. I needed a truck, I love Subarus, and I didn't need a big truck, and lastly I kinda wanted a Baja. After the mods I have subjected this Baja to it would be reasonable to say it was a low reliability toy, but I demand it acts as a winter daily driver and I ask it to do things like tow a PAC turboprop, pull out a stump. and drag race my neighbour’s new 5Ltr Mustang GT. The Baja has done all of those things and more. On your average exotic you spend 10G to add 10% performance but with the Baja you double stock Hp for the same investment. If this truck can deal with the abuse I subject it to, an owner who leaves it stock should be just fine.

[dorelse]

Granted, mine's a NA '03 (stock)...but mine is my daily commuter. So far so good...106k miles so far so good. Timing belt service is coming up very soon.