Help finding one?

[Rizzo]

I live in Romulus MI. I have $5000.00 and am not scared of mileage as my wife has a 99 Forester L with 190 on it and its a great car.

Yesterday I went and saw a 2003. From the street it looked pretty slick, But the bright silver lower trim and support bars can just make some bling in the MI winter.

As we walk up we start to see all the flaws.

Pros :
*Interior was pretty clean, No random french fries and what not.
*Sunroof and all the usual things worked fine.
*ZERO RUST ANYWHERE! Not at the bottoms of the doors,behind the tail gate...None! Car was from Texas.
* Almost every fluid in the car is a picture perfect example of what it should look like. Both DOT3 reservoirs were pure gold,Lime green coolant,cherry red P/S fluid and the entire engine bay was very clean. Could still see paint marks on strut tower bolts under hood. All 3 on each side had a yellow dot on the threads and on the tower mount that lined up
* Timing tensionor,belt,W/P and such all done in the last 24 months. And let me say I truly believed this guy, I also believe he's as naive as a baby deer. You'll see.

Cons:
*Lots of ripped door pulls.
*Texas sun has baked the paint and now the black is turning purple/ashey white at every vertical to horizontal edge, Like the windshield to roof line... Blasted..
* Shifter did go into gear but even then it could be wobbled like in was still in neutral, Never popped out of gear.
*Missing the roof rack crossmembers
* Despite a newer battery and spotless terminals and grounds the HVAC blower motor would speed up or slow down with head lights on and turn signal on. I used my stethoscope and heard bearing noise at the rear of the alternator @ slip rings/end of Stator.
* The steering wheel was right about 5-10* driving straight.

Now for the "HOW THE HEL..... WHY?!"

I checked the oil before we started it, Zero....None.... ....Smoke.....

I talk to what MUST be the most novice of all human beings that I truly believe just has no understanding of anything automotive... They never smelled or checked or anything...

Crossmember under engine, Two pools of oil,each side. Can't see where it's coming from as it goes up and under behind the heads.

The car was 2 qts low. The first room temperature bottle never even showed on the dipstick, The second brought it up to half way. The oil was warm right from the store and into a warm van on it's trip back not 5 minutes ago.

The roof also has two gashes on the top where something deformed the steel,removed all paint and primer. Looks like two rusty brown cat scratched about 3/16th wide in a capitol G type of curl.



So he and I talk for a bit and I try with all my patience to explain to him this and that about engines and why this here is very good and why this is very very bad, he brings up KBB and I sighed but again worked with this guy who I really believe is just so lost and innocent.... anyways, They in Ad wanted $6997 LMAO! Car has 183K on it... Then we go down to 5,500 then 5, finally after what is a truly presidential speech of all speeches I get him to understand why 3,500 is fair and I don't even like that.

What an emotional roller coaster of a day. To have seen,touched and driven a Baja I really get it man, I dig it a lot. I'm so hooked it kinda obsessive LOL, Then to see they're letting it bleed to death right before them.

Would I do an engine swap : Yes
Would I do an engine swap on a car with this fair level of an interior and this poor level of paint.....Not for the purchase price we've discussed.

The valvetrain sounds like a silverware drawer closing, I'd give him a thousand out of my 5 and use the rest for a transplant done at the shop only because It's like 20* out and I'm not doing it in February.



Thanks for reading.

Oh, BTW, Who Admins the F/B page ? I'm waiting for approval ?!

[Rizzo]

Well the seller emailed me back


They're taking it to a mechanic an having these item looked at.

Alignment- Wheel off to the right,Car pulls. Tire tread wear is even across all four.

Oil leak

Alternator- The bearing made noise at rear of stator- OBDII reads 12.8-12-9 steady thru the test drive w/ blower on high.

Shifter - Goes in gear,stays in gear but when in gear wobbles like neutral


We'll see how this goes.


I told them I was "in" for around 2,000 dollars to address all of this myself. We knew head gasket before we showed up due to the lack of it listed as done and the mileage , That's ok, I was ready for that.

I was not ready for everything else, All these little satellite issues orbiting a leaking engine that ran two quarts low for an unknown amount of time.

I was going to drive it to Convenience Auto in Ann Arbor MI and have them do a full check up AND compression test but I think if the head gaskets are toast then the cylinder may not hold and give a false positive for cylinder bore wear.

Exhaust was not blue in any hue and Coolant was lime green as it gets.



The plot thickens.....

If I can get them down to 2-3 thousand I will take a trip with it to a near by Collision place that does State Police cars and they have a fabulous reputation. I will offer near a grand to have the paint corrected to a reasonable level, I do not expect a repaint or blemish free job, Just cut the rusty rock chip dots and the one nasty gash out of the picture.

If it looks good waxed I will love it forever with the knowledge of the underside which is priority one in MI.

[anotherone]

I bought an 03 for $3900 knowing that I would get another motor. Everything else on it works perfectly which amazes me with 210000 miles. The motor leaks about 1/2 qt a month and runs great with a tap ; tap goes quiet as it warms up. I did brakes on it and the e-brake. One weird thing is when the fuel is low and I fill it up I get some misses and then that goes away so I dont care. I planned on a remanu motor but it runs so good I'll wait till whenever. Keep looking and that naive thing could be a fox in disguise!!!!

[Rizzo]

^^^^
Like.

[AintGotNoSol]

Any new info from the visit to the mechanic? I was reading over this thread and the issue with the steering wheel caught my eye. I have a sort of similar issue with my Baja, where my steering wheel will kind of wander back and forth between center and about 10-15 degrees, but it only changes during cornering with some substantial force. I mean to say, The wheel doesn't just turn 15 degrees with no feed back at all times, but if I'm entering a corner quickly, or taking a long curve on a highway at speed, you can feel the wheel turning, but the car itself doesn't react until the wheel gets to a certain point. My brother checked everything over, and we came up with the idea that the steering rack bushings must be worn out, allowing the steering rack itself to slide left and right ever so slightly. I've changed out the passenger side bushing (which showed obvious signs of pretty bad wear), and that seemed to help a lot. I've had trouble finding a driver's side bushing though. The local Subaru dealership has sent me the wrong part three times. Still trying to get that all sorted out...

Anyway just tossing in some of my experience, in case it helps.

Good luck in your Baja search!

[Hawk296]

The shifter slop is not a big problem. It is just a result of higher miles. for $30 you put a new joint in the linkage and it is as good as new.


Same thing happened to my Impreza and the rubber bushing was literally gone on half of that joint and the other was barely holding on. My Baja is getting worse so I will not only replace it but upgrade it in the spring.

Looking for a Baja in MI? Good Luck! I will let you know if I see any for sale.

[AintGotNoSol]

I just bought a 91 Legacy and it has the same sloppy shifter feel that you guys described. Thanks for this info, I'm gonna check out the bushings and see if that's the issue.