Honest ownership costs??
 

I am thinking about buying a WRX or STI wagon for a family car. Everybody I talk to about it thinks I'm nuts. I aint that worried about the fuel costs, insurance or tax (yes I know its a lot, but I expect for it). The thing that concerns me is maintenance costs. I'm planning to get an older model about 98 with say 60k on the clock with FSH.

The way I look at it, the Impreza was designed to be driven hard, so assuming it is standard and fully serviced it'd be a good reliable car. What I mean is I don't want to end up having to rebuild engines and gearboxes and Diffs every few months. Am I right that they come as standard with forged pistons and a steel crank?

I used to have an impreza a few years ago but it was nearly new and only had it for a few months and sold it when I discovered our firstborn was on the way. I am after summat that can have a buggy and dog in the boot, also use for towing but can occasionally be taken on a track...

Advice greatly appreciated

Firstly, I don't think the wagon was ever produced in STi spec, and certainly wasn't in UK spec form - others more knowledgeable will help here.

Other than the aforementioned fuel and insurance (tax won't be as much of a problem with the older cars - at the moment ) then if the car is a good one and you're not piling the mileage on then general maintenance costs aren't too bad - its only when/if something goes seriously wrong outside a warranty (assuming you're planning to buy from a dealer with some sort of warranty) it can get expensive.

Having said that, outside warranty there are plenty of aftermarket items and service options outside the expensive Subaru dealer network, which are cheaper.

There's no reason to expect massive bills so long as you look for the right one to buy, and don't treat it too harshly

Gareth

They did make sti wagons but they carry a high premium above a wrx wagon and it will be an import only. i use my 96 import wagon as a daily drive with my family etc and its not to bad . fuel econmy aint great but if you dont go full throtle everywher its ok . just always remember if things do go wrong it can be expensive but in my opinion its well worth it for the grin factor every day .

I use a 2005 wagon as familly transport, few miles and maintenance cost are not that much. Main cost is a yearly service (dont do enough miles so time comes first).
May be you'd be better off with a more recent model, with the current financial situationn, impreza are not selling so you might find that recent model will fit within your budget.

Running costs on an Impreza (especially one 10 years old)

If it's standard: fairly big!

If you start modifying it: BIG

Cheap to buy, not cheap to run mate!

Ns04

ok if you mod it like i have done fmic, injectors exhsust, vf28 turbo, fuel pump, fpr

on the fuel alon i get and if i am lucky 200 miles out of a tank which cost me near on 60 to fill up something silly like 16mpg so yes expensive to run they are

servicing i have to say is not that big, no more i would say to a bmw or audi if you took it to a main dealer, there are plenty of specalist companies around which charge half the price.

parts can be ahd cheap to expensive, you can get a lot on here, on ebay etc as they are 10 year plus old cars now so parts are not an issue

good luck with what ever you do

steve

I run a 1995 WRX import and do about 10,000 miles a year. It gets serviced once a year with an extra oil change in between, at a local reliable garage with knowledge of Imprezas so not too expensive. Its the wear and tear issues of an aging car that can be a problem. ebay is your friend, but car may be off the road while parts turn up. If you can live with now again having to delve deep into your pockets it's well worth it. Wouldn't give mine up for the world :D

I thought "practical" so got myself a V5 STi Wagon. The problem is its not really that practical.

Never driven a WRX so afraid I can't compare. The STi suspension and exhaust aren't family friendly and it doesn't like being stuck in traffic. The boots not actually that big either. On an open road its fantastic, but I could have got a Type RA for that sort of driving... Not trying to put anyone off, just weigh up why you want a Wagon first!

Don't be too scared by mpg - I average around 23 which isn't bad. The big worry is that the engine doesn't go, but thats going to apply to any Scoob. As ever don't skimp on maintenance and if do you have problems find a specialist. I do most of my own work, but I've still spent more than I expected.

The best bit though is it does make the drive to work special every day :D

The auto wrx is a lot better in traffic etc for a daily drive and is still good fun on the open roads . with the exhaust just try and keep most of it standard and its not to bad mines got a hks cat back system and thats quite compared to the other scooby round here .

i use a my97 wagon as a daily drive to work

its greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat

it runs smooth had no major trouble only had 2 replace my radiator easy diy job which i carried out myself / had a import wrx saloon which was fine too but now i swapped to a wagon never looked back its pracicle for me too

Hmmm, thanks some interesting points there. I guess I'm looking about summat 10 years old and as mentioned earlyer it depends on if I find the right one. How much does driving the car hard effect life of the running gear. I have thought dispite being told the car has never been driven hard and mature owner etc any 10 year old Scooby would have been driven hard. I guess that assuming correct maintenance has been carried out supported by fsh in standard wrx trim the running gear would be more than robust enough to cope with some past owner abuse.

Ta

2000 plus posts and you don't know they made STi wagons

Not sure why your on about running gear, means drug dealing here in uk :lol1:

All you need worry about is bottom end knock. People screw Impreza's just fact of life.

Sorry, what I mean is how robust are they to being 'screwed'. I meant the propshafts, diffs, gearbox and the drivetrain components. I have enough hassle rebuilding my race car and just wanted summat a bit more fun than a Picasso for running the family about in :lol1: whilst being reliable

Like is said the bottom end is not very robust. So check that out when buying one.

:D - wasn't certain, didn't check - 2000 plus posts told me someone else would know ;)

The only thing worse on Scoobynet than not knowing something, is getting something wrong :) - thats why I said "I don't think" rather than "they were never"

Always happy to be corrected though.

Gareth

scerw the costs mate pound for pound a subaru vs any normal family bus will win hands down , just go out drive one fall in love buy it then worrie lol .as you can tell i aint that good with money pmsl.

Ran mine since new now 8 years old and 51k miles

new battery at 36 months under warrenty
now due another one
alarm bracket under warrenty
brake pads /discs front at 42k miles
rear discs at 46 k miles

cam belt £175
big service £300
small service £110
on done at local scooby specialists since out of warrenty after 5 years
petrol 250 to a tank tesco super

fantastic car and worth every penny

i second that :thumb:
f**ked the cost .....you can't really take its with you down under :)

You don't get a car that does 0-60 in less that 6 seconds for nothing. Brakes pads/discs, tires, the good stuff petrol, shocks, oil.

I personally don't care because I love the car. People at work ask me stupid questions like what mpg do I get. I don't care. If I did care I'd buy a diesel.

How many miles do you drive a year?

Are you thinking of modifying?

^^^^^^
martwrxsl, spot on mate, couldn't agree more!!!

No, petrol, discs, pads, tyres and insurance don't concern me all that much as I would consider them consumables. Its the things that can go wrong that concern me, the way I see it any 10 year old scoob would have had a hard life:wonder: .

I just need to figure that the drivetrain components are robust enough in the std WRX trim to take the abuse it would have likely suffered over the past 10 years.

Thanks for the helpful comments chaps, taking them on board and have been doing a lot of other research into known pitfalls with an old scooby. From what I can see as long as the big end bearings are not knocking and its a std car with no strange noises I should be ok. From what I can gather the diffs and gearboxes can cope with the 210bhp but when you start adding more power things start to go wrong, unless you upgrade to STI/PPP running gear...

I'd plan to drive 8k per year and keep it completely std, but I'd tow with it and do occasional track days. I sold my 205gti last dec to get a Diesel and I am bored stiff now...

How?