Son wants to buy a WRX.

[Shawdaddy1972]

My son has saved his money and has found a 2002 WRX 2.0 turbo here local in Gulfport, MS. However, I know nothing about them, neither does he? I am very mechanically inclined and have built many cars. The current owner of the car says it has a blown head gasket, not a real big deal unless it has a melted piston when the head is pulled.

I just would like advice on what else to look for on these WRX's. Looks like I can pick the car up for $1500, so he has me interested. Thanks in advance for any help. Here is the Craigslist add for the car. Waiting on him to send me the VIN# so I can run it for any hits. Thanks, Chad

2003 Subaru wrx

[pzr2874]

You sure you want your son owning a WRX?

That 5speed is the only real issue on that model/yr.

Then again, you won't know anything about THAT until it's running again... Or maybe drain the fluid to see if you can get any scrap out of it.

Welcome BTW

[brfatal]

So ya, all of those green lights on that car are 100% illegal. I would make a guess by looking at it that it probably wasn't well taken care of.

Due to the age, expect to have to replace a few parts aside from the acknowledged engine work. Head gasket failures are VERY rare on WRXs.

[Shawdaddy1972]

Thank pzr2874. I always told him if he paid for it, he can buy anything he wants..lol Kinda bite me in the butt here. Current owner says it shifted fine, but I don't believe anything from car sellers. He said it blew a head gasket from overboost, but I am gonna do a compression check to see if any pistons may have melted down.

[Shawdaddy1972]

Yeah, if he does get it, the lights and wing are the first to be removed :-)

Are there any "known" trouble spots I should be looking at when I go look at the car?

[Fidrat]

Look for a "BA" in the tranny code for the good tranny. If it says "AA" pass it up. Its on a plate under the hood by or on the driver side shock tower.

And for the love of God get rid of all the green and that wing before I puke Anyone who does that to a car can't be trusted.

[AllExtinct]

You might luck out and only have to peel vinyl off the lights. And make a quick buck from the scrap yard with that park bench. Body looks good though. Good luck man.

[Shawdaddy1972]

Just looked at the car, body is real straight, no dents nothing. interior is 7 of 10, not perfect, but no rips or tears or missing pieces.

Engine has not run since Sept and I can't even try to crank it to see if anything rattles or knocks. Mileage is approx 180K.

Trans is a BA code trans and seller said it has no issues.

VIN# JF1GD296X3G510833 (anyone willing to run this)
Trans# TY75VN2BA

With knowing this info and a possibility of needing a new shortblock(unknown cost here) and missing title , is this car worth a $1000.00? That's what he will take for it.

And the green headlights are indeed stick on..

Thanks,

[thekamikaze kid]

I believe u can get a car fax at carfax.com fer like 35 bucks.

[Shawdaddy1972]

Just did a Carfax on the car. Come back fine, last registered on 16 Nov 2011 , milage reported on 31 July 2006 at 107,000. 3 owners reported and all history came back "No Issues Reported".

If the car does indeed need a 2.0 shortblock, where is a good spot to get them from? Without spending Cosworth money. My son has a budget of $2500 and that incleudes the price of the car.

[brfatal]

70k miles in a year? (edit: misread, sorry)

Your budget is not high enough for a high mileage WRX with a dead engine. That's not enough for a new engine (san labor of course since I'm assuming you're doing it), nor the other things here and there that it's going to need.

[pzr2874]

You should be able to locate a decent block for 2000.00-3000.00 on NASIOC (maybe a little less) but probably not for the remaining 1500.00 he has to spend.

On top of other stuff like tires, maintainence, etc....

Not a bad "start" at all but will probably take another 2-3K to get it where it should be.

[AllExtinct]

Well $1000. isn't bad considering if you decided in the end to cut your loss and part it out you would possibly make your your money back.

Least ya lucked out with the sticky green stuff and the BA trans.

[BLAZE2099]

AA trannys are weaker. But mine is just fine at 123k. Its mostly driver driven failure.
But any way. How bout you pitch in a little on it and you guys rebuild it together?

[mosc]

What you're looking at is a $1000 money pit. Your son has probably never broken down on the side of the road or had to explain repeated car trouble as a reason for missing important things. If he's got his heart set on that particular pile of junk and you want to make it work, I would say you should let him buy it with his money and also buy him a used chevy aveo or somesuch. Register the Cheavy with the insurance company, cheaper anyway. Let him save up for parts and do most of the work himself. Learn the hard way what a broken down old sports car is all about. Plus, the Aveo will remind him every time he embarrassingly drives off to buy parts for "his car" what the implications of his decisions are.