Cheapish imprezas

[briSk]

I have donned my virtual baseball cap, slipped on a happy hardcore cd and had a look at the cheaper end of imprezadom.

effing batarding hell there is much cheapness! in fact so much so that I don;t understand why even more chavs don't have them!

anyway now i have moved into a niceish house in the country and found someone i reckon will be a reliable and honest local mechanic..i have started to think about taking a punt. really it comes from the fact that i fancy a change but frankly a £10k evo fills me with as much dread as a 3 grand impreza (i know the impreza is a fair bit slower but stick with it!).

i kinf of thought that perhaps i could take a punt? any views on quite how sketchy the cars below might be? in my mind i am trying to plot performance per pound against a ratio of value to sketchiness..!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1649213.htm rb5
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1807023.htm
new engine cars..
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1777774.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1713965.htm hatch but 78k..
a proper punt but...
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1857211.htm
but this is punt of the century!:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1867983.htm
stockish boggle eye:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1880528.htm

if i got one of these i might keep my mcs and use them both.
i think i am having a mid life crisis that am 30 and haven;t had a daft chavvy car that'll break.

[briSk]

oddly this sort of appeals most:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1777774.htm

[Chris71]

An original WRX STi wagon would be pretty cool and doesn't attract quite the same image as the saloon.

[300bhp/ton]

If you are looking at that kind of money, I'd highly recommend looking for a JDM WRX STI (not WRX). The STI's are far more on par with an Evo and won't cost anymore than the low spec UK Turbo 2000's.

I went and looked at a mint, truly mint STI III last year, it was up for £3500. If I could have sorted the cash I would have bought it there and then, sadly it didn't happen.


Things I'd look for on any/all:

-leaky rear lights/screen and wet boot and rear floor
-juddery clutch
-clonks when driving
-knackered turbo's
-Scrunchy gearboxes (T2000's)

[rb5230]

well i bought my 73k mile rb5 about 10 months ago and other than the brakes needing replacing it has been faultless, paid a fair bit more than your examples though and looked at 10 or so dogged imprezas before fining one in the right condition with the right history.

they are great cars, go for it, but id rather spend £4k than £2k on one.

[CaptainSlow]

I would avoid any that had mods on, also get one that has had the belts/tensioners done

[visual123]

They look to be a real value for money buy now. And a near-standard one doesn't look bad at all. Watch out for insurance though I suppose, depending what age you are.

[hairykrishna]

I've always fancied an Impreza but the fact that insurance is still going to be 2 grand on a ~3 grand car, for one of the quick ones, always put me off.

[briSk]

RB5:
when you say it needed brakes replacing are we talking:
service item - new discs and pads
or fubar-d calipers?

also how much for a good condition car (PM me if you don;t want to disclose on here..!)
______

(i know i know i know) but once you spend >= £4k then it's a proper car that has to work! at £2.5k you can take more of a "oh rowlocks i wish i hadn't bought that but never mind and i'll get some money back from the wheels and interior and weighing it in" type view on the whole thing...

[300bhp/ton]

CaptainSlow said:

I would avoid any that had mods on, also get one that has had the belts/tensioners done

I think it depends with mods though. Sure if money isn't an issue, then get a stock one. But one with some nice wheels and an exhaust on won't actually sell for any more money. And it likely to cost you £500-1500 to add to stock Impreza if you are wanting them.

Just buy careful and know what you are getting IMO.

[ApexJimi]

I've often thought about one myself, but I can't help thinking that a sub £4k Impreza Turbo is going to be a money pit

[briSk]

ApexJimi said:

I've often thought about one myself, but I can't help thinking that a sub £4k Impreza Turbo is going to be a money pit

that's my fear really.

i have thought about hanging around outside ze german main dealers in case a nice respectable middle aged engineer/vet//// comes to trade his car in against an S3/130i///// after 10 years of happy motoring...!

[rb5230]

briSk said:

RB5:
when you say it needed brakes replacing are we talking:
service item - new discs and pads
or fubar-d calipers?

also how much for a good condition car (PM me if you don;t want to disclose on here..!)
______

(i know i know i know) but once you spend >= £4k then it's a proper car that has to work! at £2.5k you can take more of a "oh rowlocks i wish i hadn't bought that but never mind and i'll get some money back from the wheels and interior and weighing it in" type view on the whole thing...

it was just a case of new discs and pads all round but i knew that when i bought it, the car owes me about £6k but has pretty low mileage and fsh, and that is including £300 of stereo stuff. you can pick up a pretty mint car for that money, also as said the cambelt and tensioners can be expensive so check that has been done withing the last couple of years.

[VladD]

I'd go for a 1998 Impreza Type-R. Two door coupe, so nicer to look at than the 4 door. I've got an issue for Performance Car and on paper it beat the Evo 5 in every area (though the writer said he'd rather have the Evo).

I know a bloke who's going to be selling an unmolested one soon.

[rb5230]

VladD said:

I'd go for a 1998 Impreza Type-R. Two door coupe, so nicer to look at than the 4 door. I've got an issue for Performance Car and on paper it beat the Evo 5 in every area (though the writer said he'd rather have the Evo).

I know a bloke who's going to be selling an unmolested one soon.

they are more like £5k or £6k though.

[raf_gti]

briSk said:

ApexJimi said:

I've often thought about one myself, but I can't help thinking that a sub £4k Impreza Turbo is going to be a money pit

that's my fear really.

i have thought about hanging around outside ze german main dealers in case a nice respectable middle aged engineer/vet//// comes to trade his car in against an S3/130i///// after 10 years of happy motoring...!

In a similar boat to yourself. I've been looking at '98-'00 standard Impreza's and the cheapo ones appear to be ropey at best and I really don't want to spend 4k on one.

One thing which does put me off is the fact that going by the classifieds, they appear to have all had engine/gearbox rebuilds which doesn't inspire confidence!

Oh and don't buy a car from a vet, unless you want it to stink of animal st and 'hospital'

[superman84]

Go for the JDM STI (or P1 but they tend to go for a fair bit more) if your budget affords as they are a lot quicker than a UK turbo. Imprezas are generally very reliable but when they go wrong they tend to go wrong in dramatic fashion (ie big end failure), so worth considering one with a rebuilt engine.

[briSk]

right - on the import sti thing..

i checked elephant who're a reasonable barometer and especially for a slightly shoddy car i would actually consider using.. the difference between turbo 2000 and wrx sti import thing is £200 or almost 30%. although oddly if you select 'grey import' that seems to save you £70!

part of why i have gone against the £10k evo idea is, apart from the fact that my bini might not be worth quite as much as i thought it may have been.., i am not sure about using one for my 15 min drive to the station. somehow this seems less of a bad idea with a 3k scooby doo. i don't know why but it does!

_________________

as i was saying on that other thread the other week - i am a bit stuck in that i know my car, i like my car but i think i'd like a change after 5 yrs. BUT evo8s and elises are the only dearer things (and i have decided elises are too dear) i like - although i do like dc5s. then other things are cheaper. so i love dc2s. i feel like i would like an impreza (plus 4wd which is handy!). my cousin has an ATR which is great (not least becuase i advised him!) but they just feel too big for me.

it's just tricky though because kerbed wheels and odd stone chip aside my MCS is great and when polished up looks really good. but "i wouldn't get for it what it's worth to me". i guess this is kind of where i came in with taking a chance on an additional, cheap, car...

[rb5230]

superman84 said:

Go for the JDM STI (or P1 but they tend to go for a fair bit more) if your budget affords as they are a lot quicker than a UK turbo. Imprezas are generally very reliable but when they go wrong they tend to go wrong in dramatic fashion (ie big end failure), so worth considering one with a rebuilt engine.

had a go in an sti type-r last weekend at sva imports, it didnt seem much quicker (if at all) than my rb5.

[WreckedGecko]

Get yourself an RB5 and be happy.

Great pieces of kit and huge amounts of fun to drive. Quite understated too, for a scooby anyway.