Cars You Need Info On

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Crispy

Crispy

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crispychicken49
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crispychicken49
I decided to create a thread, with the Idea of users asking other users about cars they're planning on Test Driving/Buying. I think it would be better then posting ninety-thousand threads on "Is This a Good Car?", instead a member could load up this thread, ask a question, and have someone answer it. Here's my go:

Were going to go test drive a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Hatchback. How does it drive? We may be buying one in the future, but we want to know if we like it now.
 
I think this forum works fine as it is. Generally, we don't like huge general purpose threads and we'd rather that anyone wanting info on a car had their own thread.
 
Is it possible that we could get a slot below our name to put car information, like how we can add our PSNs?
 
I believe Jordan's view on that would be that this is a video game forum first and foremost, and so its not needed. Then below your profile picture you would have:

Premium/Mod badge
Location
PSN
XBL
Car
Post Count

You can put your car in your signature (and if you have a build thread, link to it there).
 
Crispy
We're going to go test drive a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Hatchback. How does it drive? We may be buying one in the future, but we want to know if we like it now.
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That makes no sense. You are going to test drive it but want others to tell you how it drives?
 
Well if anyone is generous enough I'd like some info on 930s that isn't on sites like wikipedia or other easily accesible sites as I have some doubts about the model changes throughout the whole cycle and the differences between US-spec and euro spec other than the obvious emmision regulation limitations.
 
Punknoodle
That makes no sense. You are going to test drive it but want others to tell you how it drives?
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As a before hand so we can see what we'll expect.

Drove very nice. The place selling the Hatchback was closed today, so we test drove an '06 WRX STI Sedan. It was great! Nice sound, awesome room, everything was sound. Is 21,000 a good price? Good shape, 72,000 Miles, 06? How is this car to live with?
 
21,000 USD seems a bit pricey to me, what was the MSRP when new? Also, as you live in Texas, make sure it has good AC.
 
21k is a lot for an 06 sedan...If it was a 08-09 then that sounds more reasonable... Was there work done on this thing?
 
beeblebrox237
21,000 USD seems a bit pricey to me, what was the MSRP when new? Also, as you live in Texas, make sure it has good AC.
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Definitely talk them down if you plan on buying it. MSRP for the STI sedan with manual trans was 33 flat.
 
Anyone have some decent info/experience with the E39 5-Series? Really liking the proposition of a Beemer as my next car from the Accord but I just want to know what to look out for. If I do get one I'm looking at either the 530i Touring or the full-fat 540i Executive Steptronic. Manual transmissions for these are out of the question here, they only come with the Steptronic 5-speed semi-auto.

The alternative I've been looking at is the Subaru Liberty B4...which is obviously less luxurious but I'm a massive Subaru fan and from what I've heard, despite a lack of mid-range poke it's a fairly nimble sedan. And it has the option of a manual.
 
^ We owned a 2001 E39 BMW 5-Series for a couple years. Great, great car. If I recall nothing ever really went wrong with it. Just remember, it's a BMW, if something needs fixing, you better have deep pockets unless you know how to do the work yourself. If you ever get hit by a red-light running Chevy Silverado though, you'll be safe! 👍 (Personal Experience.)

Can't say much about the Subaru, though from what I hear, you really can't go wrong with a Subaru.
 
I think E39s are well built and if you find a good example you'll be fine, but fixing things that break is expensive, and on those cars I think there's a few things that can break. Have you already looked on forums for common issues and what to look for?
 
Crispy
Can't say much about the Subaru, though from what I hear, you really can't go wrong with a Subaru.
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Not necessarily true. We had a 1998 Subaru Outback that was not very reliable. We think we got a bad one though, because they are supposed to be pretty good cars.
 
^ I would think so; we owned a 2005 WRX for several years and was excellent for reliability. Though my auntie's '99 WRX blew up a couple of weeks after it was sold but she didn't really take care of that one. Early Subarus tended to have head gasket failure if the owner neglected to maintain it.

motortrend
I think E39s are well built and if you find a good example you'll be fine, but fixing things that break is expensive, and on those cars I think there's a few things that can break. Have you already looked on forums for common issues and what to look for?
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I'm aware that as a BMW it's expensive to fix and obviously I need to be wary of the electrics especially with the 540i as it has so much kit.

I've had a browse round with some owner reviews and on Bimmerfest and I've read that the early models weren't as reliable as the later ones. If I get one I'd be buying a 2001 or later 530i or a 1998-1999 540i.
 
FWIW, my friend's 2009 STI cracked a piston or two and a cam gear all at once last year.
 
Another thing about the E39, make sure everything is original since past owners tend to buy cheap aftermarket parts so they don't pay the expensive OEM ones, and of course the aftermarket ones won't work as well. Look at for things like the alarm which is common to not be OEM and can be quite a headache as someone I know can confirm with his 540i.
 
Grayfox
I would like the service manual to the FK2 Honda Civic Hatch(MY06~MY10).
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Take a look at your public library. Our libraries all have the full car manuals to almost any make and model of car. You just go down, photocopy any pages you need or better yet they now have online log in and they have the manuals loaded up on there.
 
Hi Crispy
See once I had visited the cardekho used car section and I got good information about the cars so if you need to collect the information you can also check them.
 
Eric.
FWIW, my friend's 2009 STI cracked a piston or two and a cam gear all at once last year.
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That reminds me of Car & Driver's 2008 long-term tester. They had an engine surge and hesitation and Subaru requested the servicing dealer to check the compression in cylinders.
Compression was out of spec and they have to replace the short block under warranty.
 
Wasn't so easily done for my friend. He's lucky that cam gear was broken or they were going to cite it as abuse (he says they boost creep from the factory and start to knock, and the knock detection/timing logic is a big failure). They were ready to charge him for the work unless they found something else to blame, and it took a lot of calls to Subaru of America to take care of it. Plastic cam gear was cracked when they took things apart and so they decided it jumped timing and went boom from there. 2007+ turbo cars are capable of doing this, IIRC.
 
I need info on the Datsun 510. Specifically the 1972 wagon US model.

And yes, I've read the Wikipedia page.
 
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This is more of an "in general" thing but what's involved in taking care of a soft-top? I'm really liking the prospect of owning an S2000 next year but basically I don't want that fancy-looking roof turning out like my sister's MX-5; full of cracks and developing a leak, etc.

Obviously I'm also looking into buying an aftermarket hard-top for it but on that also, would it be better to go for an aftermarket (Seibon, specifically as it appears to be the cheapest) fibreglass jobbie or go for the full OEM aluminium hard-top for the extra cash? S2000s aren't a very popular car down here but we have a dedicated Honda dealer and I've heard that the S2K is one of the best cars in the world, even in terms of Hondas, for quality (though that's probably because the equipment levels [or lack of them] probably don't cause much area for concern...lol). The soft-top is the only real area of worry for me.
 
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Digging this thread back up, due to the fact that my parents are telling me to find another car, or go back to walking to work... X_X I'm not sure what people would say about this idea but...I've been looking at this 1985 Toyota Cressida that appeared in my local craigslist and I'm wondering if it's worth at least a look. There's just something about 80s boxes that attracts me, especially when they have pop-up headlights or they're rear wheel drive sedans. Is it worth it?
Here's the link:
http://maine.craigslist.org/cto/2711105739.html
IMG_5867.jpg


The reason I'm posting in this general thread rather than creating a thread is that I may look at other options, but for now, I'm really interested in this. >_>
 
Does anyone have any history or experience with the following:

- Mazda MX-6/Ford Probe (4 or 6 cylinder models)\
- Nissan 200sx SE or SE-R

I'm trying to find a cheap manual car (under $2000 usd) and these 3 keep coming back to me.

MedigoFlame
Toyota Cressida
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These cars are cool. it has the great japanese 80's-90's styling as you said and that one looks pretty good from the picture, so it might have been well maintained. The price is low too. I say take a gander, worst is you find a car that's crap, best is you find a cream puff. The only thing that stands out to me is the fact that theres only 1 picture and it's from the rear. From my experience with cl ads this could mean the car has front end damage...
 
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SpartanG
Does anyone have any history or experience with the following:

- Mazda MX-6/Ford Probe (4 or 6 cylinder models)
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Famine has a good line of knowledge on these, in particular the 6-cylinder ones.

I know the engine is a good'un though, Mazda unit, very smooth, pretty reliable. Personally I'd go for the Mazda, as it's not called a Probe...
 
SpartanG
Does anyone have any history or experience with the following:

- Mazda MX-6/Ford Probe (4 or 6 cylinder models)\
- Nissan 200sx SE or SE-R

I'm trying to find a cheap manual car (under $2000 usd) and these 3 keep coming back to me.
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I owned a 200SX SE. Not a bad car, pretty rorty, though the gearbox was notchy as all get out, it wasn't that quick, and mine was rather high-mileage, therefore rough around the edges. SE-R has better everything, including an SR20DE, so if that pops up, go for that one. simply watch your oil consumption on any car in that price range, and watch the gearbox on those Sentra/200SXs. That notchyness can lead to ruined synchros.
 

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