Buying a Legacy, what to look for?

[iOnic]

VR4 AYC rear diffs like packing a sad too.

A lot of people (Mechanics included) don't realise that the actual AYC fluid resevoir is inside the car hidden behind the panels in the boot so it's not uncommon to find VR4's with a tank full of old knackered oil because they only changed the actual diff oil during servicing and didn't touch the AYC fluid. This + Abuse is why they pack a sad. No one seems to pay any attention to maintenance schedules nowadays

If you don't maintain it, it will break. That's not the part's fault.

With whatever car you get I'd suggest taking it to someone that knows a fair bit about them (or even to a dealer) for it's first service so it can be given a good check over and they can let you know about things that you wouldn't otherwise know.

[Mr Revhead]

There is a reason there are sooo many cheap Legnums around
Same as there are heaps of cheap Cavileirs about.....

[Lloyd]

There is a reason there are sooo many cheap Legnums around
Same as there are heaps of cheap Cavileirs about.....

YUS!



Any half decent mechanic should realise there is separate AYC fluid being that its labelled on the diff and has a separate drain, and its labelled in the boot anyway

Whatever you decide on, make sure you get it checked first if you want something performancy

[iOnic]

There is a reason there are sooo many cheap Legnums around
Same as there are heaps of cheap Cavileirs about.....

Except there are waaay more cheap[er] Corollas around than there are either of the above....

To someone that has never owned one using your logic, one would assume that all Corollas are therefore rubbish?

Whatever you decide on, make sure you get it checked first if you want something performancy

Truth!

[Mr Revhead]

But a corolla is built and marketed as a cheap car.
Not a flagship performance model....

Apples with apples.... GTT Caldina is what you need to compare it to

[iOnic]

Apples with apples.... GTT Caldina is what you need to compare it to

Not sure where you get the idea that Legnums are cheap cars. If you havn't got much to spend I would steer well clear of VR4's - they're not cheap cars to run by any stretch of the imagination. There are *some* cheap examples but in general they aren't worth touching in much the same way that you wouldn't buy a $3000 GT-T and complain when something went wrong. For a car of the same year, same km's and same condition (IE good service history etc) A Caldina GTT, Legnum VR4 and Legacy GT-B are all similarly priced.

Comparing a GTT to a VR4 probably won't end very well. The VR4 is quicker in a straight line, quicker around corners and has a less highly strung engine than both the Gen4 3SGTE and the EJ20R (Ie: It's more reliable), it's better on the open road and has more room in the interior than both. Parts are all over the place owing to the fact that the Evo has HUGE parts support and many of that generation Evo's drivetrain/suspension/brake parts are directly interchangeable with the VR4s. Pretty much the biggest whinge I ever hear about VR4's is that they chew through the fuel (although I'm not sure what you'd expect from an engine that is able to move that much weight that quickly...)

FST4RD sounds like he's settled on the Legacy so all the above is pretty much useless banter anyway

[FST4RD]

Haven't bought the car yet. I don't mind spending more, up to about 5-6k, but would prefer turbo just due to the long trips that I take. Far more comfortable.
Been doing some research over the last wee while and it seems that all the cars I have been looking at have "potential" problems.
Legnum VR4 - runnning bigends, AYC
Caldina GTT - engine
Legacy - engine
Libero - weak motor, roof rust
Stagea - ugly

Although in saying that my mate has a Legacy GT that's done 200,000+ k's and not had an issue, another friend has a Legnum VR4 that's well over 200,000k's with no issues as well. I used to own a Mitsi GSR and had no engine (sold it with over 180,000k's) or roof rust issues. Although I have seen legacy's, legums and liberos that have needed rebuilds with extremely low K's.

I guess (and someone correct me if I'm wrong). A car with 70,000k's that isn't serviced will be in worse condition then a car with twice the k's but serviced every 5,000k's? Assuming they are driven the same.

[Mr Revhead]

What engine issues do Caldinas have?
Other than people pissing with them and cocking it up I can't think of any? Have I forgotten some?

Also the later legacys are much much better engine wise than the early ones. Don't have the soft head and rattly lifter issues for one...

[GTTpower]

What engine issues do Caldinas have?
Other than people pissing with them and cocking it up I can't think of any? Have I forgotten some?

Other than the missing manifold stud on pre-facelifts and high static compression nothing major goes wrong.
Some can leak from the head from the typical 3S lean, but thats all I can think of.
Id say the major weakness of the GTT is the brakes, near hopeless on the track.

[darkwolf]

Caldina
Caldinas have notorious "pinking issues". Probably due to the relatively high compression.

Legacy
Check behind the rear seats for rust. I have been told by a panel beater that particularly lighter coloured (white, grey etc) subarus generally have rust problems behind the rear seats. May not be noticed in a warrant either.

[FST4RD]

Legacy
Check behind the rear seats for rust. I have been told by a panel beater that particularly lighter coloured (white, grey etc) subarus generally have rust problems behind the rear seats. May not be noticed in a warrant either.

Cool thanks, I'll check it out.
Worst thing about this car is that it has been owned by a smoker
Whats the best way to get ciggy smoke smell out of a car? Is it possible?

[Mr Revhead]

Vaccum the shit out of it
EVERYWHERE.
And I mean everywhere. Pull the seats out.
Then, hot sunny day, all windows up, spary a full can of air freshener in there, shut the doors and walk away.
Stash a few air fresheners around it too.

Worked for me.
A while later I was working under the dash, holy shit the crap on the back of the panels... I cleaned it all it was so disgusting

[Dell'Orto]

Yup, ash goes everywhere. Probably easier to find one a non smoker has owned TBH. I spent around 10 hours cleaning the interior of the levin to try get rid of the stink, and ended up swapping seats and door cards over.

[FST4RD]

Right....
I was thinking that my mates a car sales man, he's got one of those wet vac things for cars that foams up... That would be a good thing I guess.
I like to keep the interiors of my cars super clean if I can.

[Dell'Orto]

Yeah the carpet and seats are easy, its behind the dash that really gets grotty. Stinks like smoke when it gets warm

[MR2BOY23]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 449166.htm

just saying

[FST4RD]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Toyota/caldina/auction-327449166.htm

just saying

I remember that one being on there ages ago. I don't think it was supercharged last time I seen it though!

[tsoob]

the little rolla i just brought stinks of durrys 2.

been airing it out most days thats been helping,

not sure if i can be bothered with vacuuming it tho..

may get airfreshener

[nobody]

I've had good results with Meguiars Car Odor Eliminator - it took a few applications (remember to spray everywhere - under seats, the roof, anywhere there's fabric) but now it only has just a hint of the smoke smell if the car is left shut up for a week or so - day to day running, it just has the new car smell

[sergei]

Best way to get rid of cigarette smell is run the car with AC on full blast (recirculation medium temperature) with ozone machine pumping ozone into the car, for couple of hours.

Only problem is getting hands on said machine.