OBXT owner as of TODAY! (2005)

[Shandy]

Hello all. Just purchased a 2005 white (no sunroof) OBXT for my 17 year old son. Everythings seems good so far and the hour drive home was smooth.

Give me some must do's!

Thanks Jim

[jesseP]

How many miles? I just bought an '05 recently with 59K miles so I did most (waiting to do the rest) of the 60K mile maintenance. But most '05 cars have more miles so I'll assume yours is higher. You need to do the timing belt if there is no proof of it being done prior to your purchase. And you want to watch out for the head gasket, from what I have read these cars are known for blowing head gaskets at given amount of miles.

[rasterman]

Originally Posted by jesseP

And you want to watch out for the head gasket, from what I have read these cars are known for blowing head gaskets at given amount of miles.

You're confusing the XT with the 2.5. The XT engine has some significant differences from the base model, including different head gaskets. The XT has some interesting problems of its own, but head gaskets are not among them.

The timing belt is a legitimate concern- do it right, do it once and you're good for another 105,000 miles.

[jesseP]

Originally Posted by rasterman

You're confusing the XT with the 2.5. The XT engine has some significant differences from the base model, including different head gaskets. The XT has some interesting problems of its own, but head gaskets are not among them.

The timing belt is a legitimate concern- do it right, do it once and you're good for another 105,000 miles.

Not sure what the XT is, does that not have the 2.5? I'm not a "car" person so I'm not sure the difference between all these things.

[rasterman]

The XT is a type of outback which has a different engine. The engine is a flat 4 with a turbocharger. Very similar (and made of many of the same parts) as the engine in the WRX STi sports car. In a nutshell it's a pricier high performance engine with extra maintenance requirements, and it makes an Outback go like stink.

It is coincidentally also 2.5L in displacement, so most people refer to it generically as the XT, GT, "the turbo" or STi engine.

[tibyABv6]

blocks are the same, internals and heads are different.
I would not call STI a sports car. It is a 4 door econobox with fast engine just like mazda speed 3.

[1 Lucky Texan]

I think your car has one or 2 oil screens that can be problematic. You may want to search for that issue. I think there can be multiple approaches to dealing with it.

probably should stay with mid or premium grade fuel too.