I'm Harry, I live in Adelaide and at this point in time I haven't actually joined the Liberty club...
but I'm looking hard to purchase my first Suby, ideally a Gen4 GT.I'm steering clear from the 2.5s and the non turbo 2.0s (i feel the 2.0s will have a lack of power, and the 2.5s have the whole head gasket issue that I don't want to have to deal with, especially just after buying it).
I could maybe go for a 3.0 (please feel free to tell me how good these are if you own one) but I really want the 2.0T. The only mitigating factor for not owning either yet so far is (in SA at least) are good GTs are few and far between.
I've seen a few around 150,000kms but more often that not they're closing in on 200,000kms and many have surpassed that and then some. I know that the quality of these cars will be largely down to the type of owner of the car, how they drove it, serviced it, and every other possible variable - But are there any huge dangers of buying a GT that is say between 150k-200k kms? How strong are the EJ20T engines and are they good to go and go and go if treated right or do they have some intrinsic weakness(es), for example the notorious EJ25 head gaskets? What should I be looking for? Any tell tail signs? Also, I am a firm believer having a manual gearbox, especially in a turbo car but roughly 75% of the GTs that pop up are Autos. I'm wondering is the sports auto even worth looking at or is it no substitute for a manual?
I've done a lot of reading about the GTs and been scouring carsguide and gumtree daily for the last month or two (even outside of my budget) and I can't seem to find anything worth looking at. The only difference with cars priced above my budget is they (usually) have roughly the same kms, but instead have a few minor mods, rims and maybe a sound system, and I sort of want to do that stuff on my own. I'm aiming to keep it under $10k (I'm a poor Uni student), so am I just too poor to afford a decent GT or do they exist at this price range and I just have to wait it out?
Thanks.
