WRX - sturdy and long-lasting or bright, short-lived star?

[Neil Walker]

Anyone have any experience with the WRX, especially as a high mileage,
durable car?

Does it require a lot of expensive maintenance or does it fall into the
category of bullet-proof Japanese autos -- assuming reasonable driving
habits?

Thanks for any info you might have about this.

Neil

 

[Jiz]

Heaps of old Subaru WRX's floating around here in Sydney. Think Subie's
generally are well built. My mates WRX has 200k and it's 4 years old - still
travelling great. No major repairs either - though he does take good care of
it - but he does give a thrashing time to time

If you look at online auto papers in Australia you'll find heaps of 97
onwards - they liberty turbo from the early 90's are still floating about
heaps too. Just to give you an idea.

 

[Neil Walker]

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Heaps of old Subaru WRX's floating around here in Sydney. Think Subie's
generally are well built. My mates WRX has 200k and it's 4 years old - still
travelling great. No major repairs either - though he does take good care of
it - but he does give a thrashing time to time

If you look at online auto papers in Australia you'll find heaps of 97
onwards - they liberty turbo from the early 90's are still floating about
heaps too. Just to give you an idea.

Thanks for the info. Actually, I am looking to sell my 1998 Volvo S70 T5.
It's a great car, comfortable and very powerful, but with 209,000 kms on
the odometer, it is now costing me a fortune to keep it on the road. I
reckon the last year has cost me about $5,000 (Canadian) in repairs.

That is why I asked whether the WRX (or STi, for that matter) are durable,
low upkeep cars. I hope I never have another experience like the Volvo
again.

 

[2 Stroke]

I think you'll find that an unmodified WRX will cost much less to
maintain over 120k miles than your Volvo. The WRX is very easy to
work on, which helps keep labor costs down, and is rated just short of
Toyota and Honda in most objective measures of reliability.

And with any Japanese make, there's the advantage of being able to buy
low priced, low milage, used engines and transmissions from Japan.
In effect, it means that catastrophic engine failure can be corrected
for a couple thousand dollars if necessary. Engine replacement for a
car built in the US or Europe is going to cost much more.

===================================================

 

[Ken Gilbert]

I think you'll find that an unmodified WRX will cost much less to
maintain over 120k miles than your Volvo. The WRX is very easy to
work on, which helps keep labor costs down, and is rated just short of
Toyota and Honda in most objective measures of reliability.

And with any Japanese make, there's the advantage of being able to buy
low priced, low milage, used engines and transmissions from Japan.
In effect, it means that catastrophic engine failure can be corrected
for a couple thousand dollars if necessary. Engine replacement for a
car built in the US or Europe is going to cost much more.

this is true.

you can get a 2.0 liter wrx shortblock for 1500 from a subaru dealer,
which includes a full gasket set. the 2.5l sti shortblock is
surprisingly priced the same. that's nice!

heads for either are another story, at least from a dealer.

either way, the fact that enthusiasts out there are getting almost
twice the power output, and racking up the miles every day, should
indicate what kind of margins you have.

jm2c
ken

ken

 

[Rockman]

I have almost 44k on my '02, and I purchased it in January '02. I replaced
tires and front brakes at 35k, and the only service i've paid others to do
is a 30k service that ran about $300 at an independent Subie shop. I change
the oil every 3k myself with OE filters at $5 a pop. It seems durable and
well put together, and considering the fun to drive quotient, it's a steal.
I look to get 100k out of any vehicle and any more than that is gravy. I
can't afford to drive 24k miles a year and have repair issues and not be
able to trust that it won't leave me stranded.

If you want some cheaper maintenance, buy a Civic and you'll get 150k out
of it with occasional oil changes.

 

[vic]

1500$ short block, brand new? Is it US or CDN $????

 

[Ken Gilbert]

1500$ short block, brand new? Is it US or CDN $????

hey vic,

USD... get it here:

http://subaruwrxparts.com/specials.html

figure a three day weekend, about 12-16hrs of work, to pull the old,
swap parts, and put it back in.

hth
ken

 

[vic]

Thanks Ken!

"vic" <(e-mail address removed)> wrote in message


hey vic,

USD... get it here:

http://subaruwrxparts.com/specials.html

figure a three day weekend, about 12-16hrs of work, to pull the old,
swap parts, and put it back in.

hth
ken