Impreza advice,
Discussion
Hi Guys,
I am after my first Jap car. Looking at MX5's and Imprezas. I think I want the Impreza as prefer the power. Is going to be my 2nd car so will only be a weekend/track day car. Have found a 1996 WRX for £1750. The guy selling is a mechanic and changes oils/filters regularly and cam belt has done 15k miles. I need to ask him how good tyres are as havent asked about that.
My question is can a reliable scooby be had for this money? I dont mind a bit of DIY work, and I work in Autoelectrics so this isnt an issue either.
Alex
I am after my first Jap car. Looking at MX5's and Imprezas. I think I want the Impreza as prefer the power. Is going to be my 2nd car so will only be a weekend/track day car. Have found a 1996 WRX for £1750. The guy selling is a mechanic and changes oils/filters regularly and cam belt has done 15k miles. I need to ask him how good tyres are as havent asked about that.
My question is can a reliable scooby be had for this money? I dont mind a bit of DIY work, and I work in Autoelectrics so this isnt an issue either.
Alex
I know a chap that bought a bog std 1995 WRX with 60K on the clock for £1500 a couple of years ago. He's still got the car and it's been reliable barring a couple of small niggles which he sorted very cheaply. Suffice to say he loves it to bits and it goes well.
You have to expect that when you buy a car that's 14-15yrs old, you are bound to get one or two niggles with it. Niggles are fine and easily sorted, and so long as the engine and gearbox are absolutely straight you'll be fine.
You might get through a MAF sensor or some other sensor at some time, they do go wrong once in a blue moon and it's only to be expected however, if the car is genuine, hasn't been fecked about with, hasn't been chipped, and doesn't have an induction kit on it, more than likely you'll be just fine.
Problems begin when you have a car running with lots of mods like a decat exhaust and an induction kit (very common) with no remap or some dodgy performance chip that does more harm than good because it's a very poor solution. Stay away from any classic Subaru like that because it's more than likely to have been abused regularly to within an inch of it's life.
When you drive a modified car hard like that and with no remap damage will be happening every time it's run. Eventually the owner notices that bad things are happening to the engine and gets rid of it before anything major happens that's going to cost him big bucks to repair. Some poor mug comes along, buys the car with his hard earned and a short time down the road he goes out for a quick country blatt and the engine goes bang. I hate it when that happens to people.
Before you part with cash take someone with you on a test drive that knows and owns a Subaru. They'll soon let you know if there is potentially a big issue. Just because the current owner is a mechanic don't assume he knows anything about Subaru's or that the car will have been looked after and treated nicely, or that there isn't something seriously wrong with it.
Sorry for the doom and gloom but better you go into something with eyes wide open and expecting something to be wrong only to be pleasantly surprised that the car is straight as a die and you'll both be very happy together.
Good luck!!
You have to expect that when you buy a car that's 14-15yrs old, you are bound to get one or two niggles with it. Niggles are fine and easily sorted, and so long as the engine and gearbox are absolutely straight you'll be fine.
You might get through a MAF sensor or some other sensor at some time, they do go wrong once in a blue moon and it's only to be expected however, if the car is genuine, hasn't been fecked about with, hasn't been chipped, and doesn't have an induction kit on it, more than likely you'll be just fine.
Problems begin when you have a car running with lots of mods like a decat exhaust and an induction kit (very common) with no remap or some dodgy performance chip that does more harm than good because it's a very poor solution. Stay away from any classic Subaru like that because it's more than likely to have been abused regularly to within an inch of it's life.
When you drive a modified car hard like that and with no remap damage will be happening every time it's run. Eventually the owner notices that bad things are happening to the engine and gets rid of it before anything major happens that's going to cost him big bucks to repair. Some poor mug comes along, buys the car with his hard earned and a short time down the road he goes out for a quick country blatt and the engine goes bang. I hate it when that happens to people.
Before you part with cash take someone with you on a test drive that knows and owns a Subaru. They'll soon let you know if there is potentially a big issue. Just because the current owner is a mechanic don't assume he knows anything about Subaru's or that the car will have been looked after and treated nicely, or that there isn't something seriously wrong with it.
Sorry for the doom and gloom but better you go into something with eyes wide open and expecting something to be wrong only to be pleasantly surprised that the car is straight as a die and you'll both be very happy together.
Good luck!!
Message Board | Japanese Chat | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff