Looking to buy a fun manual car i can daily drive as i’m moving on to university in the coming months. Found a bugeye with 221,633kms and is bone stock besides mudflaps lol. The car has receipts of the past work done to it as it has been in a single family throughout its life. Transmission was rebuilt in 2018 and a cylinder was fixed in 2020 with new valves and a head gasket replaced as well. Looking for thoughts before i rush in and buy a car which will drain my account
Bluevikings
Even the 02 model? From what i watched and read the engine in it is reliable compared to the other wrx models. But yeah the 20 years makes sense.
Lol it's a money pit but probably a small and fun one. Sounds well-maintained IF the shops that did transmission and engine work are good. Budget for one major repair (~5k - 10k) in the next 5yrs and 2-3 small repairs every year along with increased maintenance. Also get the canadian equivalent of AAA with flat bed towing.
Hang on a minute.
I've got a 2002 bugeye. Bought it new.
It didn't need a gearbox, or a cylinder fixed.
None of them should.
Why did the one you're considering fail?
I've got a 2002 bugeye. Bought it new.
It didn't need a gearbox, or a cylinder fixed.
None of them should.
Why did the one you're considering fail?
Definitely going to have to ask that question when i go look, the car might sell tomorrow before i can go see but if it doesn’t then i’ll keep this in mind. For the gearbox i heard they generally had a bad wrap?
There were two gearboxes fitted in the bugeyes. My car has a May 2002 build date and has the revised wider gears. Earlier cars won't; later cars may or may not. Have a search for the gearbox codes to see which is which (I posted a thread about a decade ago but have forgotten what the hell I wrote).
These cars get trashed by owners, so be very careful shopping used.
Look and see that the bolts around the turbo, exhaust, suspension, and engine are untouched.
Ask when the clutch was last done (mine is now 210,000 miles old but I actually know how to drive and care about the car; others may be on their fourth clutch by now).
Run the VIN and look for accidents and other history.
There was a fault with the fuel lines that would leak in cold weather. Canada can be refreshing in winter so make sure that's been fixed (in writing), otherwise you may smell fuel because it's leaking all over the intake manifold. Happens initially on cold startup, then all the time as things get worse.
I think some front steering or suspension bits rotted out on US cars in the rust belt, so ask around about that too.
I've bought three radiators and four alternators.
A car that old will need dampers and bushings and all that, so see when that was all changed, and to what (beware garbage suspension; I use Kayaba damper inserts and Whiteline sways and bushings, for example, and they are at least decent and safe - cheap coilovers are an instant show stopper, walk away).
Look for an aftermarket intake and walk away.
Make sure the cover for the boost controller is intact. If not, walk away.
Look for a nice rusty stock exhaust and look for zero CEL codes.
Also, don't buy this thing unless you really want to and have a Civic or Corolla to drive around. I've been here 20 years, I've owned one 20 years, mine isn't for sale and if someone is selling theirs, I'd wonder why?...
Oh! I forgot. When I was fixing the torn turbo inlet (they all tear) I had to lift up the intake manifold. I changed every single little plastic and rubber tube in there while I was at it, because those that didn't disintegrate in my hands upon removal would have not survived reassembly. This cost about $2 trillion. I spent more money on small rubber and plastic parts at the dealer than some countries spend on healthcare. You'll love doing that.
I'm on my third timing belt and fourth water pump I think. Third tensioner. Figure $1K each time, and expect it done every 100K miles or so -- or it's due and you're going to pay full price or half that if you do all the work yourself (my back was killing me last time).
Save up for a 2024 model...
These cars get trashed by owners, so be very careful shopping used.
Look and see that the bolts around the turbo, exhaust, suspension, and engine are untouched.
Ask when the clutch was last done (mine is now 210,000 miles old but I actually know how to drive and care about the car; others may be on their fourth clutch by now).
Run the VIN and look for accidents and other history.
There was a fault with the fuel lines that would leak in cold weather. Canada can be refreshing in winter so make sure that's been fixed (in writing), otherwise you may smell fuel because it's leaking all over the intake manifold. Happens initially on cold startup, then all the time as things get worse.
I think some front steering or suspension bits rotted out on US cars in the rust belt, so ask around about that too.
I've bought three radiators and four alternators.
A car that old will need dampers and bushings and all that, so see when that was all changed, and to what (beware garbage suspension; I use Kayaba damper inserts and Whiteline sways and bushings, for example, and they are at least decent and safe - cheap coilovers are an instant show stopper, walk away).
Look for an aftermarket intake and walk away.
Make sure the cover for the boost controller is intact. If not, walk away.
Look for a nice rusty stock exhaust and look for zero CEL codes.
Also, don't buy this thing unless you really want to and have a Civic or Corolla to drive around. I've been here 20 years, I've owned one 20 years, mine isn't for sale and if someone is selling theirs, I'd wonder why?...
Oh! I forgot. When I was fixing the torn turbo inlet (they all tear) I had to lift up the intake manifold. I changed every single little plastic and rubber tube in there while I was at it, because those that didn't disintegrate in my hands upon removal would have not survived reassembly. This cost about $2 trillion. I spent more money on small rubber and plastic parts at the dealer than some countries spend on healthcare. You'll love doing that.
I'm on my third timing belt and fourth water pump I think. Third tensioner. Figure $1K each time, and expect it done every 100K miles or so -- or it's due and you're going to pay full price or half that if you do all the work yourself (my back was killing me last time).
Save up for a 2024 model...
Hey there. i just bought a 2002 WRX, 100% stock at purchase except for the exhaust, which was missing lol.
Are you a DIY guy? If not you may want to steer clear. If you are, this engine is pretty easy to work on. I did timing system as part of a refresh and it cost under $300 in parts to change.
The hardest thing seems to be getting the spark plugs changed lol. If you have to do heads, like mine, then you have to pull the engine.
My advice: Use a leak down tester to push air into the cylinders and pull the turbo breather tank (Rad cap) lid off and check for bubbles.
This is not easy of course, due to the proximity of the sides of the car. It's a bit worse than doing plugs. I did a compression check, all good, and a leak down test, all decent, and it wasn't until I checked for bubbles that I found HGs were toast.
I bought it suspecting that though, so the price was reflective of this.
As far as the 5MT (trans), lots of haters. Probably it is weak. We'll see.
Chay
Are you a DIY guy? If not you may want to steer clear. If you are, this engine is pretty easy to work on. I did timing system as part of a refresh and it cost under $300 in parts to change.
The hardest thing seems to be getting the spark plugs changed lol. If you have to do heads, like mine, then you have to pull the engine.
My advice: Use a leak down tester to push air into the cylinders and pull the turbo breather tank (Rad cap) lid off and check for bubbles.
This is not easy of course, due to the proximity of the sides of the car. It's a bit worse than doing plugs. I did a compression check, all good, and a leak down test, all decent, and it wasn't until I checked for bubbles that I found HGs were toast.
I bought it suspecting that though, so the price was reflective of this.
As far as the 5MT (trans), lots of haters. Probably it is weak. We'll see.
Chay
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