The Trade Off, Part 2

Picking up where I left off, I reached out to the seller of a 2000 Subaru Impreza with the hopes of trading my 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier, if everything worked out in equal favor. We agreed on a time and place to have a look at what each other had to offer, beyond the pictures and description.

First off, I would be giving up three model years and gaining two extra doors. Some might see that as a "trading down," but those details didn't really bother me too much. I was able to get into and out of the car with only the slightest of pulling from my lower back. Granted, a two door car opens wider than a four door, making entry and exit a lot easier, but I could tolerate the Impreza and the discomfort subsided rather quickly.

The mileage did raise a "yellow flag" for me.

 

Not to walk into any deal blindly, I did some research into Subaru Imprezas of this era and read a lot of the issues with the engine, known as the EJ25. Based on the fact the ad claimed it was an Impreza, I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be equipped with the more powerful, turbo-charged EJ20, but I had high hopes....

 

 
  ....that were quickly dashed upon seeing this.

 

At any rate, the engine didn't look too bad, a few oil/fluid stains here and there, a frayed wiring cap and minor other items. To me, it looked like it was just driven and not cleaned. I asked the seller about the timing belt and head gaskets, the two major issues I read about these motors and he didn't know, having only owned the car for a year and a half.

Moving on to the exterior, the driver's side fender was wearing a very serious "war wound," the current owner claimed came with the car when he bought it. I can neither confirm nor deny his story, so I will take it at face value. I know I can't fix it myself, so a visit to a body shop for an estimate might be in order.

An odd thing to see was the weatherstripping on the bottom of both driver's side doors was dropping. Upon close examination, the rubber had separated from tiny mounting nubs on the bottom of the doors. I tried to just push them back on/up, but they wouldn't stay, so I am assuming a adhesive is needed?

 

 

The interior was a gritty, grimy and had various stickers placed in odd and obvious spots. There were only two major issues I had with what was going on in here, aside from a really good detailing....

 

 

....was a new cover for the center dash glovebox....

 

....and a new shifter knob. When I drive a vehicle with a manual transmission, I shift the gears with an open palm and the texturing on this was chaffing my hand.

Hopefully sooner rather than later, I would want to replace that with a "ball type" shifter, which would be more comfortable on my hand.

 Despite the mess you see here, the backseat area was cleanish, with no major rips or tears.

 

 

The back window tint is....past due to be removed or replaced, not something that is very high on my list for things to do.

 

As it goes for corrosion (aside from the driver's fender), only the rear quarters were showing obvious signs. I read this was common for Subarus from this era, so I wasn't too overly surprised to see it. The car is also wearing what appears to be nearly new tires on four matching, original rims. The 205/55/R16 Goodride tires are manufactured by ZC-Rubber, also known as Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd, and have a decent looking tread pattern for an All Season.

Oh, did I mention it has a working, electric sunroof?

 

Even with all the issues I was told about and discovered on my own, I went ahead and made the deal happen. I traded off a 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier coupe in yellow with a manual transmission with 277,000 kilometers for a 2000 Subaru Impreza GC6 sedan, that was originally silver (some areas of the car show this color, inside the roof when the sunroof panel is back is one, under the hood is another) and repainted red and black, with 336,000 kilometers.

I guess we shall see if the stars will shine on me and this decision.