Found A Clapped-Out Subie On Marketplace? Step Inside

It’s almost 11:30 pm, you’re supposed to be sleeping but you’re scrolling through FB marketplace when something arrests your attention. That something is a 2012 Subaru STI hatch. It looks straight. It’s got a clean title, about 115k miles. It’s got coilovers, some Enkei RPF-1’s, some sort of cat-back. The seller is 22 years-old and communicates in acronyms. Price? $9,500 OBO. You decide to reach out. Bro says he might be up around noon the next day, so you give him an extra hour to let him eat his cereal so shoot for 1pm? Bet is his reply.

Now in this scenario as common as it can be. What’s the game plan here? (A) This is either a good deal and it just needs some love. (B) Bro is playing stupid and there is a myriad of underlying problems that are masking something catastrophic about to happen. Or (C), bro just wants to get rid of it because he wants a newer car.

Now you’re either two types of people in this situation. You’re either mechanically inclined, and know exactly what to look for. Or you’re just hoping that the car runs, and you can overlook other imperfections. If you’re the second person who just hope that the car runs and you can deal with the other problems, you’re in for a hurting. And used Subarus especially if they are an older WRX or STI model where the previous owner thought that they could drive the car relentlessly without repercussions, isn’t exactly reliable for daily use. Because buying a used Subaru on marketplace where the price is too goo to be true will always have an underbelly of issues. Yet out of a handful of used WRX, STI, or other fun used Subaru models such as the Legacy GT or Outback, some of them are actually decent cars where the owner just wants out of them. So, for those of you don’t have the most experience behind the wrench but want to determine if the marketplace Subaru you’re about to buy is a piece of crap or not, step inside.

 

IF THE WHEELS ARE RASHED, IT’S OKAY TO JUDGE

Now getting curb rash on a wheel on accident is completely normal. But if there is significant rash on all 4 wheels, then this can be an indicator of driving without situational awareness and it’s also an indicator of how badly the rest of the car has been neglected in terms of maintenance, service, and the overall condition of the rest of the car. Curbed wheels all around means that the paint isn’t in good shape as well. Furthermore, aftermarket wheels are one of our favorite mods to do to our Subarus. So when we invest $4k+ on some TE37’s and some R888 tires, we look our for every pothole, every dip, and most certainly, we keep a good distance between the curb and the car.

 

 

THE PINCH WELDS TELL A MAJOR STORY OF HOW THE CAR WAS TREATED

Let’s say that this dude and his buddy’s attempts to change the brake pads on his WRX so he can save money and not pay a mechanic:

People who irresponsibly try to work on cars will jack the car up in improper places. The worst part is the floorboard, and you would only do this if you absolutely knew nothing about working on a car. It is so damned important that you know where the proper jacking points are on your Subaru, or any other car for that matter because your vehicle’s weight will rest on your jacks. If you drop a car where jacks are placed on your floorboards, you are going to push your seat rails up. If you jack your car up on some random spot on the side, then you are going to damage the body, and pop your side skirts off. The pinch welds on your chassis are seams that run along the sides of your chassis. There are two proper jacking points. You have points in the front of the pinch welds, as well as indication marks on the back of the pinch welds. This shows you where you can use as a lifting point, or where you can place a jack stand.

Pictured here are how proper pinch welds should look like as an example:

The Jack placement on this photo is just for photo purposes only, but you can see the indication marks on the front of the pinch welds where you can safely put your jack stands. Any experienced mechanic will know exactly where the lift points should be on your vehicle whether using a jackstand, or a lift. Damaged pinch welds are an indicator that at one point, the car had been improperly handled when doing maintenance. And if the car you really like has damaged pinch welds, inspect underneath the floorboards and make sure that there is no signage of any dents underneath the car where someone tried hacking up the car from the chassis instead of a proper lifting point. And if there are indeed signs of this, pass on the car.

 

 

CHECK THE OIL

Very important for obvious reasons. If the oil is full on the dipstick, it’s okay to get a little paranoid because it is normal for turbocharged Subarus to burn oil, wondering if the previous owner topped the oil off before you are looking at the car will always be on the back of your mind. But inspect how thick it is to the touch when the motor is cold. If the oil feels super thick, then keep in mind that the current seller is using a thick oil to hide any underlying engine noises. And most of all, look how dark it is when the engine is cold. If it’s black then that means that the oil is dirty, and who knows how many miles the car has ran without an oil change. You’re looking for a nice honey, amber-like color to see how clean and how maintained the engine is.

 

 

START THE CAR, AND LISTEN FOR TWO MAJOR THINGS-COMPRESSION AND ROD KNOCK

 

This video gives you a general idea. Point being, you’re looking at a car you’re interested in over the weekend, but you don’t want to waste the seller’s time by bringing a compression tester, or you have to pay a mechanic to do it. But there are ways to listen for good compression which is at least an indicator of a healthy engine. So, to explain this in an article will suck but here we go. When starting a car, your engine will make stroke noises. The “NAH-NAH-NAH- NAH VRoooooooom”. Yes, it’s a silly way to explain it but what you are listening for is consistency. Each one of those strokes should sound consistent. A motor with low compression on one cylinder will have an inconsistent stroke when starting a car. It will also take longer to start the vehicle as well. So, when listening to compression when trying to start the car, if one of those compression strokes is lower, it will go “NAH-NAH-naaaah-NAH vroooom”.

Now a lower compression cylinder means that you have air escaping a valve, or with Subarus, it is a sign of ring land failure and compression is escaping a piston ring so you’re not getting a full healthy stroke. If this is the case, you would be burning oil as well because if air can push through a piston ring, this means that oil will escape as well, and it will be burned off in the combustion process.

Either way, the engine will need to be removed and disassembled to see where the problem is. And if you’ve got this far in the process, you would have to rebuild the engine anyways. Now regarding rod knock, it should be obvious. If the engine makes knocking noises upon startup, or when you you rev it, the car will need a new motor.

 

 

PAINT IS NOT THE END ALL BE ALL, BUT RUST IS

Now paint is never the end of the world. But Subarus can be victims to many bad trends. Before we discuss said trends, paint correction can really renew neglected or oxidized paint as long as the clear coat is still there. And if you don’t want to pay a professional detailer to do the correction, you can do it too with a dual-action polisher, the right compounds, many YouTube tutorials, and patience. But going back to really terrible trends from 2008-2013, there was a time where people thought it was cool to drill into the front lips, front bumpers, and where the front bumper meets the fenders, just to install zip ties.

This is just really tacky, and if you’re investing your hard-earned dollars into what could potentially be a project before being road-worthy, buying a car with zip ties on the body is indicative of someone who didn’t have the funds, know-how, or just wanted to be a scene kid. Remember, older WRX and STI models and especially clean examples, are appreciating in value because as the old heads say, they don’t make them like they used to.

Now rust is a whole other problem. If you bought a car that experienced years of east-coast winters where salt got into every crevice of the car, it is literally rotting. When you have rust flaking off the frame rails, when rust has got so had that you can’t remove a bolt without shearing it off, and when rust is so bad that you need sheet metal work to replace holes in the body, it best to avoid these cars. Rusted windshield frames will always leak water. Rusted subframes will not support vital suspension components, and you cannot hide rust from a coat of rust paint, as the rust will bubble through in time. Surface rust is normal underneath the vehicle as all of our cars are exposed to the elements. But thick, orange, flaky rust is something you should run from.

Be weary of vinyl wraps. Wraps are a good alternative for those who can’t afford a $10k paint job which is on the low side of things because you have 40-man hours to disassemble the car, remove windows and moldings, and another 60-man hours to reassemble everything. It’s okay to buy a wrapped car if the paint was okay to begin with. Yet many people will bondo and sand over body dings. And wraps could cover other issues such as rust. So, if you do buy a wrapped car, see if there are any before pics of the car before the wrap.

 

IF YOU DO DECIDE TO BUY THE CAR, MAKE SURE THE TITLE IS CLEAN

Spend the extra $50 bucks and get a Carfax or whatever preferred vehicle history report. You are already spending thousands of dollars on the car, spend the extra few bucks to know the history. Rebuilt or Salvaged history means that the insurance company decided that it would cost more than half of your vehicle’s value to repair it if it is involved in any accident. It would just make more sense for insurance companies to write you a check for fair market value of your car, rather than spend the money to repair it. When this happens, the car will go to a salvage yard waiting for an auction, and it will be given a salvaged title if there was an insurance claim made. Exotic cars flood the salvage market because someone may have had a low front-end impact in a Ferrari, but the cost to get all new parts from Ferrari would coast tens of thousands, so many independent establishments will buy these cars, source parts from eBay, and piece it together. The problem is that unless you see pictures of the accident, you never really know what had happened.

Additionally, salvaged title cars, rebuilt title, theft, lemon law, it’s all the same. The value will always be anywhere from 25-45% less, and most banks and credit unions will not loan on a vehicle with a bad title. Now does this mean that all savaged title vehicles are bad? Absolutely not. If the car has been properly repaired, all body panel gaps are consistent, and the car drives smoothly and straight, then it should be a good vehicle. But spending the extra money on a clean title car will always be the smart investment. Now if you are planning on keeping the car forever, and want to save a few extra thousand buy getting a salvaged car, it’s your wallet at the end of the day.

 

 

THESE ARE ALWAYS GREEN FLAGS:

• Service Records: If the previous owner has receipts of repairs that took care of key items such as timing belts, oil changes, dealer maintenance, then buy that car.
• Check the tire pressure. If the tire pressure is consistent all the way around at 32 psi, you bought your car from a certified car guy.
• Non-smoker/Non vaper. Cigarette smoke is nearly impossible to remove from an interior unless you completely take apart the interior down to the metal, cleaned all bare surfaces, then used an agent or formula that will remove the odor. But the only way to get rid of that odor is to shampoo seats, carpets, headliner, then using an Ozium-like spray to kill the particles or elements that linger with cigarette smoke.
• If the interior is clean. This means that there are no French fries, bitten off fingernails, and Cheetos underneath the seats. This means that there is no gummed-up buildup in the crevices and corners of your interior panels. A clean interior displays responsible ownership which reflects on other areas on the vehicle.
• Good meat on the brake pads. This is just another thing to consider for new owners. Good brake pads are another maintenance item that you can check off your list if the car your buying has good brakes.

 

 

FINALLY, DOES IT HAVE GOOD MODS?

Subarus and the EJ engine cannot sustain large amounts of horsepower. So, if you find a clapped out STI and you pop the hood to find a rotated turbo setup on stock injectors, you’ve got yourself a problem. Mods and upgrades from established brands such as COBB Turning, PERRIN, GrimmSpeed, Faction Fab, basically anything that we would carry on our website is also a green flag. Mods that are sensible such as an Accessport, intake, and exhaust is all you really need to have a good reliable fun-driving Subaru. When you buy a car with higher miles, and it’s got a fuel system, a larger turbo, and a smoked clutch will more than likely have a tired engine. Remember that depending on what generation of WRX, STI, or other used Subaru you’re in the market for, these cars are old, and mods don’t last forever.

In conclusion, ius a used Subaru that you found on your local marketplace checks all the right boxes, drives nicely, doesn’t smoke, and it’s a good deal, then life is short. Drive what makes you happy.