Advice needed: should I buy this Suby?

[arc413]

Hey guys,
I'm keen as to get my bum into an L series, and to that end am looking at buying one from a guy.

Went to get an RACV pre-purchase inspection (at the recommendation of my folks) and it came back recommending I don't buy it.
I'd like the opinion of the peoples of this forum, as I think the report doesn't look too bad!
So, here's the report, and if there's anything that jumps out at you guys as being a real deal-breaker, please let me know, or if there's anything that looks excellent, same deal!

The way they do it is to give it a rating out of immediate (attention is required), early (attention is required), and observation (keep an eye on it)

1991 Subaru GL wagon, Manual, with 245,000 on the clock. Power steering, and A/C functional.

Engine
Immediate: Oil leaks: general engine area, various. comment: clean to locate source/s, drips various engine areas, oil wetness.

Immediate: coolant leaks: at rear area of engine. comment: coolant weepage evident, around lower head gasket, requires further checking to locate.

Obs: exhaust system: various places. comment: surface rust evident.

Early: exhaust system, Muffler/s, Rear. comment: internal rattles evident.

Immediate: Engine Mounts. Both mounts. comment: separating

Immediate: coolant. coolant level. comment: topped up for test purposes, requires further checking.

Obs: Radiator and heater hoses: various hoses, various places. comment: generally aged/ perished.

Immediate: oil. oil level/condition. comment: overfull.

obs: oil. service history log book. comments: service history incomplete.

Immediate: noises. harshness. comments: vibration evident, loud engine various noises from engine area, requires further checking to locate

Immediate: performance, on accelleration. comments: hesitation evident.

Transmission/drive

Obs: Noises. Gearbox noise. comments: noise audible, whine noise audible from around gearboxdriveline area on road test.

obs: shift operation, up shift. comments: slight, knochy. (arc413: what the hell does that even mean!? didn't notice any problems when i test drove it!)

early: fluid / leaks. transmission fluid leak. comments: fluid damplness evident, around front engine area.

early: other items: mount, both. comments: separating, sugging. (arc413: sugging?)

obs: drive shaft/CV joints. cv joint boots, various. comments: ageing/perishing.

early: other items: mount, rear. comments: separating.

Steer/susp

Immediate: power steering: power steering assembly, various. comments: dripping, requires wash to locate power steering leaks.

Obs: front suspension: radius/caster rod/s: bush/es slightly worn.

obs: other items: suspension/bushes, various. comments: minor distortion evident.

obs: other items: suspension/bushes, various. comments: generally aged/perished

obs: other items: suspension/bushes, various. comments: some wear evident.

obs: road test, noises. comments: rattle, /knocks from around steering/suspension/underbody area when driving on rough surfaced roads.

early: road test, steering wheel. comments: off center

obs: shock absorber/s, various. comments: soft in operation.

Body

Early: paintwork/panels: bumper bar, front. comm: damage evident.

obs: underbody: floor pan, various. comm: mud/dirt evident to various areas (arc413: no shit.)

obs: underbody: general underbody. comm: minor damage evident

obs: windscrreen.glass: tint film, various. comm: damage evident.

obs: windscreen/glass: windscreen, front. comm: chipped and sandblasted.

early: windscreen/glass: mouldings, various. comms: poorly fitted

early: paintwork/panles: various panels. comm: gaps uneven, dents evident, marks evident, scrape marks evident, chips evident, repairs evident, imperfections evident, damage evident. (arc413: kid likes to say evident!)

Tyres

obs: tyres: front tyres. comm: worn on inner edge

obs: tyres: tyre wear. comm: wheel alignment recommended, tyres wearing slightly unevenly.

immediate: tyres: spare tyre. comm: not fitted.

brakes

all good! yay!

wheels

obs: wheel bearings: hub seal/ comm: leaking, grease (minor) around right front inner wheel bearing area.

obs: wheel rims: rims, various. comm: scrape marks evident.

electrical

immediate: head lights: lens, various. comm: damaged

imm: wipers and washers: wiper blades. comm: streaking, not cleaning properly.

MISC (almost done!)

early: upholstry and trim: general condition... ****ed, but ok.

immediate: mirrors: operation, driver side. comm: inoperative/drivers side.

immediate: mirrors: mirror body shell, driv/side. comm: vibrates (arc413: it's meant to have power mirrors.)

end of report.

For those of you who've read this far, thank you so much!
any feedback?

the things that are bugging me are
1.coolant leaks, because apparently they filled the coolant like 2 weeks ago... and the RACV had to top it up for testing!

2.the big ones. the mounts (engine, transmission, and drivetrain). separating? that's not good, right? is that too expensive or difficult to fix? please keep in mind that whilst i am keen as hell to learn, i know nothing about fixing cars haha!

3. power steering leaks and steering wheel off center. difficult/$$ to fix? or nothing to worry about?

and finally, the performance. sure, it's a 1.8l dragging a ton and a half of steel, but it really didn't have any power. dad thinks it might be the carby, as it also idles rough (shakes the car kinda rough) and has metal-concert loud tappits (no shit, i expected loud tappits, but this is just ridiculous!)

That's about it! if there's anythiing i missed, which i should be stressing about, please comment!

and thanks for whatever help is offered!

cheers,
Bish

[taza]

How much is it?

You have to expect some issues being so old but that doesn't sound too bad. If your willing to do some things yourself or with the help then it would probably be a good buy. If you pay someone like a mechanic then it's not worth it, therefore keen on looking.

My opinion anyway.

Taza

[Brumby Kid]

Only read the first little bit, sounds like it's done a head gasket. Oil over full, and coolant leaking from one of the heads. This would explain lack of power and maybe rough running.
The rest from skim reading is all just old car wear, some worse than others. Wheel bearings, bushes, etc. lots of small stuff that adds up.
Nothing money can't fix.
How much is the car?
By the way welcome.

Cheers Cam

[purp]

Sounds like a lot of stuff, but I'll put another vote in the "It Depends(Tm)" box. Is it cheap enough, and do you have the time/motivation to do the work yourself?

It certainly wouldn't be a good buy (even if it was free...) if you paid a mechanic to fix the problems.

[El_Freddo]

Welcome to the forum!

That report sounds like a typically used L series! I'd hate to read the report if I got them to do one for my L series!!

By the sounds of that report I reckon you can do better on a cleaner unit - there are plenty of L's out there - you don't have to settle on the first one you see! If you like all the good bits as in creature comforts look for a touring wagon, these have central locking (5 doors ), power steering, power mirrors and windows, cloth trim all factory. I also thought that AC was factory until i bought a touring wagon that didn't have it from the showroom floor!

Without looking at that L series and reading about the small things to do with the engine such as the coolant top up and the over full oil I'd say look for another one - only because you say you're not mechanically minded. You're best off starting with a good unit and learn from there as you go, this way you won't be overwhelmed with what's required just to get it on the road. Both of those things could be simple such as the owner mistakenly putting too much oil in it and the lost coolant could be just a couple of hoses that needs tightening up to fix a slow leak or two.

Have you considered looking at some libertys? I only ask as they're common, of the same age, can be found for cheap in good condition - they use the common subaru 5 stud pattern, have comfy seats, the EJ engine and more room in general. What they don't have is the same rugged good looks like the L series or the approach/departure angle if you're looking at modifying for offroading.

All that said I love my L series! Yes lots of changes, some I would like to have done differently but over all I'm very happy with the service it's given me now that I've got my crap sorted (looking after it, reliable engine - I went through a phase of poor engines or weak points mechanically, they've been sorted now).

Got any pics to share? And feel free to fire away with any other questions you have, this is why we're here - we love talking subaru

Cheers

Bennie

[sven '2']

Welcome

Are you good with cars? Regardless of what older Subaru you buy, the advantage comes from that they are (1) pretty robust, esp compared to other cars of the era, and (2) easy to work on.

All will have issues, trick is buying one that is sound - look at this one for example - very good buying indeed.

The one you describe would need to be really cheap I would suggest.

Your comment about the lack of power is a valid one - consider the Liberty, which can be had for not much more at all.

There are several threads on this topic - search under '2nd hank yank' for a more recent thread discussing the pros and cons of L-Series over Libertys.

As Bennie said, heap of info on here - just ask!

[arc413]

Wow!
Thanks heaps for all the responses guys!

ok, so the price they're asking is $3500, with rego till may 12 (so 7 days more rego) and is being sold with RWC. I'm not really happy to pay this much, particularly having seen the report, but the guy made it sound like he'd be pretty happy to move on the price.

The only picture I have is pretty standard. It's silver with a bullbar and it's a wagon!

Liberty vs L - Bennie, you hit it on the head man. they're just not the same, and I love the L series' looks, reliability, and the ease with which they can be worked on (... once i learn how to work on it haha!)

Should I worry about the mounts separating? or is that easy to fix?
I'm not too worried about a head gasket, because I plan to drive it and work on it at the same time... well, work on it for a weekend, drive during the week! or drop it in at a mechanic and Public transport for a while.

Money isn't too huge an issue (unless we'd be talking like 3-4 grand +) and as i mentioned, I'm super keen to work on this myself.
... on topic thereof, anyone in the melbourne area open to the idea of mentoring me and helping me learn how to fix cars? haha but seriously, that would be awesome.

Lack of power is not an issue for me, it was more the vibe I got from the whole engine, with the shaking idling, crazy loud tappits, and low power. If it's something fixable, awesome, if it's a "buy a different engine" that's different.

and finally - why this car? cos in the close to 6 months i've been seriously hunting L series', this is the first one i've seen near me that's registered.
which means I don't have to dick around getting it roadworthy before I can drive it (and apparently vicroads are being real trolls with older unregistered cars), I can just pay the dude, and drive away.

How much do you guys think a reasonable price for this might be? I know it's a big ask, with too little information, but a ballpark figure would be great!

Cheers,
bish

[sven '2']

Th L that I linked you to was worth $450

I reckon the one in your sights is worth less. About $3,100 less...

$3,500 is simply ridiculous money for a 20+ year L-Series with issues. As a benchmark, I sold my RS Wagon (1994 AWD intercooled turbo) for less than this L-Series!

Understanding RWC is an issue in your state, but even so, a clean example should be had for $1,500 max

OR

A lib for $2000 max

BTW - the HG is very much an issue - you can potentially spend $3,500 on a rebuild drive-in-drive-out.

Please keep looking!

[Davidov]

From that report that L is in quite poor condition, even worse than the L series me and taz got for $300! $3500 is an absolute joke, you can get an immaculate L for that sort of money.

[FROG]

waaay too much (they should be paying you to take it!!)
the wagon we had here in perfect condition went for that kind of money
run run away
my camping wagon has less wrong than that list and cost me $500

[Cliff R]

Sorry but I am bias towards L series cars with oil leaks. It worries me.
Mine is a case in point, it is leaking oil from below the oil pump and in my case it does not appear to be going onto the timing belts (at the moment/hopefully) but in the case of this L it could be doing so depending on where the oil is coming from.
This is a worst case scenario but, when were the timing belts last changed.?
I am buying most of my parts from Frog to do the job but even so with the belt kit, water pump and oil pump kit (including changing the crankshaft seal) I will be looking at about $400.00.
For a Subaru dealership (local) I was quoted at $120/hr for 8 hours labour plus the parts which is getting silly. I will be doing this work myself though.
Would suggest with this car you definately determin when the belts where last changed.
The money being asked is way over the top. Mine is a 92 model which had 307 thousand on the clock and the paint was/is ordinary. I paid possibly too much at $1,200 with 11 months rego but I bought it from someone I know who had the car for most of its life so all is OK by me.
There was an L series at a local car yard to me in a browny colour for, I think, $2900 and I think it sold. Looked from a distance to be in really good nick so good ones are out there. Do some research on Google or the like at car yards. Some will bend over backwards to make a sale.

[B00sting]

3500= daylight robbery reading that report...!
i'd sooner buy the l series for 450 i just read about in this section (sold).

[El_Freddo]

Walk away from this one!

As others have said, there are better examples out there for less than that! I got mine for $500.00, then found out that the engine was shot due to overheating. Like you with how you want to learn, my L series spend a good 18 months in the shed while I got it back together, I however also "upgraded" to the MPFI EA82 while I was at it.

Just keep looking around. I sold one for $600 a couple of weeks ago, then picked one up for $100 that was an auto, we got this one registered (when I sold the first one we didn't have any need for another subi then two weeks later what do you know...). As you said Vicroads are making it difficult to register older cars but it's not impossible. I would say that this L series comes with a dodgy RWC that's been done by a mate. There's no way you would get a RWC with all those issue!

Personally, once you find the right one, it will be well worth the wait!

Cheers

Bennie