Winter is hard on cars. Not only does road salt take its toll on every part made of steel, but cold starts, especially if you have to park outdoors, can be brutal. And then there’s the increased risk of piling up your beloved ride on a slippery road. It’s enough to make some people park their “good” cars for the winter, and buy some cheap piece of crap to take one for the team. If that sounds like a good idea to you, you’re in luck, because cheap pieces of crap are our specialty here.
Yesterday, I attempted the impossible: Finding a worthwhile classic project car in Michigan, in January. Neither one is a good idea, but you were all good sports about it. The results actually surprised me; I didn’t think that little Comet had enough charisma to pull off a win. Or was it just the ick factor of an old hearse that gave it the win by default?
If I were still in college, and still in my “trying to start a band” phase, I’d be all over that hearse. Those rollers in the back would have been just the thing for loading and unloading my gigantic Ampeg amp that nobody would ever help me carry. But these days, I think I’d rather have the Comet, if these are my only choices. It’s been a while since I messed with an old straight six.
For today’s choices, I stayed in Michigan and stayed cheap, but searched for manual transmissions only, in an attempt to keep things interesting. Unsurprisingly, there were few options. But these two stood out to me as good potential sacrificial winter cars. Let’s take a look.
2008 Subaru Impreza – $1,700
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5-liter OHC flat 4, five-speed manual, AWD
Location: Oak Park, MI
Odometer reading: 158,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
It’s funny how some cars can become known for just one thing, but sometimes it’s a different thing in different circles. Ask a member of the general non-gearhead public about Subaru, and they’ll probably mention one trait: “They’re good in snow.” Ask a gearhead, and they’ll probably mention leaking head gaskets. Both assessments are true, which makes this base-model Impreza a qualified good deal as a winter beater.
Powering this Impreza is Subaru’s famous – or infamous, depending who you ask – EJ25 flat-four engine, which drives all four wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. It has 158,000 miles on it, and the seller says it runs and drives well, but it does leak some oil, which may or may not be the old head gasket issue rearing its ugly, um, head. I think this is after the “bad years,” but I can’t find a consensus on which years those were. At any rate, the seller is throwing in some goodies to help keep it on the road, including ramps, jack stands, a battery charger, and enough oil and filters to take care of the next couple of changes. Including all this stuff with the car makes me wonder if the seller is going car-free. But it’s a nice bonus if you don’t have any of that stuff.
It looks good inside, and because it’s a hatchback, there’s a lot of room for stuff if you fold the seats down. Even though it’s a base model, it does have power windows and locks, as well as air conditioning, and it all works. Not bad for a $1,700 car.
It does have a little rust, but that’s to be expected. It also looks like it has a scrape on the left front fender and door, but it might just be dirt. All the glass is intact, and all the lights work, and at this price, sometimes that’s all you can ask for.
2008 Pontiac G5 GT – $2,300
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2-liter DOHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Portage, MI
Odometer reading: 123,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Back in 1982, when General Motors introduced its J small-car platform, every division got a version of it. But after 1988, only Chevy and Pontiac remained. In 2005, when the J-car was retired in favor of the new Delta platform, both brands also offered a version. But while Chevy Cobalts are everywhere, you rarely see the Pontiac version, known as the G5. Or maybe you do, and just don’t notice it, because apart from the grille, they’re exactly the same car.
This is the GT model of the G5, which as far as I can tell only means it has a spoiler and alloy wheels, no extra power or anything. It’s powered by a 2.2 liter Ecotec four-cylinder, along with a five-speed manual. It has new tires and a new battery, but that’s about all the information we get about its mechanical condition. But they do call it “reliable,” which is something.
It looks OK inside, but the fabric is a bit worn and shiny. This wasn’t a great era for GM interiors, but has there ever really been a good one? It’s intact, and hopefully most of it works. For a car this cheap, that’s about as good as you can expect.
The winters have not been kind to this car either; the rocker panels are toast. But I have heard that these can get impressively rusty before it starts to affect the structure, so it’s probably fine. The G5 only came as a two-door; if you wanted back doors, you had to go to a Chevy dealership.
I miss the days of $500 winter beaters, but I don’t think they’re coming back. Two grand or thereabouts is the best you’re going to do, unless you stumble onto a special deal. But it’s not like you’re shopping for a long-term car; if one of these gets you through until spring, and spares your nice car from the horrors of road salt, it’s money well spent. Which one would you choose?
I’ll take the Impreza, if only because I have a set of snow tires already mounted to 5×100 wheels.
Subaru, but only because the low low price leaves a lot of lettuce in the drawer for important upgrades:
1) Tires, because if we’re talking about a winter beater, we’re putting on some winter tires.
2) an EJ22 engine, because I don’t want to do head gaskets anymore. And Subaru’s EJ25 is the entire reason I’ve done any. And the 25 has that goofy little inspection plate that is the source of not just a persistent oil leak, but the car smelling like an oil fire as it drips onto the exhaust. I’ll blueprint an EJ22, maybe add a light turbo but probably not because these things get less-than-good fuel economy to begin with – and count my blessings with the manual transmission.
I don’t know how one would get an EJ22 to work correctly in an Impreza like this one, which has the variable valve lift version of the EJ25. Better to just keep it an EJ253 and do the heads if necessary.
Just bring the ECU with the 22. I’m pretty sure it’s a standalone unit. The 22 was bolted into Imprezas – not necessarily in the US – until 1999 and the engine enjoyed incremental improvements throughout its run, so the best engine will be from the last year, and the best block is from the Turbo models with the closed deck. Tick those boxes and it should work well.
The 2008 Impreza is a CAN architecture vehicle and it also has electronic throttle control. I’m not aware of any EJ22 vehicles that were equipped with either of those features, so an EJ22 ECM (which also has different wiring connectors) wouldn’t really work.
If it were me building this hypothetical winter beater, I’d preemptively pull the engine to fix the oil leaks, pull the heads, check to be sure that the exhaust valve guides had not dropped, and put it all back together with new gaskets and a new timing belt/idlers/tensioner. It would be fine for a long time after that.
Everyone yelling HeAd GaSkEtS, yikes, at 153k if they haven gone, they won’t, this guy owned it since 2009. Oil leak is described as slow, there’s jamesmaypointsateverything places for that to happen.
Prime candidates I’d place money on over a head gasket:
$1700 Sherpa Subaru FTW, no question, heck I’d buy it here in Mesa as they are just as surefooted in the rain.
Single-cam EJs do not have oil coolers. Otherwise, points well taken.
That Subie just looks like a good deal. Especially at the asking price.
There’s no way I can’t pick the five-speed four-door hatchback/mini wagon for less money.
Hmm. Subie that will need head gaskets and those wretched wheel bearings? I’ll happily take a rockerless Pontiac that will run for another 25 years on hopes and dreams.
I think the Pontiac will actually be more reliable than the Subie, but that’s really it’s only redeeming feature. I doubt I would be able to get a sticker for it with the rot anyway.
I have little faith that the Subaru won’t be a POS, but at least it has the potential to be fun. For 1700 bucks, just change the oil and let ‘er rip till it eventually blows up.
A friend of mine had one of these up till about 5 years ago; she got rid of it around the mileage because it was literally falling apart. Her mechanic told her it was time to put it out of its misery.
Considering the lower price of the Subaru versus the accelerated rust of the Pontiac, the Impreza gets my vote. AWD is a plus, and even with the leaky headgaskets, I could probably keep enough oil in it for as long as I’m driving it. The disadvantage is I’d be tempted to keep and repair it after winter (it’s a decent vehicle), and Subarus can eat money that way. For a throwaway beater, the Pontiac would be a smarter choice.
The Impreza. It comes with jack stands! Also for 1700 bucks as long as there aren’t holes in the floors it’s perfect for a couple years of winter.
For a winter beater, the Subaru easily beats that Pontiac. Manual transmission with AWD? Sign me up!
Condition and price make this an easy choice for me. Assuming there’s not some catch that isn’t apparent here, a $1700 Subaru with 150,000 miles is a steal in the marketplace. Intact rocker panels (don’t want to risk ankle tetanus every I need to use the car) + 5door hatch + $600 saved over the rotted G5 makes this a no brainer…again assuming there isn’t some unseen structural corrosion nightmare in that Impreza that is keeping the Subie Tax away.
I’ll cautiously vote for the Impreza. The location of the rust could mess with the front subframe, depending of where exactly they mount on those cars. As long as you don’t see control arms flapping in the breeze though it’s a solid price for a beater. Two winters of protecting your nice car from road salt is worth $1700.
Subie easy. It’s in decent enough shape, has AWD, comes with extras and its $600 less than that Pontiac. Also, I have the feeling that the owner would be easier to deal with and have more info.
The shifter in the Pontiac will have the feel of a spoon through oatmeal at that mileage. I’ll take the Subaru since it’s the better car for the job.
Even amidst one of the worst snow years I’ve ever experienced, I’ve still watched at least 3 fwd cars (at least one wearing snow tires) try and fail to make it up the steep hill at the exit of my little mountain neighborhood this season. AWD/4WD is absolutely a must where I live.
That, plus wagon. Subie FTW.
While AWD is a big winter plus for the Subie, that oil leak is scary. Maintaining the Pontiac will be cheaper and you can run these things into the ground. If the objective is cheap winter wheels that are cheap to maintain, I gotta go Pontiac.
5 speed Impreza, no questions asked. 2005+ seem to have much less problems with the head gaskets. I owned a 2004 5 speed for a couple of winters and it was great in the snow.
Also, they really aren’t that hard to work on.
Both are Michigan rotboxes, with the Pontiac showing it’s cards a bit early in the game.
Subaru AWD + hatchback + FREE OIL FILTERS has my vote
The head gasket thing is a little scary, but the 4 door AWD wagon is just so much more useful than the little 2 door, that I have to go with the Subaru.
I’m taking the Pontiac, because Pontiac. Also it is Pthursday, after all.
Need a glass of water? Sounds like you have a frog in your throat.
Wagon. 5MT. And AWD as a bonus.
Yep, checks the boxes.
Sold.
Pretty sure 2008 was right at the peak of gaskets-be-leaky for the Subarus.
And this Subie is suspiciously cheap, with Oak Park being one of the centers of the “we fixed the crash damage off the books as cheaply as possible” crowd in the Detroit area. I’d almost lean GM for this one.
I had a Subaru from this era, a Legacy, and it was the least reliable car I’ve ever owned. The head gaskets were the straw that broke the camels back. All sorts of other stuff went wrong with it before that…
Yet I picked the Impreza. Because that’s how much I detest non-Australian Pontiacs.
Give me the pontiac. That subaru is getting into blown head gasket territory with that mileage.
Not a tough decision today. You said “winter.” AWD makes the Impreza the easiest choice in a long time. I don’t know how easy it would be to solve the oil leaks, but the $600 price difference could well cover it.
And 4 doors are always > two doors in my book of things I want.