Source
r/subaru•
_BillyBatson

Future (hopefully) Subaru owner with a few questions.

  1. I'm looking into buying a subaru but a lot of the subaru i see (Wrx, Sti, Forester XT all around 04-2010) have rebuilt motors after 85k-100k miles on them. Is this because they were poorly taken care of or is that the lifespan for these motors?

  2. I'm more interested in a Forester xt(2007 or 2008). I really like the way they look and I need a car that size. I've done some research and I've read multiple people saying different things about the motors. Some say its the same as an STI motor (from the same year) with a weaker tune, supporting mods, and a td04 turbo. Others say its the same exact motor from the WRX. Which is true?

  3. If i do end up buying a forester xt with 90k-110k, would it be safe to upgrade the turbo and all that good stuff? Or should I rebuild/wait for it to die then rebuild later?

Thanks to anyone in advance!

Posted Feb 17, 2015, 2:32 AM UTC

55
sparatan117WRB 2015 STI•

  1. If memory serves me correctly, the F XT used an EJ255 motor. The STI uses a EJ257 motor (more Lts, still flat 4)

  2. The reason you see the rebuilt motors a lot is because people like to modify these cars... a lot... I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of rebuilt motors. People that sell them are looking to either A upgrade or B get their money's worth out of their prior tinker toy. Most Subaru owners will hold on to their vehicle long after the warranty expires and past 120,000 mi. If you see a rebuilt motor, it means that the vehicle has had a hard life or someone simply wanted to swap the motor for whatever reason...

  3. You'd have to ask someone who's modified those cars. I'm not confident I can give you a sound answer on that one.

Bottom line though, you won't regret your purchase.

1
flclimber'05 Outback•

My 05 outback has a rebuilt motor thanks to the lovely 2.5i that everyone loves so much. Blown head gasket and $2500 later, she's good as new.

A rebuild could just be due to bad luck (and my car being out of warranty, with 170,000 miles on the odometer).

1
Juicy-DrucyWRX Bugeye Hatch•

My 02 WRX has 210000km on it and it's still going strong, never given me any problems. My mate also just got an 04 Forester with 300000 on the clock, don't know how that engines going to behave but initial reviews look good! Pretty much as long as it's not been modified heaps you can be safe to bet that its going to be a good purchase.

1
Galaxywide2004 Red Forester XT•

As far as I know, its effectively the same motor that's in an STI, at least as far as displacement and general design. However, check out cars101.com, ton of info there. Wikipedia is also decent for looking up specs, and has a page showing which subaru engines were used in what cars in which years.

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theboozebaron97 Legacy 'L' 2.5L H.C. 07 STi•

Biggest difference between the engines is the pistons, the STi pistons have a lower compression ratio

1