Buying a classic - advice please
 

Looking at a number of classics, some UK cars and a ver4 type R. Haven't went to see any yet, just trying to do a bit of research as I haven't looked into buying one for a few years now.

All cars I see advertised have cats removed, dump valves, induction kits but appear not to be mapped. In addition the type R also has a FMIC.

What would I be letting myself in for long term? I would plan on mapping when purchased, but is most of the damage likely done now?

Appreciate any information or past experiences. I have done quite a bit of searching and come across plenty of painful posts (currently reading The Voices saga, half way through, I hope it ends well :) ), and the last thing I want to happen is have to spend the price of a car on an engine rebuild in 6 months time.

Any thoughts??

Look out for rust on rear arches and boot area,not all have it ( mines a garage queen so been lucky) a friend commuted to Buxton (plenty of salt on roads up there) rotten as a pear. A bit on the outside of arch will be alot inside.

A V4 will need a new ECU to be mapped so unless it has an aftermarket ECU I would avoid the Type R, which is a shame as they're great cars.

As daz has already said, rear arches go on the classics so look carefully there.

No it doesn't.

http://www.enduringsolutions.com/

Find one you really like and then post up the link.

Also if you give us a budget and rough location people might be able to point you in the right direction.

Personally i'd be looking for decent adds where people state service history and mention well named subaru tunners/technicians who have worked on the car. If in doubt call the company and see if they have any trace of it.

I have a friend who has a type R, ended up paying a further 3k for a rebuild so I am very wary of them, especially if there is a possibility of mods throwing afr out over time. Are the jap imports more likely to have bottom end issues, or is this just an equal chance across all models?

Looking at these 2, although I was really looking for a mica blue uk turbo sitting around 300bhp, mapped and well looked after.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-m...car/1013251719

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-m...e-r/1012946792

Waited this long, in no real rush to buy. Both cars have histories on Scooby Ireland forum.

You need to remember that with a jap import it is setup for their fuel which was a lot better than ours in the 90'- mid 2000's, so running a car over here on crapper fuel will have wind up a big bill unless the car is mapped to suit uk fuel.

I stand corrected then. It must be a fairly new thing though as historically V4's couldn't be remapped.