Beyond a slight mist of zinc on the bolts, Subaru hardware typically rusts very quickly, especially when exposed to salt. The bodies also rust in the typical 'jap car' spots (i.e. rear fenders, rockers, etc.). Some corrosion is to be expected, and should not be of concern, especially when it comes to fasteners and hardware.

However, you're talking about acquiring an economy/performance car that is nearly 8-9 years old at this point - you need to reset your standards.

Even huge amounts of rust on fasteners shouldn't be a problem. The part that you can't see (threads) is what matters. Body rust is an entirely different animal - once it has started, it will not stop.

My Aero has almost 128k on it, and has spent it's entire life in the northeast (CT for 31k, then VT). I drive it all winter and take exceptional mechanical care of it. I gave up long ago on keeping it perfect on the exterior, because frankly the Subaru paint sucks, it's black, and I live on a dirt road. With a 3 year old and a newborn at home, just finding time to wash the car is a struggle.

Honestly, the 50k mile car in the other thread looks like the one you want. Your criteria for the car is tight enough that you WILL have to travel to get the 9-2x Aero that you want. If you really want the 2.5L and an '06, pull the trigger or you'll miss it.

kornfeld wrote:

BeachZone wrote:

There are some people out there that understand the importance of car care. That's who I want to buy from because that's how I am.

I used to live in a dry climate as well, and I never realized how quickly something can rust in a humid and salty environment.  It really doesn't have anything to do with not understanding car care. 

I moved from New Mexico to the midwest in the middle of winter.  Shortly thereafter was the first time I parked my car after work in the evening, woke up to drive it in the morning, and the rotors had rusted so much that it almost felt like the parking brake was engaged until I made a few stops.

Mine is parked in a garage, even in the summer if I dont drive it for a few days the rotors have some surface rust that I can feel/hear unil I have stopped a few times.

I have some bubbling on the rear fenders that I am in the process of taking care of, removing paint applying anti-rust/rust encapsulation primer sanding smooth and then repainting the rear quarter panels. As long as you catch it early enough you can fix rust issues. The thing it catching them.

BeachZone wrote:

You should look into Opti-Coat as well!


-Beach

More than likely I will be respraying the car this coming year, I have done a few cars and had great luck with the Corvair that I am going to try my had at the 92x I think.

Will keep it the Subaru Obsidian Black Pearl, but use a better brand of clear. I have a quart of OBP to start playing with seeing which clear coat works best this winter, Ill prep and spray a dozen small 12x12 squares with OBP then try different clears to see which lays down the best.

My paint is fucked. Nothing left to save. 

BlkSaabaru4Me wrote:

krazykarguy wrote:

My paint is fucked. Nothing left to save. 

I could have my car re-painted once a week. By Friday and after at least 15 trips around the beltway (i495) it'll still look exactly the same. Full of rock chips from stones being thrown at 70+ mph. No offense but I don't think "Opti-Coat" is going to save our paint from that. I daily drive my car. She's not a garage queen. Dumping tons of money (relatively speaking) into trying to keep the stock paint on our cars looking minty-fresh is about the equivalent of throwing your spare change into a wishing well. Do it if it makes you feel good and you get some kind of personal satisfaction from it but don't think all your dreams will come true because you did.

I'm with Krazy on this one. I detail my interior often but know better then to waste my money on expensive washes/waxes on a car who's paint just can't stand up to daily use.

As far as your previous statement

because if someone cared to maintain it's "looks" then they most likely cared to maintain the car mechanically,

I don't believe this at all. The gentlemen that I bought my car from had a great example of a lightly used and never abused but always maintained Aero. No modifications at all. But as far as cosmetics, yikes! Broken fog lights, paint chips, dents, dog hair, etc. Another member recently posted that he purchased a car that was owned by someone that was anal about detailing but came to find out he didn't do any of the major maintenance and the current owner is now paying for it. So I wouldn't necessarily rely on a cars cleanliness as a matter of fact that it was also mechanically sound.

I don't believe I said "Opti-Coat" would save our paint from rock chips. Opti-Coat is not an 8mil thick paint protection film that will protect your paint from rocks on the highway, nor is it advertised as such. Even my vinyl wrapped Sti wasn't fully protected against those little devils.

My '06 Impreza was OBP and daily'd 40 highway miles round trip to a farm 5-7 days a week and was stunning. Far from a garage queen. I couldn't go a couple weeks without having someone comment on how well kept it was for it's age and the fact it was shinier than brand new black cars that haven't left the lot. Exactly the reason I was able to get what I paid for it nearly 4 years later. Did it have it's fair share of rock chips? Of course it did, but I didn't care. Before I ended up giving it to the wife I daily'd a 1986 GL-10 XT for almost two years, same story.

You, my friend, have misunderstood me completely.

because if someone cared to maintain it's "looks" then they most likely cared to maintain the car mechanically,

Read bold^^..... It's not 100% true, but lets be real. If someone really cared for their car, enough to wax it regularly and keep it looking nice, then they more than likely maintained it mechanically so that their pride and joy will last them a good while. You know what i'm saying.
Am I referring to the hippies with 5 dogs that could give a shit how their car looks but still want it to last them? No. I'm saying this because that is what i'm looking for.

Btw, I'm here to tell you that 90% of so-called "detailers" don't know what "detailing" is, so I don't have a hard time believing that at all. But trust me buddy, I'm not basing everything on looks and certainly won't make my decision on that alone. 2 weeks ago I was interested in an Impreza up in Denver. Looked very nice, spent $160 for a pre purchase inspection at the local dealer, and it ended up being junk. I'm not that stupid. I'm not offended by your assumption, just saying.


-Beach

phillipj wrote:

Just to echo krazy and BlkSaabaru, yes of course the OBP paint job on our cars is terrible-- so it's easy to get the feeling that if it is a daily it is almost not worth paying attention to. I don't think it necessarily translates into how well you mechanically upkeep your car.

Expectations on exterior cosmetics will have a lot to do with locality... If my car lived it's life in Pasedena I feel it could (and should) be a perfect 10/10 on the exterior, but being a daily parked mostly outside on the streets in the city of Chicago you kind of aspire to be a 6 or a 7. But that doesnt mean the engine and the mechanicals and the interior arent a 10.

Just because some may have an OBP daily doesn't mean that it isn't worth paying attention to.



^^^That was my '06 a few weeks before I sold it. I did the 60k service myself, all oil changes, tire rotations etc., and paid for a $350 set of tires. I love all my cars. Whether they're beat on like the '06 or '86, or not like my Sti, they get taken care of inside and out. Black, thin, and soft Subaru paint don't matter. After almost 4 years I sure did appreciate the little I put into it to basically borrow the car. I'd say it's worth it

Get a qualified "detailer" to go over the entire finish with a paint thickness gauge to make sure there is enough paint to work with, have him compound/polish it, and then have them apply Opti-Coat or a similar Nano-Coating. Done and done. Forget about wasting time waxing/sealing and your car will look better than 75%+ vehicles on the road for years to come. Simple. Or just let the elements beat on your car, let it turn to crap (cosmetically), becauseyoudon'tcare and it isn't a "garage queen" lambo. To each his own.



-Beach

kornfeld wrote:

No denying, that car looks great.  Out of curiosity, where all have you lived for more than a year or so?

BeachZone wrote:

I did the 60k service myself, all oil changes, tire rotations etc., and paid for a $350 set of tires.

I have to admit, this sentence made me laugh.

Born and raised in New Mexico.


-Beach

BeachZone wrote:

<snip>I don't know much mechanically.

So my question is:

What type of issues do I risk running into down the road by purchasing a 92x that comes from a wet climate? Anything I can do to reassure myself that everything will be ok?

To answer your original question, I can't think of any issues that come up as a result of rust, aside from it being a pain in the ass to do some work on them because things can be seized.  In other words, I'm having a hard time remembering if there are any specific problems that come up from things rusting.  So if you aren't doing the work yourself, I don't think you'll really face any issues.  The only thing I can think of that might be a problem is that the rear hatch unlock mechanism can get get gummed up and you have to do a little trick to get it to open back up, but that's a trivial problem, and it completely went away once I left the midwest.  I could be forgetting some other issues though, so hopefully someone else will chime in.

The work that you've described you do (changing fluids, rotating tires, etc.) won't really be much different on a rusted car vs. a non-rusted car.  If you end up doing anything more substantial (suspension work, major mechanical stuff), then you'll end up seeing a difference, but if you're paying someone else, then that's their problem.

kornfeld wrote:

Me too.   

When I moved away, I couldn't believe how differently cars aged when they were put in areas with tons of heat, cold, and salt. Add to it that in NM, it's easy to have big parking spaces and parking lots almost everywhere you would go, whereas in bigger cities, you're constantly parking inches away from other cars. Then tack on a winter that lasts effectively for 6+ months, and all of a sudden it becomes very easy to lose interest in caring about the finish on your car.

I know what you're saying.

To answer your original question, I can't think of any issues that come up as a result of rust, aside from it being a pain in the ass to do some work on them because things can be seized.  In other words, I'm having a hard time remembering if there are any specific problems that come up from things rusting.  So if you aren't doing the work yourself, I don't think you'll really face any issues.  The only thing I can think of that might be a problem is that the rear hatch unlock mechanism can get get gummed up and you have to do a little trick to get it to open back up, but that's a trivial problem, and it completely went away once I left the midwest.  I could be forgetting some other issues though, so hopefully someone else will chime in.

The work that you've described you do (changing fluids, rotating tires, etc.) won't really be much different on a rusted car vs. a non-rusted car.  If you end up doing anything more substantial (suspension work, major mechanical stuff), then you'll end up seeing a difference, but if you're paying someone else, then that's their problem.

Sounds good. Thank you my distant NM brother. Why the hell did you move if you don't mind me asking?

Exactly. Come to Vermont some time and suddenly my car looks great against some of the rusted-out beaters plying the streets:

It starts snowing here in mid-November, and usually doesn't stop until mid-April.

Sounds like fun over there lol


-Beach

kornfeld wrote:

BeachZone wrote:

Why the hell did you move if you don't mind me asking?

Initially, because I wanted to move to a big city as soon as I was done with college, so I went to the midwest.  Chicago winters felt like they lasted forever.  Those winters broke me of the desire to stay in the midwest, or to move east.

I still like NM, but everything I like about NM, I have in California now, plus a whole list of other awesome things.  It's awesome out here. 

Ahh I hear you man. CA is a beautiful place no doubt. I have family in Modesto and Sac. Went out there a few years ago for Thanksgiving to visit them.
Funny story... I went to stay with a cousin for two nights (who was attending college in Stockton) before heading to Modesto for the holiday, and I got jumped by 5 guys and spent the night San Joaquin County(?) jail my second night there.  Tons of fun I had spending the rest of the 9 day vacation limping around with one eye swollen shut LOL

Anyway, I love my guns, low taxes, climate, open space, low cost of living etc etc etc (the list goes on & on) too much to leave this place. You'l be back. Someday



Beach

Never say never! 


-Beach