'93 Sportswagon

Levy · Post by **Levy** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:41 pm

G'day all, stumbled on this site yesterday and looks full of friendly people with a wealth of knowledge. Been looking for a new car for the past couple of weeks, my last car (volvo 740) is on her last legs. Definitely going to get a subie wagon of some type. I'm in Townsville, though have family on the sunny coast and bris. Been scouring the various sites and have seen a variety of options. I'm looking for something that I can use to go on adventures, bit of dirt road action, but no 4x4ing.. yet. Just wondering what some of your suggestions might be.

http://www.tradingpost.com.au/Automotiv ... e&AdOnTop=
Having an uncle look at this one tomorrow, low km's appeals and think if i can knock a grand off it, it'd be worth it. Any thoughts about it and things i could trick it out with down the track would be handy. I'm not a mechanic, but am sure i can get some help to do some relatively easy things done.

Cheers for your time and help,
Levy.

dobo · Post by **dobo** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:55 am

That sure is a lot for an l series. I've been looking around too and haven't really seen any for over 3K.
also its an auto?

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:19 am

That's one very low k L series! Most are hovering around at the 300k km mark these days if not more.

Looks like a good buy from the website. Dunno about the price but then again it is just a baby. Look out for rust under the windscreen and up the A pillars (beside windscreen again). This is where they typically rust out. Remove the spare wheel and check for rust in this area too.

The rear wheel wells can have rust that is concealed. I bought mine with rust in there and I didn't find it until about a year later, the rego mechanic didn't even find it!

Other than that if its had the coolant and engine oil kept up to it and replaced when it should be they're pretty bomb proof. You would hope that the cam belt has been changed at some point in time during its life. This would need doing sometime soon. I would also look at replacing the water pump too.

Cheers

Bennie

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:45 am

dobo wrote:That sure is a lot for an l series. I've been looking around too and haven't really seen any for over 3K.
also its an auto?

Auto in the pics, manual in the description

Would suggest none you saw had 94,000 on the clock...

Looks like a good buy, but they do hold together well as they age (if looked after). You would still do ok buying one with 200-300k on the clock, for a half of what they were asking for this example.

If you have cash, and knock a few dollars off = win. (maybe use the cam belt and water pump as mentioned as leverage?)

Bet it drives like new! Tasty bull bar too.

Keep us posted.

Levy · Post by **Levy** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:10 pm

My auntie and uncle looked at the car today. This is what they had to say..

I went and had a look at the car today. It is very tidy, it started easily and ran evenly and fairly quietly. I would say someone took care to look after it, there is a carpet protector on the floor at the back and there was no obvious stains or rips in the upholstery and no smell that might indicate it had been in water (flood). There is a chip in the windscreen but a new one is on order to replace it. Frank is going to check it out tomorrow after work. The dealer told me it has had a RACQ check, done by another customer who decided to get a ute instead, and they had not found anything than what he had said. It is just had its transmission serviced. I did not talk money but will if Frank thinks it is good too. 5K seems a little much but I am sure it is negotiable. I was told it comes from Yepoon area but there was a book in the glovebox with a list of Subaru dealers and there was a cross against the one in Alice Springs and 19,400 written next to it which may indicate it was there at some time in its history a few thousand Kms ago.

Frank and I had drove the car this afternoon. It is a bit low powered but it may have been because the motor was cold and the auto seemed a bit sluggish but again maybe it needed to warm up. The dealer said the transmission had just been serviced.
The lights and wipers etc all work well. Frank commented it seems well looked after, little things like headlight and bonnet protector and also screening in the centre of the bullbar to protect the spotties from stones and the radiator from bugs. We had a look at the motor and noticed one breather hose needed replacing. Frank got on the ground and looked underneath, it has a new exhaust pipe and everything intact and undamaged. The power steering is OK and she feels quite nice to drive beside being low powered.

How does this sound? Little concerned with the 'low power' comment, but is this just typical of the model?

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:30 pm

Low powered is typicall esp for a carb with auto IMO. I would start with the fact that it is not the MPFI engine as a negotiation tool. Make sure A/C works proper to as this is also a bargaining point. Auto is boring to drive I feel + plus lacks dual range. though not hard to convert to manual if you have those kind of aspirations. Dual range is a must for any half fun 4WDing

I suggest you check out the Glass Book guide for used cars, as 5K is way to much for this model even if genuine low k"s. Take a copy of the guide if you can to help with buy price.

J

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:41 pm

I thought it was listed in that ad as a manual??

Autos suck in my opinion. I hope I'm still able to drive a manual until the day I can no longer drive! The carbie and auto combination will = even less power than a carb'd manual plus the auto will no doubt suck more juice in the long run.

No fun for me. Manual "for the win"

Cheers

Bennie

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:49 pm

Yeah Bennie the old subies esp, just dont cut it with slautomatics:( But otherwise if the price is substantially reduced it could be a starting point... Know what I mean.

J

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:49 pm

Yeah they are low power but $5000 is way too much

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:51 pm

I've since checked that listing again - description says manual, photos show auto.

If it were me, I'd be walking away unless there was a manul waiting for it when it got back to my joint...

$5000 seems to be the price dealers ask for with these things... Generally speaking!

Cheers

Bennie

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:54 pm

five grand !! Cheeky dealer , would they pay you top dollar as a trade in with low kilometres ? I doubt it. Age is age when it comes to this age - 18 years old now. Water hoses like all the tricky carby ones, heater hoses that require dash out, seals etc, they are all same age. You can get two identical cars of say thirteen years old, quality Japanese, one with quarter the kilometres and they will both likely have same ageing problems. Probably wholesaled for two grand. I bought a 87 make date L with 188,000 km with exceptional interior, exterior just a few oil leaks and CV boots and a stuck thermostat - $250 - and I parted it for my needed bits and scrapped the rest. Still think if I had cleaned up its oil leaks coulda got at least 2500 for it. Did not realise the value of these babies at the time. The auto has seals etc that also age, get a bit hard and makes auto a little sluggish needing a rebuild if oil conditioner does not loosen things up.

If it looks like what you want and can afford it and lasts you a good few years and trips it could be worth it. See what five grand buys in EJ AWD stuff .....

Levy · Post by **Levy** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:00 pm

Thanks all for your advice, the auto aspect had me a bit skeptical.. might leave it for another grandma. Dunno if i've got the time right now for gearbox/engine changes, pretty sure something else will pop-up.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:04 pm

steptoe wrote: See what five grand buys in EJ AWD stuff .....

1995 lib wagon in good condition with blown head gasket on ebay... A mate picked this up under $1500

Guess who gets to "learn" an EJ headgasket replacement??

I'm stoked, he's stoked. Gotta be happy with that!

Cheers

Bennie

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:01 am

Yeah $5k is a little high for an L. You could pick up a nice AWD Impreza Sportswagon for that sort of money.

dobo · Post by **dobo** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 7:15 pm

So Levy had a look at that touring wagon turbo? I don't know if its near you but might be something with a bit of power if you don't want to do an engine replacement, fairly low K's aswell.

heres the link for anyone wanting to give advice on it.
http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...r=0&R=10322803

Levy · Post by **Levy** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 2:23 am

I thought this looked sick man.. looks tough enough to do what i need it to do. it's down in bris but i get holidays in two weeks, i could go pick it up. gonna ask em to take some pics of the interior, any other snaps/info you suggest i ask for?

http://www.carsguide.com.au/site/search ... D_15223664

JPM · Post by **JPM** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 2:54 am

Why has nobody else mentioned the modded rs lib converted gx for sale by captain obvious ??

vbclassified.php?do=ad&id=1474

Bargain and a beast to boot... And it's in sunny QLD!

Levy · Post by **Levy** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 3:03 am

Yeah, i've seen it JPM, i'm just after something a little less hardcore..

pics here - http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1989-Subaru-Libe ... 3cb6807a4c

stewbaru · Post by **stewbaru** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 10:58 am

I agree with JPM that liberty is a weapon, genuinely good price for all the work its had done to it, the lift kit will affect the handling but apart from that i wouldn't say its to "hardcore"

Also sincere apologies to my l series but the lib's are a lot nicer to drive on the road haha

Definitely worth a look mate