undercarriage inspection

[fozzie4me]

Hello,

Can you guys tell me if this undercarriage looks ok? It seems strange to me that it has no skid plate. It's on a 2010 forester X 5-speed manual that I am considering buying. It has 40k miles.

Thanks.

 

[Ratbag]

Gidday F4

to the ORS forum, mate.

I've never looked at our MY10 SH without its plastic engine protector, but I suspect the one you're looking at is missing that part. Subies have a lot of heat shields wrapped around their extractors.

 

[zippo]

There is a ding just "north-east" from the centre of pic 1, and there are quite a number of rust areas evidence of what one can only presume is impact from stones. Not knowing the SH - but presuming there WAS a plastic splash-tray originally, I would feel compelled to enquire about the history of the vehicle. Normally fitting of a front bar involves cutting holes/slots through the plastic splash-guard and maybe they left it off to avoid providing evidence of a bar fitment (which in turn suggests a lot of unsealed road work, or the intention thereof). Speculation of course, but if rough road use is a concern for you (or valuation issue) then check other areas such as inside the rear wheel arch for stone chipping.

Just my 2c worth.

 

[Ratbag]

^ I tend to agree with your summation, Zippo.

There are a very large number of stone "dimples" in those heat shields when examined at full size. And as you also noticed, a fair bit more rust than one would expect on that part of the exhaust on a car that's just going on 5 y.o.

Roo2 is nearly 8 y.o., with about 115K kms on it, and its exhaust shields are in better condition than that.

However, it's also a very minor considerationif the car is in otherwise good/excellent condition.

Of far greater significance is whether it has the EJ-253 engine, or the first of the FB engines. If the latter, ask lots of questions about the engine's oil consumption and service/repair history.

I can say that the Oz SH definitely came with the plastic engine bay undercover. Can't say about the USDM SH, but I very much doubt that it wouldn't be standard equipment on it as well.

 

[fozzie4me]

Thanks. That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

 

[idw]

Roo2 is nearly 8 y.o., with about 115K kms on it, and its exhaust shields are in better condition than that.

The rust doesn't surprise me, the US salt a lot of roads in the winter.

but that ding in the middle doesn't look good.

 

[Ratbag]

^ Too true, Id. That had slipped my mind. Parts of California do get very cold sometimes, and the Sierra Nevadas very definitely do! Both were the case when I was there in 1968/69.

 

[AndrewT]

That's just a thin heat shield for the exhaust header. If it's been missing the plastic shield for a while, that would explain why there are a few extra chips on it. Where those chips are, are bound to develop surface rust - it's an exhaust component which is heated up and cooled down very regularly.

If you are keen to know if there is any actual damage to the exhaust itself , and the owner will let you, just undo the 3 or 4 bolts holding the heat shield on and look at the pipe underneath. Chances are it's perfectly fine, especially if there aren't any noticeable leaks already. IMHO it's probably nothing more than minor inconsequential cosmetic damage. Worth finding out if the rest of the car is in good nick anyway.

 

[zippo]

IMHO it's probably nothing more than minor inconsequential cosmetic damage.

Agree completely, BUT it may be an indicator of a life that the rest of the vehicle doesn't reveal.

 

[AndrewT]

I agree with that too. I meant the specific damage pictured. Naturally you'd need to go over the rest of the car with a fine toothed comb too.

 

[Ratbag]

Gidday Andrew

I agree with that too. I meant the specific damage pictured. Naturally you'd need to go over the rest of the car with a fine toothed comb too.

Could not agree more. There are huge financial benefits with buying S/H rather than new, but there are also some risks. These can be minimised by careful examination of the proposed vehicle, by an expert (I.e. paid ... ) if one doesn't have the expertise and/or knowledge oneself.

 

[kiwifoz]

We used to have a 2008 impreza, which would have a similar undertray to the Foz. To change the oil and filter it was necessary to remove it, in which case it would be easier to leave it off as refitting it was a dog of a job.
Those stone hits look reasonable to me, it's not like there's oil on the headers....