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2002 Legacy Gt


bhorton9

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Hi guys, I'm looking to purchase my first car very soon. I have been into subies for a little while now and I have my eyes on an 02 lgt 5 speed(because I cant afford a 4th gen) the car I'm currently looking at seems fairly clean to me, it has 144k miles with a new timing belt at 133k, which brings about my first question which is how can I tell whether or not the head gasket has been replaced, the dealer says he "thinks" it has been replaced but I cant really trust that. Otherwise my only major concerns are rust at the bottom corners of both passenger doors closer to the wheel wells, Will this spread? On one side it has totally rotted through and there is a hole about the size of a penny, and on the other side it was not rotted through. This is the only rust I saw on all of the car. All pictures are actual pics of the car except the picture of the rust which is the best example I could find(the actual rust isn't quite this bad). Any help/suggestions/uncommon knowledge about these cars would be very helpful! Thanks

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A bit of the info I left out:

the asking price on this is $3800 Id say I can get it down much closer to 3k.

I had my friend test drive this as I am iffy with manual (a few hours in a parking lot with an s2000) I did drive it a little (enough to get to third gear) and it felt good to both of us. The engine sounded very good and the clutch felt pretty good, but a bit mushy(again its the first time driving an lgt so I wouldn't know if that's normal, and it is being compared to an s2000 which has a fairly firm clutch). I Plan on looking at it again later this week and bringing to my local mechanic to have it checked out.

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Car looks nice. For a manual transmission, a quick check on the clutch is to put on the hand parking brake. Put the car into first gear and very slowly let the clutch out until you feel it start to engage. If you let it out too much, you will stall it, as you have the parking brake on. In any case, if the car starts to try to move forward while the clutch is still perhaps 1/3 of the way to the full "out" position, the clutch is probably good. On manual cars, a slipping clutch (which would need to be replaced) will show signs of not engaging the engine, until the clutch pedal is almost fully in the "out" position.

 

Have your mechanic check the head gaskets for any visual signs of leaks, and since you got the GT, you have the turbo engine. Make sure the turbo does not rattle or making a funny sound when you accelerate hard, so that the turbo in engaged. It should be smooth and not make any funny noises or vibration. With a turbo, you want to make sure you keep the engine oil clean, which means changing the oil about every 4000 miles and use synthetic oil. There is lots of discussions about what synthetic is good or bad, but I suggest looking on the "AMSOIL" oil website and search for this particular car. They will recommend oil and service interval. AMSOIL is great synthetic oil which is normally only sold at service shops, so you won't find it at Pep Boys or any retail store. I have used AMSOIL for years in all my cars (I have a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon with a turbo), and have been very happy and never had an oil related problem with any of my cars.

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Car looks nice. For a manual transmission, a quick check on the clutch is to put on the hand parking brake. Put the car into first gear and very slowly let the clutch out until you feel it start to engage. If you let it out too much, you will stall it, as you have the parking brake on. In any case, if the car starts to try to move forward while the clutch is still perhaps 1/3 of the way to the full "out" position, the clutch is probably good. On manual cars, a slipping clutch (which would need to be replaced) will show signs of not engaging the engine, until the clutch pedal is almost fully in the "out" position.

 

Have your mechanic check the head gaskets for any visual signs of leaks, and since you got the GT, you have the turbo engine. Make sure the turbo does not rattle or making a funny sound when you accelerate hard, so that the turbo in engaged. It should be smooth and not make any funny noises or vibration. With a turbo, you want to make sure you keep the engine oil clean, which means changing the oil about every 4000 miles and use synthetic oil. There is lots of discussions about what synthetic is good or bad, but I suggest looking on the "AMSOIL" oil website and search for this particular car. They will recommend oil and service interval. AMSOIL is great synthetic oil which is normally only sold at service shops, so you won't find it at Pep Boys or any retail store. I have used AMSOIL for years in all my cars (I have a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon with a turbo), and have been very happy and never had an oil related problem with any of my cars.

 

OMG stop. Just stop. Seriously, you have no clue what you're talking about.

 

OP, that rust WILL continue to grow. Unfortunately, that's how rust works -- it spreads. Being that this is your first car, it shouldn't matter too much. There will be other cars, you will have many cars. This one in particular is a decent first Subaru, though.

 

As far as the HGs go, take it to a local Subaru shop and have a compression test done. A visual inspection won't yield any real discernible or reliable information.

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I plan on wire wheeling the rust, getting a piece of metal welded in, painting the spot with a rust inhibitor of some sort then using color matched spray paint to finish it off. Do you think that will stop the rust from spreading anymore than it already has? That is the only rust on the entire car so I'm not too worried especially seeing that it's out of sight 90% of the time and it's not structural

Also I do know it doesn't have a turbo lol

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That is what is great about a forum. All can provide their thoughts / opinions. We don't really need your comments about now knowing what someone is talking about. I see you did not really add anything of value, other than saying to have a compression test. In any purchase of a used car, it is always recommended to have a mechanic thoroughly check over the vehicle. I simply provided some quick tests that a driver to do to help screen out a car that could have serious clutch problems. I see your car is an automatic, so if you have not owned or driven a manual transmission car, then I don't really know why you think I have no idea what I am talking about. Please explain to this young potential buyer how you would do a quick drivers test of the clutch performance, as you seem to be very critical, but did not offer your expert advice to this young man.
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That is what is great about a forum. All can provide their thoughts / opinions. We don't really need your comments about now knowing what someone is talking about. I see you did not really add anything of value, other than saying to have a compression test. In any purchase of a used car, it is always recommended to have a mechanic thoroughly check over the vehicle. I simply provided some quick tests that a driver to do to help screen out a car that could have serious clutch problems. I see your car is an automatic, so if you have not owned or driven a manual transmission car, then I don't really know why you think I have no idea what I am talking about. Please explain to this young potential buyer how you would do a quick drivers test of the clutch performance, as you seem to be very critical, but did not offer your expert advice to this young man.

 

See my post count? Higher than yours.

 

See my build thread? I'm actually getting my hands dirty.

 

Your post count? Low.

 

Where's your build thread? What mods have you got? From what I can tell, all you've done is bought the car and put AMSOIL in it. Did you even pour it yourself?

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That is what is great about a forum. All can provide their thoughts / opinions. We don't really need your comments about now knowing what someone is talking about. I see you did not really add anything of value, other than saying to have a compression test. In any purchase of a used car, it is always recommended to have a mechanic thoroughly check over the vehicle. I simply provided some quick tests that a driver to do to help screen out a car that could have serious clutch problems. I see your car is an automatic, so if you have not owned or driven a manual transmission car, then I don't really know why you think I have no idea what I am talking about. Please explain to this young potential buyer how you would do a quick drivers test of the clutch performance, as you seem to be very critical, but did not offer your expert advice to this young man.
The problem is that misinformation (MissTris spreads his fair share), can lead people down the wrong path and be taken as gospel. The biggest flaw in your initial response was that his car was a turbo vehicle. 2nd and 3rd gen LGTs are normally aspirated. Your assistance wasn't all for not, explaining some testing procedures to a first car buyer are helpful. Rule of thumb, if you do not know without a shadow of a doubt that what you post is accurate - don't post it.

 

See my post count? Higher than yours.

 

See my build thread? I'm actually getting my hands dirty.

 

Your post count? Low.

 

Where's your build thread? What mods have you got? From what I can tell, all you've done is bought the car and put AMSOIL in it. Did you even pour it yourself?

Your post count means nothing when it comes to experience, so maybe just highlight your "expertise" by referencing your "build thread", and leave your arrogance and narrow minded views to yourself. How does the amount of mods one has done to their car have anything to do with experience? Are you stating that unless you modify your car from OEM - you are clueless as to knowing your way around car maintenance? I know plenty of skilled mechanics and machinists who prefer restoring vehicles to their former glory, versus "modding".

 

While I agree that some misinformation was spread, your post I quoted discounts any credible advice you may offer.

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Your post count means nothing when it comes to experience

 

so maybe just highlight your "expertise" by referencing your "build thread", and leave your arrogance and narrow minded views to yourself. How does the amount of mods one has done to their car have anything to do with experience? Are you stating that unless you modify your car from OEM - you are clueless as to knowing your way around car maintenance? I know plenty of skilled mechanics and machinists who prefer restoring vehicles to their former glory, versus "modding".

 

While I agree that some misinformation was spread, your post I quoted discounts any credible advice you may offer.

 

Post count eh misstris?

 

my 1000+ trumps your 856.

 

gtfo

 

lmao :lol:

 

 

MissTris has been huffing on that engine paint a little to long. I think you should finish your "build" before assisting in others.

torque impresses girrls, hp impresses flat-bills
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