Sunday 25th January

Subaru WRX STI | PH Private Area

The classic charm of an EJ20, in a more modern Subaru, that doesn't cost a fortune? Sign us up

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Even with the benefit of 20 years of hindsight, it would be fair to say that the five-door Subaru Imprezas never quite hit the mark. Moving on from the familiar four-door shape was fair enough, as hot hatches became ever more popular; making one as dowdy as that one turned out wasn’t really acceptable. Without really moving the WRX STI experience on, nor rivalling the best hot hatches for fun, it was left appealing to very few people indeed. Less evocative than the car that preceded it, less entertaining than the cars it competed with, the STI hatches really weren’t a Subaru success. 

So a saloon made a return for a little while, and it felt like a good move, but the demand just wasn’t there any longer. By 2013 the WRX STI as we knew it was gone again; miraculously, it returned again a couple of years later, as a new generation, but again without the significant advances needed to stay competitive with the latest all-wheel drive performance cars. Power still came from the 2.5-litre turbo as well, which was never as fondly regarded as the smaller 2.0-litre EJ. Less exciting and less reliable is the common consensus. 

Peak STI, as we all know, is a 2.0-litre saloon - they’re the cars that everybody wants. Which, as a result, means they’re the expensive ones. Because UK market examples are now rare and at least 20 years old, there’s a premium attached, before anything is said about maintaining a car of that vintage. Imported cars tend to be special edition examples, because if you’re going to the effort of bringing a Subaru over from the other side of the world it may as well be the best. By their very nature, these cars are expensive as well. And as we say every time with cars like the STI, you don’t want a really valuable example, because then you won’t want to drive it. And that would really miss the point. 

Which brings us to the Subaru you see here. As a best of both worlds scenario, it looks like a great compromise. While it looks just like any other Type UK third generation from the early 2010s, it’s actually a Japanese import, so it gets the 2.0-litre engine - 8,000rpm redline and all. But then as it’s not an S204 or similar, there isn’t a wild price tag attached to it: the asking price is £17,950.

Doesn’t it look great, too? Still not a beautiful car perhaps, but the paint and wheels look flawless. The interior, never typically a Subaru strong point, looks absolutely fine for a 75,000-mile car as well. Using something of this age and mileage regularly would surely be a lot less demanding than those Subarus already edging towards classic status. The owner of this one took it in part-exchange for their WR1 (excellent taste) and has only covered a couple of hundred miles since then. While keeping it in the garage, of course. 

As a Subaru to use, enjoy and love, then, this particular STI looks like a winner. It has the most desirable engine, the preferred bodystyle, some cool upgrades and enough miles to continue as intended. This isn’t a Subaru to try and make money on, or covet as the ultimate example of originality, but as a reminder of all that we loved about STIs - while remaining eminently usable in 2026 - its appeal is plain to see. 

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See the original advert

[Leftfootwonder]

I've kind of always liked these but also never liked them at the same time.

[Deep Thought]

Leftfootwonder said:

I've kind of always liked these but also never liked them at the same time.

Agreed.

They were long after the "peak" of Subaru STIs, big wings etc.

The market had very much moved on by then.

[AndrewNR]

Looks more Evo than Scooby. I quite like it, though.

[V12GT]

It seems decent value for a STI - but as others said, there are as good (or better) hot hatches around for the same price.

I'd like a go in this version to see if it is that different to those of my youth.

[Water Fairy]

Much like but as above given others are actually objectively better, then chuck in the running costs, it's a hard sell tbh.

[MDMA .]

I might be reading it wrong, but the UK market never got the 2.0 engine. It was kept for Japanese models only.

Or do you mean 2.0 cars for sale in the UK? In which case, they’ll all be imports anyway.

[martin12345]

There's an interesting thing about interiors

When i got company cars and chose them, i went for a "nice" interior as, well, they were nice in a new car
To whit, i chose a Golf GTI mk 5 over a Seat Leon FR 2.0l T-FSI (or focus ST, Megane R26......)

Roll forward, 3 years and I changed jobs for one that didn't offer a company car (just more money instead)
i decided to buy a 2 ~ 3 year old car and when looking at basically the same cars, but with a bit of mileage under their belts, suddenly the "scratchy, rattle'y" interiors looked as good as they were new and the "soft touch, shiny" interiors looked that bit worse than new

So, as a 2nd hand buy I went for the SEAT
(that coupled with the worse depreciation made it a really bargain 2nd hand)

[GreatScott2016]

I do love a Subaru, but this model was never a favourite of mine. Glory days had sadly passed long before this incarnation . Nice to see nonetheless.

[MyV10BarksAndBites]

Deep Thought said:

Leftfootwonder said:

I've kind of always liked these but also never liked them at the same time.

Agreed.

They were long after the "peak" of Subaru STIs, big wings etc.

The market had very much moved on by then.

Agree x3 I dont think I have much more to add...

[thejaywills]

I think these looked better when they were unapologetically boxy and not trying to fit in with the crowd which these seem to.

I'd still have one if not for the dread that seems to come with used WRX/STIs. I briefly had a hawk-eye and a blob eye at different times, and despite having receipts to attest to the former's rebuild, I always felt the looming sense of impending doom that it was days away from grenading itself.. It felt extremely rapid for what it was though.

That same car has since come up for sale 4 times so it's still going, but the latest advertisement has had price cut after price cut after price cut. To the point where it's arguably irresistible but with every part of my common sense inner voice screaming "don't even think about it..''

Not sure if the more recent ones are any better as far as reliability goes but I feel the answer is a firm no.


Also don't love that they've gained over 100 kgs over the years