Used 2016 Subaru Legacy with 100k miles

space115

I'm looking to buy a used 2016 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited from a Subaru dealership. This car also comes with Eyesight and has navigation. According to CarFax, the car has a clean title - no damage or accident reported. Only one previous owner. It's priced at $12,900. The car has 103,000 miles on it - that's a lot for a car that's only 2 years old. But cccording to the dealer, the owner was working in sales, so he was driving from state to state within the region. The current old transmission is making a clicking sound, so the Subaru dealership is putting in a brand new transmission that will come with a 12-month warranty.

Do you guys think that this is a good buy? I'm not very knowledgeable about cars, so I've done some fair bit of research, but could use some input.

I'm in a social work program for graduate school, that's my primary reason for getting a car; I'll be needing it for my internship. I might sell the car off in 2 or 3 years, so resale value of the car is important to me. According to the dealer who I was working with, I could sell the car for no less than $10,000 as long as I do not hit 180,000 miles. She said that if the hit 180,000 miles, the resale value of the car would be maybe $7,000 or so.

Does this seem like a good buy? Thank you.

kyfdx

space115 said:

I'm looking to buy a used 2016 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited from a Subaru dealership. This car also comes with Eyesight and has navigation. According to CarFax, the car has a clean title - no damage or accident reported. Only one previous owner. It's priced at $12,900. The car has 103,000 miles on it - that's a lot for a car that's only 2 years old. But cccording to the dealer, the owner was working in sales, so he was driving from state to state within the region. The current old transmission is making a clicking sound, so the Subaru dealership is putting in a brand new transmission that will come with a 12-month warranty.

Do you guys think that this is a good buy? I'm not very knowledgeable about cars, so I've done some fair bit of research, but could use some input.

I'm in a social work program for graduate school, that's my primary reason for getting a car; I'll be needing it for my internship. I might sell the car off in 2 or 3 years, so resale value of the car is important to me. According to the dealer who I was working with, I could sell the car for no less than $10,000 as long as I do not hit 180,000 miles. She said that if the hit 180,000 miles, the resale value of the car would be maybe $7,000 or so.

Does this seem like a good buy? Thank you.

By definition, a 100K mile, 3 year old car was driven long distances.
But, those should be easy miles on a transmission. Having a new one, even at 100K miles would send up red flags.

It may look like a deal, because it's cheaper than other 2016 Legacy for sale. But, I'd compare it to other 100K mile cars, and see how it stacks up that way.

space115

@kydfx: Do you mind saying more about why having a new transmission at 100k miles sends red flags? Thank you.

kyfdx

space115 said:

@kydfx: Do you mind saying more about why having a new transmission at 100k miles sends red flags? Thank you.

Transmissions are designed to go much further than that. Highway driving provides the least wear/tear on a transmission. What else might be wrong with the car that could have caused the transmission to fail? Some cars with very high mileage in a short period of time don't get proper maintenance (because, the owner can't afford to be without the vehicle).