Oh Deer :/ Saabaru down... new car ideas?

"thejustache" (thejustache) 01/28/2016 at 09:55 • Filed to: None

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So far I’ve hit 2 deer in my 11 years of driving (and thankfully none on my motorcycle).

The kicker? They’ve both been on the same road, within about 3 miles of each other. The last one a few years back mashed up the hood of my beater MKIV GTI, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on the hood. This one came out of nowhere at 55mph and did a bit more damage...

My homemade light bar got destroyed and my Hella lights vaporized instantly, but worse was the fact that it shoved my radiator core back about a foot leading to coolant and steam everywhere... It was definitely tow truck time.

The only thing left to do is wait and see what the insurance company says... and of course browse craigslist. Nothing that happened is unfixable, but given that I was at 166k miles and Saabaru body panels can’t be as readily available as their Subaru counterparts it might be time for the car to head to the great gravel stage in the sky. Thankfully if that does happen the auto yard where it was towed is only a few miles from my parent’s house. I’ll need to go reclaim my Sparco Terras/snow tires and Rally Armor mud flaps - everything I used to put my car in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

On the other hand, maybe they will fix it... but that’s not as interesting to think about. I’m in the Saratoga/Albany NY area - anybody have suggestions for a cheap daily that won’t make the 2 hours of driving a day I do miserable? El Manuel required, and it must look good with a light bar !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Given the Sparco wheels I have currently I’m leaning towards another Subaru/Saabaru. Should I test the theory that there is no such thing as a cheap WRX? All opinions considered.

Here’s the last picture I took of the car pre deer induced cosmetic surgery. You poor, sweet thing :’(

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 10:01

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What qualifies as cheap?

For some people cheap is $2k, for another it’s $15k.

Jewish Stig > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 10:01

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ill take the chance of sounding like your old Auntie,

At least you are ok!

Does your insurance cover this sort of accidents?

gin-san - shitpost specialist > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 10:07

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I take it from the focus on getting a new car that you weren't hurt or too shaken up, which is good to see.

The thing about the WRX and STi is that it’s always way too expensive, or suspiciously cheap (at least where I live, anyway).

Aaron M - MasoFiST > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 10:09

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If you’re in the mod mindset, you can buy a cheapish 02-05 WRX but you need to do your homework. The 2L turbo engines are less likely to kill themselves when abused (through either a ringland failure or spun bearing), but that doesn’t mean they won’t...there’s plenty of stories around NASIOC of people buying 80,000 mile bugeyes and getting rod knock before 3 months.

Finding a stock one will be almost impossible, and I’d actually lean towards buying a modified one over a “stock” one, since most of the stock ones were returned to stock and it makes it harder to gauge the treatment of the car.

In addition to all the normal used car crap, you should know who tuned the car, what mods were used, what were taken off, and as much in the way of service records as possible. High mileage is not necessarily bad, just make sure timing belt is up to date.

If at all possible, do not buy cars with intakes, front-mount intercoolers, manual boost controllers, or blow-off valves. All are indications of poor mod choices for various reasons, and are all bad for the mechanics and performance of the car in some way.

Wagons are more likely to be either mildly modified or in some rare cases actually stock.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Aaron M - MasoFiST 01/28/2016 at 10:12

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This is why I’ve basically abandoned all notions of buying anything apart from a brand new WRX/STI at any point in my life.

Thanks, flat-brimmed Monster chugging Ken Block fanboy bros, you’ve essentially ruined the WRX platform for the rest of us.

Also, I don’t feel like taking up vaping.

yitznewton > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 10:14

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This one came out of nowhere at 55mph

Dang, those deer out your way really haul ass!

Sorry, couldn’t resist... but really, sorry :(

Deer and bears on the road when I go driving 4-6am is my biggest fear.

thejustache > Jewish Stig 01/28/2016 at 10:15

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Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’ll be covered... I probably won’t get much back for the car though. Glad to be ok!

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 01/28/2016 at 10:16

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I admittedly got lucky with my WRX, but I had it for nearly five years, got it to 160,000 miles, and had only two mechanical failures the entire time, neither of which were engine-level. It is possible to get a good one, but you basically need to buy it from someone like me, who is intense with maintenance and modifies their car like an engineer.

That all said, if I’m going to buy another WRX it will also be new. Which probably means I’m just not going to buy another WRX.

thejustache > gin-san - shitpost specialist 01/28/2016 at 10:17

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It’s the same thing here, which is what has always scared me off in the past (and might still now).

I’m glad to be ok! My one thought as I hit it was “Oh shoot, I’ve got those Takata shrapnel bags in here”... but they never went off

thejustache > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 01/28/2016 at 10:18

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Yeah, no vaping or flat brims for me either.... and I haven’t had a monster in probably 6 years!

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Aaron M - MasoFiST 01/28/2016 at 10:21

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Yeah, there are rare instances out there where you can still snag a clean unmolested, or very lightly modded, WRX from someone. Plenty of wealthy yuppies out there with bugeye and blobeye WRX wagons in nice condition, especially in places like Colorado and northern Arizona. My cousin comes to mind. haha

Yeah, the other thing that would lead me to buy a new one (IF I ever did get one) is that used prices are ridiculous. A two year old WRX with 20k miles costs just $2k less than a brand new model. It’s insane.

thejustache > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 01/28/2016 at 10:21

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Well, I don’t really have much saved up right now, maybe $1500, plus whatever I get back for the car which probably won’t be much more than another few grand. I do have good credit so I guess I could always finance something... I probably wouldn’t want to go more than $10k total in that case. I put around 30k+ miles a year on my car, so whatever I get will be old and worn out quickly.

thejustache > yitznewton 01/28/2016 at 10:26

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Ha! I like it. I’ve only seen one bear while driving, but I’ve got an hour long rural ride home every day and deer are a regular occurrence. Part of my reason for the light bar I had was deer avoidance - which it actually did quite well until the fog lamps died last week. If I had fixed them immediately would I have seen the deer? I’ll never know...

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 01/28/2016 at 10:28

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Yeah, the resale value is nuts.

I didn’t get lucky from finding a lightly modded one, or by following my own advice from above...I bought a returned-to-stock wagon at a used car dealership. I didn’t even understand how close I came to being screwed until I started modifying the car and my tuner showed me all the evidence of the previous modifications that I wouldn’t have even thought to look for. My turbo failure was probably directly related to how much the previous owner modded it, but it could have been much, much worse.

yitznewton > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 10:29

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Do you have any experience with the little deer horns? I looked into it and it seemed like a lot of “people” like them, but no research seems to support the idea that they work.

thejustache > yitznewton 01/28/2016 at 10:35

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Yeah I’ve never used them... I’ve had lots of people suggest them, but never saw any supporting evidence that wasn’t anecdotal. I suppose it couldn’t ever hurt to try though...

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Aaron M - MasoFiST 01/28/2016 at 10:36

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Yep. The days before anyone knew about the WRX will be greatly missed.

A buddy of mine picked up a completely stock bugeye with about 30k miles on it for $10k back in the early 2000s from a buddy at a Porsche dealer. It was such a nice clean car. He then dumped about $40k into it modifying it. lol

thejustache > Aaron M - MasoFiST 01/28/2016 at 10:41

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Yeah, things like that are why I’ve stayed away despite wanting a WRX since 2002. However I’ve had an itch for boost ever since playing around with my 1.8t gti... and it wants to be scratched. There are two manual legacy GTs on craigslist in my area, one of which looks very clean. Maybe a better choice? I’d miss the hatchback but some choo choo fun could make up for that...

WTFMPL's mom drives a brown wagon. > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 10:43

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OH SHIT! That Sucks dude. I’m terrified of the deer down here in PA.

That being said, I didn’t know there was another Saabaru owner on OPPO! Cool.

A bunch of bumpers just came back into stock on a few different sites, including this one .

Oh and here’s a craigslist parts car in PA that i just contacted for some parts, though the front-end damage obviously looks worse than yours.

Keep an eye out on the forum and fb group as well.

Hopefully you’ll try and save it! Also let me know if you do part anything out.

WTFMPL's mom drives a brown wagon. > Aaron M - MasoFiST 01/28/2016 at 10:45

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That’s exactly why I went with the 9-2x Aero. Hard to find but usually stock/unabused and $3-4k cheaper than a wrx.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 10:47

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Same caution applies, though the Legacies were more expensive which filtered out a little bit of the ricer nonsense. However, the 05-09 GTs are going to be on second owners quite often now, so in terms of modding they’re only slightly better than the WRXs. I wanted a Legacy GT but settled on the WRX after I couldn’t find one, so I definitely agree they’re great cars, but I think that recommending one is something I’d only do if you were planning on modifying it. At stock power levels, a V6 Accord Coupe will deliver a similar experience with way better reliability. That said, a modified Legacy GT is almost certainly more reliable than a modified Mazdaspeed6 or 335xi.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > WTFMPL's mom drives a brown wagon. 01/28/2016 at 10:49

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Yeah, in New England everyone was/is holding on tight to theirs. Not a single one for sale back in 2011 when I was shopping for the WRX.

thejustache > WTFMPL's mom drives a brown wagon. 01/28/2016 at 10:54

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Thanks! Deer are scary. The car could definitely be saved, but I guess it’ll come down to the insurance company. It’s my only car and I need a way to get to work, so as much as I’d like to project car it back to life I’ll probably have to do whatever gets me back driving as soon as possible. It’s just a linear though, so not quite as bad as dealing with an Aero - I’ve heard those hoods with the scoop are quite rare indeed. If I do wind up with parts I’ll definitely let you know... if they decide to scrap it though there probably isn’t much I could do to salvage stuff first.

TheRealBicycleBuck > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 10:55

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Look out Subaru owners! The Honda owners have recruited deer in their quest to wipe out our cars!

Liam Farrell > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 11:13

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What about a Lexus LS400. Can be found cheap and last forever. The auxiliary lights could bring the 70's Cannonball spirit back.

KmartSmart > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 11:45

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I hope you realize you just jumpstarted my addiction for a Saabaru again.... here I come Craigslist

thejustache > Liam Farrell 01/28/2016 at 11:50

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I’d consider it! Especially if I wound up doing something nutty like this eventually http://www.clublexus.com/articles/found…

gawdzillla > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 13:12

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get a complete wrx front end cut

the 02-03 bug eye style goes for 1200 tops

thejustache > gawdzillla 01/28/2016 at 13:49

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I did think about that, it is a good idea... I’m not sure I have the free time to dedicate to that right now though

uofime-2 > thejustache 01/28/2016 at 15:23

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what motor is in your saabaru?

If its an EJ you could find Someone selling a car with a blown motor and swap it in...