Too far gone?

[Vulpes]

Hi All,

New member looking to get into an 03 SG Forester XT. I've had a good read through the forum on what to look out for in an SG, thanks for some great posts that helped me. I've found an XT that has less than 100k miles but has some corrosion, I understand given their age most will have some rust to a degree, what I'd really like to know is to what extent is corrosion economicly repairable on a forester? I'm happy to spend some money getting one sorted and then undersealing it so long as the bills don't get silly.

Is this one too far gone or easy to put right?

Thanks!

[Mr B]

hard to say from images .
All they really tells me is you want have proper good check for corrosion in usual problems areas of rear inner sill around trailing arm mount,rear inner arch around seat belt mount and turret walls., get hand up on top of rear subframe and see what that feels like, also check front u frame for corrosion .
Need a good dig around and good tap to here and feel metal solid .
Is a fair few XT around between 2003 and early 2005 & it generally fairly easy find proper tidy one if don't rush into it, best rule with used car is if got doubts/concerns don't buy & keep looking .  More you look at more experience you gain on what right & potentially wrong and value .
Always worth the extra for very tidy well maintained examples as generally saves you hundreds and headaches .
Private sales generally better than trade in honesty and price ...

[Vulpes]

7 minutes ago, Mr B said:

hard to say from images .
All they really tells me is you want have proper good check for corrosion in usual problems areas of rear inner sill around trailing arm mount,rear inner arch around seat belt mount and turret walls., get hand up on top of rear subframe and see what that feels like, also check front u frame for corrosion...

Thanks Mr.B!
I've had a look at a few so far and this one seems to be one of the better ones about, I'm yet to see a mint no rust one. My concerns really come from looking at the cross member diff mount bushings which are the worst part of the car as I know it's a big job to change them. Would this put you off?

[Mr B]

No, probably not put me off .
Some surface corrosion fair enough but you got be prudent in inspection as it hides itself well and good welding work is not cheap, other issue is rusty rear ends means lot of bolts/bushes all junk when start trying dismantle for repair jobs .
I always tend find XT cleaner than non turbo's as tend get used less as a country farm wagon .
You going know more on this vehicle than me as visual inspection is what counts .
Perhaps have another look and try barter price allow for some repair work problems .
With price of fuel and road tax and SG not being such a classic as SF they not  that quick to sell and even less so spring & summer time .

Good luck ...

[Vulpes]

Superb, thanks for your insight, it's incredibly helpful for newbies like me.

I'm hopefully going down to see it later this week.

I'll keep this thread updated with what I find.

[Vulpes]

Well I went to see the car, and spent 45mins underneath it tapping every panel and sill I could find. Luckily this one is a goodun' it obviously had a thin underseal applied in the past as most of the underseal was still on the arches and up inside the strut towers but was starting to flake off around areas closer to the road.

I did buy it and my plan is to sort out the surface rust and then take it up to a specialist to have the old underseal removed and a new one applied. Apart from that the AirCon needs a regas but that's about it! Sat on the motorway at 75mph for two hours no problem and it tracks brilliantly, ooof the wind noise from those mirrors though!

[Mr B]

That factory coating, it dries out and flakes off after 15 odd years.
In the rear arches it can look fine on outside but can knock holes in inner arch and turret as rot from inside .
With arches you can recote with underseal but rest of underneath best done with a wax rust treatment & inside of rear arch and sill best done with cavity wax .

Hope you enjoying the purchase, best of luck ....

[Vulpes]

Again that's some great info! Thanks so much Mr B!

I do have one question that appears to have been answered on several posts but it didn't work for me. I'm trying to turn off the audible tone when I unlock and lock the car. I know to turn the ignition on press the button on the fob and then press 6 on the keypad, but nothing happens.

[Mr B]

try instructions in the m30 alarm manual  (attached).

While at it if you don't have a 4 digit pin code for alarm keypad be sure set new one while got a working remote fob .


 

m30.pdf

[Vulpes]

Thanks, I did give them a go but to no avail. I think I might be confusing some things, I have a key with the fob integrated into the key rather than a key with separate fob.

[Mr B]

yes the key with integrated fob is still M30 alarm .