BUYING A WRX FOR THE FIRST TIME AND NEED SOME ADVICE !!!
 

Hi guys,

I'm new to the scooby world as I intend on buying my first impreza wrx tomorrow morning and would like some advice on what to look out for...


I'v had nissan pulsars for a while and to be fair...nothing but problems!!!

I'm looking at a Manual geared,M plate white wrx in london with a years mot and four previous owners

Its standard apart from a turbo timer BOV and the usual ie alloys , seats but nothing under the bonnet as far as I'm aware

What should I look for in this car as in things that are prone to being knackered or going wrong that might give me a idea its been repaired/bodged in any way

Its got 125,000 miles on the clock and the guy is asking £1500 for her

He said when she's cold the revs ride up and down a little but not a great deal
Im thinking this is the choke ???

Thought Id ask you lads as your into your imprezas and can probably offer some sound advice

I'm leaving at 5 am to get the train and I'l check back on this forum before I go to see if any of you can help !!?? :-)


Much appreciated

Sounds like its gonna be nuthing but trouble mate, and for a first time scooby I wouldn't want it to put u off for future motoring, but to be honest what are u really expecting from an M reg for 1500 quid, whether its a subaru or any other make.

is there a link to the sale ?

Shaun

Doesn't sound like a great starting point to me chap. 16 year old WRX with 125 K could be a whole heap of problems.
Is £1500 your maximum budget as there are some real bargains out there at the minute. Read earlier that a member on here recently bought a nicely modified STI V4 with 75K on the clock for £1750.

Whatever you do don't buy the first one you see. I know your probably desperate to own your first Impreza but don't jump in head first. Take some time reading up about these cars, learn about what to look for and how they work.
TRUST ME, you'll thank me.

Good luck chap.

Hi there and hopefully welcome to the world of scoobys ;) . To be honest the usual things would be the obvious listen out for rattles clunking etc check the shocks if you can get to see them as alot are prone to leaking also would be nice if its got some kind of service history .
Some things you might want to do if you've come home with it are find a good subaru specialist and have a full service done all oils changed so you know there all good for piece of mind and you may want to have a cambelt fitted as it may have been a while since its last cambelt change and will cost you if it snaps, i know it may cost extra to start with but could save you a fortune in the future ;).
Hope this helps mate and enjoy

hi mate, was speaking to a friend who paid 1500 recently for a similar spec car, is gving him loads of problems now and not far off needing a bottom end build so like has already been said go careful.

Not sure if you're on here but worth joining www.bbscoobys.com for a local enthusiasts club, lots of help on there mate and a few cars for sale too ;)

No choke on an Impreza. If its not idling smoothly, then something is amiss a sensor is out of kilter or a leak somewhere as the ECU controls the idle.
Are you taking someone mechanically minded with you to give it the once over?

£1500 buys you a lot more car than that as others have said.

I paid £1900 for my 2000 X reg UK classic with fully documented history, never had a diy job in its life, all performance mods done by reputable places like Zen, Thwaites, Scoobyworld etc, mot/tax, OZ Superleggera alloys, Front mount intercooler etc etc etc.

My friend then bought a V reg 1999 UK turbo with 70k on the clock, with full history, mot and tax, alloys, exhaust, no rust etc for £1500 so i'd be looking at what you can get for your money before jumping in.

Something like this is where i'd be looking

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-SUBAR...ht_1722wt_1135

go for an sti, not a wrx

like to see a £1500 sti worth buying. Great advice

lol

Any examples of £1500 STIs worth buying?

yeah theres loads if you look around, the description will usually contain the words "sport" and "replica" in the title tho but dont let this put you off.

Soooooooo,
How did you get on chap ???

I'm proof that bargains are out there. Picked up a standard my99 S plate wagon for £1400 with under 100k on her. Immaculate for the price!!

Whats 'immaculate for the price' mean ??
If it was a grand more it wouldn't be quite as immaculate, lol

That's like when ads say 'very clean for age'. In other words it's covered in rust and dents but it's 15 years old so expected, lol.

Maybe it has broken down on the motorway home and he hasnt got a 3G enabled phone? Only horrible people would laugh.......

Excellent :lol::lol1:

Self explanatory really. For the money I paid it's in bloody good nick. You'd expect a car at this price/age combo to maybe be a bit ropey or have high miles/crap paint. Mine hasn't hence for £1400 it's in immaculate condition. I could draw you a picture but nobody likes a smart arse ;) :p

Proof bargains can be had and I hope the OP hadn't spent £1500 on a battered old Wrx with high miles and potential issues.

But immaculate means unmarked, mint, spotless, prestine etc etc. It doesn't get more 'immaculate' because it's cheaper. It's either immaculate or it's not chap.
What you mean is the car is in extremely good condition for the price.

Like you say though, there are some bargains out there, your car being one of them.

Stop nit picking :p

Noninvasive kow what you mean though, just how I say it. Immaculate for the price as in how you said it :)

Regardless; bargain, ask Maz (Einstein RA).

all i will say is if your going to by a wrx get a 97 -2000 reg then at least your have 276hp to start with and better interior and a few other bits the sti get as well

this is a good little one he of dorset scoobys http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3167461.htm

That's a good price for a 270bhp car in standard form. If I'd had that budget when I bought mine last week it would have been a long drive down to collect that ;) :D as I'd have bought it!!

Just me being a dick, lol. :freak3:
Surely though, these cars have got to start increasing in value. I mean how cheap have they got to be, it's getting ridiculous. You can understand why so many good cars are being broken.
Not that I want rid of mine but if I did I'd have to break it to get any real value back.

Erm, not quite. UK specs only put out 220bhp (MY99/00) and 97-98 cars are a bit of a mare as they cant be mapped.

He said 97/00 WRX. That would be an import chap so would have 276bhp from the factory.

ah gotcha.

Anyway, you may want to point your attention to the other thread started by the OP entitled "1994 WRX running issues"

Clearly none of the advice we gave was listened to and on the way home the OP's already started racking up the problems.

You can't help some people chap.
Seen it a hundred times :brickwall
Young lad wants a Subaru, does no research, finds one for next to no money, buys it without seeing any others, has issues, blows it up, can't afford to fix it, scraps it.

Surely the test drive would have uncovered this....Looks like I was right too, my comedy crystal ball is on top form at the moment.

You, dick... never :p :D

Matt, totaaly understand re. prices - I just blatantly took advantage of the market. I knew that when my insurance coughed up it was a case of waiting for a Scoob to come up cheap within range, and pounce on it. :thumb:

Luckily that range was 30 miles and within 3 days :lol1::lol1:

I would have preferred a WRX or even STi but for my budget an older one didn't really excite me. Wagon is fine, useful with big boot and ready for my own personal modifications. :thumb: