2003 Subaru Forestor question

Location
Suffolk
My daughter has a Scooby as her main car. It's used for off-road trips quite often. Not Land Rover type of trails, just dirt roads & these get muddy in the wet season. (Central Australia)
She's asked for my opinion on a major service which is due now; New clutch, one leaking head gasket & several steering/suspension ball joints. Have this work done or sell? There's probably timing belts too.

Now I know the vehicle is completely rust free so there's no issue as in the UK with rotting & unavailable parts or second-hand items shipped in from OZ!

I'm tempted to say keep it & get it repaired/overhauled but is this a British thing? Being an 03 model they are known for head gasket issues whereas the 05 model had this sorted. I haven't said keep it yet so I'm asking for opinions please.
@Farmer Roy OK she's 2500k's from you but you have similar terrain.
SS
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
My daughter has a Scooby as her main car. It's used for off-road trips quite often. Not Land Rover type of trails, just dirt roads & these get muddy in the wet season. (Central Australia)
She's asked for my opinion on a major service which is due now; New clutch, one leaking head gasket & several steering/suspension ball joints. Have this work done or sell? There's probably timing belts too.

Now I know the vehicle is completely rust free so there's no issue as in the UK with rotting & unavailable parts or second-hand items shipped in from OZ!

I'm tempted to say keep it & get it repaired/overhauled but is this a British thing? Being an 03 model they are known for head gasket issues whereas the 05 model had this sorted. I haven't said keep it yet so I'm asking for opinions please.
@Farmer Roy OK she's 2500k's from you but you have similar terrain.
SS

Err, I'm a big fan of Subaru cars. I'm in my second Outback & my sister is on her second Forester

Bit hard to answer to be honest, without knowing the cost of the repairs, how many km it has done & her financial capacity ?
Personally, if it was me, I'd hit up a Subaru dealer & get a quote on trading it in on a new Forester. Making some assumptions & generalisations here, but I'm guessing an 03 model car in Centrsl Australia has a lot of kms on it. Rust obviously isn't an issue, but fatigue could be . . .
Having said that, steering / suspension work is no real biggy. I suppose the biggest factor is her financial state, how expensive the repairs are . . .


Sorry I can't be more help
 
Location
Suffolk
Thanks for the replies.
Yes agree on the fatigue I have a feeling it is a high miler but 100,000k's is only 60,000 miles so even a 200,000k car has only done 120,000 miles. I think she's been quoted $5k for repairs but I'll wait for her next message to confirm this. She's working so $'s are available. It isn't dead yet so perhaps drive to garage & trade-upwards.....
SS
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Thanks for the replies.
Yes agree on the fatigue I have a feeling it is a high miler but 100,000k's is only 60,000 miles so even a 200,000k car has only done 120,000 miles. I think she's been quoted $5k for repairs but I'll wait for her next message to confirm this. She's working so $'s are available. It isn't dead yet so perhaps drive to garage & trade-upwards.....
SS

A 15 yr old high km car may not be worth 5k

If she is there permanently I'd look into trading it on a new Forester
 
Location
Suffolk
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