Looking at 2009 Subaru Forester With 95k Miles?

388 Views 17 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Theseus161, 4 d ago

Donny

Discussion Starter · 7 d ago

looking at a 2009 subaru forester as a first car with 94,800 miles it has an alignment and balance issue and the interior is filthy it is listed for 6,000 however I'm hoping to offer for and at the highest pay 4,500 so I would like to know if that is a lowball or how much the car is worth and would also like to know what kind of issues I should be looking out for and expect to need to replace soon. It has a 2 in liftthe horn that doesn't work and has new fog lights but the switch is under the hood for that.

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Roffel

· #2 · 7 d ago

What I look for when buying foresters, little list below. Hope its helpful.

Main point is rust, In the uk salt on our roads rust foresters like crazy not sure about USA but check for rust around arches and underbody, this costs ALOT to fix and there is always more you cant see.
What model? 2.5XT? If so these have faults with overheating and head gaskets, check when car starts is their white smoke out the back? Oil dipstick isit milky in colour or bubbly? if so it may have blown and is a costly fix
Cambelt - When and if has this ever been changed?
Service history? Has it been well serviced?
Tyres, are they all matching? its a good sign of what money has been spent on the car or has things just been changed when they really need to be?

That's a couple of basic things I'd look out for!

And in terms of price, in the UK forester go for all sorts of money depending on condition and as we don't have many in the UK people sometimes make up a price so its hard for me to say, but it doesn't seem a bad price? Only thing I would say is if I listed a care for £6k and someone offered me £4.5k, I may take offense to it.

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orndog

· #3 · 7 d ago

I would get a local price to have the head gaskets and timing belt etc replaced, and deduct that from you you feel the car is worth in good running condition. Timing belt is well past due by age, and the head gaskets won't be far behind if they aren't already leaking.

Roffel

· #4 · 6 d ago

But if there is nothing wrong with them why would you deduct the price of the change from the sellers price?
You only really have that option if those things like the head gasket has blown upon your inspection then you can say you factoring in the cost of that change. Otherwise where does it end?

Quadraria10

· #5 · 6 d ago

Just go to Kelly Blue Book or some other valuation site, add the model info, mileage, and condition, and see what you get. You will also want to pay for an inspection. Alignment and balance issues can be the result of an unrepaired impact. That car needs to be examined professionally.

Reactions: 2

orndog

· #6 · 6 d ago

Roffel said:
But if there is nothing wrong with them why would you deduct the price of the change from the sellers price?
You only really have that option if those things like the head gasket has blown upon your inspection then you can say you factoring in the cost of that change. Otherwise where does it end?

Fair, but if it hasn't already been done the timing belt does "have something wrong with it". OP wants to know if the car is worth the price, and specifically "what kind of issues I should be looking out for and expect to need to replace soon". I stand by my reply.

Reactions: 1

Roffel

· #7 · 6 d ago

Everyone has their opinions

Roffel

· #8 · 6 d ago

Just on a separate note and it may just be me but if a car interior is as you say buddy 'filthy' if they cant get a simple hoover out and give it a clean before listing it for sale, I would question how well its been maintained, I think 90% of us could say before we would list a car we would give it a nice clean for potential buyers! as @Quadraria10 said if its alignment is off this could be result of a big impact somewhere, which probably ask them questions about that before even checking anything else out! Lets us know how you get on, I will be happy to help if I can

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GuusV

· #9 · 6 d ago

It depends on the shape of the body. If it's from the rust-belt, I would say "that's too much". But if it's been from the drier parts of the USA and hasn't seen much salt, then $4500 isn't a bad price.

If you're somewhat mechanically inclined, you could do the timing-belt service yourself. And won't cost you more than $400.

Have you had a chance to test-drive it? How does it feel at highway speed? Any humming or weird noises? Does it drive in a straight line without much adjustment? Any clunking noises when going over bumps?

Does the engine run smooth? Any shaking? Any error-lights on the dash?

Donny

Discussion Starter · #10 · 6 d ago

Roffel said:
What I look for when buying foresters, little list below. Hope its helpful.

Main point is rust, In the uk salt on our roads rust foresters like crazy not sure about USA but check for rust around arches and underbody, this costs ALOT to fix and there is always more you cant see.

What model? 2.5XT? If so these have faults with overheating and head gaskets, check when car starts is their white smoke out the back? Oil dipstick isit milky in colour or bubbly? if so it may have blown and is a costly fix

Cambelt - When and if has this ever been changed?

Service history? Has it been well serviced?

Tyres, are they all matching? its a good sign of what money has been spent on the car or has things just been changed when they really need to be?

That's a couple of basic things I'd look out for!

And in terms of price, in the UK forester go for all sorts of money depending on condition and as we don't have many in the UK people sometimes make up a price so its hard for me to say, but it doesn't seem a bad price? Only thing I would say is if I listed a care for £6k and someone offered me £4.5k, I may take offense to it.

Roffel said:
What I look for when buying foresters, little list below. Hope its helpful.

Main point is rust, In the uk salt on our roads rust foresters like crazy not sure about USA but check for rust around arches and underbody, this costs ALOT to fix and there is always more you cant see.

What model? 2.5XT? If so these have faults with overheating and head gaskets, check when car starts is their white smoke out the back? Oil dipstick isit milky in colour or bubbly? if so it may have blown and is a costly fix

Cambelt - When and if has this ever been changed?

Service history? Has it been well serviced?

Tyres, are they all matching? its

That's a couple of basic things I'd look out for!

And in terms of price, in the UK forester go for all sorts of money depending on condition and as we don't have many in the UK people sometimes make up a price so its hard for me to say, but it doesn't seem a bad price? Only thing I would say is if I listed a care for £6k and someone offered me £4.5k, I may take offense to it.

Quadraria10 said:
Just go to Kelly Blue Book or some other valuation site, add the model info, mileage, and condition, and see what you get. You will also want to pay for an inspection. Alignment and balance issues can be the result of an unrepaired impact. That car needs to be examined professionally.

on consumer reports with the condition and miles it had it valued between 3,400 and 5,400 and I’m most certainly getting an inspection before purchase and everything lined up and ther is no evidence of a front end colision

Reactions: 1

Donny

Discussion Starter · #11 · 6 d ago

GuusV said:
It depends on the shape of the body. If it's from the rust-belt, I would say "that's too much". But if it's been from the drier parts of the USA and hasn't seen much salt, then $4500 isn't a bad price.

If you're somewhat mechanically inclined, you could do the timing-belt service yourself. And won't cost you more than $400.

Have you had a chance to test-drive it? How does it feel at highway speed? Any humming or weird noises? Does it drive in a straight line without much adjustment? Any clunking noises when going over bumps?

Does the engine run smooth? Any shaking? Any error-lights on the dash?

I’m not confident doing a belt replacement and it has seen salt and I did test drive alignment was slightly off but I’ve driven way worse but I never got it up to high way speeds

GuusV

· #12 · 6 d ago

It's really easy to have a look at the timing belt.

Best advice I can give: Have a pre-purchase inspection done. You can go VERY detailed where they do a compression test, or you can go the cheaper route where they just pull the wheels to check the brakes and do a visual inspection. I've seen horror story vehicles that are literally ready to fall apart. If this were to happen to your vehicle in 6 months, it wouldn't be a good thing. So, spending between $100-$200 for a pre-purchase inspection isn't a waste of money.
If it ends up being a piece of junk, yes, you wasted that money. But you saved yourself from wasting $4500. If the vehicle checks out, but there is stuff wrong, they will usually give you an estimate on how much it will cost to fix. And you can decide whether you want to go ahead and buy it, or pass.

Most mechanics shops will do pre-purchase inspections.

Reactions: 1

adc

· #13 · 6 d ago

Doesn't matter how trh timing belt looks. Its the idlers, tensioner, or water pump that fails. The vehicle will need head gaskets sooner or later and the timing belt changed.

Reactions: 1

Donny

Discussion Starter · #14 · 6 d ago

adc said:
Doesn't matter how trh timing belt looks. Its the idlers, tensioner, or water pump that fails. The vehicle will need head gaskets sooner or later and the timing belt changed.

How soon would you predict those items to fail and are they costly to replace?

Subie20

· #15 · 5 d ago

This car isn't on the list of Subaru Forester years to avoid, so at least the 2009 doesn't have a reputation for particular problems. That said, be sure the mechanic does a block test to check if the head gasket is an issue.

The T-man

· #16 · 5 d ago

I have a 2010 SH. I purchased it with 99k-ish miles on it. The timing belt was definitely NOT replaced whenever the sticker on the hood said it was, so I replaced all the components myself. The driver/rear wheel bearing needed replacement, the struts were factory, so those had to go too. My head gaskets were leaking combustion gasses into the coolant, I had bubbles in the expansion tank. I replaced it with the MLS gaskets. (no problems) replaced the engine and transmission mounts, valve cover gaskets, radiator, thermostat, coolant, hoses, spark plugs, Pcv, etc. Essentially, aside from general maintenance you’d expect from that much mileage on a vehicle, the only guaranteed concern you’d have is the head gaskets. This generation was one of the last to have issues with them. There’s a Graphite coating on them that galvanicly corrodes away over time, producing failures. The only fix is the multi-layered steel gaskets from the XT engine. Other than that, as long as it was taken care of, that’s not a bad price. Oh, and I paid $11k for mine in 2020. (Should’ve negotiated that price)

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DragonSubie7

· #17 · 4 d ago

@Donny

I'd echo what others have said about the care given to a car sold filthy.
Chances are the interior wasn't the sole area of neglect.

A friend of mine who happened to be a 30+ year experienced Subaru service tech had mentioned when we were talking about the EJ timing belts, that after a very few miles it is impossible to tell the difference between a very used vs a new belt.
I'd plan on needing to replace that soon.
Considering that it's got an interference engine, REALLY bad things happen if the timing belt breaks.
By mileage, the car is about due, not overdue, as the service spec is 105K miles.
It's overdue on time, (not typically as critical) but I'd doubt it's ever been done.

When the timing belt is replaced, replacing everything it touches (idlers/water pump..) should be mandatory, as those component failures can also kill a new belt, along with the engine.

I'd suggest you check into the cost of a new timing belt locally, as it doesn't matter what a shop 1000 miles away charges... Same for a head gasket if it isn't a turbo (XT). KBB has an estimator to give you a local ballpark.
If you don't do the work yourself, it will be expensive.. Head gaskets are $2K-$3K ballpark.
Timing belts are in the $1K - $2K range, but these numbers will vary widely by shop and location.

If not maintained (any receipts available) it could be due for a lot of other things.
New spark plugs, all fluids, shocks, brakes and suspension components may also need attention.

It's a good thing to get an inspection, and even better to line up somebody familiar with a Subaru cars as they will know what to look for.
If the seller won't allow that, there may be a reason.
People don't usually sell a car because it doesn't need any work.

It could be a diamond in the ruff like Cinderella needing a little TLC or a near bottomless pit of need due to a life of neglect and abuse.

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Theseus161

· #18 · 4 d ago

If you don’t have a fairly accurate service history and it’s only been owned one time before, consider looking elsewhere. The fact that the interior is filthy says that the car was probably not well maintained and will not last very long.

If the car doesn’t require a lot of updating, and you just want a beater that may last 25k miles without a lot of repairs, $4,500 isn’t unreasonable. After all, the car is also very old and not in great shape.

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