RE: Subaru Forester STI | Spotted

[Skaben]

Back in the day, I loved mine. Made stupid noises and was fun in a roll around the corner, feeling the AWD system squirm around kind of way. This advertised one looks a bit rough for that kind of money

[SpadeBrigade]

This made me think I wonder what their range is like today, so I looked at their website.

I wish I hadn’t.

[Misanthroper]

Horrible looking though, it’s gawpingly ugly especially from the back, and that interior!!!

I’d rather an S4 avant or beemer 330i, as they’ve taken away the off roading credentials by making this sporty, so what are you getting above the others in terms of driving enjoyment? Certainly not a nice place to sit.

[Smint]

Misanthroper said:

Horrible looking though, it’s gawpingly ugly especially from the back, and that interior!!!

I’d rather an S4 avant or beemer 330i, as they’ve taken away the off roading credentials by making this sporty, so what are you getting above the others in terms of driving enjoyment? Certainly not a nice place to sit.

Beauty in the eye etc.
Subarus arn't like anything else, yes they can be reasonably fast but where they come into their own is when the weather deteriorates, a well shod Subarus laugh at slippery roads and the worse the weather the larger the gap between Subarus and others gets, this isn't just about driving fast its reassuring sure footedness in all conditions, the ability to see an opportunity to pull out and not give wheelspin (noise and lack of progress) a second thought because there won't be any and no matter what the car will not step out of line unless you switch the traction off.

The interior isn't typically German depressive gloom because well its a 90's designed brick shaped Japanese estate car that some genius had the nous to shove a fast engine into, transforming a farm inspired dog carrier into a hot at the time useful estate.

Personally i prefer the standard XT over the STi, on my XT there's not a single badge denoting the engine or anything else and its sits on 17" summer or 16" winter sensible sized tyres so softish ride too, the only giveaway is the bonnet scoop.

[crispyshark]

It's an epic car to own and drive ONCE you have undertaken a full engine rebuild, changed all the parts for good quality Japanese performance parts, changed the suspension set up, had the geo set up properly, applied various strut braces etc..... which all costs a fair bit.

In original guise the engine will blow up....budget 3-5k to rebuild/upgrade.

Having taken all the above into account you can have a seriously rapid, different, fantastic sounding wagon with oodles of space, reclining rear seats (yes, Jap ingenuity) albeit with terrible fuel economy (performance Subaru shocker).

I've had mine for 7 years.....every time I try and look to change I can't find anything else vaguely interesting or unique enough bar maybe an Alpina estate (which is far to refined for my inner yob). Every time I start and drive it both the kids and I smile and laugh.

Taking it to the Highlands merely cemented my love for the fugly beast further!

Here she is.... 379BHP and 432 ft/lb is fun!

[Demonix]

Practical performance, enough load space, like the chunky exterior but the early noughties interior is minging. More colourful than a drab bosch wagon interior but not as classy, to be fair a 19 year old S4's seats,switch gear and interior plastics would be looking tired unless previous owners had no kids and did few miles,

[sledge68]

so just buy what the masses buy instead of being unique, these SG9s are appreciating ,are Golf Rs etc?

DaveyBoyWonder said:

I really like the idea of these as a practical, fun car but not at north of 17 grand for a 20 year old one. Thats the kind of money that gets you into all manner of newer, fast estates - Golf R, S4, 335i, Passat R36, even dipping into the cheap end of C63s etc.

[sledge68]

The choice of the great unwashed versus something a bit special. yeah?

Misanthroper said:

Horrible looking though, it’s gawpingly ugly especially from the back, and that interior!!!

I’d rather an S4 avant or beemer 330i, as they’ve taken away the off roading credentials by making this sporty, so what are you getting above the others in terms of driving enjoyment? Certainly not a nice place to sit.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

sledge68 said:

so just buy what the masses buy instead of being unique, these SG9s are appreciating ,are Golf Rs etc?

To be honest, I wouldn't be too bothered about whether or not something was appreciating if I was after an estate car. I'd be more bothered about parts, how easy it was to live with as a daily, how comfortable it was etc. This is just an old Forester with an Impreza engine for £17k (and I like Subarus). I get the unique thing - every car I own gets modified but I'm sure there are more cars out there that do the same job as this for similar money which on paper are far better and some of them, just as "unique".

[Mr_Sukebe]

A friend of mine had the Mitsubishi equivalent, the Outback, with the 2ltr Evo engine in it. It was suitably nuts.

[RabidGranny]

SpadeBrigade said:

This made me think I wonder what their range is like today, so I looked at their website.

I wish I hadn’t.

I traded a ten year old legacy against a Suzuki Acorss/Rav4 Phev last year and i was looking at a Forester but in all honesty, apart from being cheap, it could make a case for itself.

i wouldnt give them too much more time in the UK unless toyota take them over

[RB Will]

dunnoreally said:

rossub said:

These made sense when they were £10-12k, but now they’re all priced at £16-18k it seems like far too much.

I cant see many people willing to part with that for 18-20 year old Foresters.

I'm sure the price makes perfect sense to a speculator or a collector or someone very rich who wants one of these specifically.

For me though, yeah, if I was buying one of these it would be as something a bit of fun that I could also use for practical hauling duty, and the price versus the age is a little too much for that.

As a serial Subaru owner and fan I was considering one of these back in about 2020 as a daily driver. Already have a 2000 model Impreza and we used to have a UK forester Turbo so know full well what they are like to live with and having had nicer newer cars in the intervening 10 years I couldn't make myself go back to one as a daily. Prices then were only £10-12k so made a bit more sense. Would have been a fun drive but day to day living, risk of failure etc outweighed that.
For the money being asked of this one you could have a newer 5cyl turbo Audi RSQ3 and all the daily benefits that comes with kit and general finish wise.

[sledge68]

An SG9 STI is far from a old Forester with an Imprezza engine, and they are few and far between.

Parts easy, reliability excellent, fun over the moon.

DaveyBoyWonder said:

To be honest, I wouldn't be too bothered about whether or not something was appreciating if I was after an estate car. I'd be more bothered about parts, how easy it was to live with as a daily, how comfortable it was etc. This is just an old Forester with an Impreza engine for £17k (and I like Subarus). I get the unique thing - every car I own gets modified but I'm sure there are more cars out there that do the same job as this for similar money which on paper are far better and some of them, just as "unique".

[Konan]

RB Will said:

As a serial Subaru owner and fan I was considering one of these back in about 2020 as a daily driver. Already have a 2000 model Impreza and we used to have a UK forester Turbo so know full well what they are like to live with and having had nicer newer cars in the intervening 10 years I couldn't make myself go back to one as a daily. Prices then were only £10-12k so made a bit more sense. Would have been a fun drive but day to day living, risk of failure etc outweighed that.
For the money being asked of this one you could have a newer 5cyl turbo Audi RSQ3 and all the daily benefits that comes with kit and general finish wise.

Funny how different views develop. Even with the 2.5 in there, the appeal of the Forester is that nothing particularly scares me about running it.

Looking after an Audi sounds like a waking nightmare of specialist parts, engine management lights and important bits of engine made from plastic that isn't as hard wearing as the plastic people criticise on the Subaru dashboard.

I will say that as long as I have a comfy seat and an air conditioner, kit doesn't bother me.

[sledge68]

Exactly, my Legacy Twinscroll, which has an EJ20 and Imprezza running gear, has been faultless since 2017 when
it was imported from Japan, most my mates have german marques that are in and out of garages. One has an A4 Avant that has always got a warning light on, parts are expensive compared to my Legacy, his recent battery was a few hundred quid alone.

Konan said:

Funny how different views develop. Even with the 2.5 in there, the appeal of the Forester is that nothing particularly scares me about running it.

Looking after an Audi sounds like a waking nightmare of specialist parts, engine management lights and important bits of engine made from plastic that isn't as hard wearing as the plastic people criticise on the Subaru dashboard.

I will say that as long as I have a comfy seat and an air conditioner, kit doesn't bother me.

[borat52]

911Spanker said:

I had one for a good while. Fast enough (mine was at 320 bhp), sounded great, rare etc.

However, the body had all the structural stiffness of urine soaked toilet paper and it didn't handle that well. Also liked a drink. So I sold it and haven't missed it since.

It's like a poor man's G63.

I had one of these, one of the most disappointing cars I've ever owned. Came from a string of GC8 Impreza STi's and absolutely loved the 5/6's with the 2l engine and 5 speed.

Found the Forester Sti 2.5 engine very lazy in comparison, more torque but far less enjoyable and the 6 speed box action was rubbish compared to the 5 speed in the last GC8 STI's.

As you point out it also wallowed in the corners in the way the Imprezas never did.

C6 RS6 money at the price asked here which I find mad.

[TEKNOPUG]

£18K

That's a hefty margin for the importers.

[BDKM]

borat52 said:

I had one of these, one of the most disappointing cars I've ever owned. Came from a string of GC8 Impreza STi's and absolutely loved the 5/6's with the 2l engine and 5 speed.

Found the Forester Sti 2.5 engine very lazy in comparison, more torque but far less enjoyable and the 6 speed box action was rubbish compared to the 5 speed in the last GC8 STI's.

As you point out it also wallowed in the corners in the way the Imprezas never did.

C6 RS6 money at the price asked here which I find mad.

This....these old forester are nothing special and worth about 9k-10k at best, not even I'd say more like 8k but a fool and his money.......

a C6 RS6 is something special....

[BDKM]

This is what these are selling for at auctions in Japan the 2005 one £3950 and the black 2007 one £7920.

So yeah go ahead and buy one for 18k

[TEKNOPUG]

BDKM said:

This....these old forester are nothing special and worth about 9k-10k at best, not even I'd say more like 8k but a fool and his money........

I agree, if you look at them purely in terms of what they are; 20 year old Forester, WRX engine, STi running gear (non-DCCD) + some cosmetic bits, they'd be ~£9k if they were UK cars. As they are JDM only, they are subject to big fluctuations in supply & demand (as well as currency) and importer's ambitious pricing. This is probably a £12k car on landed on a personal import.

Edited by TEKNOPUG on Tuesday 13th February 15:48