Rebuild Engine or Sell?

I have a stock 2005 Lecagy GT Limited 5MT and I have a decision to make whether to have my local Subaru shop rebuild the engine or to sell the car and look for something else. I was hoping I would find some advice on this forum.

 

First off, let me tell you that Maia eats oil like it's her job! Yes, Maia is my LGT's name! I probably go through a couple of quarts every oil change (~3.5k miles). I'm burning a good portion of it, I think, because the exhaust tips are black and I see white smoke at startup and when I'm hard on the accelerator.

 

My local Subaru shop tells me that the piston rings are failing and that's why I'm getting so much blow by. Not too long ago, however, I did a leakdown test (only on cylinders 1&3) and the leak down was around 5-8% with the sound coming through the oil filler. I thought those were decent numbers at the time.

 

In any case, I have the car paid off, the body has some hail damage and some other body damage as well. The interior is in very good condition.

 

The Subaru shop wants $6500 to rebuild the motor, replace the turbo and clutch. First of all, does this seem like a decent price for the work? If so, what's your advice to keeping the car and getting the work done, or unload it and look for something else. (BTW, I don't have very much money right now and at least 1/2 of the cost of that work would probably go on a credit card.)

 

Thanks in advance!

I was just looking into doing the same thing with the exact same car, you can get a brand new Subaru OEM short block for $1800 off ebay and it'd be 5 or 6 hours replacement. So maybe $800 in labor and $1800 in a new motor. It's much less labor intensive than a motor rebuild

In any case, I have the car paid off, the body has some hail damage and some other body damage as well. The interior is in very good condition.

 

The Subaru shop wants $6500 to rebuild the motor, replace the turbo and clutch. First of all, does this seem like a decent price for the work? If so, what's your advice to keeping the car and getting the work done, or unload it and look for something else. (BTW, I don't have very much money right now and at least 1/2 of the cost of that work would probably go on a credit card.)

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I did it last year. Price seems reasonable.

 

Do you want to rebuild it? Or do you want something new? A lot of os determine we want to keep the car and we rebuild, but these cars cost time and money to upkeep.

 

I decided there was nothing else around I really wanted a car payment for so I did the rebuild.

 

Did the shop do a compression and leakdown test?

 

My piston ring was borked and I had 80% leakdown. I wonder if something else is causing you to lose oil?

 

I was just looking into doing the same thing with the exact same car, you can get a brand new Subaru OEM short block for $1800 off ebay and it'd be 5 or 6 hours replacement. So maybe $800 in labor and $1800 in a new motor. It's much less labor intensive than a motor rebuild

 

Don't forget on an 11 year old car almost all the rubber bits will fall a part when you remove them, machine shop cost to get the heads resurfaced, misc other costs.

 

I think most who go this route get out at around $3-$4k doing the work themselves.

Do you love it enough to go into debt to fix up an 11-year-old car that will continue to go progressively downhill? $6500 is more than you'll get if you sell or trade it, even without the engine problem. You might be better off putting that $6500 plus the value of your LGT into buying a newer replacement.

You can read my click here link to see how to replace the short block the right way.

 

That was about $5000 or a little more.

 

That price they gave you looks pretty good, get it in writing with a list of everything that will replaced or rebuilt.

 

You need to decide how much you like the car, or cut your loses and move on.

Thank you for all the advice so far. I'm leaning towards rebuilding because there's no other car I really want. If I were to dump the car and get something else, I would probably look for a newer LGT or WRX. But I could end up in this same situation with that car a few years down the road. The shop said I could expect to drive the car another 10 years if I rebuild the engine. I like this car and want it in good condition so I can rely on it and have fun driving it again.

Plus I just put new wiper blades on....the nice RainX ones too!

If you decide to rebuild. Start a list of things you want to do, put prices on that list.

 

Don't forget the fluids and oil filters, hoses and belts, zip tie all vacuum hoses.

 

Dave at www.cyrotuneperformance.com may be of some help, he is close to you and may be able to offer the names of a few trusted shops.

 

I know he's real busy lately and has stopped doing e-tunes.

 

Read the sticky's at the top of the rebuild forum.

Thanks for the heads up, but I would pay my local Subaru shop to do the work. I don't have the space, knowledge, or tools for a job of this magnitude.

Ok, still read the sticky's so you have an idea what they should be doing.

 

You'll also want to get the car tuned after break in. The stock tune has issues that can cause burnt valves and cracked ring lands.

 

Make sure they remove both banjo filters. You don't want them blocking the oil flow.

Below is the quote I received from the Subaru Shop. Any thoughts on it before I give the green light?

 

http://imgur.com/a/mGNZM

Sell... buy an STI

I don't see, "rebuild heads" on that list, only clean and resurface.

 

Ask them how much would it be if you brought them a new ej257 short block. I think it would save a lot of labor in the first price.