RE: Subaru Impreza WRX STI | PH Fleet

[mrnoisy78]

iceicebaby1980 said:

Jay Kay 225 said:

I went into ownership with eyes very wide open about 2 years ago, hence buying a recently imported 2004 low mileage JDM Widetrack STI. These things are bombproof - so I was told...

It came with tonnes of history (written in Japanese mind) lots of fancy bits all over it and yes, I paid over the odds but wanted the best and financially it would be worth it in the long run.

I was told the cambelt had been inspected on import and had many years of life left in it , however for peace of mind I took it to a so called local specialist for a new timing belt kit, water pump and coolant change. The job was done and I was left to enjoy many thousands of hassle free motoring.

60 miles later however when accelerating up a slip road to join a motorway, the car made an odd noise and lost a bit of power so I limped it home. A few people took a look over it and were not sure of the issue so I whipped off the engine covers to check the belt and sure enough the cowboy who did the job had left the tensioner lose - as well as may other bits and bobs he had touched that were now hanging off.

While the timing was out, it didn't sound enough for bent valves etc so I had the car delivered back to the garage for another go at doing it right this time. This was eventually completed after lengthy delays and they sent me a video of the car running confirming it to be running great, only, it sounded like a bag of nails. By now I was board with this idiot so got it trailed to another specialist nearby. The engine was stripped and the verdict given to me. While it had only done a genuine 60k miles and the timing was still well out, the engine was worn to hell with all kinds of long term damage done to it. The best guess was that the car had had a hard life in Japan and spent most of its life on track as engine components looked like they'd done many multiples of the actual miles driven. It would make sense given the other non-standard parts on the car.

The engine was junk and I sourced a new lump from a recently imported 2006 Spec C type RA. As my turbo also had a little play in the shaft, that was junked too and I found a recently rebuilt hybrid with larger compressor wheel. The engine I bought was fully serviced, another cambelt kit and water pump etc was bought along with many hundreds of pounds of gaskets etc and it was all put back together.

I travelled 500 gentle miles and took it back for another oil change and a remap, however a couple of days before the map, a slight misfire began. When takin it back, it was diagnosed as a coilpack breaking down, so a new set of coilpacks were installed. The mapping session showed that the freshly rebuilt turbo wouldn't hold boost beyond 1.3 bar so a new Forge actuator was ordered. Once I had got this fitted, it was off for another mapping session. I asked for a sensible map as I wasn't chasing figures and I now, at long last, have a well running car putting out around 350bhp.

While the engine was being done I had an Exedy clutch added, a 3 port boost solenoid and a couple of other little bits.

Total cost for everything on top of buying my already overpriced 'bombproof' JDM car, approx. £6,500. So, in two years I've spent well north of £20k in buying and keeping it running and adding a few more mods to give it my own touch.

Expect the worse with an Impreza and be extremely careful who you use for maintenance as the Subaru world is filled with cowboys unfortunately. I've heard countless horror stories and they've been far worse than with other marques I've owned.

Just sounds like you were very unlucky with the car you bought . The guy I bought mine of had a ring binder full of receipts of previous owners . The car came with all expensive mods already done . Kw coilovers big brake kit mapped by Andy Forrest had over 10k spent on it . Not even been forged . So I was lucky in that respect . But in the last two year it’s needed a clutch new pads discs all round . I’ve had suspension set up . Changed colour of wheels new tyres . Bought a spare set of winter wheels and tyres . Also the servicing oil changes . So of the top my head all that lot would be 4K

Edited by Jay Kay 225 on Thursday 11th July 14:23

I’m on my third Impreza, have only ever had newage. Inspect carefully, don’t rely on receipts. Do a compression test, check it thoroughly. Every one I’ve bought I’ve changed all fluids and cambelt as soon as I bought it. Do it yourself and get feedback off owners forums. Normal garages are clueless with these cars much of the time but touchwood I’ve never had a big problem.
Re gearbox the whole 6 speed thing is somewhat exaggerated imo - unless the car’s been ragged it should be fine.

[mikey P 500]

Just bought a similar vintage wrx impreza today, your months repair bill sounds close to what I have paid for the whole car so hope my 5 speed box doesn't suffer a similar issues.

[wolfie28]

mrnoisy78 said:

iceicebaby1980 said:

Jay Kay 225 said:

I went into ownership with eyes very wide open about 2 years ago, hence buying a recently imported 2004 low mileage JDM Widetrack STI. These things are bombproof - so I was told...

It came with tonnes of history (written in Japanese mind) lots of fancy bits all over it and yes, I paid over the odds but wanted the best and financially it would be worth it in the long run.

I was told the cambelt had been inspected on import and had many years of life left in it , however for peace of mind I took it to a so called local specialist for a new timing belt kit, water pump and coolant change. The job was done and I was left to enjoy many thousands of hassle free motoring.

60 miles later however when accelerating up a slip road to join a motorway, the car made an odd noise and lost a bit of power so I limped it home. A few people took a look over it and were not sure of the issue so I whipped off the engine covers to check the belt and sure enough the cowboy who did the job had left the tensioner lose - as well as may other bits and bobs he had touched that were now hanging off.

While the timing was out, it didn't sound enough for bent valves etc so I had the car delivered back to the garage for another go at doing it right this time. This was eventually completed after lengthy delays and they sent me a video of the car running confirming it to be running great, only, it sounded like a bag of nails. By now I was board with this idiot so got it trailed to another specialist nearby. The engine was stripped and the verdict given to me. While it had only done a genuine 60k miles and the timing was still well out, the engine was worn to hell with all kinds of long term damage done to it. The best guess was that the car had had a hard life in Japan and spent most of its life on track as engine components looked like they'd done many multiples of the actual miles driven. It would make sense given the other non-standard parts on the car.

The engine was junk and I sourced a new lump from a recently imported 2006 Spec C type RA. As my turbo also had a little play in the shaft, that was junked too and I found a recently rebuilt hybrid with larger compressor wheel. The engine I bought was fully serviced, another cambelt kit and water pump etc was bought along with many hundreds of pounds of gaskets etc and it was all put back together.

I travelled 500 gentle miles and took it back for another oil change and a remap, however a couple of days before the map, a slight misfire began. When takin it back, it was diagnosed as a coilpack breaking down, so a new set of coilpacks were installed. The mapping session showed that the freshly rebuilt turbo wouldn't hold boost beyond 1.3 bar so a new Forge actuator was ordered. Once I had got this fitted, it was off for another mapping session. I asked for a sensible map as I wasn't chasing figures and I now, at long last, have a well running car putting out around 350bhp.

While the engine was being done I had an Exedy clutch added, a 3 port boost solenoid and a couple of other little bits.

Total cost for everything on top of buying my already overpriced 'bombproof' JDM car, approx. £6,500. So, in two years I've spent well north of £20k in buying and keeping it running and adding a few more mods to give it my own touch.

Expect the worse with an Impreza and be extremely careful who you use for maintenance as the Subaru world is filled with cowboys unfortunately. I've heard countless horror stories and they've been far worse than with other marques I've owned.

Just sounds like you were very unlucky with the car you bought . The guy I bought mine of had a ring binder full of receipts of previous owners . The car came with all expensive mods already done . Kw coilovers big brake kit mapped by Andy Forrest had over 10k spent on it . Not even been forged . So I was lucky in that respect . But in the last two year it’s needed a clutch new pads discs all round . I’ve had suspension set up . Changed colour of wheels new tyres . Bought a spare set of winter wheels and tyres . Also the servicing oil changes . So of the top my head all that lot would be 4K

Edited by Jay Kay 225 on Thursday 11th July 14:23

I’m on my third Impreza, have only ever had newage. Inspect carefully, don’t rely on receipts. Do a compression test, check it thoroughly. Every one I’ve bought I’ve changed all fluids and cambelt as soon as I bought it. Do it yourself and get feedback off owners forums. Normal garages are clueless with these cars much of the time but touchwood I’ve never had a big problem.
Re gearbox the whole 6 speed thing is somewhat exaggerated imo - unless the car’s been ragged it should be fine.

I am also on my third Impreza and can only say how I've found them, which has been excellent. Approx 200,000 miles and 15 years and the only issues I've had is a battery and a neutral position switch. Except the one I currently own the previous 2 were modified (1 heavily) and were driven hard when the opportunity arose. I know that's no consolation for you so hope you have turned the corner and have many happy miles in your Impreza, which does look lovely. Like you say plenty of cowboys out there, which you do not find out about until its too late. I take mine to RCM, who in my opinion are the best in the business but expensive. Like the saying goes - you pay for what you get.

[BenLowden]

cookington said:

I've been seriously considering one of these to replace my S3 when the PCP comes to an end, Ben's recent acquisition has only added fuel to the fire.

I'm not put off by the bills so far either, especially as I would aiming for a late model, wide-track blob eye so hopefully wouldn't need to worry about this particular issue if the article is correct.

Agreed – either buy an 03/04 STI that has had the upgraded baulk rings fitted or a 2005 Widetrack DCCD car. The latter will generally set you back an extra two grand but that offsets the potential need to rebuild the gearbox in an earlier car. Having said that, I don't actually know how common the issue is that my car suffered, it could be a minority but it is a known weakness.

shalmaneser said:

Cheaper to get a later, more durable gearbox second hand surely?

All STI 6 speed boxes command big money as it's a popular upgrade to fit to the 5 speed WRX. A later DCCD box would easily have been more expensive that the rebuild and I wanted to keep my car OEM spec so a rebuild was my only real option.

Generally servicing and parts and very reasonable, here's Scoobyworld's servicing pricing as a guide for anyone that's tempted: http://scoobyworld.co.uk/catalog/subaru-servicing-...

As mentioned in my article, the value on these is only going one way now so it has eased the pain of the expense somewhat!

[mrnoisy78]

BenLowden said:

cookington said:

I've been seriously considering one of these to replace my S3 when the PCP comes to an end, Ben's recent acquisition has only added fuel to the fire.

I'm not put off by the bills so far either, especially as I would aiming for a late model, wide-track blob eye so hopefully wouldn't need to worry about this particular issue if the article is correct.

Agreed – either buy an 03/04 STI that has had the upgraded baulk rings fitted or a 2005 Widetrack DCCD car. The latter will generally set you back an extra two grand but that offsets the potential need to rebuild the gearbox in an earlier car. Having said that, I don't actually know how common the issue is that my car suffered, it could be a minority but it is a known weakness.

shalmaneser said:

Cheaper to get a later, more durable gearbox second hand surely?

All STI 6 speed boxes command big money as it's a popular upgrade to fit to the 5 speed WRX. A later DCCD box would easily have been more expensive that the rebuild and I wanted to keep my car OEM spec so a rebuild was my only real option.

Generally servicing and parts and very reasonable, here's Scoobyworld's servicing pricing as a guide for anyone that's tempted: http://scoobyworld.co.uk/catalog/subaru-servicing-...

As mentioned in my article, the value on these is only going one way now so it has eased the pain of the expense somewhat!

The only ones I’ve heard of that had broken 6 speeds were dragged or hammered. Yes you get the occasionally unlucky one but I don’t think it’s as common as you’re making out.

Personally having owned DCCD and non DCCD STI’s I prefer the non DCCD as the car feels less fidgety.
My 02 93k STI 6 speed is smooth and strong. Regular oil changes on engine, gearbox and rear diff and you’ll be fine there’s zero need to go for uprating anything unless the gearbox has an issue when you buy the car imo.

[untakenname]

It's a shame Subaru don't sell the gearbox's separately, until recently you would get more for an STi breaking it for parts so hundreds of running cars have been broken.

I looked at two non DCCD STI's before settling on a 5 speed Wagon, both of them crunched slightly going into 4th so reading this article it looks like I dodged bullet.

Saw a Legacy on Autotrader that had some engine work needed that was listed as a 6 speed for £800, wonder if the gearbox from that would bolt up?

[iceicebaby1980]

About 2.5k I believe for a second hand 6 speed dccd gearbox

[mrnoisy78]

untakenname said:

It's a shame Subaru don't sell the gearbox's separately, until recently you would get more for an STi breaking it for parts so hundreds of running cars have been broken.

I looked at two non DCCD STI's before settling on a 5 speed Wagon, both of them crunched slightly going into 4th so reading this article it looks like I dodged bullet.

Saw a Legacy on Autotrader that had some engine work needed that was listed as a 6 speed for £800, wonder if the gearbox from that would bolt up?

Like any performance car there are plenty out there that have been ragged and plenty of owners without mechanical sympathy and sounds like the ones you viewed hadn’t been lived much by their owners sadly - the unfortunate thing is as they briefly became affordable to the masses, many people bought their “dream car” but tried to run it on a shoe string when the reality of the ownership cost set in.
If I had a penny for every newage I’d seen with mods, no map and the owner gobbing off about “self learning ECU”...????

If you look at forums, Golf R’s and S3’s with the DSG’s are having gearbox issues after just a few years so in fairness the Subaru ones have lasted pretty well .
Typically it’s cheaper to get your own gearbox rebuilt by a specialist rather than buy a second hand one as there’s no guarantee the one you’re buying doesn’t have issues either.
That said, a good, well maintained and sensibly driven STI doesn’t typically destroy its gearbox!

Edited by mrnoisy78 on Friday 26th July 06:35