Buying an Impreza Hawkeye, blind, from Scotland...

[S100HP]

Croutons said:

Hats off to you for the rapid progress, dunno how you manage it with kids in tow, I don't get a minute's peace!!

Lucky they're still young, and the weather nice. Meaning I get around 2hrs after they've gone to bed. Football tonight tho....

[S100HP]

Stevie98 said:

Whilst you have the rad out, check the power steering cooling pipe that runs in front of the rad behind the grill (U shaped pipe mounted horizontally). As it takes all of what the elements throw at it through the grill, it is a known weak point for power steering fluid leaks. My fluid reservoir looked full but power steering was rough when on full lock parking etc so assumed PS pump was knackered… My indie tech found the cooling pipe had a leak so pump returned and pipe replaced

Top tip, thanks. Will take a look.

Another issue noticed, it appears my xenon headlamps have been replaced with a HID kit. This would explain why the self levelling warning is on the dash. Any ideas what might have been done and why, and how can I go about returning to original? Totally lost in this area.

[S100HP]

New radiator is in place and plugged in. Just need to fill system and bleed.

Fairly simple job actually. Just transferred the fans over from one to another then dropped it back into place. I've replaced the spring clips with jubilee clips too which makes things easier for when I take it back out to tackle the front radiator support.

The new main fuse also arrives today so that too has been fitted. I'm sure I was popular setting off the car alarm at 2145...

Managed to watch Brazil getting knocked out too.

[S100HP]

Good news. No leaks from the coolant system, which is now filled with actual coolant rather than finest Scottish loch water. Test drive proved successful, no random spikes in temperature. I do believe I actually have a car that seems to work!

[S100HP]

My first proper drive this evening. It shifts. I've not actually been anywhere yet.

[S100HP]

RS Grant said:

I'm driving it's Great Grandad...

...I'm really glad to see you've decided to wade in and fix the issues rather than ship it on via the 'bay or Gumtree. I think they're great cars and issues aside, for the money there really isn't much that covers ground cross country as well as an Impreza. Look forward to seeing how you get on with it.

Ooof, that looks great. I need some gold wheels

I have to agree with you, the way it hoovers up back roads is pretty spectacular. No dramas, then you look down and see the speed you are doing!

[S100HP]

Peanut Gallery said:

Peanut Gallery said:

6) use it for a week and see if it grows on you. If so, then start fixing bits, if not, bay of e.

Well, a week and some in, it seems to have grown on you, go for it!

Regarding the rust,they all do that up here in Scotland sir...

Growing, not yet grown. Used it for my commute today, it's normally 11 miles each way. Managed to cover 90 somehow...

[S100HP]

martyuk said:

Are you aware it is not taxed?

May take 5 days to update

Edited by S100HP on Wednesday 11th July 09:35

[S100HP]

Craikeybaby said:

Glad to hear it is working out now! It has got me looking at Impreza wagons...

Don't buy one from Scotland.

[S100HP]

rossub said:

Yours should be 5 x 100 PCD, which means there should be plenty of used gold STI alloys from 2001-04 to choose from. STIs changed to 5 x 114 after that.

Thanks. Which wheels are those?

[S100HP]

S100HP said:

martyuk said:

Are you aware it is not taxed?

May take 5 days to update

Edited by S100HP on Wednesday 11th July 09:35

Now updated

[S100HP]

Ruffy94 said:

I tend to look at these every so often on ebay, so was sad to find you have listed it for sale

https://ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-Subaru-Impreza-WRX-Wag...

I wouldn't normally try to damage somebody's sale (Ebay is a pain at the best of times). However, writing a long thread about uncovering large amounts of rust you were unaware of and then punting it on on Ebay without mentioning any of the same rust issues seems a little unfair to the next buyer....

Thanks for your input but I think the advert is a fair description without completely over doing it. Anyone is welcome to view or contact me beforehand.

[S100HP]

md4776 said:

S100HP said:

Thanks for your input but I think the advert is a fair description without completely over doing it. Anyone is welcome to view or contact me beforehand.

Not really any of my business so feel free to ignore the question but how come you are selling? It's been a month or so, has the missus clamped down ? Was it always just to be a short term challenge to see what kind of state it would be in? Or is it not your cup of tea etc

If I'm honest it's a little worse than I expected and I feel a little negative towards it due to the issues I've encountered so far. I'm also struggling a little with the size with 2 kids/pushchair/dogs. It's great to drive and the other half really likes it (she wants it!) but I don't want to be constantly chasing issues. I've also struggled to sell the Volvo (twice on eBay, one person interested, offered too little) which frankly is a great family car and doesn't have these issues. The idea originally was to sell the Volvo to fund this, but I currently have 6k tied up in 2 cars which I didn't plan for.

I thought if I put this up for sale and if someone comes in and offers me close to what I paid then the problem goes away. Equally if someone had offered a sensible amount for the Volvo last week I would have sold it and dealt with the issues on this, and just dealt with the size. The Volvo is currently tucked away in my dads barn whilst I work out how to proceed so I don't further compound the issue.

Part of me wants to keep both. Run the Volvo over the winter and this one during the summer, but money as always is the issue. Crowdfunding?

Edited by S100HP on Wednesday 18th July 10:36

[S100HP]

cheesesliceking said:

W

Ouch, Looking to make £450 over what you paid for it too.
That seems a little off chap.

How do you work that out? Bidding starts at £2500. I've put a radiator, coolant and a battery on it, plus paid for it to come from Scotland (appreciate my cost). I'm loosing money.

[S100HP]

It didn't sell. Decision required on next move.

[S100HP]

Cheers. Did look at WBAC, not an awful offer but I'd still be losing over a grand.

Had the remaining tyre that was losing pressure fixed this morning (rear offside) and the front nearside balanced as it was causing a fairly substantial wobble at motorway speeds. That is 3 out of the 4 wheels that have been off now. Hopefully that is the end of the pressure loss and wobble issues. Also got stuck in significant traffic this morning and am pleased to report temperature of the car was perfect. Seems the new rad and coolant fixed the issue I had there.

[S100HP]

Hi Mark.

I'm glad you've been watching, I was half tempted to send it to you a while back when it became apparent it was worse that expected. Tired is a good description. As mentioned in my message to you some weeks ago I just wish you'd been more honest with your description. Below average I take to mean dents and dings, maybe a bit of rust on the arches and a wing mirror that needed replacing. You did send me this video https://youtu.be/aLm5ev86tC4 and having watched that and spoken with you I thought it was worth a punt. What you failed to mention, which you would have clearly seen, is the rusting around the top of the windscreen and on the tailgate which has been poorly painted over. You also didn't shows this area inside the rear door. I'm still yet to get under it, but I wouldn't be surprised to find bigger issues.



Its great that you covered the NC500 without issue, but the radiator had clearly been leaking for an while which you can see that by the calcium build-up around the neck of the filler cap. When I got the car there was no coolant in the system, just a bit of water. One tyre was flat in less than 48hrs since it left you and the other was losing pressure over a few days. Both these wheels were missing their valve caps. I find it hard to believe that you drove the NC500 without topping up the coolant or tyres and if you'd even taken a quick look to see where the leak was coming from you'd have seen the radiator support bar and the hole in it. This is where I would have appreciated more honesty. If I'd known the bodywork was in this state I'd not have purchased it. You also failed to mention the warning light on the dash for the headlights. I've since worked out the standard lights have been replaced with HID lamps which shouldn't pass an MOT. The second key which I specifically asked about doesn't work either. Nor does the radio (not mentioned). You didn't mention the crack in the windscreen either.

Now I don't deny what you say about the transport company. He denies jump starting the car, so I'm between you telling me it was working and him saying it wasn't. What is done there is done there and it now starts as it should.

I know it was cheaper than any other hawkeye on Autotrader, but despite this I feel that you were economical with the truth and honestly I'm feeling pretty conned right now. If you stand by the car that much then refund me the money and I'll return the car to you. Alternatively lets chuck it in a local auction. Anything over what I paid you get, anything under you return to me.

Edited by S100HP on Tuesday 24th July 14:35

[S100HP]

Markzlet said:

You were advised we were making a loss so the car would be sold as spares or repairs.

I missed this first time round. It wasn't sold as spares or repairs, you said you couldn't provide a warranty at that price. These are two very different things. I was happy to take a chance that if the gearbox blew up in a few hundred miles on my head be it. I expected a car with bodywork that was a bit rough, not one that clearly needs significant bodywork, along with the radiator and the lights.

md4776 said:

as soon as he accepted your lowball offer and told you it was being sold spares or repairs the alarm bells should have went mental. You took a punt and it hasn't worked out.

I think the cheapest/under market value sold as spares or repairs aspect tips the balance though. Sorry!

As above, it wasn't spares or repairs.

Markzlet said:

Im sorry but what were you anticipating? The car would have been listed on Autotrader with approximately 30-50 HD images, images are taken of every door and all inside etc. So I cant 100% say that the rust inside the door would have been visible in the pictures but it is highly likely. The reason I didn't mention it as I wasn't aware of it.

The radio did work, this is something of a necessity when completing a long road trip. The cars oil and water levels were checked before leaving for the nc500 and half way through and neither of those points did they differ so the leak cant have been there. The video you sent me showed a substantial leak that would have been clearly evident to me. By the way I'm a mechanic with over 12 years experience.

We regularly send our trade plate drivers to drop cars off all over the uk from Ireland to London, I did offer to have the car driven down to you though this would have cost ever so slightly more than your quoted shiply. Why would I do this if I was aware a car had a serious coolant leak? If my drivers had undertaken the journey and noticed this then they would have returned the car to our workshop etc.

I think this is a classic case of you get what you pay for. I do empathize with your situation but if you cut our throat on the price of a car and are clearly told it will be spares or repairs due to us taking a loss on the car then you aren't in a position to moan about fairly minor issues. Minor in the respect that this is a 12 year old performance car with over 140k miles for under 3k.

Mark.

I hardly cut your throat, I offered you £500 less than it was advertised for and you didn't sell it as spares or repairs. I'm not a mechanic, but I clearly saw issues with the car such as the leak and the headlamp issue within seconds of it arriving, and its pretty hard to miss the rust. As a mechanic you would have clearly been aware of these issues. They didn't just appear on the journey down here. I was anticipating a bit of honesty from you, given I made it clear to you I'd already done this once from Scotland and ended up with a rust bucket.

DonaldTrump said:

Your saying the seller was economical with the truth, no mention of rust, dodgy headlights etc. I have looked at your ebay advert, no mention of these issues or pictures either, are you also being economical with the truth?? potentially wasting other peoples time??

A fair challenge, but put yourself in my shoes. Place an advert where I've stated bodywork is tired, where I'd then communicate to a potential buyer what I've seen, or post an advert warts and all and put them off before they've had a chance? I did mention the warning was on the dash for the lights, which is more than I got from a dealer.

andymc said:

so you bid him in the balls and didn't get the bargain you thought, utter snowflake

andymc said:

and then advertised it yourself without any mention of it????? Physician heal thyself

andymc said:

LOVELY CONDION INSIDE AND OUT

Do you actually add anything constructive to any thread you post on, or does acting like a dick come naturally? Your last comment isn't even my advert.

KelvinatorNZ said:

Sounds like the trader is using the old "get what you paid for" "sold for less than cost" cry me a river excuse to get out of selling a basket case. I get it that the buyer got it cheap, but any of the issues that the car arrived with should have been disclosed by the seller, not have him plead ignorance and just say the buyer got it cheap, so their problem.

The main reason I took a punt was that it was from a dealer rather than private. I thought I'd get some honesty and have some comeback should it be a basket case, warranty or not. The radiator was annoying, but I can deal with although it would have been nice not to have had to do this. The rust is much more of my issue.

eliot said:

o/p dont buy a car blind if you are not prepared to accept what you end up with. You took a gamble and lost.
A dealer is always going to paint a positive picture - it’s your job to satisfy yourself that its what you want - you didn’t do that (videos and pictures dont count) so suck it up.

Fair comment, but given I specifically asked about it I would have appreciated honesty.

[S100HP]

Sparky137 said:

So what exactly was your plan when the disgruntled person that you would have sold it to comes back with exactly the same complaints that you have made? Reduce the sale price? Give them all of their money back? Tell them its up to them to examine the car first?

Do please tell.

As mentioned above, I would have discussed with them. I was using eBay as a method of advertising the car.

Markzlet said:

Selective quoting is great, you fail to mention our phone calls where you were told it was spares or repairs. As a business we have a great reputation and are rated highly. I pride myself in the stuff we sell. I like to think we work to a higher standard than most car dealers but alas once again I fail to see how we are at fault.

The car was advertised as I said with 30-50 HD Images and a walk round video. A further video was also sent showing crusts round arches etc. I did offer to have the car taken to our workshop and put on ramps to be photographed and or videod underneath.

This seems to be getting silly now seeing we are discussing poor bodywork on a car advertised saying "poor bodywork hence price" and graded bodywork at lowest possible grade on autotrader.

I draw attention to the opening line of your post "I bought the cheapest impreza hawkeye" - It was the cheapest for the reason the bodywork was rough and didn't justify us spending £7-800 on refreshing paintwork.

I stand by the car as an excellent driver for an old, leggy high mileage performance car. The service history was 14 stamps from memory. It had new discs and pads, Hankook tyres and seemed generally really well maintained. I will always work with customers to sort any issues however it is unreasonable to expect us to do this when we made a decent loss on the car which you were aware of.

Mark.

You know full well "spares or repair" was never discussed. Warranty (or lack of) I agreed with, but I expected a car that worked upon arrival, not one that was pissing coolant all over the floor after running for a few mins and had bodged headlights. Rough bodywork (ie paint, dents etc) I am happy with, rust less so, specifically when I asked about it! As I said to you in my message, more honesty would have been appreciated.

Regardless of the price paid (which I don't think was unreasonable based on the condition of the car in the video) you've not make a gesture towards the radiator/coolant which cost me over £100 within a day of the car arriving, despite the problem being evident upon arrival. Warranty or not, I wouldn't have expected to have to do this immediately. You can talk about "cutting your throat" as much as you like, but you shouldn't be selling cars that clearly have a problem and then washing your hands of them.

Anyway, it's clear we are not going to agree on this and given you're the other end of the country it's not like we can meet up and sort it out. I'm now stuck with a car that owes me 3k and whilst it does start/stop/drive as it should, the arches and sills are rusty, and I need to work out a solution but clearly I'm going to lose here. Just to clarify, I've not named your business, nor left reviews anywhere. As far as I was concerned our communication finished with your last message below several weeks ago. The discussion has only re-opened when you commented on the thread. Now you're hear you might as well join in the rest of the thread and see what happens.



So onwards with the shonky Impreza. A parcel arrived today. Can you guess what it is yet? (Can I say that still?)



Yes, a wing-mirror in silver. This is to replace the one that has been stuck together with some brown adhesive of some description.





I'll change the cover over (assuming I can remove it without breaking it) and fit it, and the shonky Impreza will be slightly less shonky.

Edited by S100HP on Wednesday 25th July 11:25

[S100HP]

md4776 said:

My view, for what it's worth, is there's an interesting dynamic here, which is 'the action' each party took after the event.

On the one hand, the OP photographs coolent leak near enough on arrival and sends pictures to the dealer: it would have been hard to do that if the car didnt have a coolant leak. It would also be hard to understand on what basis (ie why would he bother sending them to the dealer) he would do it if he understood what he was buying it as "spares or repairs".

However the OP has not 'named and shamed' so to speak, we do not know who the dealer is, and yet he has come on to the thread to tell his side of the story, seemingly with nothing to gain. If he knew or thought the car was trouble, and came across this thread, he wouldn't bother pitching up with his story. He has nothing to defend or gain either way.

As others have suggested the general bad feeling about the car hasn't been helped by the transport bodge that killed the fuses etc in the first instance, but its now pretty irrelevant to the story. The inference from the dealer though is that there was no coolant leak. If it turned up with the leak then that Mr Shiply must have caused it.

All things considered I think the material point is whether it was knowingly sold and accepted by the buyer as spares or repairs as I personally feel a car sold "without warranty" and as "spares or repairs" are different ends of the "how big a punt is this" scale.

Given the transaction took place at distance, it means money must have changed hands electronically or via card payment which surely necessitates an invoice or at least a "money received" receipt. If the car was genuinely sold as spares or repairs I'd expect it to be captured as "spares or repairs" on the invoice as a T&C of the sale.

If there's no invoice/receipt and therein no captured T&Cs then that would be pretty shoddy.

I was posting whilst you wrote this, but think it's just worth acknowledging. The bit in bold is the key for me here, I wouldn't have taken the punt on spares or repair. I did take a punt based on no warranty.

I don't think I have an invoice, at least I don't recall seeing one in the paperwork (I'll go check the car now). That would help clear it up.