Subie Talk

Hey All,

I thought instead of jamming up the car spotting thread with this question, this is a better spot.

My 22 year old has decided he wants to learn how to drive a manual trans. He would be buying a 2nd car (current car is a 2013 Sonata 2.0T) under his own insurance etc.. but I would be teaching him. He's been looking at older Subaru's of various types most of them from mid-2000's year model and up with like 100-150K+ miles and doesnt want to overpay (which I already told him don't forget there's still a used car shortage thanks to COVID).

My uneducated understanding is these cars tend to have head gasket issues, oil leaks and other Subie specific issues that he would basically want to avoid one of these cars altogether. To me even if the car seems decent spending $4-6K there's still more money to spend after that making sure its safe. His plan is to just use it locally to learn how to drive it and then sell it even if it breaks even or sells it for less.

I think the whole plan is horrible I know better ways to lose money but he wont give me the potential cash loss amount to buy a new bike ;-). So if you ever have tried to reason with an opinionated 22 year old you know this argument of "just dont do it" is going to lead to the opposite outcome. I'd just like to influence which car he may buy knowing from the experienced Subaru folks here on what to get or avoid.

Thanks!
 
They definitely do have head gasket issues, but that is about it in the manual if you're not getting a turbo wrx shouldn't be too big a deal. They also hold value surprisingly well even with the known issues. Def cheaper cars to learn on but good for snowy weather. I bought one for $10k 10 years ago, used it for 3 years then traded it to a dealer who sold it for $10k with 50k more miles on it.
 
If your son has the "manual" genes, I would fully support it as there are not many that do. We have a manual Subie on order, due in ~3 months, then a 2003 VW Jetta Diesel wagon will likely be for sale 🙂
 
I've had 5 Subarus and none have had head gasket issues, even with 150K plus miles. Oil leaks, on the other hand, yes for sure. But every car is going to be different. You could just as easily find something with 50K miles that was beat to hell as you could something with 156K that was babied and well cared for (my STi).

They're good cars. I say go for it if you can find something that looks good. For someone that's learning manual trans stick with a non-turbo though. Less chance that the previous owner(s) beat it up.
 
i cant comment on the head gasket issues because i didnt keep mine long enough, but the 5 speed transmissions are glass. i assume your boy will learn how to drive it properly, then beat on it, launch it, etc. if he said he isnt hes lying to you 😛

Try and find a 90s civic, because whatever you buy it for, you can sell it for a year later. it's already at its lowest value. they easier to maintain and learn on as well. highly unlikely he would break it.
 
Ask him to get an insurance quote first on any car he is thinking about.
Then look for an old high mileage Honda/Nissan/Toyota that is stick.
Is he good at wrenching? Can he pull a motor if he has to replace a clutch? Do you have a place in the garage or driveway that he can take for a number of days?
 
A 22 year old wants to buy a second car just to learn to drive manual? Wouldn't it be cheaper to just take a driving tutorial? Surely someone out there teaches manual trans.
 
BPaze said:
They definitely do have head gasket issues, but that is about it in the manual if you're not getting a turbo wrx shouldn't be too big a deal. They also hold value surprisingly well even with the known issues. Def cheaper cars to learn on but good for snowy weather. I bought one for $10k 10 years ago, used it for 3 years then traded it to a dealer who sold it for $10k with 50k more miles on it.
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no need/plans for anything turbo - his current car has one already so this other car should be as slow as possible. ;-)
Pearl said:
i cant comment on the head gasket issues because i didnt keep mine long enough, but the 5 speed transmissions are glass. i assume your boy will learn how to drive it properly, then beat on it, launch it, etc. if he said he isnt hes lying to you 😛

Try and find a 90s civic, because whatever you buy it for, you can sell it for a year later. it's already at its lowest value. they easier to maintain and learn on as well. highly unlikely he would break it.
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haha i know the clutch will take a beating either way hes not very patient.

hondas are very expensive to insure even a cheap civic althogh this would also be my first choice.
 
JerseyPete said:
Is he good at wrenching? Can he pull a motor if he has to replace a clutch? Do you have a place in the garage or driveway that he can take for a number of days?
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no
no
and NFW ;-)

in that order.

and yeah he needs to check his insurance prices due to previous "incidents"
 
rick81721 said:
A 22 year old wants to buy a second car just to learn to drive manual? Wouldn't it be cheaper to just take a driving tutorial? Surely someone out there teaches manual trans.
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makes sense to us but you missed this comment in my original post.

"...So if you ever have tried to reason with an opinionated 22 year old you know this argument of "just dont do it" is going to lead to the opposite outcome..."

I will tell him to look into it but not sure he will listen.

at least this time he's looking for me to come with him as opposed to an impulse buy of some crappy Jeep he did last summer - ended badly for him financially. Wont say more on that.
 
What about a Monkey? He will learn about manual trans and it won't take up too much space.

Monkey - Retro Motorcycle - Honda

The Honda Monkey is the five-speed motorcycle with a single goal; to show how much fun Homo Sapiens can have on a motorcycle. It’s the perfect way to get around town, or just monkey around. Read more:
powersports.honda.com powersports.honda.com
 
JerseyPete said:
What about a Monkey? He will learn about manual trans and it won't take up too much space.

Monkey - Retro Motorcycle - Honda

The Honda Monkey is the five-speed motorcycle with a single goal; to show how much fun Homo Sapiens can have on a motorcycle. It’s the perfect way to get around town, or just monkey around. Read more:
powersports.honda.com powersports.honda.com
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not putting him on 2 wheels with 1000% more chance of things going wrong and him getting clipped by a careless driver texting while sipping overpriced starbucks.

thought the Honda Monkey was actually a joke at first until i checked the link.
 
My son wanted my old Ninja at one time. He went riding on my nephews dirt bike once. He no longer is interested in moto's. Sometimes a taste is all they need to know it is not for them.
Although yours had a Jeep once, aren't most of them manual trans? Is he looking for a specific car or brand?
 
JerseyPete said:
My son wanted my old Ninja at one time. He went riding on my nephews dirt bike once. He no longer is interested in moto's. Sometimes a taste is all they need to know it is not for them.
Although yours had a Jeep once, aren't most of them manual trans? Is he looking for a specific car or brand?
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I told him to stick to the best known brands for now honda and toyota. we have 3 Hyundais already in the household so thats on the list as well as maybe a Kia. not set on any specific brand but likely none of the american brands for this venture.

If the Jeep was a manual then his itch would have already been scratched, that POS was a 4 cyl automatic. still painful to talk about that chaos but hopefully he learned a lesson.

I didnt want to take this too far off topic since this is the Subie thread but a few folks I did ask outside of here told me to avoid them - others here seem to think for this purpose an older one may be OK. will see where this goes theres no rush (at least not on my side).
 
JerseyPete said:
How much did your insurance drop going to N.C.? Did you still have the WRX STI when you went?
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When we first moved down I thought they did something wrong, I had a Fit/CRV on our plan and it may have not been more than $80 a month? Now its $135/month with the 4Runner and Accord with Progressive

iman29 said:
I told him to stick to the best known brands for now honda and toyota. we have 3 Hyundais already in the household so thats on the list as well as maybe a Kia. not set on any specific brand but likely none of the american brands for this venture.

If the Jeep was a manual then his itch would have already been scratched, that POS was a 4 cyl automatic. still painful to talk about that chaos but hopefully he learned a lesson.

I didnt want to take this too far off topic since this is the Subie thread but a few folks I did ask outside of here told me to avoid them - others here seem to think for this purpose an older one may be OK. will see where this goes theres no rush (at least not on my side).
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Is he looking at a WRX? What is the point of a manual Subaru without a turbo 😛
 
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