RE: Subaru Forester STI | Spotted
Discussion
sledge68 said:
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.
I'm not too worried about the 2.5, have had one of those for over 100,000 miles which was fine, also gone through a few EJ20s (still have one highly strung one) and the H6s. Only troublesome ones have been the EJ20s but they did get more stick.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.
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.
Not worried about the drivetrain in general. But having other cars of this vintage, one thing that drives me mental about them is the constant battling of little niggles. Not the sort of catastrophic stuff that stops you driving it, just little hiccups. Then on that you have that it is a 20 year old car now with the wear and tear that gives so need to worry about the chassis, body rot, suspension or just random old fatigue failures like the plastic cam belt pulleys, old hoses etc etc.
I can put up with all this stuff as a weekend car, I hope to never sell my P1 (Impreza) even though it has just given me another headache, but I dont need all this stress in a daily anymore. Just want to jump in be comfortable, have good nav / sound system and give me the confidence it will make it through any journey I embark on.
My last Audi fit the bill brilliantly, was just a bit dull at times but it did only have a 2.0 petrol not the 5pot. Octavia VRS and Hyundai i30N were also brilliant at the daily job and more exciting.
I don't need luxury by any means, current daily is the wifes 2015 Vitara, luxury wise has sat nav, cruise and air con and that is about it. Gives us no grief though, costs buttons to run, would quite happily set out on any journey in it. And that is more toys than any of my cars have!
Maintenance wise the Subarus were definitely not cheap in comparison and for the older more specialist stuff now certain OEM parts are hard to come by or just unobtainable. Just doing a service on the P1 now and parts are totting up to about £700. Think my last Audi service cost me less than £300 at a proper Audi stealership. The VRS and N only cost about £200 each over 4 years.
I'm not knocking the Forester or old Subarus by any means, had at least 1 on the drive for over 20 years now. Just for me at least I can't make the case for buying one of these for any more than about £8k, and I wouldn't be as happy about using it as a daily as many alternatives.
RB Will said:
But having other cars of this vintage, one thing that drives me mental about them is the constant battling of little niggles. Not the sort of catastrophic stuff that stops you driving it, just little hiccups. Then on that you have that it is a 20 year old car now with the wear and tear that gives so need to worry about the chassis, body rot, suspension or just random old fatigue failures like the plastic cam belt pulleys, old hoses etc etc.
I'm not in disagreement, and this will be what makes me eventually shuffle off my 2006 Legacy (which was substantially cheaper than a Forester Sti in the first place, even before the bonkers price hikes). With a daily, it's sometimes hard to step back and see you're now fussing over a modern classic (by age, if not classic in people's eyes) and you're chasing around a perished brake line here, leaking plastic radiator end tanks there.It's a daily drive, I never got it to dote over and I won't get sucked into it. Proper services, yes. Quality parts, yes. Spending every weekend working on it... bugger off.
It's too easy to get duped into thinking "well I'll just put an alloy radiator on" like it's one thing in isolation. Before you know it, you're one of those weirdos that absolutely insists that Land Rover Defenders are reliable (all I had to do was totally rebuild it 3 times... and it never lets me down so long as I have a multimeter and a jump pack with me when I start it).
That said, parts for my Subarus haven't proven expensive or hard to obtain (until this month, where I've properly run into a JDM specific wheel arch liner! damnit) and, if we avoid talk of spark plugs, they're engineered to be simple enough to maintain. So I don't begrudge it the odd bit of work.
RB Will said:
My last Audi fit the bill brilliantly, was just a bit dull at times but it did only have a 2.0 petrol not the 5pot. Octavia VRS and Hyundai i30N were also brilliant at the daily job and more exciting.
Differing experience - had to put up with a couple of Octavias a Polo and a Leon from new or nearly new and it just felt like perpetually sorting daft things on them like you would an old car - without the excuse 10 years extra exposure to the elements. And then when you did come to find out why it failed... it was always 'well that's crap'. Stuff that annoys me - over-engineered yet badly thought out. For example, all of them managed to wet themselves due to rear wash wipe pipes splitting inside the cabin. The MK2 Octavia went one better and split at a joint that ran right over the CD multi-changer...Maybe I never got over the window falling off the running on the M11 when it was six degrees below
I just get the overwhelming feeling that many Japanese cars of are built with a thought beyond the 1st owner and the warranty period. Which I why I'd say they 'worry' me less than something like an Audi.
If only they'd worked harder on corrosion resistance. I'm not into fighting rust, once it starts, it's never going away.
RB Will said:
I'm not knocking the Forester or old Subarus by any means, had at least 1 on the drive for over 20 years now. Just for me at least I can't make the case for buying one of these for any more than about £8k, and I wouldn't be as happy about using it as a daily as many alternatives.
I absolutely love it, but no way would I be parting with that kind of money for it either. Not unless I was going to tuck it up for special occasions. But, gun to my head and make me daily it, i'm still going opt that over an RSQwhatsit.We actually just got a JDM import MK3 XT Forester for bouncing around the countryside and I love the fact it's a little bit different but not 'special' - just means it can be an interesting workhorse. We were supposed to be getting a more 'modern/normal' crossover for general duties but... life's too short and it goes wob wob wob.
I had the xtn forester with the 2.5 engine with the full prodrive treatment. It was and still the best car I've had. Absolutely amazing dynamically considering it's profile and very comfy. I really regret selling it especially as I bought a golf. This seems expensive but I don't think it will go down in value.
te. Jim on the hill said:
Fantastic cars, had one for 8 years and it could do everything. Tip rubs, the Alps, track days and the best dog Wagon.
Really miss it but had some electric window gremlins that I spent four figures with various auto electricians and nobody could fix it.
Lottery win I would definitely have another in the stable.
I had three foresters around this era. Two had electric window issues - they'd just stop working and drop. Really miss it but had some electric window gremlins that I spent four figures with various auto electricians and nobody could fix it.
Lottery win I would definitely have another in the stable.
The unit was a Toyota unit from memory- easy enough to swap, what went wrong on yours??
I loved the Forester. Beautiful too (sorry folks true).
C6 RS6, engine out for a small oil filter, suspension failure that costs £8k to replace, my best mate has one, its always got something wrong with, currently laid up because the suspension needs replacing , its the stuff with the metal particles in the oil, you cannot use coilovers apparently its has to have the oem set up, £8k on a 2009 car for suspension?
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.......
a C6 RS6 is something special....
a C6 RS6 is something special....
nismo48 said:
TEKNOPUG said:
£18K 
That's a hefty margin for the importers.
Was thinking that too..That's a hefty margin for the importers.
Whenever I pop down to my friend's garage I see more and more, frankly quite ratty Impreza's and Foresters being landed to be spruced up and stuck in a garage as an 'investment'.
A mate of mine bought a classic import STI for an eye watering amount....I drove it and enjoyed it but was incredibly basic and frankly nowhere near as tight to drive as the setup I have on my Foz.
It's a marmite car....yes a C6 RS6 could be found for a couple of grand more but will it be mint with all the necessary work done? Not sure....could it be seriously ruinous? Yes! Is it also a very heavy car that is no where as agile? Yes!
Ultimately it's a rice think....ever you have the fever or you don't.
Hugo Stiglitz said:
Jim on the hill said:
Fantastic cars, had one for 8 years and it could do everything. Tip rubs, the Alps, track days and the best dog Wagon.
Really miss it but had some electric window gremlins that I spent four figures with various auto electricians and nobody could fix it.
Lottery win I would definitely have another in the stable.
I had three foresters around this era. Two had electric window issues - they'd just stop working and drop. Really miss it but had some electric window gremlins that I spent four figures with various auto electricians and nobody could fix it.
Lottery win I would definitely have another in the stable.
The unit was a Toyota unit from memory- easy enough to swap, what went wrong on yours??
I loved the Forester. Beautiful too (sorry folks true).
Problem stemmed from a local garage who told me they did something and saw sparks. Unfortunately then denied the sparks comment and I then struggled with auto electricians to get it righted. Subaru were no help and the person I use for my servicing doesn't do electrics. Could have had another external switch wired in but wanted to keep it original.
Amazing car though, regret selling. Funny how all the owners say how amazing they are and some in this thread clearly have no idea.
sledge68 said:
These are all in Japan, how is that a comparison?
Because if you doubled the price, that's a good approximation of how much they would cost to import (Shipping, insurance, import duty, VAT etc) into the UK. So at the most, they are £11-12k cars once landed. But many can clearly be personally imported for ~£8k. It's when the dealers get involved and start slapping on 50% margins that the prices get silly and bare little resemblance to the value of the car.BDKM said:
sledge68 said:
Find a JDM one, tax is £245.
I struggle with this mentality - yes i deliberately sought out a pre-2006 impreza so it was cheaper to tax - but when all is said and done its such a minor part of the overall running costs, especially with a long-term average of 25mpg, that unless its a special/weekend car that does minimal mileage its pennies on a daily.Tim Cognito said:
Really fancy the 2.0t as a daily but the £400 tax and mpg is pushing me away.
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