# Valve Job or Trade **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** valves, subaru\ **Created:** [February 3, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/valve-job-or-trade/83521 "2014-02-03T23:33:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jorg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6de8d8/32.png) [@Jorg](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Jorg)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/valve-job-or-trade/83521/1 "2014-02-03T23:33:21Z")
2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca, 160,000 miles. Misfire throws check-engine light twice daily, compression leak, getting worse. Valve job? or trade? ---
**Author:** ![umair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e495f1/32.png) [@umair](https://community.cartalk.com/u/umair)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/valve-job-or-trade/83521/2 "2014-02-03T23:37:10Z")
Trade ---
**Author:** ![knfenimore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9fc348/32.png) [@knfenimore](https://community.cartalk.com/u/knfenimore)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/valve-job-or-trade/83521/3 "2014-02-03T23:47:51Z")
What’s the code? ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/valve-job-or-trade/83521/4 "2014-02-04T00:21:30Z")
How much is the estimated valve job? What would the trade-in be as the car sits right now? How confident are you about the maintenance history and the balance of the car? Too little info for proper advise. 160,000 miles on an 8 year old Subby is not necessarily a deal-killer for me, but other details/issues may be. Of course, if you feel you’ll have little confidence after repair, trade. ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/valve-job-or-trade/83521/5 "2014-02-04T02:07:57Z")
Valve job, but has anyone checked the valve lash first? ---
**Author:** ![jesmed1](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/jesmed1/32/2097_2.png) [@jesmed1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jesmed1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/valve-job-or-trade/83521/6 "2014-02-04T08:38:25Z")
What keith said. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 9:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/valve-job-or-trade/83521/7 "2014-02-04T09:59:42Z")
Not enough info provided to advise you one way or the other. Compression issues due to valves only or rings involved also? How much for a valve job? If there is tight lash on an exhaust valve any adjustment may be a stop gap measure as it only takes a few miles for an exhaust valve face or seat to become damaged. How long it holds up after adjustment is anybody’s guess. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/valve-job-or-trade/83521/8 "2014-02-04T20:01:38Z")
I too am skeptical about a valve job, that’s pretty unusual, other causes for low compression, as stated above. I’d have every thing else checked, first.