Hi,
on tuesday morning i will go to check this one http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3523133.htm

what do you think of it?
is anybody willing to come with?

 

Group N gearbox? No mention of a remap or ecu upgrade either.

If you want someone to go with you i'd suggest updating your profile with your location fella.

 

Hiya mate,it looks pretty clean on the outside but something that slightly bothers me is the inlet manifold.
Any engine builder that rebuilds these engines will usually give the manifold a spray because it does flake off.
He says it's just had a rebuild but hasn't sprayed it.This makes me think it's not been built by someone who takes pride in their work.Maybe a home made rebuild done on the cheap.He doesn't mention how much the rebuild cost or who did it.
Also his washer bottle looks empty,so overall the car might not have been serviced regularly.
And it looks like there is a whiff of boy racer in it.

Sorry,I'm a bit of a nit picker when looking at cars.
All of the above might be nothing.Just give it a good going over.



Danny.

 

agreed Danny, it doesnt smell like a minter to me and could be quite a tired example with a bit of a hidden past. Theres a lot of info missing that potential owners would want to know like you say. Rebuild spec, builder, turbo, ecu etc. I know theres a lot of detail on there but a lot of it is waffle.

 

I had a rebuild, by a respectable builder, and didn't get the manifold painted. No real biggy IMO

 

It has rentboy written all over it!

 

I would be worried that you might try and put it on me!

 

The inlet manifold doesn't look like its ever been red to me? Possible lazy engine swap?

 

LOL.
The washer bottle is empty so that means it not been serviced....
Nobody can make assumptions about a car without seeing it in person.
OP, go look at it and if possible take someone with a bit of knowledge.

 

My washer bottle is empty more than it's full but 164k miles and feels just like it did 6 years ago says I look after it just fine

 

Look around there are nicer examples about

 

As this is my car I think perhaps I should address some of your issues here

It's the standard Type R gearbox, I was led to believe this had the same spec short ratio box as the Group N cars. If this is incorrect I can amend my ad ?

It hasn't had a remap or ECU upgrade but when it was rolling roaded at Eurospec the owner told me it was running fine and didn't currently require a remap as far as he was concerned as its not running massive power and always on 99 RON. I'm sure someone will object to this though.

The advert does state I'm in Stevenage, Herts so his location is pretty irrelevant tbh


The person who rebuilt this engine is my good friend who has been working on cars and building engines for over 15 years now. Of my cars alone he has done an MR2 turbo conversion, rebuilt my RX7 and this scoob, plus all the general maintenance and servicing on all mine and many others cars. He doesn't do it as his main job and he doesn't have his own business, this does not mean it was a cheap shoddy job. Feel free to come and look and listen to the engine then tell me is a cheap build.

I could have had the manifold sprayed but it would have just flaked off again so what's the point ?, as far as I was concerned it was extra time and money for not much result. Plus if I had got it done I'm sure someone would say that its not the right red so its obviously a WRX lump painted red to look like an STI, damned if you do, damned if you don't !

Has your washer bottle never run out ?, when it has run dry did your service book blank itself out ? Seriously that's a hell of an assumption you just made

Unfortunately the Impreza has become the new cheap turbo car so many chavs and boy racers do have them so that's an image it will be hard pressed to escape from.

Hmm, I've been through the ad again and it all is pretty factual about the car, can you advise what you consider 'waffle' and I'll re-assess it.

I've covered the builder and the ECU, the specs of the actual engine build were exactly as standard other than an upgraded oil pump which I left out, thanks for reminding me, and the turbo is a VF23 I think ?, whatever is standard on this year of Type R. I would double check to satisfy you but there's currently 6 inches of snow on the bonnet.

Again I'm not quite sure how you make the assumption that this is a 'tired example with a hidden past', I've listed the faults and tried to be as honest as possible as I am when selling any car as its pointless to lie ! Also I've said I'm happy for any inspection as I believe in the flesh it speaks for itself.

 

I'm just thinking that he probably doesn't check under the bonnet very often.I have a quick once over with mine every week.I'm sure you do as well.Even if it's just to check the oil.

 

I think this says a lot more about you than it does me

I can guarantee you there is still red paint on it, would you like a close up ? Trust me when I say we weren't being lazy when we took it out or when it went back in !

Of course there are, you can pay 8K and get a mint 99 plate with 350hp. Once again as the advert says, this has a couple of small body imperfections and 1 small mark in the drivers seat, I've been as honest as possible and offered to take any further pics or supply any additional info that may be required ! This is the cheapest Type R on either the trader or PH as I've found another car and am pricing it to sell in a hard market. I doubt you will find a nicer example of a Type R for this price tbh.

Plus how can you possibly judge a car based on an advert ?!?! Seriously ?, I'll never understand that mentality !

 

Has your washer bottle never run out ?, when it has run dry did your service book blank itself out ? Seriously that's a hell of an assumption you just made

Actually it has never ran out.If that makes me obsessive then I don't mind.
Sorry if I offended you mate,wasn't my intension.



Danny.

 

It's been my weekend toy for 4 years and have only done 10K miles, often I don't drive it at all so why would I check it every week. I actually do check my oil 50 percent of the times before I do drive it but tbh I never even think to look at the washer bottle and only fill it up when it runs out as lets be honest its not that important.

Also you have no idea how many times I look at my gauges including the oil pressure gauge when I do drive it as I'm constantly paranoid after having this and an RX7 go pop.

 

No worries m8, I'm not offended. Its just when you spend as much time and attention on your car as I have, which obviously you do too, when you see a load of people who don't know the car, nor have even seen or heard it run or drive, claiming it could be a pile of excrement you tend to get a bit defensive.

Apologies if it came across harsher than it was meant to be.

 

Like I said,sorry if I've made a wrong assumption.Its just when I look at a car I do look for any detail that lets me know how it's been looked after.
If I'm selling a car I give everything a good clean,especially under the bonnet and make sure everything's topped up before taking photos.

Forgot to add,I do stress out the guy at the garage I use because when it goes in for a service there's nothing left for him to do.it went in on Wednesday for a service and the bill was £64 because everything he checked had just been done so all he could change was the oil and filter to stamp the book.
OCD to the max.

 

Woohooooo sailor.....

 

Paint the washer bottle black do nobody can see, lol.

 

Good old scoobynet....

 

less water in the washer bottle = less weight, thats the reason why mine is always empty

 

Yes ,a type r will have a 'pukka' group N box with shorter ratios than a std sti gearbox .Regarding the washer bottle being empty ,would not be enough to put me off personally,however dont think the car needs to be slated imho ,as rolling road figure can vary as we all know.However does seem a little optimistic as a lot of jap cars that run on uk fuel find that they actually loose power without a map to the ecu . Good luck with the sale.

 

Thank you for confirming the gearbox issue. All I can say is that I haven't had it mapped or upgraded the ECU, whether this was done prior to me I don't know although I doubt it.

It should be 280ish bhp standard so with age, the rebuild and the couple of intake and exhaust mods I think 293 is a reasonable figure to expect, plus we had a long chat about RR 'happy' figures with the owner of Eurospec that other RR's give out for customers so I'm pretty sure that was an accurate reading tbh.

As I said aswell its always been run on 99 during my ownership so pretty close to Jap fuel as is possible really.

 

I believe in being honest when making a sale and some of these comments annoy me because my car and myself are being judged without it even being looked at. Although I understand thats what the internet is for these days so I won't take it to heart and just try to respond as best as I can.

Look at the amount of ads out there saying their car is over 350bhp with no graph or just a list of bolt on mods, at least mine is realistic !

 

And it's in the best colour

Shaun

 

worth having a look at sounds like a good buy but untill youve seen it in the flesh driven it and inspected it words are just that, at the end of the day its going to cost you a trip that might net you a type R and a smile

 

Don't be offended, i think on reflection you can probably see your ad wasn't dead-on specific. Nobody's criticising your car, more pointing out, worse case scenario what could be wrong judging by the little information given.
You also need to take on board some of the rubbish sellers spout on Ebay, so like the OP most scoob buyers are cautious.
And this is just my opinion, anyone looking at a rebuild done by "a mate" (regardless of how competent that friend is) isn't the same as "rebuilt by ********", who is well known.
I can't make out the RR date, might be worth posting that up too.
Nice Type-R though, maybe a tad over-price (again in my opinion).

 

I cant really see how I wasn't specific enough in the ad ?, no one wants to read an essay they just want the main details and any further questions can then be asked of the seller if it sounds interesting to the potential buyer. That's how I perceive it anyway.

I know what you mean about the rubbish that a lot of sellers spout, that's why I've tried to be as honest and upfront as possible. No point travelling to see a car that isn't as described, waste of everyones time.

I agree with what you say about perceptions of who's done a rebuild but to me the proof is in the look, sound and drive of it really.

The RR was dated 02/04/11, since that date its covered maybe 1-2K miles.

If it was just a normal 4 door STI it would definately be overpriced, but its the lowest priced 2 door Type R around I can find so I don't really agree that its overpriced in my opinion.

 

I get that and thats what should happen on a forum really, thats the point of having something like this to express our opinions, but when people say things like 'look around theres nicer examples' without ever actually seeing the car its a bit presumptious imo