Dead Subaru STi

Turning A Page – Out With the Old, In With the New

Posted on by Zach Billings
Categories: In My Shoes, Internal Combustion Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Many things have ramped up and changed in life of late; far too much to sum up in a single post that can entertain a reader, so here I will only focus on the material… Specifically cars.

The last time I wrote about my Subaru STi, things were looking up. My new motor was in and I was optimistic. I had written an article about it more recently but just couldn’t summon the will to finish it for posting. My transmission failed and the car sat helpless by my driveway for two months, before I finally had the transmission professionally rebuilt for $3500. New syncros, new bearings, new bell housing (which is what had failed), tighter shifter bushings, and even brand, shiny, new JDM 5th and 6th gears with a shorter ratio. Things went well for a while and the transmission felt great. I was formulating plans for the order in which I would tackle the car’s other issues (largely cosmetic), and how long it would take me to save the money… when…

Yup. You guessed it. Another problem. The car had plenty of little ones, which were not pressing. They didn’t bother me, so much as bring down the awesome factor that could have been, with a 2005 STi. After $12,000 in repairs however, I have learned when a problem has that “ominous feel.” I began leaking oil. It was slow at first and I thought maybe my oil filter wasn’t screwed in tight enough. Then over a couple weeks it got worse. Finally I could see drips on the driveway overnight and jacked up the car to take a look. The whole underside of the block and oil pan had a veneer of oil on it and I could tell this wasn’t good (remember the ominous feel). I didn’t have a lot in the bank and didn’t want to deal with another dragged out stretch of SUCK with the STi. So… the next day I went to work and thought about it over lunch.

The STi was just daring me to quit. Not yelling at me to quit in a way that would make me do it out of spite. Just whispering in my ear, “Give up. You know you want to. Give up.” I wanted to persevere, but alas the STi was just a lost cause. I has planned on getting a Nissan Xterra Pro4X at some point to allow the STi to become a project car, but I can’t afford a $400 payment on a project car right now. So I traded the STi and bought a brand spankin’ new 2012 Nissan Xterra Pro4X in ‘Slate’ with a 6-speed manual (tee-hee).

I drove the Xterra home the same night, just hours after deciding I should get rid of the STi. Initially it was a shock to the system. I’ve identified with the STi for a long time and was also used to a low-riding sports car. Not a monstrous, off-road-ready, beast of a truck. Three days later however, my shocked system has given way to what seems to be the start of an incredible Nissan Xterra ownership experience.

I maintain that this will not be my last Subaru STi, but it will definitely be my last ownership experience with a used one.

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