As above . I'm considering an import next, probably a late classic shape Sti, but with so many rebuild stories about imports I'm not totally sure if I want to spend the money on one. Obviously I'm an enthusiast and i'll use V power and any octane booster it needs to run...but what else can go wrong thats out of my control? And what should I look out for?

Cheers to anyone that offers advice

Alan

 

I had a 1998 STi IV for over 5 years and the only thing to go on it was an oxygen sensor. Otherwise totally reliable. Had a little piston slap when cold, but they all do that.
Get the best service record you can find.

 

i bought the sti6 i have about 6months ago , it didnt have any service history but looked and ran mint. but about two months ago the centre diff went and a total cost of £1000 to get it all sorted.

as above try and get service history. and to check the diffs ,take the car for a good run . about say 10miles then try driving slowly on full lock and listen for a nasty crunching knocking noise, having said all that the people i spoke to about it said it was very rare some hadnt come across it before and all were well experianced with suabru's

 

I have an STi 6. To be honest its been pretty solid since I got it (nearly 2 years ago). Have put loads and loads of miles on it since then (52k) and not a problem. The car has been remapped by a reputable mapper (Andy Forrest) and I think that is a big plus for longevity on these shores. Have always spent money on the car keeping it in good condition. Worst that happened was a lose nut on 5th gear which meant it popped out occasionally on the motorway. Just needed to be tightened.

If I was you I'd follow these rules. It's a buyers market out there now.
- Take your time for a minter to come along
- Preferably get one that was imported from new.
- Ignore any chav mods (eg, dump valves)
- Get one with a FSH

This is what I did. Took about 3 months of searching before I found one on here. And ended up getting one all the way from Scotland.

 

just get the fueling mapped for the correct fuel, job done !

 

Brilliant car.

Had a MY99 WRX 276bhp (ish - as no 100 octane!) imported from new, purchased at 1 year old and sold it last year at 150k miles albeit with an engine rebuild at 80k which I could put down to being my fault . Other than that, it was still running faultlessly.

Sometimes I wish I still had it rather than my brand new Spec D purchased last year which I am still struggling with.

 

i have had a version 6 sti for 2 ish years now, running abit more power than standard, and probs i have had so far are,

pistons seased in cailpers, and 02 sensor today, apart from that fingers crossed all is well

 

Awrite, finally got a bit of time to have a look at this. Thanks for sharing your experiences...and they've been what I was hoping for to be honest. Have heard lots of stories about rebuilds usually down to either fuel, poor maintainance, poor airflow at high speed with classic scoop etc etc. Basically I was wanting to know if I should have a relatively trouble free time if I avoid all of the above. Thanks again

Anyone else wanting to add anything, feel free

Alan

 

If its back calipers, I think all classics suffer from this from time to time. Mine certainly has.

 

Check my profile had gasket failure but that was down to big trq apart from that car been fine no probs at all car is 1998 v4 body is mint still also