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It's for sale at Hurst Cars in Bedford, i spoke to a guy called Max earlier on, he seemed open and honest about the car.
Apparently it's had the top slam panel replaced, why i don't know, Max couldn't shed any light on it either. Their are some other marks around the car, a bad chip on the bonnet where it would probably need a respray, some rash down the side of the car and a few other marks, i think he said one of the doors sticks out slightly. It suprised me if i'm honest on a car that's only done 14,000 miles, with it being a one owner car you'd think it would have been a pampered weekend toy with that kind of mileage, the other thing that surpised me is it hasn't been undersealed so its been in the country for 11 years without underseal.
It's strong money, the mileage is obviously very good but its got quite a few things that are niggling me, if it had been a mint car i'd have been down there pretty quickly as it's the sort of thing im looking for in the right colour, whats your views as it would be around a 350 mile round trip to view it.
It may have been given a facelift front end bumper n grill. Hard to tell if it's a genuine facelift car given the year - @Don Clark might be able confirm. Though ideally youd want reg/vin to confirm it
14k mile on a 11yr car that isnt undersealed isnt an issue, and spent most time running in dry days to do only 14k in that time
nice looking car to be fair but its eyes wide open when buying any car so if it's a bit rough then budget it into the price and bargain
I found Hurst difficult to deal with when I enquired about the black S204 they've had for sale for over 2 years.
Didn't get a straight answer on a couple of questions regarding the car and they were not interested in any movement on the price.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not for a moment saying that they are not a good straight outfit, in fact I hear the opposite about them and the reason I was interested in buying a car off them.
Some of the restoration work they post up on they socials look really good, but i just wish i got the same feeling when I actually spoke to them.
I found Hurst difficult to deal with when I enquired about the black S204 they've had for sale for over 2 years.
Didn't get a straight answer on a couple of questions regarding the car and they were not interested in any movement on the price..
I'm getting the same impression, i'm sure as a dealer they are very reputable, i also got the feeling they are barely going to move on the price. Even from my own knowledge which is't as good as others on here i know the car isn't worth it as it stands, a fair bit needs doing to get it mint again, it needs under sealing, it needs paintwork, i need to find out though why that top slam panel was replaced because he said as far as he was aware nothing below or at the side of it was replaced. Ive asked for the VIN and reg number, i need to do a bit of homework.
If that was just a 14000 mile spec c, it would still be a good price, because it would cost you nearly that to import. And it's a Lichfield, so bang on the money.
BUT! there are odd questions, and the tmic has had a power washer run over it, so noone has cared for it at all. And the AST suspension will need rebuilding every 20000 miles. Something is odd there.
edit. Ask him what tyres are on it, they look like ditch finders. It's not a spec c battery either ; it all points to someone who doesn't really care about a car with great potential.
Worth a look if you want a top end hatch, but you will only get immaculate if you self import, imo.
Last edited by hedgecutter; 19 March 2021 at 05:40 PM.
If that was just a 14000 mile spec c, it would still be a good price, because it would cost you nearly that to import. And it's a Lichfield, so bang on the money.
BUT! there are odd questions, and the tmic has had a power washer run over it, so noone has cared for it at all. And the AST suspension will need rebuilding every 20000 miles. Something is odd there.
edit. Ask him what tyres are on it, they look like ditch finders. It's not a spec c battery either ; it all points to someone who doesn't really care about a car with great potential.
Worth a look if you want a top end hatch, but you will only get immaculate if you self import, imo.
They’re not based on Spec Cs though are they? Just regular JDM STIs.
Giveaway is the deeper boot - no water spray in there.
I found Hurst difficult to deal with when I enquired about the black S204 they've had for sale for over 2 years.
Didn't get a straight answer on a couple of questions regarding the car and they were not interested in any movement on the price.
It’s surprising he’s not moving on the price of that, considering it’s had £6-7k added to it since it’s been there.
Should a Litchfield T20 come with the relevant paperwork that has the VIN number or registration number on to say it's a genuine Litchfield T20 ?
I'm going to think about it over the weekend to weigh up if its worth a 350 mile round trip, i had 2 options of buying it, pay cash or trade in my M2 with cash my way but speaking to him on the phone i feel he'll try and low ball me with my car so i'll go the cash route. Can anyone think of why the slam panel would be replaced other than because of an accident ? That doesn't sit happy with me as you want a car like this to be original esp with only 14k on the clock, the TMIC looks tatty as hedgecutter pointed out, paint wise it will need at least the bonnet repaining, possibly both doors as he said they had road rash on, maybe other small areas.
One minor detail that stood out to me is the rear badges on the tailgate, Litchfield wouldn't put them on wonky like that, the bottom one is slanted.
Last edited by The Joshua Tree; 19 March 2021 at 06:49 PM.
I’ve had one and should have Alcons and half leather recaros ? I’ve got the litchfield promotional stuff for it and the badges on back don’t look right either!
I did a VIN check on a japanese website called carvx.jp, it came back as Make: SUBARU, Body: CBA-GRB, Model: Impreza, Engine: EJ20, Grade: Wagon･WRX STI･DOHC･ turbo･4WD･6MT･ vehicle , Drive: 4x4(4WD full time), Year: 2008-08
I then did a check on the reg plate over here and it says year of manufacture 2010, the VIN starts GRB, isn't that a UK car ? The UK check on the reg is below, i thought with it being a 2.0 litre and over 10 years old the road tax would be cheaper, its saying £580
As Alyn says, registration can be hit and miss; Lichfield was first to import these, and I believe they spent a fair amount on type approval, so it may have been easier to register it as UK.
The door arm rest trim doesn't match the seats quite either, so perhaps the interior, shocks and brake calipers were sold off beforehand. hand
If the V5 shows emissions and they are above 255g/km then it will be on the highest tax band. As others have said it depends on how it has been registered.
For what it's worth, my previous Forester STi which was imported new by Litchfield and had the Litchfield performance pack had the emissions listed as 330g/km on the V5. Most (if not all) facelift FSTis imported now second hand don't have the emissions listed hence are on the lower tax bracket.
I did a VIN check on a japanese website called carvx.jp, it came back as Make: SUBARU, Body: CBA-GRB, Model: Impreza, Engine: EJ20, Grade: Wagon･WRX STI･DOHC･ turbo･4WD･6MT･ vehicle , Drive: 4x4(4WD full time), Year: 2008-08
I then did a check on the reg plate over here and it says year of manufacture 2010, the VIN starts GRB, isn't that a UK car ? The UK check on the reg is below, i thought with it being a 2.0 litre and over 10 years old the road tax would be cheaper, its saying £580
First off
GRB stands for:- G-Impreza R-5door body Gen3 (V- 4door body) B- 2.0Litre High power (F-2.5L High Power)
There is a likely explanation for the variation of build date and UK registration date.
Litchfield would have imported them into the UK as brand new "unregistered in Japan" vehicles, so first registration would be in the UK as a Litchfield car.
UK registrations are based on first registration, which for 2nd hand imported JDM models is usually the vehicle build date.
That's why we have a couple of JDM Hawkeyes in the UK running around on "10"/ "11" plates as they arrived here in the UK new and unregistered.
If the carvx info is correct then it is most likely a revision "A" model STI with a build month of 08/08 and will have an "Applied Model" code of GRBA5EH (where the 4th character is the revision letter).
"SpecC" models didn't appear until revision "B" and have an "Applied Model" code of GRBB5LH.
However there is an overlap of "A" and "B" builds "A" ends 02/2009 ; "B" begins 07/2008
So can only be confirmed by getting the full info from the VIN/Applied model code.
If you want to know what Subaru thinks it is then PM the VIN
The revised front end first appeared on JDM revision "C" models from build date 05/2010, so if a revision "A" or "B" it has had a facelift - previous front end damage or just cosmetic upgrade??
As part of the big selling point with the Litchfield Type 20 Hatchback i believe it was the handling with AST coilovers, that looks to have stock top mounts, this has no front strut mount which i believe the Litchfield Type 20 came with, also the wheels look possibly like 17 inch, instead of being 18 inch, the intercooler looks in a bad state which again for a low mileage car is strange. On the MOT it's had a lot of advisories about the Macpherson struts, again shouldn't they be AST ?
The reg is OU10 HGJ, put that into https://www.checkcardetails.co.uk/mot-check and check the MOT history down the bottom, it's had quite a few advisories, one i didn't like was corrosion on the front top mounts, again on a low mileage car, must have been left outside to get corrosion.
Ive got pics of some of the general condition which were mailed to me, its going to need quite a bit of paint, it's not in what you would call great condition, you would probably class it as not well cared for and given its low mileage that's gutting, its a car i would have liked to own if it had been looked after.
Last edited by The Joshua Tree; 20 March 2021 at 12:44 PM.
Using the VIN Subaru's Parts Database lists it as the following:-
Translations
The main option pack code "XXx" is also the most basic.
So is it a T-20 that hung around to be registered in the UK? When did Ian stop creating them??
According to Evo mag and Autocar no mention of them being based on SpecC's , which I would have thought would have been a major selling point or was it purchasers choice of base model??
never seen hatch with gold brembos , always black, 14k miles with above intercooler - no way , trick with cluster before mot will keep mileage low, hunt for spec c or extend budget for r205
if it’s a litchfield car then surly it would be registered locally as it’s nearby brand new , so not registered in oxford area , OU part of the plate is the oxford area , Gloucester is AD or DD or similar options
never seen hatch with gold brembos , always black, 14k miles with above intercooler - no way , trick with cluster before mot will keep mileage low, hunt for spec c or extend budget for r205
It indeed had black calipers when it left the factory - big brake kit swapped out?? Sseems a bit of a mongrel all round
SpecC has gold brembos as standard..............
From Parts DB, seats appear to be OEM original for this option pack.
Last edited by Don Clark; 22 March 2021 at 10:27 PM.
19 March 2021, 02:18 PM
What's your opinions of this Litchfield Type 20 Hatchback thats for sale ?
