1998 Subaru Forester

L SUV

2.5L 4 Cylinder Gasoline Fuel

Automatic

jf1sf6354wh763270

Clear

All Wheel Drive

Gasoline

this is a 1998 subaru forrester. man i love this car...made it through my twenties in this car. runs very well. engine has less than 100000 miles on it (had a knock in the engine at 30000 miles, and was replaced under warranty).ac blows very cold.power windows and locks.cd player, am/fm radio.fog lights.roof rack.all wheel drive.one and a half year old tires.tons of space.2.5 liter engine. a bit of dirt because the car was well used (true mark of a subaru owner, I think).the front fender is nicked up from a fender bender a few years back...didn't think it was worth replacing at the time as it didn't affect the operation of the vehicle.passed state inspection every year needed.selling the car because:1) had a baby, and wife felt a new subaru would be safer.2) had a brake job coming...put the money toward the new car.3) the front left bearing was shot. a friend was supposed to help me replace the bearing and brakes, but got busy. so, if interested, you'll need new front brakes and the left wheel bearing replaced. i've seen the car for sale in NJ (mint) for $5000. i'm looking to clear $1700 because of the condition and because i'd like to move it along to a new owner. i have the title in my possession, and it is clear of any and all liens. this car should be on the road for a long time coming with a caring owner...but the buyer can do whatever they feel they can with the car. On Jul-16-11 at 15:36:10 PDT, seller added the following information: seller 7-16 i went to clean up the car today, and drove it around for about an hour. the car honestly looks better than it has in a long time. it was running pretty well, too. it started right up, and drove around much better than i remembered. i did not take the car on the highway because of the brakes (as i've mentioned in the original posting). the bearing vibrations were much less than i remember, but the brakes were clearly shot. still, i was very pleased at the power and the smoothness of the car, and having some fond memories of driving the car daily. but then i heard a rrrrrrrrr......it was under the hood. it never happened before, but i also haven't driven the car anywhere for months. i was pretty upset, and tried to locate the sound of the rrrrr which raises in pitch when i step on the gas. it is either the alternator (thought the battery was still strong, and i started the car multiple times to see if it would lose power and it didn't) or the water pump (which should have been replaced when the car was tuned up at 80000 miles). i'm looking into it. to reflect this new finding, i am lowering the buy it now price by 100 dollars (the price of a new pump). it is an easy fix, just like the brakes. the temp of the car after driving it for an hour in 90 degree heat never went into the red. but i am committed to selling the car fairly. i am sorry for this new detail that may dissuade some potential buyers. let me simplify the cons: 1. new front left bearing needed.2. dinged front left quarterpanel.3. front brakes are shot.4. a rrrrrrr under the hood that is either the alternator or water pump. let me exclaim the pros: 1. power windows and locks2. automatic transmission works exactly as it has the entire life of the car.3. A/C works beautifully in 90 degree heat.4. the car is clean and ready for sale (minus some dirt here and there).5. air bags!6. engine only has 96000 miles on it (because replaced under warranty).7. the car has only 130000 miles, only 10000 per year!8. awesome tires and a full spare.9. all wheel drive, all the time, super security!10. everything that was positive about the car listed below. original posting: this is a 1998 subaru forrester. man i love this car...made it through my twenties in this car. runs very well. engine has less than 100000 miles on it (had a knock in the engine at 30000 miles, and was replaced under warranty).ac blows very cold.power windows and locks.cd player, am/fm radio.fog lights.roof rack.all wheel drive.one and a half year old tires.tons of space.2.5 liter engine. a bit of dirt because the car was well used (true mark of a subaru owner, I think).the front fender is nicked up from a fender bender a few years back...didn't think it was worth replacing at the time as it didn't affect the operation of the vehicle.passed state inspection every year needed.selling the car because:1) had a baby, and wife felt a new subaru would be safer.2) had a brake job coming...put the money toward the new car.3) the front left bearing was shot. a friend was supposed to help me replace the bearing and brakes, but got busy. so, if interested, you'll need new front brakes and the left wheel bearing replaced. i've seen the car for sale in NJ (mint) for $5000. i'm looking to clear $1700 because of the condition and because i'd like to move it along to a new owner. i have the title in my possession, and it is clear of any and all liens. this car should be on the road for a long time coming with a caring owner...but the buyer can do whatever they feel they can with the car. On Jul-18-11 at 12:07:30 PDT, seller added the following information: latest update from Monday, with three days to go in the auction. looked under the hood with a Firestone technician to address the strange sound that i thought might be the alternator or water pump. the car's noise revs with the accelerator, but isn't audible past 2500 rpm. it is confirmed that it is neither of these issues, but rather something related to the three months the car wasn't driven. he suggested that the oil might have sludged and caused an odd valve noise. i went and got an engine flush today, and so far the car makes the noise intermittently. i mentioned something to the Firestone tech called a piston slap that subarus are notorious for developing. he knew about piston slaps, and said that the only way to tell is to open up the engine and find out. online reports say that the piston slap doesn't really do any damage to the engine. online posts state that cars can be driven thousands of miles (100000 miles even!) in this state. the car sounds like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p98AqJhH9Qs here's a link describing the piston slap of the subaru (and will give you an idea about what the car sounds like today). http://resnet.uoregon.edu/~dwhite/pages/subnoises.html as a result, i'm lowering the buy it now price again, and setting the reserve lower as well. i'm really disappointed about this current development in the car but completely believe in the quality of the car. the car ran so smoothly this spring...it's just bad luck on my part to have had it sit for a few months. there is still full compression in the engine, tons of power, trans shifts smoothly, a/c works brilliantly. the car needs a little TLC (see the rest of the post) thanks for hanging in. contact me with any questions, and i'll answer them the best I can. On Jul-19-11 at 16:25:17 PDT, seller added the following information: HI again. today i drove the car around again. the sound is intermittent, and only during idling (below 2500 rpm). it does not make any noise when the accelerator is engaged. this, i think, is good news. the noise hasn't gotten worse with driving (it's actually better) I've also sought an opinion from a subaru technician. he says that if there was any problem with the valves or lifters, the noise i hear would be consistent and would be more of a clicking/ticking sound, and would be audible continuously and rhythmically. he says that the noise is either a bearing on the starter motor, or, that the starter motor gear isn't retracting and making occasional contact with the flywheel, creating the noise that would be groaning/grinding and intermittent (which is what i've got). i'm leaving the price as is, but after the engine flush yesterday, i'm pretty confident that there's nothing wrong with the engine itself, that any of my fears about the engine were unfounded. the firestone tech basically made a guess by ear. he really didn't get into the car to check the engine, but his advice on flushing the engine and such i still took to heart and took care of. i'm going with the subaru guy. he said that the starter motor gear isn't retracting, and that it's making inconsistent contact with the flywheel. since this just started happening, i'm guessing there's very little damage to the flywheel, and starters are easy enough to fix (100 bucks or so). please check the car out and contact me with any questions. i'm trying to be as honest and informative as i can. thanks again!