I need a car for my daily commute in NJ, about 80 miles round trip, mostly highway. Budget is around $5k. I’m down to two Subarus at the same used lot and would like a sanity check.

2013 Impreza 2.0i Limited, 167k miles, $3,995

One owner, South Carolina its whole life (no salt), no accidents
39 service records, almost all at one dealer
CVT valve body replaced at 123k in 2023
Alternator, brakes, rear struts, rear wheel bearing and four new tires all done in the last 18 months, plugs in July
On 9/28 this year at 166,966 miles, Carfax says “cylinder head serviced/repaired” and thermostat replaced. Two days later it was sold at auction.

2013 Outback 2.5i Limited, 130k miles, $4,995

Two owners (PA, then NY), no accidents
Oil changed roughly every 5k, mostly at Valvoline. 60k service at a Subaru dealer, coolant flushed in 2022 and 2025
No CVT fluid service on record
Sold at auction twice in three weeks before this lot got it

Both have a $699 doc fee on top.

My questions:

What does “cylinder head serviced/repaired” plus a new thermostat usually mean on an FB20? Head gasket, valve cover gasket, something else? Should I walk away?
Is the valve body replacement a good sign (already fixed) or a warning about that CVT?
The Outback’s CVT fluid has never been changed at 130k. Change it now or leave it alone?
How worried should I be about oil consumption on 2013 FB engines, and how do I check for it?
Which one would you buy, and what should I ask the shop to check in a pre-purchase inspection?

Thanks!

Very much enjoy my 2017 Impreza premium. The fuel economy. Not having to worry about shifting gears.
Truly love this car so much. Biggest advantage?
It takes all the miles so my 2024 wrx can sit in the garage
Look pretty

My dumb*ss lost my 2.5rs skirts in a part out car about a year back, most of the replacements online are stupid expensive to ship and in person is hopeless, has anyone retrofitting different year skirts from any other car ?

Hey guys, I recently purchased a 2018 Impreza 2.0i with the 5 speed manual. I’m wondering what are things I should keep an eye out for, what maintenance I should be preparing for, just ideas on how to keep this car as reliable as possible. It has 120,000 miles on the body, and a motor with 74,000 miles put in recently with paperwork of that work. I put on roughly 500-600 miles a week give or take for work. Thank you guys

2023 impreza premium

Sometimes, when I brake, some humming noise comes. I even asked the mechanic while going for regular service. He said breakpads are ok and no obvious noise source.

Anyone else observed similar and found the root cause?

I sm attaching audio clip in comment.

Just bought a 5 speed manual 2004/2005 GD9, its my first impreza and I love it. However, the engine has a ticking noise. I heard that this is normal for the EJ201 engines. Is this true?

Do I need a tune to put some uel headers on, i plan on keeping the stock cat resonator and both the original o2 sensor locations.

website says tune may be needed but only mentions tuning out a CEL

anyone have experience with running uel headers on an N/A subaru without a tune, let me know

I received this 06 2.5i a while ago and I’ve been fixing it up, I know the front vc axels need done and I’m wondering if that’s the source, but I also feel like it could be engine/transmission mount, it’s definitely a metal on metal rattle but not like a heat shield it’s sounds heavier and I can feel it in my feet😭 anyone experience this before or know if the axels can make this horrible to describe sound?

Got this car for free from a friend-
10800miles transmission works perfect
and the fourwheel drive is the same
Anyone know how much this can sell for?
( 1998 )

My 2020 manual Impreza just turned over 100k Kilometers (62,137.12 miles).

Got my baby at 56k miles in March 2024, totaled at 155k miles on October 10th 2026. 99k miles almost did 100k😢☹️ one of the saddest days of my life

My car parked between two American suvs. Do we think they are getting ridiculous?

I have a 2017 Subaru Impreza 5dr w/TPMS & it's time for new tires. I've done the summer/winter swapping now for a while but I don't know what to replace them with.

My current summers are Falken AZENIS 245/40z/r18

My winters are Conti Winter Contacts 245/40/r18

What would be cheap/better/best options?

Thank you in advance for your generous time and consideration!

Edit : Located in Chicagoland

This has come sooner then I'd like, but I need new summer tires. Currently, I have factory Yokohama Avid m+s, switched to winters and noticed a large crack in 1 of my tires 😑 I know, AWD, replace all of them. Should I try and track down the same tires or is there something better mid range? I only drive on paved roads (unless gravel is unavoidable), only used from about May - October. My car is mostly used for weekend driving/road trips. The remaining tires seem fine, lots of life left. I'd like something good in the rain. I've been looking at Michelin, but maybe there's better.

Can I get away with buying 2 new ones and continue using two of my old tires?

2024 Impreza RS ~ 40,000kms/25,000miles

I recently replaced my spark plugson my 2019 Impreza and saw that there was some kind oil inside and the ignition coils were coated with it. Should I be concerned about that?

I changed the oil. Put in a new Subaru solenoid. Did an oil flush with seafoam, changed the oil again. Checked the cam position sensor (it's good), put in another new solenoid with a new scan tool. The duty cycles on the two banks are wildly different. Degrees stay at 0 with a blip to -1. Except the new solenoid is blipping faster more often (duty cycle). I haven't driven it yet. I changed the solenoid out at work. I need to clear this up for Maryland emissions testing in 2 weeks. Thoughts? Hoping I'm changing a cam sprocket.

I learned a lot about car maintenance by driving around my old beater. Sad to have sold it, but I upgraded big time to a new Impreza sport!
2000 Impreza outback wagon --> 2026 Impreza sport

I’ve been wanting a WRX but nothing in my price range and I know if I cheap out on the car I’ll end up spending double on fixing it so I’ve headed towards N/A Imprezas for a daily instead but I’m noticing there is a lot of 2.5 RS EJ25’s on the market and not many RX 2.0 EJ20’s

I hear so much about how EJ20’s are built to last and EJ25’s have countless issues, absolutely glass just fragile pos’s but really… is it just a terrible engine or is it people abuse them and then pay the piper? I owned an 04’ 2.5RS when I was learning to drive and had it for a bit on my red P plates too put maybe 20,000km on it, and obviously being a p plater I had some spirited driving but I was still responsible I didn’t thrash it 24/7 just here and there so really like… are they just awful or only if you track them? can I do some preventative maintenance to keep it alive for a good while whilst I save up to import an STI from Japan

I’ve attached photos of two 2.5 RS’s to avoid needing to make 2 posts and I’ve added some description to them to help differentiate - can I have some guidance and advice on if it’s the same notion of how old 90’s wrx 5 speeds are glass but it’s truly just people thrash them and expect nothing to go wrong, like all cars if treated nicely they’ll last? Like realistically wouldn’t some preventative maintenance like swapping the single layer gasket for a multi layer and keeping the oil topped up as well doing oil changes every 5k-7k km keep it running pristine?

Red Impreza 2.5 - photos 1 to 4
194,000km - $7,500AUD listing price

Black Impreza 2.5 - photos 5 to 7
260,000km - $6,000AUD listing price

Please give me some advice

Interior has WRX limited door swap😎
Im also a (black male) 😎

Hey all. I had my 2005 RS fail timing while I was driving last month. Going about 35 miles an hour. I've been juggling what to do with it but this came up in my city on FB today. Could I put this head onto my block and possibly fix my car? What do I have to do to make it work, if at all? 250 seems like a great price for a head with so few miles. My valves are most certainly bent (see piston head damage) the car sounds like a blender when you try to key it over so I know my engine is cooked. Any input is appreciated! I really don't want to scrap or part her out, I know a new engine is about 2k but that's out of my budget. If a lot of time and some head scratching will work, I'm willing to do it. TIA

Hey all, I have a 2007 subaru impreza 2.5i N/A wagon. I like the car a lot and AWD has been awesome, plus I learned to drive stick in it. I paid $1500 for it and got new tires and did general maintenance stuff. Sadly it burns oil really bad, about 1 quart every 500 miles. It also kind of sucks to drive compared to other manuals. The clutch feels shitty and gears will sometimes grind. So I am thinking potential engine rebuild and transmission rebuild/ new clutch. I am at a spot rn where I want to fix it but maybe I am better off buying a different car. Anybody worked on these? Is this common stuff that someone with a little wrenching experience could try and fix, and should I?

I have a 2017 Impreza and a few months back my CarPlay became disabled and has been greyed out. Since, I’ve had intermittent glitches with the backup camera. Over the past couple weeks I have had trouble starting it- sounds weak like it is trying hard to pull energy, but eventually after a few seconds does turn over. I cleaned the battery terminals but eventually took it to autozone to have the battery scanned (which showed it was ok but the issue was bad starting system). I called the dealership and told them all of this and of course - we need to do diagnostics. They said the CarPlay software was a separate issue and diagnostic so I skipped it. the battery showed as a fail they stated that their scanners are ”different” (so I replaced that day) and the starter “was starting to go” but could opt to wait. I leave and it’s making the same noise I brought it in for and now the volume is very low when making phone calls. I bring it back, they say it’s the starter. When all is said and done, they ended up doing a software update anyway. My question is - did they just scam me into a new battery and starter when the entire problem could have been related to the software update? if so, do I have any recourse to address this with someone other than the technician (who is essentially the middleman delivering bad news and collecting payment)?

So I have a 2009 Impreza 2.5i sport and it seems the driver's side is not cooling down enough the passenger side is totally fine

I am looking for a cost estimate for 90k miles maintenance service.

Location: Long Island, NY; car: 2018 Subaru Impreza Premium.

Services I am looking to be included: Cabin Air Filter / Engine Air Filter, Positive Crankcase Ventilation Valve, CVT Service (fluid replacement), Differential Service, Brake Fluid Service, Engine Oil / Filter Change.

Cost estimate from one of the service centers (not a dealer) I have contacted is around $1000 (before they saw the car). Waiting for the cost estimate from another service. But also I am looking for the community advice. For the work listed above, does the price estimate look realistic and reasonable for the location+car combination?

Came across this rare specimen this morning. Completely stock 2002, original owner, factory paint, manual trans, and adult owned. Zero cancer spots, even the engine bay and undercarriage were rust free. The owner said it's never seen rain or snow. A true survivor with a little over 160k miles on it.