Pro's/Cons of blobeye impreza (03/53)

[pidsy]

as above really, i had promised myself an evo for my next car, but plans have changed. i'm now looking for an impreza. seen some nice examples of the above and they seem like a lot of car for the money.

i'm not worried about the insurance (got it sorted), thirstyness isnt an issue as it will just be a weekend toy. i'm really looking for any bits to look out for, known mechanical failures etc.

ive had a look on sidc, scooby city etc but couldnt see many issues, so thought i'd through it out to the masses.

cheers.

D

[Nash_wrx]

not much goes wrong with them, if serviced regularly, when you go out viewing, look out for worn pads/discs imprezas have a huge appetite for them, gear and engine should be smooth with no jerks or crunches on up or down shift,
make sure you see the car start up from cold and look out for excess smoke.

As for forums.

Scoobynet is the biggest around, plenty of advice at hand over there

[pidsy]

thanks Nash. i'll have a look now.

[Mastodon2]

On the plus side, a lot of people think they are ugly and undesirable compared to the blobeye, which helps prices. If you can get past the headlights (and I certainly could) they are pretty much bombproof good time cars.

I love them, imo it's the most aggressive looking Impreza ever made. The front end reminds me of a shark's eyes and mouth.

[gareth.e]

Mastodon2 said:

On the plus side, a lot of people think they are ugly and undesirable compared to the blobeye, which helps prices. If you can get past the headlights (and I certainly could) they are pretty much bombproof good time cars.

I love them, imo it's the most aggressive looking Impreza ever made. The front end reminds me of a shark's eyes and mouth.

??? Thats a bug eye..

This is a blob eye

[Mastodon2]

gareth.e said:

??? Thats a bug eye..

This is a blob eye

Whoops, though the guy was after a bugeye there for a second. The blobeyes are good too, better looking some would say. I think given a choice I might still be tempted to go Bug though, ever since seeing Pettar Solberg driving his with immense skill.

[Fleckers]

classics are best looking in my book

[pidsy]

there are 2 very tidy looking blobeyes not to far from me, but they seem to be very cheap (both around £5k) ones got the prodrive kit and is an STI (upgrade i think) and has 88k FSH - whereas there are lots of bugeye cars for the same money with over 100k on.

too good to be true?

both are on autotrader, but not on here.

[PaulB81]

I had one and never had a single issue with it. Great car. Sometimes wish I had never got rid of it.

[otolith]

Mastodon2 said:

On the plus side, a lot of people think they are ugly and undesirable compared to the blobeye

Which seems bizarre to me, if you're buying any Impreza you've already decided you don't mind driving an ugly car. They're for driving, not for looking at.

[SteveScooby]

A pretty common fault seems to be the rear struts knocking, but I think it's more annoying than anything else.

[Goldmember1]

The knocking struts problem was cured from later '05 onwards , as they had inverted Sti struts.. gave a better ride too .. My last 1 was an 05/55 .
You'll be able to tell as it'll have the newer shape 3 spoke steering wheel and different heating controls ( sorry cant provide pics .. have a look on Autotrader ) and ( I think ) red-painted calipers with white Subaru logos .

[AClownsPocket]

I bought mine in 2006 as a 3 year old example and it was a cracking car. Felt solid enough, not understeery at low speeds as I think the Evo's are and generally, quite a nice place to sit for a while.

Mine was a non PPP car, but it still had enough grunt to make North Yorkshire back roads disappear quite quickly

Rear struts were a problem but most should have been done under warranty. Coilvers (IMO) ruin the ride. A later 2005 model has a wider track and the DCCD so look for one of those if you can, and if you can stretch to a JDM model, so much the better. Has more toys, different turbo and a couple of different exterior bits (tinted rear side windows etc).

Oh, and it has to be blue

[Prof Prolapse]

Not done one personally but the clutch looks an absolute bd to change...

If you can live with the ruinous economy, being prejudged as a hooligan and getting annual shaftings from your insurance company I don't think there's a lot will touch them for value.

[pidsy]

thankyou for the replies, its been a big help.

im not worried about being viewed as a chav, i'm 30 now so even though they might think it, im not.

insurance is sorted - sub £500

so... gotta go and have a look at some cars - neither of which are blue, i'm sorry to say. 1 black and one silver.

[sebhaque]

I ran an '05 STi for a while, absolutely fantastic car. Things to remember - turbos have a limited lifespan and there are horror stories of abused cars expiring after as little as 40,000 miles. A good driver will obviously let the car warm up before giving it a bootful, but a minute or two of idling after hard driving is recommended to let the turbo cool down.

Cam belt changes are at 60k intervals, the STi runs Brembo brakes all round which can be pricey to repair, and it's best to change the tyres as a full set. Personally, I used the tyres as an indication of how well the car was looked after. A good set of matching tyres all round and the car's more likely to have been taken care of. Mismatched tyres set alarm bells off in my head.

Aftermarket exhausts are relatively common - and the Subaru fit radio system is woeful, so that's also a common change.

Overall they're absolutely fantastic cars and I'd buy another in a heartbeat (although the insurance companies would rather I didn't). They're immensely capable cars and you really can't go wrong with an Impreza.

HTH

[Chrisw666]

I have a hankering for one of these, a Black or Grey WRX SL with the PPP and a non STI rear spoiler would be my choice.

[Ved]

Goldmember1 said:

The knocking struts problem was cured from later '05 onwards , as they had inverted Sti struts.. gave a better ride too .. My last 1 was an 05/55 .
You'll be able to tell as it'll have the newer shape 3 spoke steering wheel and different heating controls ( sorry cant provide pics .. have a look on Autotrader ) and ( I think ) red-painted calipers with white Subaru logos .

The struts were an issue for all newage ones all the way up to the RB320 and there is no fix, just an on-going replacement cycle until you get some new aftermarket ones sadly. The 55 plate ones are the best of the 2.0s as they had the updated interior as you say but also a geometry change and the addition of DCCD which helps it a lot too.

I miss my Hawkeye

[CO2000]

sebhaque said:

and the Subaru fit radio system is woeful, so that's also a common change.

If you are stuck with the std stereo set the fader a few segments to the rear, it will sound much better.
A normal 50/50 split setting made me feel ill in my 03 one.

Great cars, enjoy it

[Goldmember1]

Ved said:

The struts were an issue for all newage ones all the way up to the RB320 and there is no fix, just an on-going replacement cycle until you get some new aftermarket ones sadly. The 55 plate ones are the best of the 2.0s as they had the updated interior as you say but also a geometry change and the addition of DCCD which helps it a lot too.

I miss my Hawkeye

Sorry .. I stand corrected .. that was the main reason I bought mine on an '05 plate and not heard of the "newer" ones knocking .. plus I should've said I was only talking about WRXs , not rich enough to own an STi .. The OP hasn't said if it's a WRX or STi he's after .. You're right about the later STis, wider track + DCCD is a lot better , altho' the Hawkeye in my eyes is a whole differnt ballgame .. simply the best IMO ( apart from the £430 a yr VED! ) Sorry .. gone off topic there ..