Potiriadis

I have just had some horrendous news, my new impreza WRX is not road legal (it is not emissions compliant). When I bought it from Motorpoint (I know...) it sounded fruity and realy hammered up the road, it felt subjectivley as fast as my 08 Sti PPP! I now know why.

I had in fairnes spotted the Miltek exhaust, what I did not know was that the previous owner had replaced the entire exhaust from the engine backwards.

I took in for a service and to get a PPP fitted (the Miltek installation had been fouling the differential with an audible bump). It turns out when the garrage emissions tested the current set up it failed. As in I would not get it through an MOT. They checked and found that I had been driving around with a RACE Cat installed! So no only was my car not road legal, I had also been driving round with an installation that would invalidate my insurance.

So now I have to have the entire system replaced to get it road legal and insurable. Gutted!!! Even worse the garrage think that the car will probably be slower once the PPP and exhaust components have been fitted. It is costing me an unbeleivable 40% of what I paid for the car to get it road legal

Does anyone think that I have a recourse against the people who sold me this car?

Supportive or amused comments gratefully recieved.

Chris.B

iTrader: (4)

Is it due an MOT?

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

u can just buy a dp with a sports cat in for a milltek system,
Id contact the seller with the problems, see if they will pay for the Downpipe and fitting.

t7srt

iTrader: (2)

Easy, search the for sale threads for a secondhand exhaust system where some has changed it for an aftermarket one, Bolt it all on, should only cost you a couple of hundred quid, Sell the Miltek and get your money back,

Sorted,,,,, Oh,,,, and find yourself another service garage, they seem to be ripping you off,

Good luck with it mate, shouldnt be the end of the world and easily sorted,

Butty

iTrader: (2)

If the car had a milltek sports cat exhaust then it "should" have also had a remap to avoid overboosting.
If your getting PPP fitted, this will include a sports cat system that "will" pass an MOT, so there won't be any further costs than expected.
I expect your current spec is higher power than the PPP.

But why fit PPP when all you have needed was a new Milltek sports cat downpipe for a 1/3rd of the price?

I'd agree that your garage isn't giving the best advice - I assume its a dealership if they are fitting PPP?

Potiriadis

To be honest with all of you, my local garrage has been looking after my Subarus for 5 years now and have never done wrong by me. I wanted to get the Miltek system replaced as it was extrordinarily noisy (fun for the first couple of weeks, but now the neighbours are starting to comment about my six o'clock starts). As i said it was also banging against the rear diff as the pipe was so wide.
I have been tidying the car up now for a few weeks, in terms of bringing the interior and other bits back to stock. The previous owner was obviously and avid max power reader. I wanted the PPP as it is a much more subtle installation. I just didn't see this extra cost coming.
You are right that I can probably fix the problem for less, but the work will bring me back into warranty cover through my local dealer.
The other problem is that the mods, now I know about them ould have made the car uninsurable......
Anyway, wish me luck with Motorpoint and I will keep you all updated.

Butty

iTrader: (2)

I see in your other thread that its a hawkeye WRX you have. This would definately overboost without a remap, which will be IRO 290 bhp.

There is no extra cost if you are already getting PPP - the Milltek has to be removed anyway.
Just make sure you get the milltek off them and Ebay it.

nick

t7srt

iTrader: (2)

How much warrenty is left on the vehicle?

I have to agree with Butty as the route you have planned would be the most expensive one if you only have, lets say 8 months warrenty left,
If the car was only 6 months old then i would probabally consider your chosen route,

Good luck anyway

Oh, my car failed its MOT on emmissions, took it for a nice blast up the road and it passed way under the limits

Potiriadis

Yup, massive Miltek bazooka, capable of setting off car alarms, making small children cry, and possible launching land based missiles coming to ebay soon.

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

just swap one over get it tested then swap them back job done

happydude303

iTrader: (1)

i have no cats what so ever and i do this swap every year, p.s my exhaust is louder then any milltec and i love it

radboy69

try startin @5.30 then see how happy they are

Potiriadis

I have spoken to the oracle Ian Litchfield, and I am now on my way to getting this sorted. The centre section of the exhaust is the De-Cat race pipe. Ian has said he can supply a centre section with cat to my local dealer for installation. Motorpoint have indicated that they will help with the cost of this, just waiting for the MD to call me back.

So the only remaining question is, will the car need a re-map for the new centre section with CAT, answers on a post-card.

It took a good night's sleep, but spending £3,000 to switch to a PPP installation to make the car slower did seem a bit daft, thank you for our advice everyone.

Butty

iTrader: (2)

So if I read it correctly, the Milltek was actually a full decat, yet was sold with an MOT
Not surprised it is a bit noisy then - the sports cat will soak up quite a bit and hopefully appease the neighbours, you'll have a road legal car AND save £3000.

Butty

iTrader: (2)

I said say no, but since the car is a bit of an unknown, 2 hours/£150 spent with a mapper to double check that there are no problems would be money well spent.

Nick

Potiriadis

I have got my fingers crossed for getting the car back this evening
So just waiting for Motorpoint to get back to me.......
So does nayone know a mapper near southwest london?
I still can't beleive that my 07 WRX is nearly as fast as my 08 STi PPP, or does it just sound faster
I just wish the seats were as comfy as the STi.
I'll post an update when I hear back from Motorpoint.

daijones

If it's an 07 car then it wouldn't need an MOT certificate, a second hand warehouse would be unlikely to know what they had on their hands, so in a sense it's not their fault, although in law ignorance may be no defence.

I had a milltek with sports cat fitted to my 06WRX, with a remap by powerstation, gave 290bhp. Pretty close to an STi with PPP I think, but the power delivery will be different. I'm pretty pleased with the sound of the milltek, quieter than many after market exhausts but louder than the PPP.

I'd definitely second going for a remap. It sounds like it's performing much better than an exhaust change alone would cause, so it's probably been remapped - and so licensed - already. Probably an idea to find a mapper who can check whether it's got a license already before taking it in, a license would add a few hundred to the cost of a remap. Still worth it though

Strangely, I got my car from a second hand warehouse and was delighted that they didn't realise it had the PPP fitted, thought I was getting a real bargain. I didn't really like the power delivery of the PPP though, I thought it was a bit soft and tailed off after 5500 rpm, so had it replaced with the powerstation upgrade, complete with milltek. Glad to hear you're switching to the sports cat rather than going PPP, you won't regret it. Some Subaru dealers will still respect the warranty for the original parts despite the mod, if need be look for one that does modifications themselves, they tend to be sympathetic. To save a bit on insurance, tell them you've just had a sports exhaust fitted. The chances of them ever finding out you've had a remap if anything happens are slim to none.

D

Potiriadis

Thank you all for your support. I can now report that Motorpoint have bent over backwards to see me right and have bought me a new centre section with Cat from Litchfield Imports. I should be taking delivery of it in the next couple of days.

How easy is it to swap the centre section, does it need gaskets etc....

I only have a couple of wheel ramps to back the car onto.

Once again, thank you for your help, and a big thumbs up for Motorpoint.

Black-Hawk

iTrader: (4)

If there's a problem i have a full std system for sale for your car, its covered a few hundred miles

kobi_wrx

Potiriadis:
If your car is a 2007 registered.. why are you taking it in for an MOT.. Its not due an MOT... until 2010.
Bit of a strange thread..
You buy a WRX from a supermarket, it doesnt need an MOT but your getting one done.. It has a full sports exhaust system.. you were going to spend £3k on a PPP pack.. Motorpoint are bending over backwards ( probably the first time in their history ) to help you.

Oh and just to finish off.. you've already spent time getting the interior back to stock as the previous owner 'must have been an avid reader of max power magazine'...

Couldnt make that kind of story up even if I was trying to get my kids to sleep really..

Butty

iTrader: (2)

So why bother posting
Unless YOU the last owner and fitted the Lax Power interior?

No MOT needed but it depends on how Motorpoint described & sold the car.
Seems like they have been very good in paying for a cat section though

Stuart Page

iTrader: (4)

For mapping Jolly Green Monster (do a search) covers south west london, so drop him a line. He's pretty good and fair prices too.

nathanstone

i'd be pretty happy if i was sold the car and found out it had a proper upgraded exhaust system rather than the restrictive stock one

exceed

^^haha as above

ScoobyNudge

iTrader: (4)

surely it would have been better to just remap the car to the mods?

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

You have to realise that the WRX is ~100kgs lighter than an STI of the same MY, which means a 270bhp wrx will be more than a match for a 300bhp STI. Oh and there's less gear changes with the 5sp..

Now if you'd bought an EU car the WRX would have had STI hump buckets seats, only in black..

I'm not sure if you're saying the car was sold without a cat, seems it may have been, hence Motorpoints reaction. They sold an 'unroadworthy' car..! You'd have been entitled to a full refund, along with some compensation for your trouble if you'd have taken it further.

A final point about sports cats, they need to be VERY HOT in order to pass the emissions, something a lot of people running them overlook..

Just get a rear anti roll bar and solid drop links fitted (~£100 and easy to DIY fit in under an hour) and the car will handle a LOT better with less understeer. One of the best WRX mods for the money IMHO..

Then leave it at that, you'll have a very capable fast road car.

Potiriadis

Just to clarify everyone, I did not get an MOT done. As I was worried about the provenance of the car I asked my local Subaru dealer to look over the car with a fine tooth comb. That was why they did an emissions test as part of a service.

Anyway, the new exhaust section has been delivered, I may even try to fit it myself over the weekend.

Potiriadis

Hi everyone,

Just to update you all, the new centre section was fitted today, the car is running fine and does not appear to need a re-map. So all is well that ends well. I just need to find a taker for my now redundant centre section.