What is a 1990 Legacy Worth in Parts

[camaroz1985]

I know this is hard to answer without seeing the car, but let me lay out a scenario for you as I need to make a decision soon.

First I'd like to say hi. I was referred to this site by a member of RS25.com because I am beginning a project in which I will be using a lot of early 90s Legacy parts.

I am building a car for the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge. To complete this car (914) I need a FWD Legacy or Impreza for the transmission, heads, intake, computer, wiring harness, and radiator.

I found a whole car for $300, but it is pretty far away. It has what I need, but the body and interior are in rough shape. Interior is really dirty/stained and the body is really rusty (New England car). I was going to go get it this weekend (It's in Maine, I'm in PA).

The problem is that I just found another car that is maybe 15 miles away for the same price, but it isn't complete (missing headlights, tail lights, I don't know what else).

Obviously this one is easier to get to, but I need to be able to sell back the purchase price of the car in order to make my budget work for the competition. (Any parts used off the car are "free" in my budget if I can sell back the purchase price in unused parts.)

Do you guys think there is enough value in parts from a 1990 legacy to make it worth $300, if it is missing some parts that I thought I would be able to sell (namely lights). I know I can scrap the shell for a couple bucks but not much (scrap is really low right now).

I need to decide by tonight if I'm going to go for the car in Maine, as I would be leaving tomorrow, and preparing my truck and trailer tonight.

Thanks in advance for your help.



For those who are curious here is the project car

When I was bringing it home.


As it sits now

[quicklook]

ah, that is a porsche.

[camaroz1985]

Yeap it is. That is what the subaru drivetrain is going into.

Think a 1990 Legacy would have $300 in parts and scrap value?

[ScottyS]

Holy crap, look at your gas prices! I haven't seen prices like that in years and years.


Oh, parts, carry on.

[555BCTurbo]

It's worth more than a 1985 Camaro is off the showroom floor lol

[entirelyturbo]

If there's any body parts in good shape, as in no major damage and no rust, then I'd say it's worth $300.

But it's tough to say. Maybe I'm only speaking for myself, but we're all a bunch of poor people already, and now more than ever, we're holding onto our money.

So you might not have great success parting out the body on this board. Not because we don't want the parts, but because we can't afford them.

Me personally, I'd probably try to get the car with the best drivetrain. I know the GRM Challenge aims at being cheap, but the car with the best-condition drivetrain will be more reliable and faster.

I'm gonna do my best to make it to this year's event (just to watch), so maybe I'll see you there.

[camaroz1985]

Sorry forgot to update this.

Thanks for the helpful comments, and ribbing (Nick).

This ended up not being a problem. I went for the local car, but it wasn't a manual trans like the guy said it was. I bought a 94 Impreza wagon from him with a 1.8/5 speed for $200..

Part of the deal was that I will take off some parts he wanted, and when I take them back to him he is giving me the 2.2 heads I need.

I have already made about $125 back in parts I've sold, and will be scrapping the rest soon.

If anyone wants to follow along with the project you can find it here

Oh and Scotty our gas prices have gone back up to about $2.00/gal