Buying a 2005 LGT: what to look for?
 

My girlfriend's cousin is looking to buy a 2005 LGT. I'm gonna go look at it Wednesday with her to see if I notice anything wrong with it. I plan on checking the transmission, but I don't really know what else to look for. Any tips?

Check to see if the radiator cooling fans are running excessively (like when the engine is cold and you just turn the car on w/o starting the engine).

It's not a huge deal, but there was a recall on the relay switch for the fans. When they burn out, it burns out the part of the ECU that controls fan speed. If it's happening the dealer should replace it under the recall.

Also, check the connector between the turbo and the intercooler. It's a hard mount (rather than a flexible y pipe like the wrx) and it sometimes it'll pull apart. Other than that, just check the normal stuff.

Will do, thank you. Also, what size wheels/tires does it come with stock? It has aftermarket wheels, but I don't consider that worth more money if they are stock size.

Wheels - 17x7 +55
Tires - 215/45/17

Thank you. And she said that the only thing on the carfax was that recalled part, so it's good there. I'm assuming the 5 speed transmission in it is the same as the WRX, so I'm going to see how it feels also. If all is well, she should be the proud new owner of an 05 LGT

Its essentially the same gearbox that went into the 05-06 WRX. Its stronger than the glassbox 02/03's but its not as strong as the 6-speeds.

Maybe take a quick peek underneath the car for scratches to the plastic skid plate or other under body parts. that's a sign its been driven on dirt/primitive roads...

look if any parts of the motor are holding onto a lot of dust/dirt/grime. its probably got oil on it, why is there oil on it? leaky seal?

Sounds good guys, thanks for the help!

I just looked at the car for her. It has a Cobb dp, some random catback, no cats, aftermarket intake, hks bov, I'm pretty sure no tune, and skinnier than stock wheels/tires, needs an oil change, and the radiator fans need to be fixed. The tires are 17/40/205. I'm a little worried about it being pretty heavily modded without a tune. Cory said he'd take a look at it for her tomorrow, so we'll see what's up then.

Also, they're asking 14,900 after taxes and everything. Seems a little steep, considering everything I just listed, plus whatever Cory finds tomorrow. I figure she can talk them down with that list.

I'd skip it entirely. That mod list plus the halfassed attempt to replace the stock wheels/tires screams "I couldn't afford to own this car."

Offer them $10,000. Cite all the nonsense above. Walk away laughing if they decline. Revert the missing stuff back to stock and be prepared to spend $5000 at some point down the road to fix the damage they may have done.

I agree, I would pass on the car unless you can get a stellar deal (14,900 is not a stellar deal).

First I would punch him in the face. Then walk away.

That's kind of what I figured. Thanks for all of the replies. Especially you, Joel.

So what did he do once you gave him the surprise left?

With those mods it's not going to be covered by warranty when the turbo blows. If it hasn't blown already check out this thread.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthrea...ost-83047.html

I didn't go back with her, and she didn't have the balls to do it.

She asked him to go lower, he'd only go down to $14,200, so she walked away. Thanks for all of the advice.

Now, she is looking at a 2006 WRX with 93,000 miles (what are these people doing in their cars?) at Toyota in Carson for $14,000ish. I haven't seen it yet, but she sent me some pics. The good news is, the engine bay looks stock, from her pics. I couldn't see the turbo, but I assume it is stock, since the intake, bpv, and ic are all stock. It may have aftermarket springs, but that could be the angle of the pic. She said it has an exhaust, but honestly I don't know. I told her to see if she could take it to cory's shop so he could look at it again.

It had a nice exhaust, with high flow metal cat. Apex-I coilovers. Stock otherwise. It was in really good mechanical condition, from my look-over, and she just sent me a msg. telling me she bought it, for about 2k less than their asking price.

Pretty easy to rack up the miles, once I got my '91 Legacy going, I put 20k on it in less than a year, just commuting from Carson to Reno, and enjoying the heck out of it every chance I got.

I just heard that from her. Thanks for all the help man! She and I both really appreciate it. Could you tell if it was tuned tho? That's the only concern I had. You gave her the ok tho, and you are one of the people whose advice I will blindly follow, so all I needed was your blessing lol

I guess that would make sense. All I was thinking is that I routinely go on 1,000+ mile road trips, and I only have 79k on my '05. Then I realized I don't have a long commute to school

Rob's GF's cousin just got a lot hotter. :P

Bring it by and I can hook up to it with the laptop and see if it is stock or how safe the tune is (if it has one). I kinda doubt it is tuned.

I don't believe it was tuned. I drove it, and power wise it's a stock WRX with a loud exhaust.

Double post

I'll tell her to take it over to your shop. It's the same shop Cory works at right?