Hi everyone. I'm due to pick up my first Scoob next week. STi 4 MY98, 49000M. Quite a few mods (not engine) including -

Bumpsteer geometry set up,
KN induction filter
Brembo brakes up front
Scoobysport downpipe system
about 1500 quid of sounds (alpine amp, twin Kenwood decks, subs)

Plus other stuff. Got to admit to being a turnip - don't even know what much of it means.

But the car looked great. Silver/bodykit etc. Mint paint.

So thought B**locks. The guy took me out. I was amazed by the car. Hardly suprising, been driving a cavalier SRi.

The price I hear you ask. £9100 (but needs new tyres).

Been looking on this site & importers for a while & think this a pretty good price.

The guys spent a lot of money on the car, no doubt. My only worry he's recently had work done on the engine.

(New steel pistons, head, block decked. £1800 quids worth)

Should I be worried. Has it been trashed?

Any advice welcome.

If you fellas think it's fine, great. Can't wait till next week.
Walking round with permanent b*ner. What a car!!!

Good!
Double good!
Not really my cup of tea. I spend most of my time in the car listening to its engine, not music. But whatever... ;)

The more you know before the sale, the less likely you are to get a shock afterwards.

That's surprising for a car of that age. Subaru's patent lightweight paint tends to suffer gravel rash pretty easily. Pay particular attention to the bonnet, and to the lower half of the doorskins.

Don't get swayed by the "F**k, what a car!" sentiments. My mum's Honda would be an engaging drive after a Cav! Try and keep your head. Apart from being less able to spot faults in it, if you look like you'd sell your missus to have this car, the vendor will be able to drive a harder bargain.

Has it had its 45,000 mile service? This is an expensive one, requiring a timing belt change. If it hasn't, it'll likely cost you around £450 at a main dealer. Reason enough for him to knock a few hundred quid off.

There have been loads of people complaining about lower residuals here lately.

Impossible to say for certain without looking at/driving it. At end of day any Impreza's likely to get driven enthusiastically, although if properly cared for they'll go on for two or three times the mileage of this one.

It does seem a little odd though that he'd spend a load of money on it and then flog it. What's the reason for the sale, and also, these engine mods he's done, are you sure you're quoting him correct? It'd be steel rods, not pistons, and whats this having the "block decked"? He might have bought a closed-deck block, but that's a completely different kettle of fish, and more than £1.8K's worth if he had the rods done too.

If you're sure you're quoting him directly, it could be that he's spinning you a line. OTOH if you want to check with him and run it by us again, if he's on the level he shouldn't object.

Does it have service history etc.? Do the human interface parts (wheel, pedals, seats, gearstick etc.) look like they fit a car of this mileage?

Impossible to say without actually getting in the thing. Under ideal circumstances you'd want someone who actually knows about Imprezas to either ride in or drive it. At least then you'll know whether it makes any noises it shouldn't, and whether it performs the way it should given what he claims to have done to it.

Whoa there, cool your jets young man! I hope this new motor, if you buy it, gives you some much-needed pulling power, as more than anything else it sounds like you need the attention of a good woman :D

Thanks for your comments Greasemonkey - much appreciated.

Yeah you're right, the b*ner comment might be a bit overdone. After 5 kids & years of apathetic driving it's kinda hard to stay focused.

The chap is being relocated to Sydney so has to sell.

Although I have not been through all the receipts yet he says its been serviced on schedule -

regular oil changes - 6K

Cambelt service - 32K

Recent work done -

replacement head, new steel headgaskets, heads skimmed, block decked.

Air con serviced

front bonnet, wings sprayed due to chipping.

New front diff, centre diff, gearbox bearings.

Don't know about the 45000 service though.

Run on optimax

Internal inspection afirms milage & good care.

Id also run this car on octane booster as well as optimax, as these cars need 100+ ron fuel. (it costs between 2.50 and 3.50 for a bottle, check out www.scoobymania.co.uk).
The car sounds like its been looked after, no mention of service history though? and with 2 services per year (6 month or 7.5k whichever is first) it could be a bit of a downfall :(

Tony:D

Cheers Tony.

The guy says it's been serviced on schedule. Can't ascertain what that exactly means as yet - haven't seen the receipts. But will before parting with the hard earned.

Booster sounds good. Heard alot about Millers & is it NF. What should I go for?

I c NF been taken off scoobymania site. Is it as unsafe as they say?

presonally i would not buy one unless it was standard. (pipe and filter would be ok.) but that way it less likey to have been caned to within a inch of its life.full service history (subaru would be better) is a must.4900 seems quite low for the engine to need so much work,so either its had a problem (i can remeber my mondeo when the cam belt snapped it was never right again)or it was done to get more power,and then inturn more likely to have been thrashed

but thats only my view m8 welcome to scoby net anyway

nine grand will get you a nice 99 or even 00MY UK spec car, with the phase 2 engine and facelifted front end (best of the classics IMHO), I just bought a very tidy 00MY 5 door with 31000 on the clock for £9500, for my money if you're not a real Subaru enthusiast I would go for a UK spec as you're less likely to get problems (flamesuit on), the car you descibe sounds OK but with that amount of work having been done on it, I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, pays yer money, takes yer choice I 'spose. All IMHO of course :)

Glen

Now I'm getting a bit worried.

Already stuck £750 down & pick up is next week.

Appreciate your comments but anyone got something positive to say?

Seems a bit late in the day to be worrying about the car now as youve left a substantial deposit. I dont know what to say other than check the history and possibly take some one with you who knows about imprezas and how they should drive/sound.

Sorry, cant be of any more help.

Paul aka Boro