How long should an engine last / Rebuilds
 

Guys, roughly how long would you expect a GC8 MY00 Engine to last in KM's average.

Looking at a car now with 214,000. If hes been ok to the car, can i expect it to last a year or 2 before I need to rebuild it?

Also, when rebuilding an engine, is that like resetting the dials back to 0? I dont really understand the process and what it does for you except for making the car go again :D


Thanks All,
Cameron.

[QUOTE=SyncSubaru;520962]Guys, roughly how long would you expect a GC8 MY00 Engine to last in KM's average.

Looking at a car now with 214,000. If hes been ok to the car, can i expect it to last a year or 2 before I need to rebuild it?

Also, when rebuilding an engine, is that like resetting the dials back to 0? I dont really understand the process and what it does for you except for making the car go again :D


Thanks All,
Cameron.[/QUOTE]

Odometer stays the same and continues from where you left off. Start counting the new motors kms from 214kms. To be honest, don't believe it would last much longer...not only that the gearbox will soon need attention if stock and can become really costly.

What price we talking for 214000kms?

12k would offer 10.5 prob

Its a bit of a how long is a piece of string type question.
People get hung up far too much on the number of kms a car has done when you really need to know its history. Check to see if it has been serviced frequently etc. Any signs of possible abuse. There are a number of GC8s getting around now with 300k+ on the original motor, and there is also a number of them with less than 100k and they are on their third motor etc.

Yeah, it really depends a lot on the life the car has had, if it's been babied & looked after engines will last a lot longer than normal, if it's been thrashed, not allowed to warm up properly before hard driving, not serviced regularly/properly, had cheap/incorrect parts/fluids used etc it won't last as long. At 200+ km's, as a general rule of thumb, it's gettin up there and is getting to the point where you would expect things to start needing repairing/replacing, but without seeing or knowing the car is hard to judge.
Also, as previously mentioned, you need to think of the rest of the car, driveline, joints & bushes, shocks etc will also be getting a bit tired.

Dak dak farkin boom

MY00 with original engine and turbo here, just ticked over 244,000km and so far so good :D I warm it up in the garage for a couple of minutes before driving because I live less than 1km from the freeway. Odometer is over-reading because I had a 4.44 gearbox fitted around the 165,000km mark - if anyone can be bothered calculating the difference I wouldn't mind knowing how many km my donk has [b]really[/b] done.

Last I heard, DEDLYWEPN has close to 400k on his MY99.

Have someone look at it if you're not confident with your analysis of the cars condition.

Dougie provides a service that would add some confidence in your purchase.

Factor in the purchase cost of the vehicle, what it comes with 'factor in all benefits such as length of registration and other benefits it offers whether it be entertainment, cosmetic, or mechanical', offset that against the estimated cost of a rebuild and see if its more viable to spend the extra money now in a vehicle in better condition.

Regarding approximate life span of a vehicle its really hard to tell how long it will last. My car lasted 115k kms where as Jordies bug is in the circa(?) 200k kms.

It's not like the car hits 220kms and the engine magically falls apart.

Good servicing and good mechanical sympathy is what makes parts last. Would you rather the car that has done 200,000kms of easy highway use or the car that has 20,000kms but was only used as a track car?

[QUOTE=mARC;520989]

Regarding approximate life span of a vehicle its really hard to tell how long it will last. My car lasted 115k kms where as Jordies bug is in the circa(?) 200k kms.[/QUOTE]

yeah mines around the 250k mark
obviously the previous owners are a big factor,
my last two owners were a lady with a husband that was a mechanic and loved subi's, and the one prior to that was also a mechanic.

if the cars used as a daily and the previous owners work was a world away, then it can be very hard to judge the engine condition on the odo, again like my car.

when i got my up-pipe cat taken out by doug he checked my donk (original), it was in good condition according to him.

so i wouldn't really be put off too much by k's, as others have said, history is crucial