Need advice

[Suubaaroo]

Hello fellow Subaru enthusiasts, I'm new to this forum and sorry if I've posted it on the wrong section... I'm looking to purchase a Subaru Impreza and I'm wondering what I should go for and what I should avoid... My budget maxes out at $8,000 though I'd like to spend less than this so I can have some money on the side for maintenance, etc.

Which generation shall I go for, second or third? Which engine shall I go for, EJ20 or EJ25?

Appreciate your help

[El_Freddo]

Hey Suubaaroo,

Good questions. The engine size is up to you. The EJ25 in the phase two form are quite a robust engine (as is the EJ20 versions). They have a bad head gasket reputation (early EJ251s) due to a faulty HG design. I’ve used the STi MLS units to replace the HGs on two EJ251s in our family and they’re going really well. I believe the EJ253 has variable valve timing.

As for what model to go for, to me it comes down to balancing personal preferences in styling and what the vehicle has in terms of kms vs wear and tear, and price is certainly a factor.

These days cars can travel several hundred thousand kms and look like they’ve done a whole lot less if they’ve been looked after. You need to make a judgement on what you’re willing to accept in kms vs general condition. Also remember that generally higher km vehicles may need more maintenance if not already done. Eg bearings, suspension bushes, struts etc. If you’re not DIYing these it’ll add up very quickly.

Are there any specifics you’re after in a second hand Impreza? Auto/manual etc.

Cheers

Bennie

[Suubaaroo]

Thanks for your advice, I'm looking at manual 2nd and 3rd gen Impreza's and I don't really want more than 220,000km... I've heard that the 5 Speed manuals are fragile but I'm not going to modify the car or anything...

The EJ20's seem to be more common than the EJ25's so it's really what ever I can find... I prefer the EJ25 as it has a little more power than the EJ20 but are these engines more susceptible to head gasket failure?

[El_Freddo]

Ah yeah I forgot the Impreza is most common with the EJ20. You’d be looking at the RS or RV models for the EJ25 then. I’d look for the 25 over the 20 - the EJ251 in my sister’s RX Liberty pulls like a freight train for a NA engine IMO.

The EJ25 is no more susceptible to a HG failure as the EJ20 models are. If they leak it’s usually the factory fault leaking coolant externally. If these are swapped out for a later EJ25 HG part or the STi MLS units it won’t be an issue if they were installed correctly.

As for the gearboxes, they’re only as strong as the abuse they cop. That said, they got a bad reputation in the boosted scene as many would spend all their coin on engine performance mods then follow the break downs from there, typically with a clutch upgrade it was the gearbox that would strip second or third. I’ve seen one box strip fourth. These breakages aren’t just chipped teeth, they’re ground down completely!
For a factory delivered vehicle the gearbox should be of little concern.

The only real issue for the manual boxes is when the owner runs different tyres or different tyre tread depths on the same brand tyres. This can wear out the centre diff - the symptom of this issue is a knocking sound from the centre of the vehicle when doing circles or a U turn. Either direction will do it.

Other than that it’s the usual maintenance - gearbox oil changes, clutch wear etc.

Cheers

Bennie

[Suubaaroo]

Thanks for your reply,

I've also heard that the EJ engines have something where cylinder 4 doesn't get enough coolant... Is that part of the faults listed above? How about the timing belt, are they known to fray and snap?

From my research, the third gen seems to only have EJ20's and Turbo EJ25's which I don't really want the latter...

How about the frameless windows in the second gen, are they susceptible to leaking?

Should I go sedan or hatch and how many kilometres should I be going for?

[El_Freddo]

I’ve not heard the cylinder four issue except on some turbo builds. Someone came up with a simple fix for that but I don’t know if it’ll work on the later heads - it all depends on whether there’s an access point into the coolant jacket on the back of the head near cylinder 4.

Timing belts are solid. Just make sure if you replace it you’re also replacing the idler wheels as the cogged one is the one that typically lets go and does all the damage. The EJ belt setup is much more robust than the rubber bands of the EA82…

I’ve only had an issue with frameless windows at the auto car wash in my L series! I haven’t had anything else in the auto wash to compare. Any weather is no issue though. And the frameless windows are what makes a Subaru in my book. I was pretty disappointed to see them “go mainstream” with framed windows - but also understand this was done for side curtain air bags and the window needed to be held in place.

Sedan, hatch. Up to you, it’s a personal choice. My opinion is that sedans are dead, plus I like the look of the hatch over the sedan anyway.

How many kms? Also one that’s tough to answer. A suburban vehicle may have low kms, but the suspension may have had more work over regular rail line encounters, lots of stopping and starting this working the suspension and same for cornering through intersections. A country vehicle will most likely have done many kms at cruise speed - everything running at operating temp, roads are typically (but not always!) better than back in the day, or it could’ve done many kms on dirt roads…

This is where a thorough vehicle inspection is required if you want piece of mind before purchase. A vehicle regularly travelling on dirt road will have sand-blasted suspension components and most likely lots of dust and dirt in the nooks and crannies of the vehicle’s underside. Even with a thorough detailing under the car you should still be able to see these signs.
The rest is up to a judgement call on the general overall condition of the car. I’ve seen cars with low kms that look like total buckets, and others with high kms that are almost showroom condition (for example there’s a brumby at Innes Motor Bendigo that’s done 288,000km but looks like the catalogue photos!).

Without seeing the vehicle(s) you’re wanting to look at it’s hard to make a call from the other side of a forum post I’m sorry!

Cheers

Bennie

[Suubaaroo]

Thanks for your reply,

I'm not looking to buy a Subaru just yet as I'm also looking at other brands as well, but below are some cars that I'd definitely take a closer look at...

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/detail ... 2109/?Cr=9

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/detail ... 0404/?Cr=7

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/detail ... 6590/?Cr=8

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/maitlan ... 1297353133

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/rooty-h ... 1297047788

I'm also interested in 4th gen Liberty manuals as well...

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/armstro ... 1297119118

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/clarenc ... 1295776755

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/braesid ... 1294793287

There seems to be a few of these Subaru's with blown engines at the cheaper end of the scale, I'll definitely get a mechanical inspection guaranteed

[El_Freddo]

You’re looking at a good spread of vehicles there I think.

My short list just looking at the ads would be the white impreza in nsw (hatch), the first Liberty and the last one. These would need a thorough check for piece of mind but to me they seem like honest vehicles for purchase.

Cheers

Bennie

[Suubaaroo]

Thanks for your reply,

Is rust a common issue on these Impreza's and Liberty's

I want to put an image on here but I don't know how to as one of these cars has rust around the boot hinges...

[El_Freddo]

Not that I know of, but I’m not overly experienced with these later models. It will come down to how the vehicle was garaged or not, and the general climate it lived in.

To post images you need to get a host site such as imagur (I don’t even know if that’s spelt correctly). Then pull the image code to drop it in here. It’s an old process but it works, just a more “labour intensive” than social media.

Cheers

Bennie

[Suubaaroo]

Thanks for your help...

Is there anybody on this forum who's experienced with these later models or is there any place on this forum I can post this question on that will get replies?

[Subyroo]

To post images you need to get a host site such as imagur (I don’t even know if that’s spelt correctly). Then pull the image code to drop it in here. It’s an old process but it works, just a more “labour intensive” than social media.

Cheers

Bennie

The following is written for any newbies who stumble across this post, not to treat your or Bennie as "numpties". Bennie is light years ahead of me.

imgur - https://imgur.com/. Click on the New Post in the top LH corner of the page and then on the next page that opens, select
"Choose Photo/Video and then locate the picture/s you want to add to the post, on your PC. Once your picture/s are uploaded just move your mouse to the top RH corner of each individual picture and "Copy Link" will appear, click on it to copy the link to your picture/s. Come back to this site and click on the Picture Icon below the Subject line and Paste your copied link in between the tags. Submit your reply, pictures should show in your post.

Good Luck!

[Suubaaroo]

[Suubaaroo]

That's an image of a 22b STI which hasn't come up in my previous post

[El_Freddo]

Hey mate, looking into the code on that image it’s for an article and thus won’t display.

I don’t know if coping the web address of an image from a website would work or not. You would need the direct code to the image itself, not the page it’s displayed on with other text or images etc.

Cheers

Bennie

[Suubaaroo]

[El_Freddo]

Edited for you Suubaaroo - I just swapped the [url] code for the [img] code. The end code after address of the image is the same but as “/img” with the quotations being the open and close square brackets

If you quote your post above you’ll see the code and the quote code in your reply. These are handy to know!

Cheers

Bennie

[Suubaaroo]

[Suubaaroo]

Thanks for your help everybody...

[El_Freddo]

Looks like you’ve levelled up with the image posting Suubaaroo. Well done!

Cheers

Bennie