Advice re a 2005 Forester

[spanner]

Hi, a few years ago I purchased a 2005 Forester for my son on his P’s.
The car now sits on our lawn with a spun bearing and he has moved on to a Holden Ute (sad choice IMO).
I don’t know what to do with the car. Body is in good condition.
I don’t need it and don’t know whether it’s worthwhile repairing and selling or just selling as is.
As I’m not a Subaru driver, I would greatly appreciate any advice.
Thanks

[Subyroo]

Is it manual or auto?

You could replace the engine with a 2nd hand one ($2,000?), if you want the hassle, and then sell it, or sell it as is and let the buyer deal with the engine problem.
Either way somebody will buy it at the right price, if the body is as good as you say it is.

[spanner]

Thanks, it’s a manual.
Then there’s the cost of fitting a second hand engine so I guess it could be $3000 all up.
How would I sell it as is?

[Subyroo]

Manuals are hard to come by these days.
Just advertise it as something like:

For Sale "As Is" condition.
2005 Forester X - XS - XT or whatever model it is.
Done XXX,XXX kms NOTE - engine has a spun bearing.
Body is in good condition, list all defects ie. dents - scratches - signs of rust.
List any accessories fitted.
Add photo's to your advertisement, the more the better. Inside - outside from a distance and up close for any defects.
Price: $X,000 Negotiable - Not Negotiable or nearest price, your choice.

[El_Freddo]

G’day Spanner,

On top of what Subyroo said, search some websites that sells vehicles and see what’s out there that’s compatible.

Once you’ve viewed several vehicles (or maybe one) you should have an idea of a ball park figure that will remove the vehicle from your front yard.

The Holden ute sounds like some fun - I like the later models but really can’t be bothered moving over to another vehicle as I love my Subi’s! My brumby fills my Ute needs no worries. So long as your son isn’t flogging it, the Holden should do him well.

[spanner]

Thanks for the advice.

[spanner]

PS since moving out of the city to the coast, the roads are terrible and I’m looking to sell my Mercs and switch to a Subaru (my brother has had several Subarus and highly recommend them).
Looking for advice as to what models and engines are most reliable and suited 90% highway NSW South Coast driving.
E.g. 4 cylinder or 6 and models recommended. Thanks!

[El_Freddo]

Can’t go wrong in any of the larger Subarus.

For me I would think the 2L engines are too small if you like some pulling power - but with that said, they probably go pretty good, I’ve not driven the 2Ls before.

In my family we have a 2.5L Subaru Liberty manual - the RX model. Goes really well in my book. Plenty of grunt for passing, really good on fuel and a good ride too.

I live out in the sticks and drive a single lane road to work everyday. This thing laps it up no worries.

One thing that’s looked after this engine is swapping the head gaskets to multi layered steel units - and not letting coolant mix with oil which occurs when you blow a head gasket and keep driving with this issue. You also run the risk of overheating the engine which can further damage it.

Our Liberty (my sister’s but I’m driving it for a bit) still runs the same engine from factory, no rebuild we know of, just MLS head gaskets, unequal length exhaust extractors and a stupidly big muffler on the rear end (Genome), it sounds awesome and is now onto clocking up 515,000km.

My mother in law drives an early SG forester, 2002 or 2003 model in the XS trim level. Both of these vehicles run the EJ251. MIL’s foz is somewhere at 430,000km. Also a country car, and the MLS treatment was done when we got it at 370,000km. It needs new struts and springs as it doesn’t handle very well over bumps at times, other than that it still rises well. This one is an auto.

Both are country cars and I maintain them myself.

I haven’t ventured beyond these model years so I can’t really vouch for other models. There are loads of info out there though.

The H6 goes well, ppl love them when mates to a manual. The auto seems to suck a lot of fun out of the H6. If a head gasket blows it’s currently cheaper to buy a second hand engine from Japan and drop that in than it is to get the HGs replaced. A lot of this is due to cost of labour - the H6 runs shims between the cam and valves. These will need adjustment and take a long time to do. It can be done, pls just don’t want to pay for them.

The FA/FB engines, don’t know anything about these other than they’re the new engine to replace the EJ series that ram for 30 or so years.

If you’re into the older models, I’d suggest anything that’s 2.5L in the early 2000s range. If you like new or newer models (or just like having a newer car), I’d suggest checking out what’s local to you and having a look at them to see what you like and what will fit your needs.

Liberties and Outback’s are basically the same thing, the outback is lifted slightly and styled a bit differently, the outback is only 2.5L 4cyl OR 3.0L 6cyl. The Liberty got the 2.0L and 2.5L engines up to about 2005 I think, then the 2L was dropped and the H6 added as an option.

Hope this helps. Ask around, check out some models and see what you like and what will fit your needs.

As for the roads, welcome to the country areas!