Going Shopping

#1 12-31-2002, 12:11 PM

Going to look at a ’92 SVX today or the next day. I just wanted to hear from people who have already gone through the buying experience. What specific things should I look for?
I will probably have the local Subaru dealer check for mechanic problems or hidden leaks and what not. It does have a puff of smoke when you put a load on it. Seller claims that during recent head gasket change (buy dealer) oil got in around the pistons.
But it was a couple of months ago, so I think the oil would have burned out after a day or two, correct? Any ideas on that?
Anything else to look for?
It is a Green Lsi (leather?), no spoiler. 130,000 miles. Cosmetically in very good condition.
What would you pay?

Thank you for your help.

ensteele · #2 12-31-2002, 12:24 PM

Welcome to the site. You should get lots of answers on this. I am not sure if there are any members in your area, but if there is, maybe someone could look at the car with you to see if it is a good one. Take your time to find a Good one, because a Bad one will cost you big time in repairs. The main three areas are wheel bearings, transmission, and warped rotors. CV joints and boots can be another area of concern. Generally the engine should be good, but a head gasket may mean it over heated in the past. That should be a point for concern. Maybe someone else can shed some light on that subject. Good luck and good hunting, or shopping.

#3 12-31-2002, 02:52 PM

as far as i know, both '92 models came with leather.. i believe the trim choices were LS and LS-L. LS-L's had the spoiler as well as speed-sensitive power steering, heated side mirrors, and.. a couple other things. I think both levels had the cd system with 6 speakers.. I'm pretty certian that only the LS-L's came with the spoiler though. I dunno, some people are real geeks about this, so i'll let them step in and correct me..

-a

#4 12-31-2002, 02:58 PM

you REALLY need to find out about when the trannie was rebuilt. you want to see receipts for it, etc. in good condition the car should go anywhere from $3,500 to $5,500. but i am suspicious about the head gasket and the smoke. a new engine could be in your future with that car.

Seraph · #5 12-31-2002, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alacrity024
LS-L's had the spoiler as well as speed-sensitive power steering, heated side mirrors, and.. a couple other things.
-a

Sorry...Correction:

LS : 4 speakers, and no sunroof
LS - L : 6 speakers w/ cd player and sunroof, heated mirrors, and steering

Everything else is the same. Spoilers are optional for ALL 92s

Lwin

ps. good luck with the search.

#6 12-31-2002, 03:06 PM

ok just wanted to give a little info on the 92s.
The LS-L (touring package on the '92 was the -L)
It has leather, power seat, power sunroof, Speed sensitive P/S, 6-speaker with CD, Heated outside mirrors. The LS didnt have these features but may have the CD player as an option. Everything else on the car is the same between the 2 models though.
I would look for a better car if it is doing anything odd...If you wanna come to WV i will sell mine for 4,500 cause i want a different color and i had my fun restoring this one..poor thing looked BAD when i got it, now looking nice.

Noir · #7 01-01-2003, 04:28 AM

Greetings All.

I picked up my first SVX on New Year's Eve. I think I got a great deal on it. $1300 for LS-L cosmetically good. There were a few broken things like sunroof won't open and driver's side window isn't working and the rear passenger light looks as if a shopping cart hit it and broke the plastic. It has about 110k miles on it.

Does anyone know a good mechanic in the Atlanta area that can check out this car for leaks and such. I checked a few "Subaru" dealerships and they were hesitant to check it out and one even said they would not service it in their shop because of age of the vehicle! I would like to fix a few of these minor problems (which come with normal wear and tear) and make sure that any mechanical problems are fixed if there are some that I don't know about.

The original owner was female so I hope it was babied some. I bought it the same day it was traded in so no check was done on it (saved some money on the worthless honda inspection on a subaru) nor was it cleaned. Bought it as is and i'm loving it. So any inputs on what to check and if there are any good mechanics here in Atlanta or Greenville area would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Harry

ensteele · #8 01-01-2003, 12:18 PM

Harry

Do some searches on this site, and you can find out almost anything. After that, post your queston and someone will probably have the answer.

When it comes to parts, watch the For Sale section for cars being parted out. You can get the light covers that way and any other needed parts. This link will get you to Subaruparts.com. Click on the SVX and find the part you need. These parts are new, and will be more expensive than used ones. Good luck.

http://www.subaruparts.com/diag/

#9 01-01-2003, 12:36 PM

I have a Green Lsi and it has leather in it. Mines a 94

wasions · #10 01-01-2003, 02:15 PM

DoLittle, Noir, Kolombian. Good to see you new guys aboard.

Keep you attitudes and language tidy and we'll all get along real well.

DoLittle, I hope your location doesn't put you in a bind. We have members in Idaho, but I think you're the first (poster, anyway) from Montana. (The only time I've ever heard of Bozeman is from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , but that's pretty cool.) I would call a 130K fairly high mileage for a '92, especially not knowing the previous owner. Sniff the t-x fluid. Listen for whining wheel bearings. Look at the brakes. Try to find out when the timing belt was replaced. Do the usual stuff. Actually, that applies to all the new owners.

Happy SVXing y'all!

Beav · #11 01-01-2003, 02:28 PM

Y'all are close, but not quite there yet, The two quickest ways to determine a touring edition is a sunroof and leather. The base model had neither, ecsaine was used with vinyl for the seats, both seats were manual, and in my opinion, I'd rather have the ecsaine again, it holds you in the seat better. In fact I'd actually be temped to trade my leather seats for them if someone was interested. (not to be confused with the fabric seats in the fwd models)

The CD player and spoiler were available as dealer-installed add-ons and probably shouldn't be considered as determining factors.

In regards to the smoking - replacing th head gaskets might allow some oil or antifreeze to remain in the cylinders when the heads are re-installed, it depends on the mechanic that worked on the car. However it would burn off at most by the end of a trip around the block. If the smoke is bluish-white and almost always present, especially during hard acceleration, you have some stuck oil rings on the pistons. The cause of that is the oil was burned and coked into the rings when severly overheated and/or the car was poorly maintained and the oil has just turned into crud in the rings. Either case has the same symotoms. Sometimes it can be alleviated by using a quality engine oil flush, someties several times, to dissolve the coked-up oil.

If the same bluish-white smoke appears only as a brief puff when the engine is first started you probably have worn valve seals and/or worn valve guides. Either way can only be cured by removing the heads again.

If in fact the smoke is purely white and has a sweet smell to it it's anti-freeze and either the mechanic botched the job or there's some other issues inside the engine, maybe even some cracks.

If that's not enough to scare you off, take the car to a garage and throw them a few bucks to look the car over. They can't gaurantee that nothing bad will happen, but they should be able to point out obvious problems now. You'd be surprised how any mechanics are willing to do good job atcheckng a car over for a potential buyer, we see enough people get screwed-over becuse they didn't take the time to do this simple item.

Good Luck!

#12 01-01-2003, 02:34 PM

deja vu... all over again.

Seraph · #13 01-01-2003, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DoLittle

It is a Green Lsi (leather?), no spoiler. 130,000 miles. Cosmetically in very good condition.
What would you pay?

Thank you for your help.

In chicago, I'd pay 4500

In NY/NJ area, I'd pay at most 3000

Lwin

Beav · #14 01-01-2003, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Boone
deja vu... all over again.

I must have had my bifocals on. Or maybe it's my hands shaking. Or...

#15 01-01-2003, 09:22 PM

Hey Harry,
What about the sunroof? On many SVXs the sunroof works but you manually have to push the back up and it should take over from there. Really not a bad enough problem to fix.

-G