Subaru SVX.... how rare, and now cheap !
Discussion
Just minding my own business, haven't a gentle browse through the PH classifieds for a cheap winter runabout, and stumbled across this. I don't think I have ever seen one on the road. Still looks quite amazing, can't imagine it is the car I need to get around a snow filled winter though.
Anone ever had one....just intrigued.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1901787.htm
Anone ever had one....just intrigued.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1901787.htm
But if it breaks......
You scrap it, flog it on Ebay for bits, most you can lose is £1695, don't let it become a money pit and it isnt a problem.
I know we all talk on here like that is lose change, for most of us it isn't as throwaway as forum talk would have us believe but still worth a gamble.
You scrap it, flog it on Ebay for bits, most you can lose is £1695, don't let it become a money pit and it isnt a problem.
I know we all talk on here like that is lose change, for most of us it isn't as throwaway as forum talk would have us believe but still worth a gamble.
The guy in the car suggests his AWD system is retarded when it is actually driving all 4 wheels. The only retard is the person who thinks any car, no matter the number of driven wheels, can get around on imappropriate rubber in the snow.
What you have to watch for with the SVX is that the flat-6 is not the same as the current H6 designated flat-6, so if it breaks you are probably on your own. I'm not sure if that particular engine has a cambelt or chain. Worth checking.
The gearbox in the SVX isn't supposed to be terribly strong either, but then they say the same about the current Legacy autobox which can't be used with the new Subaru diesel engine because it has marginal torque handling capacity. The 3-litre in mine puts out about 220lbft as opposed to 250 for the diesel. Anyway I'm up to 80K miles with no problems whatsoever.
What you have to watch for with the SVX is that the flat-6 is not the same as the current H6 designated flat-6, so if it breaks you are probably on your own. I'm not sure if that particular engine has a cambelt or chain. Worth checking.
The gearbox in the SVX isn't supposed to be terribly strong either, but then they say the same about the current Legacy autobox which can't be used with the new Subaru diesel engine because it has marginal torque handling capacity. The 3-litre in mine puts out about 220lbft as opposed to 250 for the diesel. Anyway I'm up to 80K miles with no problems whatsoever.
Edited by Mars on Sunday 3rd October 12:01
If the transmission has not been replaced or overhauled, it WILL fail. Unfortunately, no ifs and no buts - it is only a matter of time.
The climate control ECU is very problematic after all these years and if I recall correctly, there are no more available from Subaru. There was talk of a bulk order from owners of getting Mitsubishi to do another run (they made the originals) but has come to nothing.
A great car but there are better options for the money
The climate control ECU is very problematic after all these years and if I recall correctly, there are no more available from Subaru. There was talk of a bulk order from owners of getting Mitsubishi to do another run (they made the originals) but has come to nothing.
A great car but there are better options for the money
I've had mine for nearly ten years, and have real world experience of running one as both a daily driver (c.20K miles) and as a weekend toy.
Firstly these cars appear cheap, but they aren't. Whilst running costs are pretty reasonable the reason that there are under 50 out of the 250 or so UK RHD models that were imported by Subaru UK on the road, is the cost of maintenance, scarcity of certain parts and lack of specialist knowledge to work on them.
However, it's not all doom and gloom.
Pros:
The EG33 powerplant is extremely strong, and if maintained correctly is capable of very high mileages. There are examples running in the US with nearly 300k without any major rebuilds. Unfortunately the H6 is belt timed (the new 3.0 H6 in the legacy is chain-timed), so you will need to stick to the belt intervals as a broken belt = a dead engine, which is upwards of £2.5K to rebuild properly, plus obtaining parts such as valves etc is becoming difficult.
The quality of the bodywork (panels and paint) is second to none, and apart from the patina of age (mine is a 1994 model) still polishes up really well.
The interior is bespoke to the SVX model with really good quality leather, alcantara dash surround and is generally of excellent quality. All of the UK specification cars had black leather (at least to my knowledge). If it has part leather/cloth then it is an import (but more on that later).
Fuel economy is pretty good for a 3.3 litre automatic AWD car weighing in at 1600Kg, with ~30mpg available on a sustained cruise but around town drving a lot lower, but not as bad as an Impreza turbo, which I ran concurrently. Overall range was 360 miles/58 litres to the reserve on the tank (65 litres).
Cons:
The Achilles-heel of the SVX model is the 4EAT automatic transmission that it shared with the contemporary model Legacy. It simply cannot handle the torque of the EG33 on full chat, and subsequently the tranmission fluid can get very hot, and the also fore-clutches burn out. If driven hard a 4EAT will only last 30-40k miles between rebuilds - c. £1.5k. If driven carefully i.e. allowed to warm up properly and staying out of the "power" shift map too often, then this life can be extended to 50-60k miles.
However, it will fail at some point, probably taking the torque converter with it.
Another common fault is with the wheel bearings failing prematurely, the SVX has a very low centre of gravity and can corner stably at very high speeds. This puts a load on the bearings, and obtaining replacements is hard as there can be up to 12 weeks lead time getting them from Japan.
Exhausts, the twin exit system is stainless steel and designed to last the life of the car (on my '94 model, they are still in great condition) but the downpipes from the exhaust manifolds to the cats rust out and are no longer available either from Subaru or as a pattern part, I had a pair fabricated at a cost of £900.
The interior module that controls the aircon and ventilation systems also tends to fail, these are no longer available, but do come up occasionally on eBay.
Glass, all the glass on the SVX is bespoke, and if you have a smashed window it is pretty likely that your car will be written off, however, as above you can buy parts from eBay, but will have to fabricate seals yourself.
Finally, be wary of imports, they are not identical, so entering the VIN number will yield no help whatsoever from Subaru UK. I have heard of stories about differences in TCUs, ECUs and of course trim levels. Power is the same at around 230bhp, but there where some rarities such as 4WS, which if it breaks, you are on your own. Similarly the JDM models have plastic headlamps which fog up, and are an instant MOT failure.
In summary, a wonderful vehicle to own and drive, rare (mainly due to being very expensive in the 90's), but only get into one as a purchase prospect if you can afford to run it. I can attest to the fact it'll go around corners far faster than it has a right to do, the surge of grunt and flat six soundtrack as you wind it up is highly addictive, and people will stop you in car parks asking what it is....
PM me if you have any specific questions.
Jason
--
Firstly these cars appear cheap, but they aren't. Whilst running costs are pretty reasonable the reason that there are under 50 out of the 250 or so UK RHD models that were imported by Subaru UK on the road, is the cost of maintenance, scarcity of certain parts and lack of specialist knowledge to work on them.
However, it's not all doom and gloom.
Pros:
The EG33 powerplant is extremely strong, and if maintained correctly is capable of very high mileages. There are examples running in the US with nearly 300k without any major rebuilds. Unfortunately the H6 is belt timed (the new 3.0 H6 in the legacy is chain-timed), so you will need to stick to the belt intervals as a broken belt = a dead engine, which is upwards of £2.5K to rebuild properly, plus obtaining parts such as valves etc is becoming difficult.
The quality of the bodywork (panels and paint) is second to none, and apart from the patina of age (mine is a 1994 model) still polishes up really well.
The interior is bespoke to the SVX model with really good quality leather, alcantara dash surround and is generally of excellent quality. All of the UK specification cars had black leather (at least to my knowledge). If it has part leather/cloth then it is an import (but more on that later).
Fuel economy is pretty good for a 3.3 litre automatic AWD car weighing in at 1600Kg, with ~30mpg available on a sustained cruise but around town drving a lot lower, but not as bad as an Impreza turbo, which I ran concurrently. Overall range was 360 miles/58 litres to the reserve on the tank (65 litres).
Cons:
The Achilles-heel of the SVX model is the 4EAT automatic transmission that it shared with the contemporary model Legacy. It simply cannot handle the torque of the EG33 on full chat, and subsequently the tranmission fluid can get very hot, and the also fore-clutches burn out. If driven hard a 4EAT will only last 30-40k miles between rebuilds - c. £1.5k. If driven carefully i.e. allowed to warm up properly and staying out of the "power" shift map too often, then this life can be extended to 50-60k miles.
However, it will fail at some point, probably taking the torque converter with it.
Another common fault is with the wheel bearings failing prematurely, the SVX has a very low centre of gravity and can corner stably at very high speeds. This puts a load on the bearings, and obtaining replacements is hard as there can be up to 12 weeks lead time getting them from Japan.
Exhausts, the twin exit system is stainless steel and designed to last the life of the car (on my '94 model, they are still in great condition) but the downpipes from the exhaust manifolds to the cats rust out and are no longer available either from Subaru or as a pattern part, I had a pair fabricated at a cost of £900.
The interior module that controls the aircon and ventilation systems also tends to fail, these are no longer available, but do come up occasionally on eBay.
Glass, all the glass on the SVX is bespoke, and if you have a smashed window it is pretty likely that your car will be written off, however, as above you can buy parts from eBay, but will have to fabricate seals yourself.
Finally, be wary of imports, they are not identical, so entering the VIN number will yield no help whatsoever from Subaru UK. I have heard of stories about differences in TCUs, ECUs and of course trim levels. Power is the same at around 230bhp, but there where some rarities such as 4WS, which if it breaks, you are on your own. Similarly the JDM models have plastic headlamps which fog up, and are an instant MOT failure.
In summary, a wonderful vehicle to own and drive, rare (mainly due to being very expensive in the 90's), but only get into one as a purchase prospect if you can afford to run it. I can attest to the fact it'll go around corners far faster than it has a right to do, the surge of grunt and flat six soundtrack as you wind it up is highly addictive, and people will stop you in car parks asking what it is....
PM me if you have any specific questions.
Jason
--
rswift said:
Just minding my own business, haven't a gentle browse through the PH classifieds for a cheap winter runabout, and stumbled across this. I don't think I have ever seen one on the road. Still looks quite amazing, can't imagine it is the car I need to get around a snow filled winter though.
Anone ever had one....just intrigued.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1901787.htm
See quite a few round hereAnone ever had one....just intrigued.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1901787.htm
Another victim of the autobox here!
I was lucky and got the first one done under warranty (took a fight though).
When I got rid it had a problem with the power steering (specific to the svx - the legacy was different) and the gearbox was I think heading south again.
Lovely car - real GT - super for cruising around the county at high speed and must be the best seats I've ever had.
There was talk of a manual conversion getting done which would be interesting.
I think I still have a set of front balljoints in a drawer somewhere.
I was lucky and got the first one done under warranty (took a fight though).
When I got rid it had a problem with the power steering (specific to the svx - the legacy was different) and the gearbox was I think heading south again.
Lovely car - real GT - super for cruising around the county at high speed and must be the best seats I've ever had.
There was talk of a manual conversion getting done which would be interesting.
I think I still have a set of front balljoints in a drawer somewhere.
TooLateForAName said:
Another victim of the autobox here!
I was lucky and got the first one done under warranty (took a fight though).
When I got rid it had a problem with the power steering (specific to the svx - the legacy was different) and the gearbox was I think heading south again.
Lovely car - real GT - super for cruising around the county at high speed and must be the best seats I've ever had.
There was talk of a manual conversion getting done which would be interesting.
I think I still have a set of front balljoints in a drawer somewhere.
Were you ever on the SVX world network? My SVX is SORN again, wheel position sensor (for the ABS) on back order and a leaky power steering reservoir (fortunately not the rack, just an 'o' ring and strip down).I was lucky and got the first one done under warranty (took a fight though).
When I got rid it had a problem with the power steering (specific to the svx - the legacy was different) and the gearbox was I think heading south again.
Lovely car - real GT - super for cruising around the county at high speed and must be the best seats I've ever had.
There was talk of a manual conversion getting done which would be interesting.
I think I still have a set of front balljoints in a drawer somewhere.
There are kits out there to drop the 5MT out of a JDM STi into the SVX, but these were developed for the US market. So the patterns for cutting the bulkhead to mount the pedal box would need to be worked up. Besides, I think that the autobox suits the SVX, it's a GT, not a rakish sport car.
Money being no object, I would swap the 5-EAT 'tip box out of my 3.0R legacy into it, but suspect it would be a big challenge. so perhaps one to wait for until I have a significant pot of cash to spare, it'll happen at some point as I'm never likely to sell her.
PM me if you would like to sell the balljoints.
SVX said:
Money being no object, I would swap the 5-EAT 'tip box out of my 3.0R legacy into it, but suspect it would be a big challenge.
Given that they haven't put the 5-EAT in the diesel, they **must** be working on an autobox for that engine so it might be worth waiting until they do. Having said that, I haven't actually heard of any Leggies with broken autoboxes, so maybe the reason they don't use the autobox with the diesel is just down to Subaru protecting their reputaiton - just in case.Mars said:
SVX said:
Money being no object, I would swap the 5-EAT 'tip box out of my 3.0R legacy into it, but suspect it would be a big challenge.
Given that they haven't put the 5-EAT in the diesel, they **must** be working on an autobox for that engine so it might be worth waiting until they do. Having said that, I haven't actually heard of any Leggies with broken autoboxes, so maybe the reason they don't use the autobox with the diesel is just down to Subaru protecting their reputaiton - just in case.Mars said:
They don't sell the diesel with an auto at the mo.
That seems a bit odd, considering the size of the DERV market... It's also bloody annoying that the new Legacy only comes in wagon form. However the 2011 Impreza WRX STi is now available as a 4 door saloon, and it looks pretty good, much better than that horrid "Focusesque" hatchback.SVX said:
...It's also bloody annoying that the new Legacy only comes in wagon form. ...
http://www.subaru.co.nz/New_Vehicles/Legacy/3.6R/
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