Hey Subie guys, is this a good deal?

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2256757476.html

Head gasket maybe? Or just swap in a known good motor and figure it out on the stand?

Not an insane deal, but not bad.

What would put it in Damn Good Deal territory? $1000 off the price?

And is there a likely culprit, one of those 'Oh yeah, they all do that' scenarios?

At $2500, I'd start digging under the couch cushions. At $1000 I'd hold up the quickie mart.

I base all of this on the fact that my very similar one is probably worth $6,000 +/-. So $2500 off of that isn't much for an un-known engine issue.

$1000 off the price would really be a damn good deal. Even at that price if you swap in a known good engine and keep it under $5k it is a good deal.

From my experience that would be ~$7 if the engine was good, some people probably wouldn't pay as much if the engine has been replaced but still worth more than $5k after it is fixed.

My understanding is that Subies are like legos in terms of interchangeability. Could one start with a junkyard base 2.0(?) and add the WRX bits, or is it wisest to just bite the bullet and source a WRX motor?

I suppose what I'm asking: what differentiates the WRX motor from base?

in the US, we never got a 2.0 naturally aspirated.

i'd want to know what mods it EVER had attached to it, even if its stock now.

that will tell you what to look for.

new shortblock would be around 2grand, then labor.

not an outstanding deal.

...and set aside some $$ for a transmission rebuild of course.

alex wrote: My understanding is that Subies are like legos in terms of interchangeability. Could one start with a junkyard base 2.0(?) and add the WRX bits, or is it wisest to just bite the bullet and source a WRX motor? I suppose what I'm asking: what differentiates the WRX motor from base?

They're legos in that you can take, say, a WRX engine and throw it in an RS pretty easily. They're not legos in terms of junk yard turbocharging. Uncommon and sort of pointless.

DaveEstey wrote: new shortblock would be around 2grand, then labor. not an outstanding deal.

Unless, of course, there is someone a couple hours north of you that happens to have an EJ25 shortblock sitting around the garage that they would let go cheap and you were able/willing to do the work yourself to put it in...

Got a feeling thats a " snap " and "lets put a new t belt on, and see if we bent a valve" motor. Just a hunch.

Manual suggests 105k or so for a t belt, if memory serves correct... thats close, but possible

Cosmetic issues and not running at 9yo for $3.5k doesn't strike me as a killer deal; $1k off would sway me.

I'd plan for an engine when dealing... EJ20s are good for broken ring lands when boosted to the moon and driven like a kamikaze'd Zero. I wouldn't rule out valve damage, either.

Not a horrible deal. If there is no valve, or head damage, do as suggested above and add a 2.5 liter shortblock.

I'd go for it, I think the price is pretty good. Though I'd ditch the 4 banger and put a 6 cyc in there from an svx, they seem to be rather cheap now. Yeah, going from turbo to no turbo would be a downgrade, but you could recoup the cost of the svx engine and then some from the turbo bits.

not the eg33 from an svx. It fits but you likely have to lose the A/C and hack the radiator support. It's doable, but less practical, especially if you have obd2 emissions requirements. If you want the 6 cyl, go with the EZ30 from a new legacy, it's not as long, so it fits better, and can be obd2 compliant, however not as dirt cheap as a eg33.

depending on where you live in the country, they might not care if you pass emissions.