I'm hoping this is a reliable car that is easy to maintain...

What are some common issues with this car?

What should I look out for when inspecting the car?

Thanks guys!

 

I have had one 'year 2000,imported new which is unusual' for 8 years.Great car .Have upgraded to 4 pots on the front as the originals are not that great.This car has similar performance to a STi so the original breaks are not upto the job,Fortunately it is a bolt on swap.The auto is slightly down on power compared to the manual 260 v 280.
I believe the original Bilsteins are the best for this car so ,as always, try to find a un-molested example.The twin-turbo setup is fiendishly complicated & very few people understand how it works,including me, so if it has been tuned or mucked about with make sure they knew what they were doing.I have also put in STi front seats as I had leather and they are not as supportive.

My primary turbo let go at 96,000mls.............not too bad.I had the engine rebuilt during the repair & now approaching 160,000mls and running great.Also everything else works like clockwork and feels tight.Great all-round cars.Not that common & fairly stealth compared to some cars.

Just noticed you are in Canada.These cars are tuned for Japanese fuel 100 octane!!! If you can't get it make sure the car has been mapped for local fuel as it WILL damage the engine.

Can recommend uklegacy.com for lots of good advice & loads of tech info.

 

Thanks for the post legb4rsk!

Good idea about upgrading to 4 pot brakes I will keep that in mind. How much did it cost you to get the engine rebuilt? I am going to try to find one with a stock engine and original Bilsteins, but that is still kind of scary about the primary turbo issue

I will check that link out thanks for all the info you've been a huge help!

 

Hi,
rebuilding the engine was expensive.All original parts from Subaru in Japan & done by a Subaru main dealer as I wanted it to remain stock. 60k plus miles on this engine without any problems just about justifies the outlay.You could get it cheaper but you have to find an independent specialist you can completely trust & they are very hard to find especially locally I am guessing in your case.

96k miles before the primary let go seems reasonable to me and as far as I know this is not a common problem just part of the story when owning a performance turbo car. When looking for a car try and get the most complete service history you can find.It's critical that these cars have regular oil changes & with the best quality oil you can afford.Don't skimp on this! They are very reliable if well looked after.

Happy hunting!

 

The remapping of the TT's is not easy and without it the dreaded "Valley Of Death" between the turbo's spinning up is very disappointing if you want a bit of performance.

That being said the build quality seems to be much better than an Impreza.