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Possible new to me car
Hey guys,
As popular as Subaru's are in the pacific northwest I have had a hard time finding info on the car I am looking at buying.
I have been told to have a compression test done on the engine and have the carb checked out.
Let me give you a bit more info about the car and you tell me if there is anything else to watch for.
I found a car at a local dealer:
1986 Subaru GL 2 Door Hatch back
EA71 Carbeurated Engine, 4 speed manual, and 4x4
Just over 161,000 miles
My wife and I drove through the lot last night and I was in love.
I went back in the day light and was very impressed by it.
It is the shiny maroon color I honestly think a good cleaning and polishing would do amazing things for this car.
The body only has a small pea sized dent on the top of the drivers side fender. The rear bumper is dented in the middle, but the body itself only has a small dent behind the bumper that I can cover with half of my thumb.
I looked at the roof and it looked like a rather flat finish...I thought maybe the clear coat was gone. I brushed my hand across the roof to see if the surface was rough and I brushed away a thick layer of dust to reveal a shiny surface underneath. This tells me it has sat in a garage for a loooong time.
Before I looked at the interior I noticed on the upper right part of the windshield was a sticker from the Factory that stated that it is illegal to drive the car with the plastic seat covers still in place. Thats impressive that a sticker as simple as that survived this long.
The left bolster on the drivers seat is worn and shows the foam...it looks like an elbow and palm was frequently pushed against it to help somebody stand up. I didn't check it to see if just the seam split or if the fabric is ripped.
That is the only problem I could find with the interior.
Beyond that the fabric on the seats look brand new no other wear or fading. The dash and console both look new, all other trim looks new, the carpet looks new. I didn't have time to dig around in the hatch but the rear window was pretty fogged up so I think it may have a leak in the back.
The condition inside and out tells me this was probably a grandma/grandpa car that was always parked inside when it was not being used. And when they took it to church/the grocery store it was never in direct sunlight for very long.
The brakes, and calipers look rusty and the original white wheels have some surface rust spots. I didn't see any leaks from the brakes but I plan to take it to Les Schwab to get the calipers checked just to be on the safe side.
The engine looks like it has an oily layer on the bottom so it does have a leak some where, I couldn't squeeze my head past the skid plate to see were exactly but it looks like its concentrated towards the middle so I'm thinking oil pan gasket.
I had my son with me so I didn't take the time to look under the hood or start it up yet. So that will still be the deciding factor when I go back again on monday.
As I stated before I plan to have the carb and compression tested. I was also told that the older EA series engines do feel a little rough/vibratey at idle and while driving but if it feels like its moving around a lot the engine mounts may need to be replaced.
If I it compresses good and has no serious issues I plan to get an oil change right away so they can change that oil pan gasket and will also have the transmission oil, and differential oil changed.
I also plan on doing a tune up as well but need to wait for a chance to use a friends garage because our apartment complex won't let tenants do even simple work in the parking lot.
Any other thoughts?
Thanks,
Brian
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