Looking at buying my first Subaru. Any advice appreciated.

[TankRS]

Hi everyone.

I’ve always wanted to have an Impreza since Mr McRae first came battering and burbling past me one soggy morning in a forest behind my house!

So I am now justabout in a position to be able to afford owning one, insurance quotes are the same as what it was on my old & current Focus happily!

Unfortunately it will have to be a non turbo as insurance quotes for turbo models are seeming to be quite excessive, £750-900 as opposed to £400-500 for a 2.0l Sport model!?

Despite wanting the ‘classic Impreza’ I think I’d go for Bug Eye onwards as I’m seeing a few now in my 2k price range, quite a few with under 100k on the clock. But am still open to a classic shape, i’d rather a standard, or fairly standard one. And not a ‘boy racer’ edition with the mahossive scoops/spoilers and Monster stickers everywhere, or turbo’s running huge boost on a standard engine!!

I think I’d prefer a Saloon, but the Estate will possibly be more convenient for when I do marshalling at weekends, but not essential as I don’t sleep in the car that often or take excessive amount of gear, unless its Wales Rally GB weekend! Then the estate will need a trailer!

I haven’t seen many in my local dealers, more here on PH and on Autotrader. But I do understand that prices will be higher at dealers/garages.

So if I go private, what sort of stuff should I look out for on a used Impreza?
The usual Cambelt changes, engine knock, smoking etc.
Having never owned one I have no idea what ‘usual issues/sounds’ mean in some adverts I’m seeing?

I don’t mind the looks of Legacy’s either, but think Foresters are out as the Mrs can’t stand the look of them and she’d be driving it often too.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

I’ve added a few ads as examples of what’s available on PH & AT in my price range. Cheers

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=us...


http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

this ones there just for the plastidip!

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[TankRS]

cheesesliceking said:

Jesus, way to piss on the guys bonfire... He's explained why he wants an N/A Impreza so how about just trying to be helpful? No wonder this places gets called pissyheads.

I'd imagine the things to look out for would be the same as the turbo Impreza except the things specifically aimed at the turbo, if you look on scoobynet (Might be one of the other UK forums) I think theres a list of things to check on there.

Good luck with looking for your car

thanks mate, it hadn't occurred to me to look on scoobynet! (though it really should have!!) I'll head over there and have a look around.


thanks others for your views/posts too.

taking it on board, I think I'll still go ahead with a search for an N/A,
1) because theres more of them for sale closer to me than there is Turbo's, and I cant really be doing with traveling for a 200mile round trip just to look at one that was OK in the pics, but turned out to be in quite different condition on personal inspection.
2) the Mrs will be a regular driver of it and isn't so keen on a turbo, she's still a nervous driver after a few non fault accidents and as much as i'd like to say 'tuff its my car, so there' that simply wont fly.
3) the price difference between buying the N/A vs the Turbo on a few quotes I have had will cover a years Tax or a cambelt change should it need it and spare change for minor mods etc.

[TankRS]

ok so the decision has been made that, providing my car actually sells this time! ( had no end of timewasters and stupidly low offers, and pull outs so far!! ) an Impreza will be my new car.

i have my eye on one or two. all in the £2k or under marker.

one question i'd like to ask however is this

Classic shape or Bug eye onwards??


noticing quite a few Bug eye WRX saloon and estates popping up for 2k and under, most have over 100k on the clock tho. some have sketchy history too.

i've seen quite a few classic shape WRX Turbo UK cars available quite a few are lower mileage than the new age stuff too. but quite a few have had mods/tat chucked on it.

I'd like to find a standard one or at least gently modded, like tidy exhaust upgrade etc. basically one not chaved and raced!

i'm leaning more towards a bug eye, but would prefer a blob eye but very few in the £2k bracket, purely as there seems to be more standard/as close too standard cars available.
obviously checking cambelt and service history is something to look for. engine knocks/knocking sensor.

anything else anyone can offer for advice?

[TankRS]

Thanks for the info mate.

I guess its time to go check a few out and see how they look/sound and feel I suppose!

Im not that bad with maintenance stuff, usually do the usual consumables on my cars myself. But have the bonus of the mrs cousin being a qualified mechanic so he can help out with any bigger jobs.

Just need my car to sell now so i can get serious about picking up an Impreza!
I cant believe how many timewasters and ridiculously low offers Im getting for my car when its priced so low already!

Its just pissing me off that Ive seen loads for sale in my budget and look pretty decent, but keep going! And I dont want to contact the sellers saying Im interested but have to wait for mine to go as I dont like wasting their time!

Edited by TankRS on Tuesday 26th March 08:57

[TankRS]

Cheers for all the info.

I had considered a Forester, a guy in work has one so I’ve had a good poke round and a quick blast in it too. It is a very tidy motor. Just feels a little too big and estate like for me right now. Don’t really need use of it as a wagon tbh. That said there are a few wrx wagons coming up cheap so I may end up with one, just the Impreza ones appear to be much smaller than their Forester brothers.

Also the mrs hates the look of them! And swmbo has a stake in the car too and downright refused to drive it if I ended up getting one!

I won’t rule out a Forester yet tho. There are a fair few for sale locally for less than the Impreza with lower miles/better spec. If I do take the Forester route she will just have to lump it!

Again it all rests on how well my car sells!

[TankRS]

So my car sold. All be it for the bottom end of my budget. But it's gone at least!

And now I have a £3k budget to pick up a nice new Subaru!
The 3k has to cover car and insurance so still aiming for around the £2-2.5k mark for a car.

Been over at scoobynet and taken on board their advice also with ones from here and a wrx is on the cards.


Need to find a few to test and see which I prefer and which drive better.

Still leaning more towards a bug wrx as its supposedly a nicer place to be than in a classic.

Again cheered for the continued advice. And I'll post up my findings when it happens!

(Now to talk myself out of the purple wrapped wagon on autotrader!)

[TankRS]

SystemParanoia said:

N/A Impreza's are great for 12 car rallying... as most clubs wont allow turbos as im sure you're aware

I am quite aware. And the thought very much had crossed my mind.


I'm a little taken back at just how poor the fuel economy is across the Impreza range!
I mean I knew the turbos would be fairly poor when driven enthusiastically. But seeing people reporting mid to low 20's as an average, even on the N/A engines! Is slightly unnerving.

I have to do some serious calculations before deciding on the next step.
I seriously doubt my current £100 a month on fuel will last in the Impreza, especially in a wrx!


And yeah I do get that considering the mpg when buying a car like an Impreza is a fairly retarded thing, and that if I have to consider fuel economy then performance cars are a bad place to look for a new motor!