Hello all,

I've wanted an Impreza for ages, and I've finally got the chance when I change my car this year.

I'm looking at a new UK WRX 4 door with no mods. I've been reading about the running costs on this site and tried to work out about how much the bog standard WRX would cost to run per year. I was getting worried that I would not be able to afford to run one (I do about 15k miles PA).

I then went to have a chat with the guy at my local dealer who told me about the new service intervals of 10k for oil change (about £90) and 20k for first service (about £240). He also suggested that 30mpg would be an average MPG for a MY03 model and that tyres should last at least 20k miles. Generally I like to drive my car hard sometimes but most of the time I am unlikely to be hammering it too much.

Does what the dealer say sound about right with forum members?

Thanks very much
Arthur

 

How are you gonna pay for it Arthur? Rob the community centre charity box?

 

Will a ride in it cheer pauline up?....

 

where are you going to park it ? the allotment ?? lol
, nice one though , you'll have a blast !

 

30 mpg sounds a little optimistic to me. What length journeys will the 15k/year consist of? the reason I ask is that I do lots of short journeys (4 miles from house to the train station and back) and the economy is shocking to be honest. On a longer haul I find it perfectly OK. Haven't had new tyres yet, sure someone will give you a decent answer, on my 99 model I was going through them in about 10-12k, BUT I live in Milton Keynes = lots and lots of roundabouts and sliding also it was a contract hire car and it got flung around with impunity.

 

30mpg hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
If you do any sums, work on 22mpg and anything extra is a bonus.
I have an MY02 and I don't drive that hard and rarely see more than 25mpg (long motorway journey at 70ish). The MY03 may be slightly better.
Having said that my 15000 service was <£90 but I did supply my own oil.
Don't worry and enjoy.

 

Make sure martin dont nick it.

 

God, we're all comedians on here eh?

The 30+ MPG is about right for the MY03 on a good run. I regularly get 33 out of mine IF (and only if) I brim it before getting on the motorway for 150 miles, rag it around milton keynes, then back up the motorway for 150 miles not particularly slowly... I've done 7k in 4 months and it's pretty economical for what it is.

Round town or on short journeys it's awful.

The OEM tyres aren't bad, but they're not terribly good. A full set of 4 toyo t1-s proxes will rush you around 300-350 quid. You should see well over 15k out of a set IMHO, including some enthusiastic driving providing you don't try to slide it around in the dry too much.

 

 

Chiark,

over 30 is pretty good, I've not seen close to that, but i've never done any particularly long journeys, best I got was 270 out of a tank, but with most of the miles on short journeys I get 170-180 . By the way Subaru site says it's a 60 litre tank? I've never got more than about 48 litres and that's with the warning light on for a little while, is it really a 60 litres

 

Agree with chiark I regulary get 33mpg on long runs, but driving around in traffic you can almost watch the needle go down, Remember to factor in running it on Superplus / optimax not normal unleaded fuel as this will affect your running costs too (74.9 unleaded 79.9 super plus 82.9 optimax). these prices vary all over the country so check in your area. If you run the car on unleaded you will get less MPG and the car will not perform. So I am told have never tried it myself, The dealer told me that running on unleaded will cost your more in the long run because of the lower MPG !!!!.

The OEM tyres seem to be of a hard compound and will last a while as long as you dont rag the car eveywhere, I dont think 20k is unreasonable for the OEM set, and probably less if using Toyo's ect as the 2nd set as they will be softer / stickier.

As for servicing I think £240 for each big service is probably a bit optimistic, and you need to factor in brakes ect.

What sort of car are you driving now and what are its running costs, The imprezza is probably twice that of a standard family hatchback in running costs from my sums, but worth every penny.

Enjoy,

 

All - thanks for your quick and helpful replies (and jokes)


Martin:
Most journey's are from home into MK and back again (about 20 miles each way), so I too have the dreaded roundabouts (10 each way!) to stuff my tyres. I also do a 300 mile motorway trip every couple of weeks. Don't suppose your reg ends with VJ does it? I think I might have worked with you in the past, I'll email you.

pbee: I've got a dull old 2.0 Focus at the moment and I think it costs about £2,200 a year in running costs, and the scooby looks to be about £4k, so yes, costs will be nearly twice as much.

Thanks very much
Arthur