Buyer beware of a LGT LTD Wagon with 5MT in Winchester, VA

After a very long search, I came across what seemed like a reasonable deal on an awesome wagon....a OBP LGT LTD Wagon with a manual tranny. I spent two whole weeks communicating with the seller trying to establish the history and story behind the vehicle. All seemed good. At $8500 the price seemed appropriate for a vehicle with 121K mi. What I found out while it was being checked out at the local Subaru dealer was startling. I could go on and on but the bottom line is I was totally mislead. Although the vehicle appeared to be in reasonable mechanical condition and only average body condition, there are serious problems with the motor. As it was being backed out of the service bay I noticed what sounded like someone thumping on a plastic tub. The thumping was traced to a tear in the timing belt from where it was rubbing against a guide...methodically tearing itself worse. Needless to say, I paid the Subaru their $300 bill and walked away.

This story has an ok ending....I bought a worn out 2002 LLBean and drove it home. Tonight I traded the LL Bean (at a $1500 loss) on a 05 XT Ltd in GRP with black interior....only 56K mi on it...and to top it off...it was a local car so NO RUST! (did I mention that the GT in Winchester was pretty rusty below?)

Happy hunting and good luck y'all!

-r

At 121K miles it would be overdue for timing belt service. That would take care of the belt, idlers, water pump, thermostat and maybe a few seals.

Is that all that was wrong with it? What other mechanical issues did they find?

Rust "down below" is usually just a superficial layer on the suspension and drivetrain components and no big deal. If it was rust on the body, that would be more of a concern.

How about the VIN?

At 121K miles it would be overdue for timing belt service. That would take care of the belt, idlers, water pump, thermostat and maybe a few seals.

 

Is that all that was wrong with it? What other mechanical issues did they find?

 

Rust "down below" is usually just a superficial layer on the suspension and drivetrain components and no big deal. If it was rust on the body, that would be more of a concern.

 

How about the VIN?

Well, the rest or some of the story at least is that the current owner had rebuilt the motor with new pistons, rods, bearings...etc...but he actually used parts from an sti motor he was updating...so the parts came from a 'slightly used' motor....then supposedly, the belt and all the other moving parts were new. So none of this was ever disclosed in the two weeks leading up to my trip up there....the descete and lack of info and the apparent effort to hide all this info was bad enough, then when the issue of the belt came up, my perception of what kind of tech this guy was, went to crap. Now that I have a seemingly like new OB XT and see what the motor should look like, I see where that one was very poorly put back together. As for the rust, there were a few bolts (esp. the alignment bolts) were almost to the point that they'd crumble if one attempted to break them loose.

4s3bp676x56325244.

After a very long search, I came across what seemed like a reasonable deal on an awesome wagon....a OBP LGT LTD Wagon with a manual tranny. I spent two whole weeks communicating with the seller trying to establish the history and story behind the vehicle. All seemed good. At $8500 the price seemed appropriate for a vehicle with 121K mi. What I found out while it was being checked out at the local Subaru dealer was startling. I could go on and on but the bottom line is I was totally mislead. Although the vehicle appeared to be in reasonable mechanical condition and only average body condition, there are serious problems with the motor. As it was being backed out of the service bay I noticed what sounded like someone thumping on a plastic tub. The thumping was traced to a tear in the timing belt from where it was rubbing against a guide...methodically tearing itself worse. Needless to say, I paid the Subaru their $300 bill and walked away.

 

This story has an ok ending....I bought a worn out 2002 LLBean and drove it home. Tonight I traded the LL Bean (at a $1500 loss) on a 05 XT Ltd in GRP with black interior....only 56K mi on it...and to top it off...it was a local car so NO RUST! (did I mention that the GT in Winchester was pretty rusty below?)

 

Happy hunting and good luck y'all!

 

-r

Why didnt you just buy the OBXT to start and skip the LL Bean

Why didnt you just buy the OBXT to start and skip the LL Bean

I bought the Bean in Virginia to get home to Georgia...the OBXT appeared on AutoTrader the day after I got back as a recent trade to a local dealer. I still wish I could have found a LGT LTD but maybe with some changes in the suspension it'll be ok.

-r

Yeah, probably for the best that you avoided the one in Winchester, even though it seemed like a good deal.

I'm running into some rust and potential problem leaks with my new LGT Wagon that I feel like I got a decent deal on, until I realized some of the issues with it...still not a bad deal. Whoever heard of a rear differential leaking? I thought these things were supposed to be pretty bulletproof?

Congrats to the OP for finally finding a turbo wagon. HARD TO FIND! I was also strongly considering an OBXT and then my LGT Wagon popped up. There are things you can easily do to the suspension (coil overs, sway bars, end links, etc) that can help out the handling and ride height. At least you got a red one with all the same paint tone. I hate the two tone paint scheme on the other Outbacks!

4s3bp676x56325244.

Thanks for the info. What a mess, too bad!

I bought my LGT wagon in March from a member on this site, took a 10 hour one-way train ride and bought sight unseen. The next morning after driving it home there was a significant noise on startup, and my shop discovered the timing belt was being eaten by one of the guides too (even tho it was just replaced). Seller didn't know what I was referring to when I said there was a noise near the timing belt , but he offered to split that repair cost with me.

Unfortunetly the seller isn't offering to help me replace the transfer drive bearings that are going out in the center diff, which were obvious when driving, but he had no idea of either

I paid top dollar for mine. Full disclosure my ass...

I take full responsibility. Like I said, I took a 10 hour train out there, felt sort of stuck buying it once I got there. I trusted the seller pretty much entirely, hindsight I wish I would have walked away.

The timing belt was only audible on first startup and there's no way he didn't know there was an issue, sounded like rubber flapping off of the timing cover for the first 10 minutes driving. Potentially could have been very damaging.

I noticed the trans noise immediately, but didn't argue it at the time. Stupid on my part.

I sold my first '05 LGT with 114k miles here on the boards. Priced very fairly according to the condition of the car (no price drops) with full disclosure. I guess expecting the same isn't always going to happen, hence the OP's thread.

Dang....that's a bum deal....sorry to hear it.

Lucky for me I did not get on the road with the way the timing belt was being eaten...I would've ended up on the side of the road somewhere between Virginia and Georgia standing by a car with a trashed motor.

Hopefully you'll get all the issues sorted and end up with a nice car when all is said and done.

-r

I'm very glad it didn't come to that for me...

I've gotten to know these cars, and I've gotten to know good people that know these cars much better over the years. At the end of the day I wanted the wagon and I'm happy with it, just not the experience purchasing it.

Good luck with yours, take care of it and it will do the same to you.

I'm guessing they've been going for about 20k miles. I'm shopping options, and unfortunately its just outside my comfortable range of work. If I drive down there will you help me fix mine? Prob cheaper then a shop is going to charge me.

I'm a bit of a drive tbh. Hour south of DC.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3950420&postcount=6619

That's what makes so much noise.

Job was not very difficult at all. Shop Press is definitely very useful. It is a weekend project since the Fujibond needs 24 hours to cure as per the Internets (IDK if this is truly the case).

General walkthrough: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D2071286&sa=U&ei=petRUM6nF4X29gTGpoDwBw&ved=0CBMQFjAA&sig2=lYcLi_Mqakln8DioPqNDnQ&usg=AFQjCNGydaHOv_9me1uTNLDsgKsDAx5VyA

I believe the part numbers are the same. Subaru has since updated them a few times as well.

While I'm thinking about it... I might be helping thefultonhow do his (which would entail me taking the shop press to Owings Mills, MD (north of DC). Let me look into this.

I PM'd thefultonhow a number of times about this last week, and I read that nasioc thread shortly before he referred me to it too.

I've emailed a local performance shop and I'm waiting for a quote, but I'd like to get it done myself and save some $$. I'm still looking for solutions, and would potentially consider a drive. I have plenty of friends in and around Balt. & DC that I could visit for a weekend. Would be glad to compensate for the effort too.

Ah. I've been feeding him the info.

I'd expect around $800 for the job.