2003 H6 with VDC - Advice please!!

[SevenFortyOne]

That price seems a bit high to me. I live in central CT and bought an '01 H6 VDC with 110K a year ago for $6500 from a private party in Western MA. My car wasn't quite as clean as the one you are looking at appears to be, however, the previous owner of my car had complete a service history from new and the car came with brand new tires and a recently replaced driver's side half-shaft.

If you have time to shop around you can probably find a better deal.

[Foldsct]

That's what I want to hear....if the price is TOO high, then we'll continue looking. I was nervous looking at one with over 100k, but that's not seeming to be too much of an issue.....we are going to keep looking, but I've kinda got my heart set on the VDC after reading so much about it.

I'll let you know when we go see it this morning what the end result is. Meanwhile, I think I'll go look a bit now....

[grossgary]

It's not too high...just depends what kind of buyer you are and what situation (time, financial, regional, etc) you are in. I think he paid too much at $6,500...but I never said what I paid because it's not common. I buy and sell a few a year and have friends that have sold dozens..hundreds...

*Time is key.

If you need a car sooner rather than later then you're likely to pay more and should feel really good about an average price if it comes with a one owner, clean, garaged, low rust...lots of compelling attributes vehicle. If you can wait a long time, like I can, then you be very picky on price.

I prefer private sales on nicer/higher end cars like this. Craigslist. Few professional type people buying high end family cars like this want to sell a bad car from their nice house...and it's easy to find someone not worried about making bank on it. This is by far the best way to get a good price on a great vehicle and you're in the market for one of the best vehicles to do this with. Older vehicles you get...how does one say it, you tend to deal with shadier people sometimes....newer vehicles you get people still on payment plans that need to recoupe a lot of costs - these H6's are right in the sweet spot to find great deals.

Lesser vehicles always go to auctions, these kinds of people don't want to make a shady sale or have people associate their home/family with a bad purchase. Those cars get traded in, sent to auction, and end up on dealer lots.

Not much of an issue with H6's since they're such great platforms reliability and maintenance wise, but you definitely get better deals on average from private sales.

This time of year is generally a sellers market - tax returns and snow. Snow for a few reasons - wrecks make more buyers and snow encourages people to buy 4WD. Huge difference between now and summer in some areas. Expect higher prices and less movement in negotiating. I sell a few a year and know others that sell far more than me. But folks are also trading in, moving more cars now too so it's a bigger all around market and you may see less in the summer as well.

Zealous asking priced KBB is $10,500, more realistic Edmunds is $8,500. In Texas will take longer to sell, in a Subaru rich market it will go quicker.

In Subaru rich areas, look often and buy quickly. Good deals are gone quick. Cash and immediate pick up help you win.

Two friends recently paid $8,500 and $9,500 for theirs, with me helping to search, with 80k or so on them and there weren't any significantly lower locally. They both needed a car quick due to totaled vehicles. Used H6 VDC market is small, but they're becoming more available. They were very hard to find 5 years ago when I bought mine, it was a very quiet market and even still I got great deals.

For example: A cursory search on autotrader shows 17 H6's with sub 100,000 miles within a 200 mile radius of a CT zipcode - none are less than $9,000.

There are better deals but only you can determine what variables matter most to you.

[Foldsct]

Well, we just got back from looking at it.......and I'm a little disappointed.

Considering we were told ZERO rust....they lied. There are 2 bubbles, each around 2" large on each rear quarter panel above the tires. There is a good chip of paint missing on the rear passenger door. There is also one more rust bubble on the driver's side.....so 2 rust spots on the driver's side, one on the passenger side.

There is also a 4" scratch on the top of the roof, near the sunroof. They claimed that they didn't know about the rust--I pointed it out to them.

The car drove like A DREAM!!!!! I LOVED DRIVING IT!! I took it to a parking lot, did tight circles, as recommended, and it has AMAZING handling. However, the supposed NEW tires didn't look quite new to my husband, and the 2 on the driver side were rather low. The steering wheel shimmied when we first left; I think it was low tires.

What is this car worth? It now has 95100 on it....drives AMAZING but I'm worried about the rust. Oh--there is also a spot near the back handle on the right side--just like somebody here said.

Can we get it fixed? Has somebody done that and what will it cost?

Opinions please?? Thank you!!!


Edited: I've tried adding the pictures, but it tells me there's a server error.....as soon as it lets me, I will.

[cardoc]

Originally Posted by Foldsct

Well, we just got back from looking at it.......and I'm a little disappointed.

Considering we were told ZERO rust....they lied. There are 2 bubbles, each around 2" large on each rear quarter panel above the tires. There is a good chip of paint missing on the rear passenger door. There is also one more rust bubble on the driver's side.....so 2 rust spots on the driver's side, one on the passenger side.

There is also a 4" scratch on the top of the roof, near the sunroof. They claimed that they didn't know about the rust--I pointed it out to them.

The car drove like A DREAM!!!!! I LOVED DRIVING IT!! I took it to a parking lot, did tight circles, as recommended, and it has AMAZING handling. However, the supposed NEW tires didn't look quite new to my husband, and the 2 on the driver side were rather low. The steering wheel shimmied when we first left; I think it was low tires.

What is this car worth? It now has 95100 on it....drives AMAZING but I'm worried about the rust. Oh--there is also a spot near the back handle on the right side--just like somebody here said.

Can we get it fixed? Has somebody done that and what will it cost?

Opinions please?? Thank you!!!


Edited: I've tried adding the pictures, but it tells me there's a server error.....as soon as it lets me, I will.

The picture size is too large. Edit the picture down by resizing it in "Paint", save it and try again. Usually, if its a 2mb pic, downsize by 50% and it should be good. It needs to be under 1mb.

Minor rust can be repaired at a body shop for reasonable cost. Depending on the color and range of "fade", it will be difficult to blend in, especially if its Pearl White. Any Pearl paint is difficult to match because of the layering of the color and clear.

Rust and paint repair needs as you've stated, would drop the asking price a grand. It may not cost that much to repair, but the value is the number you want.

Tires that are low indicate a slow leak, either valve stem or bead. Or it could be a puncture. If the tires are worn, value price just dropped another grand for a set of tires and alignment.

Its going to drive and handle good under 100k. The suspension hasn't had time for substantial wear. The engine will always run strong. Transmission fluid will need to be checked for level and condition to give an idea of maintenance. A flush is due every 30k.

The condition of the leather is another thing, does it need cleaning and treatment. That's a couple hundred off there.

Does the driver seat motors work as they should? The complete motor assembly needs to be replaced if one motor is bad. That's another 750 in value.

Did the stereo work? McIntosh head units start at $1200 used if they work. If its working proper, it will sound like a concert hall inside the car. All 11 speakers are powered through the amp under the passenger front seat.

[Foldsct]

cardoc, you are amazing....thank you! The pictures are attached....

The leather is immaculate....we are SOOO impressed by the interior! The stereo works great, we played with that.

They are willing to pay for it to be repaired, but I would rather do it ourselves. Looking at these pictures, what should we offer? Or should I ask them....they are asking $8995.

The tires looked ok, we thought maybe it was from sitting and the frigid cold we've had. The trim around the doors and the tire wells all stinks--it's that black plastic stuff that we can replace ourselves....the car isn't white, it's that light green.

I like this car A LOT. I WANT this car. But we are not going to be stupid about it. We do not have to be in a hurry, so if you guys are saying to pass on this rust, we will definitely consider that.

Also, we didn't get a picture, but there is another rust bubble on the right hand side of the handle bar on the back door. And the cover for the back is missing, the tonneau cover.

And the rims are SHOT. Clearcoat is missing.

How low can we go? Is this car worth it?

Thank you so much!!!

oh--and the driver's seat works fine! I tried that out too....

[cardoc]

Offer 7500 cash and see what he says.

[grossgary]

Those spots are really small and not a big deal in the rust belt, so they should be easy to repair. But they have to be done right. This is not an area where you price shop, you want someone good with rust and body work...you don't want a cheap rust repair, it will come back.

$200 per panel for repair + $200 per panel for paint = $800 for fenders and $1,200 for fenders and door jamb. Very rough, body work can vary wildly.

A look at the underneath of the car would be a good idea. The body rust, while alarming, isn't nearly as big of a deal as exhaust pipe falling off while you're driving. It's probably not all that bad, but worth a cursory glance.

Second picture from the bottom shows his rear exhaust flange:
NY/FS: 2005 Outback 3.0 LL Bean Edtion

This is a likely place to rust through and leak, then fail. Repaired two last year and another is currently waiting some help from me.

Tires look good in the rust pictures.

[Foldsct]

Well, we talked to him today, and he's only willing to come down $500, which is not enough for us to get the car. We know the work is over $1,000 but we were willing to do it.

I told the sales manager thank you, but that was not enough.

Now we'll see what comes next because $8500 is still too much for that car. I think we can find another one for that money......

And I actually sent a PM to the guy selling the LLBean in those pictures...no response yet....

I'm very disappointed, but this means there MUST be something else out there for us.....

[grossgary]

Yes, be patient, do not settle. 5 or so years ago it was much harder, these things come up for sale all the time now.