Used Car: Earlier-than-normal maintanence
 

I'm about to go for a test drive in a 2004 subie wrx with only 74xxxkms on it
what bothers me is that the timing belt and new clutch has already been done as well as some other maintanence here and there
the recommended interval to change the timing belt is somewhere well over 74xxxkm according to the subaru website
and 74k kms for a clutch is quite the short life

does it sound like there is any dangers with the early timing belt change or is it normal to change so early?
I'm afraid his old belt might have broke and that's never a good sign on an interference engine...

any tips appreciated, thanks!

[edit] also, any tips on some visuals I can do to look for any damage from a broken timing belt or do I really have to take the engine apart to check for bent valves/parts?

does he have receipts showing the dates of the maintenances?
if he does, did he change everything at the same time?
if he did, then i wouldn't worry too much.

also, at such low mileage, i would doubt the old timing belt was damaged

for oem subaru clutchs, lowest i've heard was 25-30K, highest was somewhere arnd 230K, and was told by one of the trusted mechanics that normal should be around 120K, but usually the most common interval for a clutch change for driving arnd town and stop and go traffic lies somewhere between 80-90K.

it really depends on the previous owner. I'm guessing a few autox, or track sessions, and drag sessions on that 04' wrx. But i mean if it was changed with a new aftermarket one or oem, it technically should be ok, but could be a hint why it was changed around that time.

But that's pretty low mileage for an 04'. I have 86xxx km on my 06', but the clutch is still intact (knock on wood), can't say the same for my CV joints and rotors.

does it have records saying why the clutch was replaced?

when i had my wrx, the clutch broke at around 32k kms because one of the springs failed in the pressure plate (which subsequently ate my flywheel), and everything had to be replaced under warranty.

i knew someone with an 04 legacy that had the front cam seals fail under warranty at around 70k kms, and since they had to take everything apart, he asked the dealer to just do the timing belt service at the same time to save costs.

5 years on a clutch and timing belt sounds normal to me...

i think it really depends how much stop and go traffic you go thru each day, because the chance of you riding that clutch is a lot higher thru the first 2 gears

Ya as others said I wouldnt worry about the timing belt being changed already. Clutch well...could be a bad driver or thier first standard car too? I always think that the previous owner could have bagged the car nearly as bad as I will so I'm not usually too worried unless its high mileage. The other thing to check would be if it ever had a boost controller installed. If there was and now its removed....could be bagged hard? Check for that and if thats good dont worry much! As long as compression is good there shouldn't be bent valves. :)

Sometimes the previous owner is simply tricked into changing the T-belt. As some cars do recommend a 80k change but Subaru is a 160k change.

Shouldn't be too much of a problem imo.

75000km/ 5 years = either a lot of city driving (clutch use) or rarely driven.

If it's the former, I'd say it's reasonable. If it's the latter he either plain sucked at driving, drove it hard or had a failure.

74 km for a clutch aint bad. i mean if i had a WRX it'd be launched hard on a daily basis.

as for the timing belt, a lot of people don't know what timing belts are, i'm not saying that owner is stupid, but maybe they changed the fan/accessory belts?

That can also be an indication of a speedo being turned back. I would want to see service records showing that the KMs were backed up by a constant time line and KM record.

and u sir will be the one posting a rant about how ur wrx blew up its transmission within 5000km.

May I ask how could I know if my clutch is wearing out?

On top of that, I drive a wrx too.

Do you feel it slip?

Try to start your car and move from a dead stop in 4th or 5th gear. If it does, your clutch is slipping
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what he said



or when you are gunnig it your rpm would move up, and your speed is not increasing