I agree with all that's been said above but cant get my head around the fact owing a hatch seems to me to be unacceptable to most on SN.Ive loved scoobs all my life so when I took the plunge I wanted the newest one I could afford,A 10 plate wrx sti. With 19inch prodrive alloys,zunsport mesh upper and lower grills it looks the bo""cks and drives even better,I love seeing the older scoobs about and can appreciate why people want one and how fanatical they can be but don't forget guys hatches are still subarus.

 

A lot of people on here aren't the biggest fans of Subarus in general to be honest mate, I certainly don't hold much affection for 2.0 sports.

The hatch STi is a good car but it requires work to make it as good as it should have been, regardless of how much better it was than the previous model.

I hope it never affects you but if the engine goes to **** on your car (as some of them seem prone to doing) it would be interesting to see how much you love it then.

 

I'm sure Ford did their research and figured the cost of developing the AWD system for the focus, and putting it in the car, was too much for the limited demand out there.

Peeps with money now can grab something like an RS6 with stupid power and torque plus the AWD to put it down, they can sit in luxury too unlike some bone shaking WRC inspires hatch. Sorry to say but performance cars have moved on and the homoglonation stuff of yesterday is a throw back.

 

Same goes for the VW Phaëton. The manufacturer Paso a lot on every single car sold, but it's a question of image transfer. You have car A to earn money, and car B to make you look desirable. However, small 22 mpg saloons aren't desirable to most

 

Paid, not Paso. Damned auto complete function

 

One of my mates had a Phaeton with the W12, it was a beautiful car but the fuel consumption was outrageously bad.

The more sensible versions with Diesel engines would be amazing used buys...

 

Yeah the halo model. I'm not sure that WRC is 'cool' enough now for these cars to be halo models and make money by losing it.

Even in Japan the tuner cars for the salaried middle classes like the old GTR have gone to be replaced by the new GTR which is more luxo orientated. Even the fast and furious films have 'grown up' now lol.

 

Hell, for the ~50 k EUR a new STI hatch would cost me I'd rather get a bmw 3 series. If technical perfection and individualism didn't matter to me, that is.

 

Let's face it: unless one wanted a 4wd boxer engine car and wasn't willing to buy a preowned Porsche one wouldn't buy a Subaru STI.

 

I will 2nd that opinion...I bought my 1st in 1999,on my 4th new one...the old ones were good in their time..but I have been there wouldnt go back...Things move on ...

 

The problem with subaru is they are no longer a performance bargain, when they were released there was nothing that could compete in the same and higher price bracket, now days your average rep mobile will give a standard one a hard time, there needs to be a large performance increase to the likes of the cosworth hatch and a major price reduction, £36k for a secondhand one is laughable when you can pick up a very decent porsche/ M3/ Rs6 for that money and all the performance and luxury that come with it, subaru have lost the plot.

I mean come on you can build a 600bhp monster from any platform you desire for £20k or better still buy Jura's so why would anyone pay £36k for a Rover 25 / Mazda bas terd.

 

Warranty and the pleasure of being the 1st owner...

 

How many first owners are on here? Most of the guys here own a used Subaru, I suppose

 

Good for you, I'm so pleased for you and hope you get a nice warm glow from your £50k purchase.

Rather you than me mate, but guess what? I don't care cos it aint my money and how you spend it is entirely up to you.

 

I came from a 911 recently enough and the fact is that it wasn't as good as it should have been, especially given the price the previous owner paid for it. I'll give you a clue on the cost, it was over £80k, in 2006. Unfortunately people subscribe to the hype that these manufacturers spend a very large budget to spread. The RS6 is a dinosaur and the M3 very nice but not a particularly brilliant machine.

As for your criticism of the price tag of a new STi I think you are missing the point. Not everyone wants a 600bhp monster that requires constant maintenance and trips to the tuner, for the price I paid for mine I could have probably specced an entry level petrol 3 series, does not make that an overpriced car. Just a different car for a similar price.

As I recall the P1 and 22B were very expensive in their day and far better machines could have been built using a donor car and upgrades for the price.

Where Subaru has lost it in this country is its perception by the buying public as a brand, not in the cars they make as they're doing more than fine elsewhere. IM have not marketed their imports properly and that is the reason why they're not selling many cars.

 

It's a crazy amount of money for what is just basically an evolution of a budget family saloon with AWD and a turbo. Let's face it this is what the WRC cars were.

 

I'm sure he does actually mate, probably why he bought it.

I hope you enjoy reflecting on your wasted racing career every time you recall the story of taking on a Ferrari in your Rover.

First owner here too.

 

As is an M3, RS/S 3,4,5,6,8 or an AMG Merc.

 

Muhahaha

 

The best car that is within 4 years old that 30k can buy is the Datsun R35, no question.

 

Oi, you cheeky t**t

 

Which Merc have you got? My father's been through a few. Those AMG Mercs are great cars but make no sense to me except as a secondhand purchase.

We talk about prices of the Imprezas being too high but these things when specced to a decent level are very expensive indeed.

 

I suspect that would get you a very ropey example.

Add £10k and then budget for supercar running costs, that's what one will cost you.

 

1st owner here of my Hatch, Probably the best one I've owned up to press, Although very tempted by the new Mercedes A45 AMG.

 

I agree, but that type of car has one major problem. They are f***ing huge. I don't know where you live, but the B roads in the north west don't lend themselves to luxury cars. I remember meeting up with a mate of mine who has a Nissan GTR and that looked like a fish out of water on the roads round here too. Massive **** end on it. My focus RS also felt far too big for the B roads.
Give me a four wheel drive Fiesta or Polo size car anytime.

 

Yep buying one new would cripple me. Mine is an SL55, it's klnocking on a bit (2005) and it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it.

 

Yeah I agree 100% with that observation but despite that people do like the big cars, especially the big SUV's which barely fit around the narrow lanes.

One reason I like my clio is that it is a good size for the lanes in Cheshire.

 

I drove one when I had recently bought my bug STi, I thought at the time that was the fastest car in the world after dropping the clutch a couple of times. The chap who owns it came from a 911 after owning a series of them, got it as a stop gap waiting for the 997 GT3 to come out and has owned it for eight years now!

I remember driving down some back lanes thinking "nice but no sports car" and then pulling out onto the dual carriageway and mashing the pedal... immediately thinking "**** me sideways"

 

Ive had mine for 18 months now , £35k i paid, 29k on the clock , bought from a dealer as new cond, private GTR plate, FSH at litchfield and middlehurst, 1st 6 month service was £180 inc new battery at litchfield, second 6 month service was £688 at Litchfield, Circlips in the gearbox was £600 at Litchfield . Fuel i dont think would be a great deal more than a 400 brake subaru, Insurance is £800, Its now got 36 or 37k miles still mint . If somebody offered me £32k for it now id seriously consider letting it go.

 

You can't have dropped the clutch as they are auto with paddle shift but yes that's a fair description lol