I'm in the position of owning a '99 S wagon that's just had its 105,000 mile service. There's only one stamping place left in the book. I've had it three years now and it's never once not started or broken down. The only non-sevice items that have failed are a rear shock, an 02 sensor and a MAF sensor.

My servicing chap remarked that he thought I might have moved on by now, as things start to wear out, but I was wondering what sorts of things have cropped up for other owners in my position, and whether I ought to think about buying another lower mileage classic.

Bubs.

 

If its still going id keep it, You get problems even with low milege cars.

 

If its not costing more in repairs/servicing than it is keep running any other car why not keep it? As you say, its got FSSH and you know the neccersary parts have been replaced.

Have the pods been replaced?

 

usually people rebuild the engine at around that milage. But if you are not wasting more petrol than usuall, you are fine.

 

The engine's absolutely sweet, genuinely it drives like new, no smokiness, no smells. The engine is the absolute least of my worries. I was thinking more along the lines of clutches, wheel bearings, suspension elements and stuff like that.

 

I bought my WRX wagon on 105k last year and it had been genuinely looked after. Ran lovely, bodywork all fine, no problems. First problem occurred after about a month and from then on it's been a money pit:
1. Exhaust started blowing - turned out that it needed a new uppipe and downpipe
2. Front and rear ARB drop link bushes worn - replaced with Whiteline alloy jobs
3. Leaking head gasket on one side
4. Rear ARB replaced for a Whiteline adjustable version
5. Intercooler pipework split, replaced with Samco
6. Busted crankshaft oil seal. Cambelt done at the same time as seal was fixed.
7. Rough idle.
7. Crankshaft oil seal busted again, beginnings of piston slap. Bottom end rebuilt - one piston had been causing the problem.
8. Running in bottom end, threw the cambelt off. Still running rough, needed throttle position sensor and idle control valve replacing. Cambelt tensioner also done.
9. Oil supply in offside head had failed and cam bearings had run dry, repeatedly seizing and throwing off belt. New head needed.
10. Head on other side still tapping. Going in for second head replacement.

And I thought Subarus were reliable - until I bought one. I've had more electrical and mechanical problems in 6 months with a Scoob than I ever had in six YEARS of owning, tuning and driving a Clio 16v. The only engine mods are an STi panel filter and a stainless exhaust from the up-pipe back.

 

my car my97 had 107000 miles on it when i bought it just over 2 years ago,
now has 138000 miles just had the usual services and had to change the rad in begining of december.

 

The question is do you want to change it? It isnt worth alot of money anymore so you either want to change and start hammering miles onto a new car or keep this one till it dies. I would suggest your depreciation has pretty much ended on your current car and if it dies tomorrow its cheaper than buying a newer car and clocking miles up and loosing money again........

 

Bought my MY96 uk wagon 3 years ago with 82k on the clock.

Now she sits at 127k and I've done quite a bit to her:

Uprated discs and pads + 4-pots
braided hoses
eibachs
full decat
scoobyecu
HKS panelfilter
Blitz d/v

Mechanically I've looked after this car better than any previously, serviced when it should be, oils changed religiously etc etc....luckily, the previous 2 owners were mature and looked after the car as good as me.

However, last year she started with a water leak after a seized t/stat so I had ALL engine seals and gaskets replaced and now she's running perfect.

Had considered swapping her in for another, later scoob this year but not sure if I will as I know the car so well. The key issue for me is regular oil changes and not trying to generate too much power with std internals.

Looking forward to another 40k.

Si.

 

Thought you hated Scoobs Bubba?
.. maybe I'm getting you confused with another well known muppet? (lpski was it?)

 

It's Ali-B who doesn't like scoobs.

On topic, I guess by the low response to this thread that no-one is having any problems with their high-milers.

 

They all blew up and the owners left scoobynet in a huff

 

I'm reaping what I've sown, aren't I?

 

the words boot and different foot spring to mind

 

My 98' wagon, 90,000 miles, two years of ownership, smiles all the way, until recently, constant oil leak from the head gasket,which drips onto the exhaust, very smelly, smokey and annoying. Changed 4 times, going back tomorrow for a fifth. Otherwise just the usual bits, oil, brakes, tyres, cambelt.

 

Probably your mechanic is doing something wrong.

 

Is it modified at all?

 

Absolutely. 5 times is ridiculous Is he sure that's where the oil's coming from?

 

Yeh thats what i thought, but i do trust him, he's done all my other work and on my mates. No it's not modified, except a full magnex exhaust.

 

Will say he is a Subaru specialist.

 

Its not a matter of trust, its wheter or not he is able to solve why you need to change your gasket frequently.

 

I'm wondering if it might be the camshaft oil seal, which I hear wears out in high milers. I wouldnt know whether that would drip onto the exhaust, though.

 

Have had the car over the pit at work many times, always coming from the same place, bottom corner of gasket, was told it could be a warped head, which i mention to him, he said he checked. not been charged since the first change.

 

Had the camshaft oil seal changed 6 months ago.

 

Oops! it dropped off of the front page.

 

Mines done 109000 miles and its a modified MY00 with a de-cat exhaust and a TEK 2.5 ECU. Its putting out about 265bhp. It's starting to feel a bit loose now but I'm sure if I change the droplinks it'll be fine and it's got a wee crunch going into 5th thats sorted by double de-clutching. Never had any real big dramas with relibility, touch wood. I changed a wheel bearing and hub last year along with the MAF. Regular maintenance above the standard dealer servicing helps to keep it running along fine.

 

Rear wheel bearings are a bit suspect >100k.

D

 

Why the rears particularly, do you think? I'm starting to get a bit jumpy that I've had virtually NO problems, yet.

 

My MY98 wagon is sitting at 116K now... I've only had the car since 100K or so but in that time I've done the following:

1. cambelt & oil change for peace of mind about 2 days after I got it
2. drivers side rocker cover gasket due to a little smoke sometimes
3. radiator replaced to fix coolant leak
4. Front brake disks just replaced for MOT
5. 2 tyres, will probably need another two shortly
6. will need to replace the back box soon though, as it was picked up in the MOT that it was blowing a little

Apart from that the car's been running perfectly... previous owner kept service book up to date and did mostly motorway miles, which might have helped keep the wear and tear down

Pete

 

mines on 123k, just had to replace usual suspects on mine (coil packs) and normal service items. the only other thing was a new rad as my end tanks split. (car is modified to about 280bhp running a power fc)