Mid- late 90's,Subaru Impreza WRX/Turbo reliability and MPG?
Discussion
As per the thread title really, recently bought a house in the country and I'm contemplating an estate with AWD.
What will it get up to on the motorway and driven sensibly?
How solid are the engines/drivetrain? I've heard rumours of oil starvation and cooking cylinders... Is there any truth in this?
Can a sub-£2000 subaru be anything but trouble?
What will it get up to on the motorway and driven sensibly?
How solid are the engines/drivetrain? I've heard rumours of oil starvation and cooking cylinders... Is there any truth in this?
Can a sub-£2000 subaru be anything but trouble?
I had a MY00 wrx turbo and while it was extremely reliable, it needed frequent servicing and averaged around 23-25 mpg.
Service intervals are 7500 miles with oil changes recommended twice as often as that. If i stuck to 70 mph on the motorway I could get as much as 380 miles from a 60 litre tank but generally I got 300 miles from a full tank (Or 330 when using Vpower)
I part ex'd mine at 115,000 miles and nothing had gone wrong except the MAF (Common failing) and a perished air con hose.
Would a £2000 impreza be just as reliable? Only if it's been looked after and serviced properly, but at this end of the market they tend to fall in to the wrong hands and are either badly modded or neglected. If it's got a full service history go for it as mine was an absolute hoot, otherwise walk away.
Service intervals are 7500 miles with oil changes recommended twice as often as that. If i stuck to 70 mph on the motorway I could get as much as 380 miles from a 60 litre tank but generally I got 300 miles from a full tank (Or 330 when using Vpower)
I part ex'd mine at 115,000 miles and nothing had gone wrong except the MAF (Common failing) and a perished air con hose.
Would a £2000 impreza be just as reliable? Only if it's been looked after and serviced properly, but at this end of the market they tend to fall in to the wrong hands and are either badly modded or neglected. If it's got a full service history go for it as mine was an absolute hoot, otherwise walk away.
foresters are worth a thought, if you can get past the driving position because they are more of a 4x4 than an estate
If you want an impreza estate i'm sure there will be a good year 2000 one, or 99 out there for you
There are definatly far more abused ones so it will be a bit of a minefield, but i'm sure it can be done
If you want an impreza estate i'm sure there will be a good year 2000 one, or 99 out there for you
There are definatly far more abused ones so it will be a bit of a minefield, but i'm sure it can be done
Geoff82 said:
I had a MY00 wrx turbo and while it was extremely reliable, it needed frequent servicing and averaged around 23-25 mpg.
Service intervals are 7500 miles with oil changes recommended twice as often as that. If i stuck to 70 mph on the motorway I could get as much as 380 miles from a 60 litre tank but generally I got 300 miles from a full tank (Or 330 when using Vpower)
I part ex'd mine at 115,000 miles and nothing had gone wrong except the MAF (Common failing) and a perished air con hose.
Would a £2000 impreza be just as reliable? Only if it's been looked after and serviced properly, but at this end of the market they tend to fall in to the wrong hands and are either badly modded or neglected. If it's got a full service history go for it as mine was an absolute hoot, otherwise walk away.
how on earth do you get that mpg?! I just bought a '98 uk turbo and can't get more than about 260 out a tank of combined driving! Coudl it be cause mine's got the PPP pack?Service intervals are 7500 miles with oil changes recommended twice as often as that. If i stuck to 70 mph on the motorway I could get as much as 380 miles from a 60 litre tank but generally I got 300 miles from a full tank (Or 330 when using Vpower)
I part ex'd mine at 115,000 miles and nothing had gone wrong except the MAF (Common failing) and a perished air con hose.
Would a £2000 impreza be just as reliable? Only if it's been looked after and serviced properly, but at this end of the market they tend to fall in to the wrong hands and are either badly modded or neglected. If it's got a full service history go for it as mine was an absolute hoot, otherwise walk away.
Anyway, mine cost £2800 and has needed a few minor bits like brake discs and pads, but so far so good on reliability.
I would be very careful to get one with the correct service history though, and check it over very very carefully.
A swift drive from London to Torquay along the A303 ( around 200 miles) will use the majority of a tank in an Impreza of that age - you will be doing well to get more than 260 miles from a tank when driving sensibly.
Reliability of a well maintained one should be OK. MPG will not be!
Reliability of a well maintained one should be OK. MPG will not be!
Mine cost 1950 and has been fine in the 3 months I've owned it - mines a UK Turbo 2000. Just get one thats been serviced and generally buy the owner not the car I'd say.
Also my mate bought a WRX import about 18 months ago from a well known trade centre in Keighly (he didn't know until he googled them AFTER he bought the car) and its been fine as well - he tells me the clutch needs doing sometime soon but you can't really argue with that. His cost 2500
One thing we have in common though is we both bought standard. I wouldn't say avoid cars with mods altogether but if something has lexus lights and neons and the like then just use your common sense.
Edit - expect 17-20MPG round town and 24-27 on a run in my experience
Also my mate bought a WRX import about 18 months ago from a well known trade centre in Keighly (he didn't know until he googled them AFTER he bought the car) and its been fine as well - he tells me the clutch needs doing sometime soon but you can't really argue with that. His cost 2500
One thing we have in common though is we both bought standard. I wouldn't say avoid cars with mods altogether but if something has lexus lights and neons and the like then just use your common sense.
Edit - expect 17-20MPG round town and 24-27 on a run in my experience
Edited by ex vtskid on Saturday 24th April 22:01
acf8181 said:
Geoff82 said:
I had a MY00 wrx turbo and while it was extremely reliable, it needed frequent servicing and averaged around 23-25 mpg.
Service intervals are 7500 miles with oil changes recommended twice as often as that. If i stuck to 70 mph on the motorway I could get as much as 380 miles from a 60 litre tank but generally I got 300 miles from a full tank (Or 330 when using Vpower)
I part ex'd mine at 115,000 miles and nothing had gone wrong except the MAF (Common failing) and a perished air con hose.
Would a £2000 impreza be just as reliable? Only if it's been looked after and serviced properly, but at this end of the market they tend to fall in to the wrong hands and are either badly modded or neglected. If it's got a full service history go for it as mine was an absolute hoot, otherwise walk away.
how on earth do you get that mpg?! I just bought a '98 uk turbo and can't get more than about 260 out a tank of combined driving! Coudl it be cause mine's got the PPP pack?Service intervals are 7500 miles with oil changes recommended twice as often as that. If i stuck to 70 mph on the motorway I could get as much as 380 miles from a 60 litre tank but generally I got 300 miles from a full tank (Or 330 when using Vpower)
I part ex'd mine at 115,000 miles and nothing had gone wrong except the MAF (Common failing) and a perished air con hose.
Would a £2000 impreza be just as reliable? Only if it's been looked after and serviced properly, but at this end of the market they tend to fall in to the wrong hands and are either badly modded or neglected. If it's got a full service history go for it as mine was an absolute hoot, otherwise walk away.
Anyway, mine cost £2800 and has needed a few minor bits like brake discs and pads, but so far so good on reliability.
I would be very careful to get one with the correct service history though, and check it over very very carefully.
I'm in the same sort of quandary as the OP except I have approx £3.5k to spend and i'm looking at early bugeye wagons. There seems to be the odd one or two starting to come into my budget but there are a lot that are way outside it and i'm very wary about the cheaper ones. Are they that cheap for a reason?!
I keep looking at what else I can get for my budget that's a lot newer and with less miles.
I keep looking at what else I can get for my budget that's a lot newer and with less miles.
spaceship said:
I'm in the same sort of quandary as the OP except I have approx £3.5k to spend and i'm looking at early bugeye wagons. There seems to be the odd one or two starting to come into my budget but there are a lot that are way outside it and i'm very wary about the cheaper ones. Are they that cheap for a reason?!
I keep looking at what else I can get for my budget that's a lot newer and with less miles.
Check the clutch for any weakness. And the sidelights (they are a bI keep looking at what else I can get for my budget that's a lot newer and with less miles.
d to change).eldar said:
spaceship said:
I'm in the same sort of quandary as the OP except I have approx £3.5k to spend and i'm looking at early bugeye wagons. There seems to be the odd one or two starting to come into my budget but there are a lot that are way outside it and i'm very wary about the cheaper ones. Are they that cheap for a reason?!
I keep looking at what else I can get for my budget that's a lot newer and with less miles.
Check the clutch for any weakness. And the sidelights (they are a bI keep looking at what else I can get for my budget that's a lot newer and with less miles.
d to change).acf8181 said:
how on earth do you get that mpg?! I just bought a '98 uk turbo and can't get more than about 260 out a tank of combined driving! Coudl it be cause mine's got the PPP pack?
Anyway, mine cost £2800 and has needed a few minor bits like brake discs and pads, but so far so good on reliability.
I would be very careful to get one with the correct service history though, and check it over very very carefully.
Check your lambda sensor is working for one thing - my modded STI RA does a little better than 260 on a tank running round town and on B roads. It has much shorter gears than a UK car and I'm not exactly light footed. Anyway, mine cost £2800 and has needed a few minor bits like brake discs and pads, but so far so good on reliability.
I would be very careful to get one with the correct service history though, and check it over very very carefully.
Back to the original point, I have had "classic" shaped Scoobs for years and they have never been much trouble over 2 cars and 100k miles. Sidelights are easy to change if you have the knack. Clutches less so - it takes me over 6 hours and much swearing (both my cars needed clutches), but then I'm not a mechanic.
Everyone's on the money with the servicing - they need to be maintained properly or it'll not be a plesant experience. Mods aren't necessarily a problem if you can verify who has set the car up to make the best out of them without killing the engine. But remember that there's a good chance the right car will be worth a fair bit more than £2k as parts if the worst happens.
G_T said:
I quite like the look of the foresters. It's got so little style it's almost cool.
Surely horrendous MPG though?
I've had two - an S Turbo and an XT. Both auto, both probably decent mpg (no idea what, as I never work it out) compared to an Impreza in a higher state of tune - they're only about 175 bhp standard. And yes, they're completely style-less which is a positive thing as noone knows what the hell it is just overtook them Surely horrendous MPG though?
My dad currently had an 07 plate Forester XTEN with PPP on it and that returns around 27mpg.
I am on my second classic. 1st one was a 1995 WRX STI version 2 It needed 1 engine rebuild and a couple of MAF sensors but otherwise bombproof despite some mods and double figures worth of trackdays/ring trips. Going steady it would do nearly 300miles on a tank but going for it a lot less. I think it was mapped a bit wrong to be honest. One weekend at the Ring I managed to average 8.5mpg that includes driving arond the local area as well as the track.
My current steed is a P1. This had an engine rebuild shortly after I bought it (under warranty thankfully) and since then has thrown 2 MAF sensors, over a nearly 3 year period. This car is modified a bit better (learnt from my mistakes). It has been running over 400bhp for over 2 years now on standard internals and gearbox and has caused me no grief. On an average drive, which involves plenty of hoonage it will still average 24mpg! I nearly collapsed from shock when I worked that out.
All in all I would say get one. Despite my first one being a bit of a dog it still went and lasted very well and I hope the P1 will keep going strong for a while yet.
I am on my second classic. 1st one was a 1995 WRX STI version 2 It needed 1 engine rebuild and a couple of MAF sensors but otherwise bombproof despite some mods and double figures worth of trackdays/ring trips. Going steady it would do nearly 300miles on a tank but going for it a lot less. I think it was mapped a bit wrong to be honest. One weekend at the Ring I managed to average 8.5mpg that includes driving arond the local area as well as the track.
My current steed is a P1. This had an engine rebuild shortly after I bought it (under warranty thankfully) and since then has thrown 2 MAF sensors, over a nearly 3 year period. This car is modified a bit better (learnt from my mistakes). It has been running over 400bhp for over 2 years now on standard internals and gearbox and has caused me no grief. On an average drive, which involves plenty of hoonage it will still average 24mpg! I nearly collapsed from shock when I worked that out.
All in all I would say get one. Despite my first one being a bit of a dog it still went and lasted very well and I hope the P1 will keep going strong for a while yet.
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