Cattwooduk

So I used to have a 2nd gen Legacy Estate GT-B I bought off a mate to replace my not so practical GT4 ST205 - he'd bought the leggy fresh from import and had it for a few years and it was nicely modded, really comfortable to drive but also real fun when required.

A couple of years back I started my own business and needed a van, so unfortunately the Leggy had to go as I bought a VW T5. My girlfriend loved the car almost as much as I did, we drove it to France and loads of day trips etc it was always real comfortable and fit everything in it easy but I couldn't justify keeping it as well as the van.

Anyway we now have a 5 week old baby and her little Toyota Yaris is too small for the three of us, pushchair, car seat and the dog to all pile into and the van isn't comfortable enough apparently! Started looking into a bigger car but she doesn't really like most estates, and a people carrier is boring as hell. SO I basically narrowed it down to either a Ford Focus, and threw out the idea of an Impreza Wagon which is the same kind of size and I was desperate to get back in a scooby.

Really didn't think I'd find one around our price range with under 100k mileage, and not the other end of the country. Ended up going to look at this one, the guy had only owned it about 6 months - bought it with the aim of keeping it 3 years so he took it to a local Scooby specialist who I also used to use for the Leggy. He had it inspected for anything that needed freshening up and then spent £4k+ on it. Unfortunately his brother died and so he inherited his GB270 which meant he was selling the WRX having just totally overhauled it.

So we grabbed the bargain! It's got the prodrive exhaust and remap (266bhp) and the following was the things he had done to get it into good enough nick to not worry about anything for a while.
Work completed in 2017:

Full service
Timing belt kit
Rocker cover gaskets replaced
Recon. steering rack
Brembo big brake kit : gold callipers + discs & new pagid pads
New rear discs& pads
New standard front suspension
New radiator
New battery
New alloy wishbones
New drop links
New wheel bearings
New K&N induction kit
New 3 pod dial setup : Boost Bar / Oil Pressure Bar / Oil Temp.


It'll primarily be my partner's car but I use it almost as much, and besides enjoying a drive she has no interest in maintaining it or anything.

I've taken the K&N off and gone back to standard because although it wasn't a noisy as my old GT4 stupid Blitz kit I had, it's still going to be our family car so a little quieter is better. Also I like the cold air feed which should make a good deal of difference to the MPG not huffing in turbo-heated air. My old legacy was 326 bhp and twin turbo but seems to have got way better mileage than this thing?!

The lady also doesn't like the gauges on the dash, so rather than paying to have them all totally taken out I'm just going to take the gauges out and keep all the wiring in place so eventually they can be refit easily. She wants a normal dash with a clock!

The wheels are freshly refurbed and I think they look great but again, it's essentially my girlfriend's car and she says it's all too black and 'bad boy' looking so they gotta go. No point refurbing them again in silver because she said she'll probably f**k them up within a couple of months so
I'm on the hunt for some standard sti alloys to stick on.

As usual when buying any car new I seem to get instant bad luck - with the Leggy about a week after buying it the radiator split where they always go.
This time it's the power steering pump! When I test drove the car I checked under the bonnet for any oil smells etc, nothing! Picked the car up 4 days later, drove it home and it stinks of something burning Checked under the bonnet and there's smoke coming from the front of the engine. I dropped into Chris Palmer's which is where both I and the previous owner have always gone with our scoobys, so he knows this one well. Turns out the power steering pump is leaking which is a common Impreza issue I didn't know about, sods law! I've got it booked in for a replacement (second hand) pump, my stomach turned when I saw prices of brand new ones!

I've also got a little tap/knock from the front driver's side, which I'm hoping is just something needs tightening up - with all the suspension work done fairly recently I'm guessing something just needs tweaking up a bit, at worst maybe ARB bushes which sound similar to this.

Anyway, I'll be posting my progress here as I go along!

SouthWalesSam

iTrader: (1)

Very nice. I love a neat wagon.
Enjoy!

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Nice, don't loose garages, just pop a stick on clock over them

Avalyn

Got to love a black wagon

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

Nice, I still miss my wagon, despite having a hatch specC

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

I was tempted to go and look at this one as it was very close to me but I already had another Black Blob Wagon lined up (whaddathechanzes?!).

boggissimo

It looks great, and full respect (to both of you) for not jumping into some dull MPV or SUV just because you've had a baby

I don't see that changing the wheels will make much difference, but if it's 'her' car then she can decide, I suppose. My wife refuses to drive my wagon!

Cattwooduk

Well the focus and this was about the right size because she doesn't want to drive anything bigger. I paid a thousand towards this to tip balance in favour because I thought a focus would be boring as hell.

Besides the wheels she asked about having the tint taken out the back windows, but a friend pointed out it will be a god send when the little one is sitting in the back in summer with the sun on them!

She said so long as we can get some new wheels and have them recoloured silver for the same amount we sell the prodrives for then she is happy.

Cambs_Stuart

iTrader: (3)

Nice. I do like a well sorted wagon.

Cattwooduk

Alas, the dream is already dead... Girlfriend decided the ride is not comfortable enough.
Also once we have the buggy and all the other baby related stuff piled in the boot there is actually very little space for our dog (german shepherd) so she ends up squashed in the corner with her face against the glass.

If it were my car I'd figure out a way to afford keeping it but as most of the money was hers it has to go. I'm pretty gutted as it's such a nice car. Nicer to drive than my old Legacy was and I still can't quite get over how good condition it's in. Besides an ARB bush started knocking a tiny bit last couple of weeks this car is so solid and feels so nice to drive, I don't think I'm likely to come across another one like it should I ever get a chance to get back in a scooby... at least not for the price I paid for it.

She decided she wants a bloody Qashqai so we picked one up last weekend... very comfortable but f**k me it's boring as hell to drive. Very upset :'(

I guess I'll be going back to daydreaming about driving a scooby again like I did after selling my Legacy.

rickybobby

Is it only me, or anyone else with OCD that hates interior pics when the steering wheel isnt straight lol.

boggissimo

Hard luck fella. Still, keeping her happy is half the battle in keeping yourself happy!