Buying...Help!

I am sooo close to becoming a SVX owner. My girlfriend and I have an outback wagon, and I love it! I first saw the SVX about a year ago and fell in love with it. I love the design, and think it is one of the nicest looking cars I've ever seen. It will be a classic car in 15 more years. So...with that said I've been looking for one. I drove one and the guy wanted 4,000 for a poor shape model. I know the problems in general but...how do i really tell if the trany is going to drop. I could not get on a major road with that one due to no plates. I am sooo close to buying the next one I saw. it has 115,000 miles. I've payed for the insurance, and am just about to close the deal.
I'm getting cold feet because I just found out the lemon laws in NY do not apply to me. I've driven the car and there is no slipage I can tell. Though I have not had it on the highway; I have takin' it down a farm country road fast(yes Long Island has FARMS). found a wierd slight thump in left front. I'm willing to eat the 200- 500 fix for bearings but a new tranny....ouch...this is my everyday driver.
Is there any really good way to check trans. It's a 92 no filter as far as i know. I'm paying 3,200.And it has a perfect interior. Little scatches outside, engine runs great, and everything works!

[benebob]

Let it idle and get out and talk to the guy for a while. At least 20 minutes of stop and go traffic. Definately do it on a nice warm day. Smell the tranny fluid. If it is fresh great but you probably don't want too fresh. If it is cooked (burnt toast smell) walk away. Then when you drive it make sure it goes into all gears. Make sure it doesn't drop into any gears. Check for a flare in shifting (where the rpms keep going up slightly while you shift.

Just came home from picking her up. She didn't have anyprob. shifting. She had clean fluid...almost too clean. It was a hour and a half drive home: hit some traffic. Smells fine. I'll be putting the cooler in and all that... shortly. Living in NY, I know I'll hit traffic from time to time. Thanks for the reply.

On my ride home I had 3 different riced out cars wanting to race.Is this something that happenes often?

[ensteele]

Congratulations on the new car. Take care of it, and you should have many miles of happy driving.

[Pure_Insanity8]

Originally posted by CONSUME
Just came home from picking her up. She didn't have anyprob. shifting. She had clean fluid...almost too clean. It was a hour and a half drive home: hit some traffic. Smells fine. I'll be putting the cooler in and all that... shortly. Living in NY, I know I'll hit traffic from time to time. Thanks for the reply.

On my ride home I had 3 different riced out cars wanting to race.Is this something that happenes often?

Good luck with the SVX. Sounds to be in fair working order for a pretty good price. Welcome to the club!

Yes, ricers will want to race you... they often think either you'll be really fast and just want to see you hual... or they think you'll be a pushover with a 4 cylinder. I like to show 'em the tail lights from time to time.

1st day of the car. All is well...except my winshield wiper fell off! But..... who cares when you have a ride like this. I have never owned crazy sports cars, but Ive driven many of my friends stangs and the like... I think this car ROCKS!!!! I am so in love. I first fell in love with the design, but the drive is even better. I am so HAPPY!!! Thanx for the help guys!
P.S. more ricers on the ride home. I was going for bigger fish tonight. In the rain I am king of the road!LOL

[LarryIII]

Consume,

Welcome to the SVX family.

Happy Motoring.

Did I mention that the NY Yankees rule !!!

yes larry, you did. but all that money just to stay ahead of the red sox. btw, has steinbrenner had you over for dinner yet?

I am originally from New Bedford MA. Deep in the heat of Red Sox territory. I played for the Yanks in little league, and have been a fan since. I went to a Boston/Yanks game a couple of weeks ago. Yanks won!

I love being a NU YOKA! AND I LOVE THE YANKS! BOSTON SUCKS!the stadium chants! I love IT!

Now back to my SVX... Got it home. Road great. trany fluid smelled great. It's a 92 that is emaculate inside and out!
But yesterday trany slipped on me a bit going from 1-2 i think.
Is it to late to throw the cooler and filter in...damage done, or can I throw the cooler in and baby it to last a while. I don't have the money now for a new tranny.....and when i do I would like to go manual....NOW I REALLY NEED HELP!!!

[ensteele]

Yes, do it as soon as you can. I would also lookinto getting the kit from SmallCar that will save wear and tear on your tranny. Good luck.

i guess i'm in the minority, but none the less my feeling is that after 115,000 miles and especially with some slipage the trannie will go, and while a cooler may buy you 5,000 miles one may as well save the cost of installation and put one in when the trannie goes.

[svx_commuter]

Well I doubt if it's an original 92 tranny. So it most likely has less than 115k on it. Drive it softly for awhile No stomping on the gas in corners. I hope it works out for you.

[Pure_Insanity8]

It could still last a while. When mine started to do the gear changing "flare" it still worked pretty well for another 2 or 3 years before it really started to crap out.

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by CONSUME
I am originally from New Bedford MA. Deep in the heat of Red Sox territory. I played for the Yanks in little league, and have been a fan since. I went to a Boston/Yanks game a couple of weeks ago. Yanks won!

I love being a NU YOKA! AND I LOVE THE YANKS! BOSTON SUCKS!the stadium chants! I love IT!

Now back to my SVX... Got it home. Road great. trany fluid smelled great. It's a 92 that is emaculate inside and out!
But yesterday trany slipped on me a bit going from 1-2 i think.
Is it to late to throw the cooler and filter in...damage done, or can I throw the cooler in and baby it to last a while. I don't have the money now for a new tranny.....and when i do I would like to go manual....NOW I REALLY NEED HELP!!!

I reckon the guys are right on this. You are new to the car, you are trying it out, you are enjoying full power burn-offs with ricers {Somebody's got to put them in their place!! }

If you have only just noticed slippage on the 1-2 shift, a couple of things you can do; one, go gentle for a bit, and avoid full throttle mash-downs, kick-down at high revs will burn up what's left of your friction material pronto.

Two, go to the nearest Subie dealer [where you purchased?] and get them to adjust the brake band. This band being loose is what's causing the slippage.

If the band friction material is almost all gone, the fix will be very temporary. If there is plenty of material on there, then you could get a year or more from the tranny with a tighten up of the band. Commuter is probably right, you may not be running on the original tranny.

I will add a third one, now that I think of it. Drive the car in 3 instead of D until you get the band adjusted. Reason for this would be, the tranny will be kicking down to three as you look for power, and the resulting change back up to D will be causing slippage, creating heat, and burning off the last of that material on the band [it works for both 2nd and D] Trust me on this! Even at highway speeds, the car is OK in 3, as the final drive is very highly geared.

If it still slips after having the band adjusted, then you are heading rapidly for a rebuild, start saving.

Best of luck,

Joe

[Clydesvx]

If you can find out where the car came from you might be able to call the service department and give them the VIN. They could tell you what service has been performed and what you might need, such as timing belts, etc..

I didn't know where mine came from until I blew a PS hose and limped into the nearest Subaru dealer. The service department gave me the full rundown on the vehicle. What Luck!!