Longevity of WRXs...?

[BD]

Hey, all...

I'm coming up on the end of a 4 year lease on an '02 WRX Wagon, and am
deciding whether to hang onto it at all. At this point it has about
26000 miles on it.

Can anyone out there comment on how long these cars tend to last before
they really start to become expensive to maintain? So far, it's been no
real trouble. But I know there will be the 'sweet spot' time when it's
time to flip it.

I just don't know when that is likely to be...??

Thanks!!

BD

 

[Jim Stewart]

Hey, all...

I'm coming up on the end of a 4 year lease on an '02 WRX Wagon, and am
deciding whether to hang onto it at all. At this point it has about
26000 miles on it.

Can anyone out there comment on how long these cars tend to last before
they really start to become expensive to maintain? So far, it's been no
real trouble. But I know there will be the 'sweet spot' time when it's
time to flip it.

Subaru's in general are just getting
nicely broken in at 26k. Assuming
you've treated your WRX nice, it should
go at least another 150k

 

[BD]

Assuming you've treated your WRX nice, it should go at least another 150k

I _think_ I have. I am a little concerned about oil consumption; the
level was rather low last service (just last week), and I haven't
gotten an answer why yet.

It's mostly used for city driving. No aggressive rallies lately ;-),
certainly no 'honk on the turbo and then stop the motor cold' kind of
stuff.

The only thing I do which might be considered 'iffy' behavior is engine
braking. I'm trying to break the habit, for the sake of the clutch and
the synchros, but oh well. I don't do it all the time, but probably
more than I should.

I'm also not clear if that could be a possible factor in oil
consumption. The research on that point continues...

Thanks!

 

[David Betts]

Hey, all...

I'm coming up on the end of a 4 year lease on an '02 WRX Wagon, and am
deciding whether to hang onto it at all. At this point it has about
26000 miles on it.

Can anyone out there comment on how long these cars tend to last before
they really start to become expensive to maintain? So far, it's been no
real trouble. But I know there will be the 'sweet spot' time when it's
time to flip it.

Still running my early car. 10 years old now. Only 70,000 miles,
though. Still going strong. No real problems. Clutch replaced at 60
something, of course. Probably needs it's third or fourth set of front
discs soon and another set of those sticky black round things. Drove
it the other day for the first time in weeks - usually only use it
when I'm going somewhere. Even on a short local hop, I was reminded
what a joy this car is to drive. Never use it without getting well on
boost at least once. Love it.

 

[CompUser]

Still running my early car. 10 years old now. Only 70,000 miles,
though. Still going strong. No real problems. Clutch replaced at 60
something, of course. Probably needs it's third or fourth set of front
discs soon

You've gone thru three sets of front rotors, in
70K miles??

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

Hey, all...

I'm coming up on the end of a 4 year lease on an '02 WRX Wagon, and
am deciding whether to hang onto it at all. At this point it has
about 26000 miles on it.

*jealous*

My WRX is almost exactly 2 years old, and over 29K miles.

Then again, a lot of those were fun, twisty curves driving to ski
resorts and trailheads, so maybe I shouldn't complain *grin*

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

It's mostly used for city driving. No aggressive rallies lately ;-),
certainly no 'honk on the turbo and then stop the motor cold' kind
of stuff.

I think stop-and-go city driving is considered hard usage, to some
extent. Not as hard as rallies, I'm sure ...

The only thing I do which might be considered 'iffy' behavior is
engine braking. I'm trying to break the habit, for the sake of the
clutch and the synchros, but oh well. I don't do it all the time,
but probably more than I should.

Is engine braking considered bad for a car? I didn't know that ...

 

[BD]

Is engine braking considered bad for a car? I didn't know that ...

Well, I don't expect it's a _horrible_ practice, but it does work the
motor and the synchros; one guy basically said to me that if you're
gonna use _anything_ to slow down, why not just use the 'cheap' brakes
alone, instead of adding wear on the more expensive clutch and the very
expensive synchros?

 

[BD]

Then again, a lot of those were fun, twisty curves driving to ski resorts and trailheads,

Oh, I've had my fun too - nothing like taking a sharp turn and hearing
the front left tire start to slip because it's almost off the ground.

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

Well, I don't expect it's a _horrible_ practice, but it does work
the motor and the synchros; one guy basically said to me that if
you're gonna use _anything_ to slow down, why not just use the
'cheap' brakes alone, instead of adding wear on the more expensive
clutch and the very expensive synchros?

Well, it's a different feel ... personally I like to use both. Down
shifting also feels like it gives more control (less chance of slip) in
rain and snow. But I didn't realize it could end up costing me
megabucks.

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

Oh, I've had my fun too - nothing like taking a sharp turn and
hearing the front left tire start to slip because it's almost off
the ground.

Okay, maybe I haven't had as much fun as you have =P

 

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

Well, it's a different feel ... personally I like to use both. Down
shifting also feels like it gives more control (less chance of slip) in
rain and snow. But I didn't realize it could end up costing me
megabucks.

I suspect that it's not too bad if you rev-match reasonably as you
downshift and if you don't have the clutch pedal partly down for a spell
each time. You shouldn't be 'slipping' the clutch much trying to
downshift smoothly, and you should rev the engine as you downshift to
near where it's about to end up anyway - if you get those wrong you may
cause a fair bit of wear - but with practice you should be able to
downshift quickly and smoothly for engine braking. I don't go through
clutch units and transmissions all that quickly but, yes, brakes are
cheaper. (-:

I like being in an appropriate gear for most of the time so that I can
accelerate immediately even if I didn't expect to have to. I may place
more importance on that than is usual, though.

-- Mark

 

[BD]

But I didn't realize it could end up costing me megabucks.

To be clear, I don't have any hard info on that - only opinions
expressed here - which, when I think about them, do make intuitive
sense.

I won't discourage you from doing as you're used to doing - but it may
warrant some research to be clear on what's up.

 

[Bugalugs]

To be clear, I don't have any hard info on that - only opinions
expressed here - which, when I think about them, do make intuitive
sense.

I won't discourage you from doing as you're used to doing - but it may
warrant some research to be clear on what's up.

It's the way I learnt to drive and I've always done it that way and
*never* had a transmission failure. In the days of rear wheel drive it
meant that your braking was being done by the rear wheels and you still
had the fronts for steering and braking should an emergency arise.

But that was in the days of drum brakes.

Slowing down using you gears means always you also have another braking
system available should you need it. Slowing just on brakes, well......

 

[BD]

Slowing just on brakes, well......

Oh yeah - definitely, if I need to stop fast, I'll use the brakes plus
the engine - but what that guy said in that one post does kind of stick
with me. Not so much that engine braking is bad for the motor, but that
it can end up using more oil than it should. Just kind of put a bug in
my ear, is all...

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

Slowing down using you gears means always you also have another
braking system available should you need it. Slowing just on brakes,
well......

Yes, exactly. Several years ago, a year or two into the ownership of
my first manual transmission car, my dad noticed that I didn't
downshift. "Hey, you're missing half the fun of shifting!" Honestly,
it hadn't occured to me to try. After that, I started practicing, and
now I'd say that anyone who doesn't use downshifting is missing a
major benefit of driving stick.

I especially appreciate engine braking when I have a lot of weight in
the car, because it gives me more braking power than brakes alone. It
also can feel smoother in inclement weather (although it may be that
I'm slipping the clutch to acheive that; fortunately the weather's
beautiful right now, so I can't test it =)).

 

[SuperPoo]

Oh, I've had my fun too - nothing like taking a sharp turn and hearing
the front left tire start to slip because it's almost off the ground.

It's not real fun until the backend is hanging out in the other lane

Steve

 

[KLS]

I suspect that it's not too bad if you rev-match reasonably as you
downshift and if you don't have the clutch pedal partly down for a spell
each time. You shouldn't be 'slipping' the clutch much trying to
downshift smoothly, and you should rev the engine as you downshift to
near where it's about to end up anyway - if you get those wrong you may
cause a fair bit of wear - but with practice you should be able to
downshift quickly and smoothly for engine braking. I don't go through
clutch units and transmissions all that quickly but, yes, brakes are
cheaper. (-:

This is exactly what I do, and I'm still on the factory clutch of my
98 Audi A4 at 97k miles, feels like new, still. The 99 Legacy OBW, on
the other hand, had to have a new clutch put in at about 79k miles. We
bought the car used, so who knows how the original owner drove it, but
the regular driver of the Subaru (not I) *had* a bad habit of riding
the clutch. The repair bill cured that condition.

I like being in an appropriate gear for most of the time so that I can
accelerate immediately even if I didn't expect to have to. I may place
more importance on that than is usual, though.

You do, but I agree, I love being in the "right" gear just so I can
react properly. Part of it is motorcycle safety training, too, which
emphasizes this point.

 

[Black WRX]

Hey, all...

I'm coming up on the end of a 4 year lease on an '02 WRX Wagon, and am
deciding whether to hang onto it at all. At this point it has about
26000 miles on it.

Can anyone out there comment on how long these cars tend to last before
they really start to become expensive to maintain? So far, it's been no
real trouble. But I know there will be the 'sweet spot' time when it's
time to flip it.

I just don't know when that is likely to be...??

Thanks!!

BD

Bought my WRX in 11/2001 (wagon, manual). 65K miles and running great.
Except recent center differential swap which was already discussed here
and considered as just a bad luck, I had no other major issues. Brake
pads changed at 35K and probably to be changed again in about 5K. Clutch
still in perfect shape. Probably the most reliable car I've ever had in
my 19 years driving career.

 

[David Betts]

You've gone thru three sets of front rotors, in
70K miles??

I think the next set will be the third set of discs, yet. One set soon
after purchase and another since. This is a Rex, you know. Even
someone as gently on the brakes as I am is going to wear them out in
20 or 30 thou. These things are consumables.