got around £3500 to spend, not really sure if i will get a decent car for that?
would prefer a turbo 2000, but can push to a WRX.
whats every 1 think? i have been looking and there seems to be very few half decent ones for that price

found a couple of very nice looking ones on piston heads but thats about it up to now

 

dont bother..save some money up to buy a well cared for scoob!
£3500 will get u a never ending knightmare!

 

Not wanting to put you off mate but i paid £3500 for mine...ive owned it 5 months and its cost me £6000+ upto now..first of all engine blew up cause it had been ragged..cost £1700 to replace..then it needed a new battery £47 Then lamdba sensor £60 then engine temp sensor £40..new exhaust £300 ( old one was old and blowing) ..it was lowered and 2 of the shockers were leaking so i had to buy a full set of standards second hand £250.
So if i was you id up your budget abit to buy a well looked after scoob and save urself some cash.
Mines sorted now but i bet i could of bought a scoob in alot better condition and probly newer for less than mines cost me...
At the end of the day if you buy a cheap bargain scoob ur askin for trouble

 

I payed £3400 for my old 93banger! thought it was a gud'un (chex etc),then the ferking engine blew up 2 weekz later,£1900 for a rebuild......why oh why?

 

OLD SAYING...buyer beware

 

You could get one for that, but you would have to be very careful and a bit lucky!

I sold my old MY95 WRX over a year ago for £4200. It was near enough mint, with all the normal expensive mods - full exhaust, JUN splitter, crystal lights, V5 spoiler, turbo timer, Speedline 17s etc.

Just look at lots and lots, know what you are looking for and if you don't get it checked out by someone who does.

Oh a pic of my old WRX:

 

Oh and it had 101k, don't be put off by mileage as long as it has been looked after.

Be very wary of imports with ridiculously low mileages. I went to see one that had 30k, and it obviously had done more like 80k - steering wheel and pedal wear gave it away.

 

3.5k is enough!!!!

Iv got a MY98 UK Turbo wagon for 3.5k at the start of this year, its been a great car, no problems with it! All im gona have to pay out is for a new set of tyres soon (but that just how i drive)

It had slightly high millage of 115k when i got it, but had a good service history and the engin is in great condition, should last me another 100k if i look after it.

So i would say now that 3.5 is more than enough to get a good scoob (not a performance one though)

 

You can get a decent car for around the £3500-£4500 mark, just be prepared to do your homework prior to buying - and leave yourself some spare cash for when things go wrong! I paid £4200 for my version 2 STi 2 months ago and I needed a new radiator 4 days after I got it home, then 4 days after that the HKS exhaust blew its lining out. Probably spent around £800 in the last 2 months putting it right. Its been on the rolling road up at Scooby Clinic and the fuelling, boosting etc is now absolutely spot on, so hopefully thats the end of the issues for the moment at least.....

 

As per Daft Lad, you can get a decent car for that amount of money. I paid just over 3k a year ago for an my93 that was standard apart from a filter and it had 113k on the clock, had been converted so mainly kilometres not miles. Car has since had full decat exhaust, power fc fitted and mapped and boost controller etc. Car touch wood has cost me approx £70 for a standard recirc dump valve (sold the hks one so more than got my money back), only other thing was a set of rear drop links. I am not including svs items like oil plugs etc, and also modifications.

Just take your time whilst looking and do not buy the first one you see. It is also worthwhile having an inspection carried out as well if you are unsure of anything.

 

is this one worth a look?

Red Line Performance - Vehicle Details

 

It probably is worth a look, cant tell much from the description and single photo, and the PDF has no milage on it, nor first reg date.

I would go and look if you are close to it, try and get a gut feel for it. Does it look shabby inside? Has it got new pedal pads or old ones with wear?

Check the fluid levels, look at the engine, does the car look like its been ragged, or cared for? Are there receipts? Any history? HPI check?

How many previous owners? Where did the garage get it from etc etc,

So many questions before you can say its worth it or not.

 

I sold my 1995 WRX for £3.5k which had about £6k of mods running 350bhp which was a great car with 77k miles on it.

You can find good ones if you look hard

 

very hard but there are so many chav mobiles. would you be able to save to 5k??

 

You have to disregard the posters stating that you can (definately) buy a decent car for £3,500. The chances are that if you buy an Impreza for £3,500, that it will be ****e. It would be accurate though, to say that you may by a decent Impreza for £3,500. You will need to be knowledgable and damned lucky too. I suppose that what you would consider to be decent might differ from what Id consider to be decent too.....

 

GC8 is correct tbh. Your budget might get you a good one but its more likely to get you a royal PITA - and theres nothing worse than stretching yourself to buy a car your desperate for and then realise you can't afford to run or repair - been there and its no fun.

Also, and this is IMHO, its not worth buying an Import WRX - STI yes but you may as well get a UK turbo - the small additions you get with the WRX are outwayed by the higher insurance costs.

Theres been a couple of MY99/00s for around your budget - sounded OK but who knows. Shocking really.

 

you have pm, got a nice 1999 t plate face lift for £4000 with full service history!

 

I'd agree with GC8's sentiments, but not his use of English . You can buy a decent one for £3.5k, but you can also buy a lot of sheds for that money; you need to (a) know what you're looking at to maximise your chances of getting a decent one, and (b) have a slice of luck - even well looked after older cars go wrong. Same applies with any used car purchase, and saving up £5k (as suggested above) does not in any way guarantee you'll get a good car either.

Whatever you pay, if you're buying an older performance car, be aware that the running costs are going to be significant, and you need to be able to spend enough money on servicing / repairs, insurance etc. Whilst a scoob doesn't cost as much as a Porsche/Ferrari etc to run, it costs a hell of a lot more than e.g. a £3500 Ford/Vauxhall etc hot hatch.

 

Whats wrong with my English? Im f*cking well-spoken I am!

 

You will get some good buys on your budget, but there's also some chancers selling utter crap out there. If it's your first Impreza get it well checked out professionally or by a very clued up Impreza owner, you may even find one or two on here.
I've owned them for 9 years now, and was looking for a track day car a few months back. Bought a 94 WRX ra for £3000 complete with 6 pot AP's, coilovers and only 54000km (35000 miles)

 

Just sold my my99 uk wagon, FSSH, leather & aircon in lovely condition for £4.5k so I don't see why you couldn't pick up a well cared for car a few years older within your budget.

 

I'm sure you are. I only dispute your use of "can", the rest of the language is much better than most on here. You can buy a decent impreza for £3.5k - it just for that cost it's much more likely that you will buy a shed.

 

if you were buying a fiesta for the same price there would not be the same concerns..... for the displacement of the engines these are quite high powered cars so it semms to reason they will be driven as such.... the older the car and therefore the cheaper the price it would be safe to assume the harder its life it would have... not to say some cars have been stored away without being used,i have done the same to enough bikes in the past,but do as much research as possible ask as many questions as you can....... and if you miss out on one that seemed perfect dont wory there might just be another one around the corner

 

i met a lad the other day that had just bought a 94 wrx in silver standared with not a mark on it and 70k on the clock 3k,couldnt belive it but you have to keep your eyes open for a bargain and be willing to travel.ps he is a machanic so he knew what he was looking for.

 

I would only say the same to any customer that comes into my showroom, that being put as much money in as you can to buy the best you can afford. With these kind of vehicles if something looks too good to be true it invariably is!

 

I bought my standard 95 wrx for £3400 with 45k on the clock, had it 14 months now, im going to upgrade to an sti so its going but apart from a power steering issue which was resolved with a new pump (not a big expense) its been perfect. The bodywork isnt great but with some t cut and a good buffing it looks good. The engine and box are strong and it ran 242.5 bhyp as standard at tdi north. My point is, if you look hard enough you will find some decent examples but at that price buy standard and give it a full service asap. Steve

 

Listen to this man mate 'cos hes right.

 

Also forgotten, you still buy a ****e waggon for £5k or more.......
As with any car purchase, check everything ........twice....three times
There are good ones and bad ones in ANY price range, sweeping statements saying £3500 will buy you a shed is a little misleading IMO. Take each car for its own.

I spent £8k on a BMW nearly new a few years back (12) and was nothing but a mare. But had a 2 year old Cavalier for a work hack in 1993 and was an absolute gem for 5 years only costing service items including clutch etc.............

 

if you look you can get a decent one for not that much money but be carefull alot of us have been stung in the past
i had a new engine 4 weeks after buying mine, not good!!
its sorted now and up for sale

pm sent

 

If you can only afford £3500 to get a car, then how will you afford the rest (Insurance, Running costs, Servicing and everything else that will probably go wrong). Better getting something else IMO.