What's it worth ?

[rossw46]

I'm gutted.

I bought an Impreza turbo 2000 a year ago as my first (relatively) quick car after finally being able to get a reasonable insurance quote.

In the past year ( almost exactly 5K miles) I've had the brakes refurbished, 4 new tyres, and a new battery.

Then, as the car was due a decent service, I got it into a specialist recently for their top service, and had a cam-belt change at the same time, a new radiator, 2 new HT leads and a couple of other minor bits.

The specialist told me he suspects that the head gasket is failing, and I should consider getting it changed in future, his reasons for being suspicious was that the 2 HT leats were rotten and he thought it was probably from coolant blowing out of the head.

Also, the car drove home without fault (about 25 miles), but then the day after I was driving and noticed the engine temp getting pretty warm, not too far from max, so I pulled over to let it cool and then went back home.

I tried it again today, to see if it was the same, and it was worse, the engine got to nearly max again within about 3 miles of home.

I'm baffled as the car has never overheated in the past year.

I'm going to flush the system and fill it again ensuring I get all the air out for a start, and see if that cures it, I live in hope, but as the work was carried out by a specialist, I'd be surprised it it was done incorrectly.

So, worst case, if it is a HG failure, what would it be worth selling it off as is ? The car is on a V reg with 120K miles, MOT until Nov 2015.

Gutted is an understatement, the work I've just had carried out has just cost me £1250.

[rossw46]

The car is in fair shape otherwise, but certainly not mint.

My plan for the last few months was to sell her in February and by a car I've wanted for ages, so failing an easy fix, I will most likely be selling as is.

I'm guessing between £1K and possibly £1.5K ?

[rossw46]

Hey Rossub,

Great username btw.

Couldn't agree more, if I get the head gasket done, it would be idiotic to not to the big end bearings, crank bearings and clutch whilst the engine is out ( I'd need to research whether there is anything else that is a must while the engine is out).

At the moment, I'm undecided on what to do. I'm pretty handy on the tools, an Electrical Engineer by profession, I've worked on a fair bit of large mechanical plant, and rebuilt a motorcycle engine from scratch a couple of years ago, so the options are :-

I embark on a proect, pull the engine, get the heads skimmed and replace all of the above, OR

I sell as is with a suspected HG failure.

I reckon the car is worth realisticly a minimum of £2250, maybe a bit more bearing in mind I've spent £1200 on a major service and cam-belt change 2 weeks ago, new rad, new batt, 2 new HT leads, new tyres, new brakes, so are you saying a HG replacement is >£1250 if done by a mechanic ?

I appreciate your feedback though mate. I'm gutted, as I was looking forward to the winter with my Subaru !

I'm fairly sure it is the HG failure, but just in case it isn't, I removed the radiator today, and got the thermostat out and tested, it opened up in boiling water so I assume its ok, but I've oredered a new OEM one and a new radiator cap and will do them just to rule them out, as they're cheap anyway.