legacycentral bbs

so i think ive decided to stop looking at getting another car and just save up maybe 10 g'sssssssss and throw it at the car and go AWD and Turbo. i figured if i save 10 and buy an STi down the road, it is going to have a lot of miles and ill probably be doing mods if not engine rebuilds...so, why not keep the car that gets me 60 bucks a month insurance and just put the money into that. people so will just ridde it to the ground and then buy a new car, but i know this car inside and out.i really wanted to keep it N/A but im leaning toward a least going turbo, still not to sure. question though is should i get a EJ22T or WRX engine? is 5 grand reasonable for AWD and Turbo conversion if i do it myself. unfortunately i dont have the space or time to really do anything since im not rated and i live on a damn boat with my flippy floppies. i know i really want to keep this car though cause they look sick when done up and it would be the body thats old cause everything would be up to date. i think im just talking out load but if you want to comment with suggetions or what have you, i would appreciate. + or - critisism is appreciated.

Tony

For 5K you could easily convert it to AWD and turbo but why wouldn't you just buy an AWD turbo car and save yourself the hassle? It would be cheaper too.

There's a really nice touring wagon for sale up in Port Orchard from a guy I bought an EJ22T from for around $2,800 I think. He just replaced the engine this year too I think.

I have to agree, especially where you don't have a place to work on it—drive yours while looking for an SS/TW. Take your time and buy one that needs little work. That's what I would do if I didn't write my car into a book series making me feel I need to keep it.

With a lack of space and a god amount of tools, it is going to be tough for you to tackle a serious project. When I swapped everything from my wrecked car to the N/A FWD car I got from Kansas, I took over the 2.5 car garage at home for the better part of two weeks. I also have lots of air tools and an engine hoist.


The insurance for these cars is nice though. I pay $375 a year for liability on a first gen Legacy. Its going to be more for my hot rod with an agreed value of $30k though. We'll see this summer.

well ill be probably putting another motor in anyways and whatever else. i guess ill have to see when i get to that point. but i change my mind every other day so who knows

id definitely just continue looking for a ss and keep your car as well. Didnt you just get the motor rebuilt?

93forestpearl wrote: The insurance for these cars is nice though. I pay $375 a year for liability on a first gen Legacy. Its going to be more for my hot rod with an agreed value of $30k though. We'll see this summer.

Not when you're 22. My insurance for my metro alone for me only is $157 a month for full coverage. Back when I was 17-21 living at home on my mom's plan I was paying the same for my 89 toyota 4x4 and the same when I had my 90L AWD wagon.

I wonder what it'll be when I put my subaru on my policy if I can ever get it finished.

When my loan is paid off (less than $400 left) I won't need the full coverage anymore but I'm scared not to have it in case I get in an accident that's my fault and have to pay hospital bills.

Back on topic, sorry.

If I was you I would take my time searching for a really good condition legacy that you wouldn't ever have to paint. Something like Josh's legacy. But an SS. I made this mistake you seem to be close to making. I was impatient after searching for a couple months for an SS and bought one for way too much money that didn't run and I somewhat regret it now. If I had just waited I could have gotten a really nice one that runs for as much or less than I paid for mine.

As the saying for people seeking classic cars goes: buy the best you can afford and be patient.

This doesn't sound like a great idea to me. If you take a $3k car and dump $10k into it, you still have a $3k car. If you buy a $15k car, sure you'll pay more for insurance, and it will lose resale value, but you'll still come out better than you would with the older car, only now you have a car that's safer, newer, and has more hp out of the box than your Legacy will probably ever have(not that it can't, just sounds like you won't go that far)

Just my 2 cents.

ericem: i just got the heads done about 5 months ago

kimokalihi: well i only pay like 65 a month,grante i dont have full coverage. i have been looking for almost 2 years now. ihave almost bought about 4 from this website, but always had to wait to get the cash and always missed the car by a cople days.

Apex3: i not worried about reselling the car, im keeping it for a long time. but if i buy a new car i have to make payments and pay more for insurance. the insurance on my car will continue to lower and will be fun to drive. if i was to buy a STi for 15 grand, that would be just for the car. i would still want to modify it so in theroy it would be more cost effective to just stay with the legacy for a while till i startto make more money.




Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions

PM'd you

But the STI would also always be worth more and is starting from a much better place performance-wise. I don't like new cars either, but I had to throw out the pragmatic response. That said, if you lose your job or something, the old car is paid for, won't cost you much at all if you don't drive it, and can't be repo'd

I'd say, get the cash in hand and keep it around so you can jump on an SS when one comes up. Cash is also a better negotiator, especially when you can pull it out in a roll.

ill keep saving the money but im in the Coast Guard right now so im not worried about losing my job at this time

Dumping that kind of cash into these cars when it is your primary mode of transportation and is not a "play car" is not really a good idea in my opinion.

I would venture to guess I've got well between $10-$15k in mine. I had a good base to start with, and it has not been my daily driver for some time. There is no way I could have done any of the large scale swaps with this car being my primary means of transportation.

If you can be patient, I'd just keep saving the money. Either you will find a great deal on something which will feel right (turbo legacy or perhaps WRX or STi) or you just keep saving.

If I were in your spot, I would probably end up trying to pick up a WRX or STi. It takes a lot of time, money, and skill to get these cars to where the WRX or STi is out of the box.

If I had a baker's dozen thousand dollars to spend on a car, I'd be looking at JDM STis and thinking dashboard swap back to LHD.

I can't see you being very happy trying to spend 10k on 'weekend' swaps into a daily driver.

No sir.

keep your car the way it is. that way you can have a nice economical, quiet, stock-ish vehicle that you can rely on and do stuff like take road trips and run errands. if you do suspension, brakes, and exhaust it will be entertaining enough while still quite reliable and economical to drive. next time it needs a clutch think about an awd swap. it's just an excersize in frustration to have one car you extensively modify and DD as well. been there done that. turbos are not the greatest dd type car either due to their thirst for premium gas.

206er wrote:keep your car the way it is. that way you can have a nice economical, quiet, stock-ish vehicle that you can rely on and do stuff like take road trips and run errands. if you do suspension, brakes, and exhaust it will be entertaining enough while still quite reliable and economical to drive. next time it needs a clutch think about an awd swap. it's just an excersize in frustration to have one car you extensively modify and DD as well. been there done that. turbos are not the greatest dd type car either due to their thirst for premium gas.

Agreed BOOST is killing my wallet lol. Seems pointless to have it and not use it though. I think ill be looking fora 97-99GT for a city DD and a set of headgaskets

ericem wrote:Agreed BOOST is killing my wallet lol. Seems pointless to have it and not use it though. I think ill be looking fora 97-99GT for a city DD and a set of headgaskets

Owning both an SS and a 2nd gen (with the EJ25D) I have to say the build quality is quite a bit worse. There are so many wierd squeaks and noises on the 2nd gen. The chassis also feels more "flexible" in a bad way, too. But as a DD it's fine. I haven't compared the speed of it against a stock SS, but I would imagine it's similar, and being able to use regular octane is a huge bonus.