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  #16  
Old 05-02-2005, 07:30 PM
Chetburger
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Was there a model year where they pretty much ironed out the questionable tranny issues? Or are they all about the same and tend to fail at the same mileage marker?

My understanding is, the stock oil cooler is inadequate to cool the gizzards, causing higher temps and causing trannys to prematurely seize? Ergo, adding a secondary oil cooler?

My search continues.
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  #17  
Old 05-02-2005, 08:07 PM
ThetaReactor
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Yup. An external tranny cooler is standard upgrade for these cars.

I spent some time looking at Quattro Audis. I liked everything about them. AWD, luxury ride and interior, cheaper than the comparable BMW...

Then I found this Subaru that does all that and looks good.
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  #18  
Old 05-02-2005, 08:23 PM
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ensteele ensteele is offline
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If you go to a 94 or later MO, it should be better than the 92s.
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[COLOR=”silver”]1992 Tri Color L[/COLOR] ~45K (06/91) #2430
1992 Dark Teal LS-L ~184K (05/91) #0739
1992 Claret LS-L ~196K (05/91) #0831
1992 Pearl LS-L ~103K (06/91) #1680
1992 Pearl LS-L ~151K (06/91) #2229
1992 Dark Teal LS ~150K (07/91) #3098 (parts car)
1992 White LS-L ~139K (08/92) #6913
1993 25th AE ~98K (02/93) #164
1993 25th AE ~58K (02/93) #176
1993 25th AE ~107K (02/93) #215
1993 25th AE ~162K (02/93) #223
1994 Laguna Blue Pearl LSi ~124K (1/94) #2408
1994 Laguna Blue Pearl LSi ~144K (10/93) #1484
1994 Laguna Blue Pearl LSi ~68K (10/93) #1525
1994 Barcelona Red LSi ~46K (02/94) #2624
1994 Pearl LSi ~41K (12/93) #1961
1995 Bordeaux Pearl LSi ~70K (02/95) #855
1996 Polo Green LSi ~95K (03/96) #872
1997 Bordeaux Pearl LSi ~55K (08/96) #097
2003 Brilliant Red LS1 Convertible ~29K (04/03) #8951
1999 Magnetic Red LS1 Coupe ~33K (04/99) #6420

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  #19  
Old 05-02-2005, 10:24 PM
Chetburger
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I just got done emailing this person and getting some feedback on the car. Its in Wisconsin. Im in Dayton. About 400 miles away.

1992 SVX LSL 145,000 miles

Would a car with 145,000 miles scare the hell out of you? Normally it would me, but this car had the tranny replaced at 70,000 miles. When the dealers replaced these, did they simply replace them with the exact same part? In other words, sooner or later the same problem will occur, or was the replacement a new and improved tranny? Having a tranny with 70K miles eases me mind a bit on the 145,000 odometer miles.

As I said earlier, Im looking for 75,000 miles and 6yrs to get out of an SVX. That would put me a little over 200,000 miles. Doable?

According to the owner, a lot of the problem areas have been done including water pump, belts, rotors, brakes, etc etc.

In a response to me on further info, he said the engine and tranny drove like the day it was new and other than bad trunk release and bad power locks (this is all I know on this, I assume the doors physically still lock), and scratches and minor door dings, the car works great and has no real issues. He subjectively rated the car an 8.

Heres a few more pictures of the car:

Pictures

Looks like the interior could use a good cleaning especially the passenger dash, but I have some products that will clean a chimps butt so good you could lick it and never feel shame.

To me, the price seems fairly attractive. $3500. Has snow tires on it and the ES100s would cost me a bit more. Too bad my WRX OZ Superleggeras are different offset.

Anyone care to offer some opinions on this one. We'll see what more info he has for me. The car would have to pass a PPI in good standing before I made a 400 mile drive.

One other thing. Im stupid so would the extra oil cooler thing be something I could do myself if someone drew me a picture. Im serious. I have absolutely no mechanical ability. I know the engine is in front on these cars and in the rear on my 911. After that, Im lost. I just polish and wax for concours and leave the wrenching to others. If you think I could do this though without killing someone, I might show some empowerment.

Thanks for the help thus far. A good active board. I honestly used to hang out a bit on the NASOIC forum because of my WRX, but God honest dont tell them I said this but I think too many of the people over there 9yrs old. I hang out on Rennlist.com the Porsche boards a lot and this reminds me of that. Good info thats quick and no riff-raff to the new dude. And no pissing contests, just helpful opinion.

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  #20  
Old 05-02-2005, 10:43 PM
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ensteele ensteele is offline
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This one looks like it has been cared for. The paint looks very good and there are many of these cars that have gone over 200,000 miles already. One in my area just turned 300,000. For that price, I think that this one would be pretty good. Keep us informed on what you do.
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[COLOR=”silver”]1992 Tri Color L[/COLOR] ~45K (06/91) #2430
1992 Dark Teal LS-L ~184K (05/91) #0739
1992 Claret LS-L ~196K (05/91) #0831
1992 Pearl LS-L ~103K (06/91) #1680
1992 Pearl LS-L ~151K (06/91) #2229
1992 Dark Teal LS ~150K (07/91) #3098 (parts car)
1992 White LS-L ~139K (08/92) #6913
1993 25th AE ~98K (02/93) #164
1993 25th AE ~58K (02/93) #176
1993 25th AE ~107K (02/93) #215
1993 25th AE ~162K (02/93) #223
1994 Laguna Blue Pearl LSi ~124K (1/94) #2408
1994 Laguna Blue Pearl LSi ~144K (10/93) #1484
1994 Laguna Blue Pearl LSi ~68K (10/93) #1525
1994 Barcelona Red LSi ~46K (02/94) #2624
1994 Pearl LSi ~41K (12/93) #1961
1995 Bordeaux Pearl LSi ~70K (02/95) #855
1996 Polo Green LSi ~95K (03/96) #872
1997 Bordeaux Pearl LSi ~55K (08/96) #097
2003 Brilliant Red LS1 Convertible ~29K (04/03) #8951
1999 Magnetic Red LS1 Coupe ~33K (04/99) #6420

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  #21  
Old 05-02-2005, 10:53 PM
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Chiketkd Chiketkd is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chetburger
Thanks for the help thus far. A good active board. I honestly used to hang out a bit on the NASOIC forum because of my WRX, but God honest dont tell them I said this but I think too many of the people over there 9yrs old. I hang out on Rennlist.com the Porsche boards a lot and this reminds me of that. Good info thats quick and no riff-raff to the new dude. And no pissing contests, just helpful opinion.
I know exactly what you mean about NASIOC and that's why I hang out there very little. I typically just follow threads of interest to me... Glad you like the SVX Network!

I must concur with Ensteele - that '92 is listed at a good price and 'appears' to be well-cared for. As long as the owner has good records of all major service, it's worth a good look.

You should post some pics of your '02 WRX sometime!

-Chike
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  #22  
Old 05-02-2005, 11:06 PM
Chetburger
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Heres the WRX...



I got it just as they were coming out. At the time I was like the only one in town and the rims got the necks to turn, but now you see them quite a bit. Its a good car, I really cant say it isnt. The engine is built well. Im starting to hear a few rattles though. Even with the summer/rain tires the car did pretty well in snow. Does great in rain. Pretty good power. Interior leaves something to be desired, obviously thats where they cut corners. I guess Ive just outlived the car payment. I had a first-year run 92 Integra GSR before this and it got totaled. Had 125,000 miles on it and drove like it was brand new. Nice little car to get around in. No torque but bulletproof reliable. Man it was nice driving a car that was paid off too. Theres my predicament now. I want out from under it and want to cut my 3yr costs in half. Driving through the potholes and urban jungle I just dont need that expensive of a car anymore. I have two p-cars I want to get out of the garage more and I honestly think downscaling my daily car will help urge me on to do that.

I think an SVX would make me just as happy as a WRX. Probably more since its 1/2 the price of my lease. To be honest the SVX interior slams the WRX interior. I want more isolation from the elements, more cozyness. Yet a decent engine to whip by the semis and tackle the snow. Being different is in my DNA. I cant drive a car everybody else has.
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  #23  
Old 05-02-2005, 11:28 PM
ThetaReactor
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chetburger
Being different is in my DNA. I cant drive a car everybody else has.
And here you've hit upon the biggest reason I bought one...
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  #24  
Old 05-03-2005, 12:10 AM
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Landshark Landshark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chetburger
Being different is in my DNA. I cant drive a car everybody else has.
you have good taste in cars. i came here straight from Rennlist, and the forums are very similar - not as much street racing/bling-bling/flaming/etc. crap.

what Porsches do you have?
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  #25  
Old 05-03-2005, 03:32 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chetburger
One other thing. Im stupid so would the extra oil cooler thing be something I could do myself if someone drew me a picture. Im serious. I have absolutely no mechanical ability. I know the engine is in front on these cars and in the rear on my 911. After that, Im lost. I just polish and wax for concours and leave the wrenching to others. If you think I could do this though without killing someone, I might show some empowerment.
If I can do it I'm sure you can.
Installing a transmission cooler consists of mounting of the unit and connecting the fluid lines. The hardest part would be finding where to put it.

Half the people here I'm sure could write a simple yet explicit step-by-step.
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  #26  
Old 05-03-2005, 06:22 AM
dcarrb dcarrb is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chetburger
i called my local subaru dealer back today who happens to move quite a few subarus. i called him last week to see if they had any leads or customers looking to sell their svx. he said hes never seen one at the dealer in 5yrs, not even for service.

not especially confidence building.
When I first started looking I posted on subarufinder.com (or something like that) and got one call... from a salesman at a suburban Atlanta dealership, who told me pretty much the same thing.

I found mine on autotrader.com.

dcb
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  #27  
Old 05-03-2005, 06:45 AM
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Chiketkd Chiketkd is offline
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Nice looking WRX!!! Thanks for sharing...

-Chike
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  #28  
Old 05-03-2005, 12:43 PM
Chetburger
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Im just thinking about that $3500 SVX. I dunno. Im wondering if another $2000 on a lower miler with moderately better care would be good preventive medicine.

I think I linked to that $8200 1996 with 120K on the odometer prior in the thread. One owner, all records, a mint julip supposedly. KBB is $6000.

Sometimes I get cold feet on a high miler thats had a ton of major service history. Granted service history can be a good thing or a bad thing. If Im determined to keep the car 5-6yrs though, maybe its worth it to pay a little more.

Im not going to rush into anything. I really think Id prefer a car in the 80-100K mile area thats been well kept with not a lot of stories.

The pcars are 944 turbo and an 88 911 turbo.

What % of trannys in all SVXs do you think have problems or have been replaced? 25% 40%? Any guess?

And how much of a better chance do I stand of finding an SVX with no engine/tranny issues later in the model run -- say 95-97? Does the risk go down substantially or just marginally? In other words, did Subaru really tackle the problem, or did they do token fixes that probably didnt help much?
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  #29  
Old 05-03-2005, 01:08 PM
dcarrb dcarrb is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chetburger
And how much of a better chance do I stand of finding an SVX with no engine/tranny issues later in the model run -- say 95-97? Does the risk go down substantially or just marginally? In other words, did Subaru really tackle the problem, or did they do token fixes that probably didnt help much?
No authority by any stretch, but from reading here and elsewhere, I believe Subaru was pretty much done tweaking the transmission by '95. Wouldn't surprise me to know that a few tranny failures in later models were hastened by neglect and/or abuse. Beyond 100,000 miles, most automatics of any make are living on borrowed time, regardless.

Concerning the engine, it seems there aren't too many issues with which to be concerned, unless somebody's flogged the thing to death.

dcb
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  #30  
Old 05-03-2005, 01:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chetburger
Im just thinking about that $3500 SVX. I dunno. Im wondering if another $2000 on a lower miler with moderately better care would be good preventive medicine.

I think I linked to that $8200 1996 with 120K on the odometer prior in the thread. One owner, all records, a mint julip supposedly. KBB is $6000.

Sometimes I get cold feet on a high miler thats had a ton of major service history. Granted service history can be a good thing or a bad thing. If Im determined to keep the car 5-6yrs though, maybe its worth it to pay a little more.

Im not going to rush into anything. I really think Id prefer a car in the 80-100K mile area thats been well kept with not a lot of stories.

The pcars are 944 turbo and an 88 911 turbo.

What % of trannys in all SVXs do you think have problems or have been replaced? 25% 40%? Any guess?

And how much of a better chance do I stand of finding an SVX with no engine/tranny issues later in the model run -- say 95-97? Does the risk go down substantially or just marginally? In other words, did Subaru really tackle the problem, or did they do token fixes that probably didnt help much?

Hi Chris,

Good to see you around here and you came to the right place where you can find and learn everything about SVX. Hope you recognised me. I hope you will find a gr8t SVX before ur lease ends and sorry for not selling my SVX, becos i cant see it goin away from me. Anyway thanks for showing interest in buyin my SVX. Keep lookin on the sale forum of this network. If you want to have a SVX supposedley without tranny problems, then as earl already mentioned go for one from 94, they r more probably not having tranny problems like tht of 92. But if you find a well maintained '92 then go for it.

Good luck on ur search... try on YAHOO network toooo..

-Pavan.

Last edited by pavanbabut; 05-03-2005 at 02:08 PM.
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