The Joshua Tree

Just out of interest, what would you value this car at in pound sterling, can you give me the pros and cons for potentially buying it. You'll need to translate it in your browser, you can see the photos fine though.

スバル インプレッサＷＲＸ　ＳＴｉ　後期最終型　ＶＡＲＩＳアルティメットフルＫＩＴ　ＯＨＬＩＮＳ車高調ＰＲＯ ＶＡモデル　ＲＵＮＤＵＣＥ８ＰＯＴブレーキＫＩＴ　ＤＦＳゼロＥＣＵ　ツインクラッチ　ＣＵＳＣＯスタビ 　ＫＯＹＯアルミラジエターの中古車 車体価格368万円 2014(平成26)後年式 走行9.9万キロ 車体色ＷＲブルーマイカ 大阪府寝屋川市点野３－１８－１８ ＡＵＴＯ　ＳＰＯＲＴＳ　ＲＡＢＢＩＴ　オートスポーツラビット　ＥＶＯＬＵＴＩＯＮの在庫｜グーネット中 古車 (goo-net.com)

The only things i really know is the Varis kits fitted are expensive, the brakes are supposed to be very expensive and are a big brand in Japan, the alloys are supposed to be expensive and it has a good exhaust. From what i can see it's had a lot of expensive show type parts fitted but no engine mods, it will stop well and look great but it will just be a standard WRX Sti power from what i can see, i maybe wrong.

I'm far from being an expert of current Subaru high end parts as ive been away from Subaru's for a while, what would you pay in pound sterling for that, i won't say the price just to see how you value it. Thanks

lockheed

iTrader: (1)

Haven't got a clue but I like it!

The Joshua Tree

That's the thing, from what i can see i don't think it's either, if it was fast and the engine had been done to a decent level i'd have bought it by now. I like the look of the Varis kits though, i'd probably take the dining table off the boot lid and put a stock one on or similar.

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

It's a heavily modded 100000km standard sti for £25600 before you add another 25% to cover everything else. You can get a R205 for less, with less kms.
Do you have an agent to check it, as Goonet is full of all sorts?

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

It's got a Zero Sports ECU, so it's not running stock power.

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

I wondered if that would be accessible in the UK?

domino46

not that iv ever seen ,everyone one iv seen on cars has been removed due to them causing engine issues , its piggy back type thats set up for jap fuel so wouldn't run great on uk fuel , maps are over aggressive on them so good chance it would be DET'ing from day one over here and thats not a good thing lol ,,, would need to be replaced strait away ,, unless its already causing problems and thats why they are exporting it lol

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

This is essentially the problem with importing a quite modified car; you've absolutely no idea who did it, to what standard, and what it was then used for. There's no mention of a service history, there's accident damage to the "skeleton ", and as Joshua noted at the beginning, all the mods are quick bolt ons, albeit quality ones. It's also VERY expensive. I would pass on this immediately.
Joshua, have you changed your search criteria out of desperation, as I thought you were set on a clean oem hatch?
You are also limiting your search massively by looking for a set colour...it will just take much longer; I've been there myself, and still didn't get my 1st choice colour.
Japan's second hand car market is notorious for its cons, so fsh and an agent would be essential for me.

domino46

yes your right there mate ,, iv spoken to Joshua via text about this car as he asked me for a bit of advice on his search ,, he was advised by a well known agent that this car was a good one when my opinion and yours are very different from there's lol ,, but we are not trying to make any money on the deal lol,, I also do not agree with its value at all ,, what would you say this was worth in the uk market ?

1509joe

iTrader: (2)

If you build a show car that's what you do all the bling etc. If you want a car to go well you generally leave the bling out of the equation and build the engine etc.
Generally you don't do both. Its a bit like modding a N/A 1.6 to look like an STI.

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

Joe is spot on there . In Japan there is a big scene for this type of car, and as a result pre owned mods fetch good money, eg oem wheels are very expensive, and the cars sell well. If you were living in Japan, and could knock 20% off, it would probably make the buyer happy, but the issue is the additional import costs of roughly 25%, which puts it up with some nice lower mileage Spec Cs or mid miles R205s landed here, or even CSs here.
Bluntly, I dont think it would sell here for its Japanese forecourt price, or even 20k. But if say that, it will probably be snapped up!
Has that built bright yellow one been bought yet ?; that is fully built. They're both proper marmite though.

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

It’s more than +25% though. VAT is 20% and import duty 10%.... + shipping, insurance and the ‘middle men’ cut!

The luminous yellow JUN one at HJ Autos appears to have been recently sold, but jeez there must have only been 1 person in the UK willing to stump up the cash and actually be seen driving it. Only takes 1 though I guess.

The Joshua Tree

Hedge. my search is still the same, what i'm looking for is still the same. Nothing has been appearing so this one above was a bit of a curve ball, it's one i came across on my own searches. it had the bodykit on that i'm ideally looking for which is the Varis in the colour i'm looking for, i would have taken off the dining table on the boot lid and put a stock one on. This car above had so many expensive visual extras already fitted, the wheels and brakes from what i believe added up to over $10k, that particular Varis kit fitted wouldn't leave you much change out of $10k fitted, if any.

It's why i spoke to Steve aka Domino about it, i value his opinion as well the opinions of others on here hence the post, i'm someone that will listen to others, some great points have been by Steve and others already like when the time comes to sell you'd struggle to sell it, plus you'd lose a lot of what you paid in the process. Plus the plug and play ECU/chip is only designed for Japan fuel, not our own so i'd have to change that straight away as i believe it isn't programmable. Also the mileage is 100,000km so that's not an ideal starting point om a car that's going to cost what it would, performance wise it's not far off a basic WRX Sti with a plug and play pre programmed ECU that i'd have to throw away anyway.

The price btw is £30,500 on the roasd in the UK via Torque GT., like Steve said performance wise you can get so much more for your money.

My ideal car would be a really well uprated 2.5 thats been forged and closed decked in WR Blue, ideally i don't want to lose the burble, a car that's been looked after, has ideally been used as a 2nd car where the mileage is fairly low and the condition is excellent. Yeh i know how hard that will be to find. In Japan i'm going to focus on a Spec C or R205, the only thing with the R205 is the potential to devalue it with the things you may want to have done so a Spec C may suit me better, i'll just see what turns up and take it from there.

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

Don't give up the hunt, patience is everything! And I know how easy it is to get sidetracked.

johno01

How’s this one mate? Built by AS PERFORMANCE and mapped at TDR? Slightly higher mileage

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143726183...IAAOSwMoBf6F4h

domino46

if its capable of 500bhp why is it only running 330bhp ?? ,,, surly you would turn it up before selling ,, unless he is worried its going fall apart soon as some power gets put into it lol ,, 330bhp isnt really a test of any of the engine parts

johno01

since it was mapped at tdr id give them a call and see what the score is. Also give Alan a call at as performance. I have seen it advertised for a while so obviously I’d be very wary but whoever got the work done “seems” to know who to take it to. For that price I’d be doing some homework. I would not be surprised if it had been in a crash for that price

domino46

what makes you say about it being in a crash ?? ,, I was thinking the price is a bit high for it really even if it hasn't been in a crash lol ,, mine was much higher spec and lower miles and sold for similar money ,,, saying 500bhp capable is like saying ,, in theroy my legs can run as fast as usane bolt but are untested lol ,, proof is when it actually does it not when someone tells me it can lol

johno01

That’s why I said give the people in question a call to get all the details.....ive just been studying the pictures and it may be nothing but the bonnet is much lower on the passenger side than drivers side where it meets the headlight and wing.

domino46

the problem there is the people involved in building it are only ever going to say the good things about it as its in there interests to say its amazing ,,im not saying its badly built but they dont have a crystal ball to tell you if it will fall apart once turned up ,, even standard engines will go to 450bhp so 330 is no test of the forged parts at all ,,, iv seen engines fail once turned up from chaps that build WRC engines and have some of the best reputations in the Subaru Engine building game so for me unless they turn it up and then put 4000 miles on turned up then its untested and not worth the risk with a 2.5

The Joshua Tree

Thanks for the pointer Johno, that one has been on ebay for around 3 months, the seller never replies to your messages. I've seen virtually every hatchback over the last few months that's been listed on ebay, pistonheads, autotrader, goo-net, car&classic etc. I've even got this kind guy searching Nigeria for me, he called me a couple of week ago asking did i want to buy a car, i said your in luck because i do want to buy a car, he sounded really confident that he could find me what i want, i just had to pay a £400 search fee and £75 administration costs, he said he'll be in touch soon, it's just a waiting game now.

johno01

I understand mate, the seller could pay for someone decent to map the car and getting it running properly on no base map then maybe if it is as described eg. Built by Alan and mapped by someone decent it would have sold a lot sooner

The Joshua Tree

Johno, the thing that struck me most about that ebay advert is the seller made a big point in his description about the engine being forged and closed decked with upgraded silicone hoses etc, etc. So why no pics of the engine bay as that's the big selling point, you'd get a few clues there as to whats been done, or what hasn't been done, if that were me i'd have took scans of some of the receipts for the engine work and uploaded the pics minus the personal details. As i said above, he never replied to messages anyway.

johno01

yeah spot on mate. Would be interesting to know exactly what the story with that car is. On paper it seems sorted but yeah somethings don’t add up.

hedgecutter

iTrader: (5)

Stick with the Nigerian lead, it sounds much safer!

NOSSY_89

That car is a "B11" car, nope, nope and even more nope if its the one I'm thinking of.

I get the whole capable of 500bhp thing, its the components that go in it that are often rated to a certain level but not everyone wants to throw on a massive turbo straight away to reach its limit etc.

But that car, as soon as I saw Brum I thought let me look into it a bit more then noticed the address.

I think @johno01 might be right about the crash damage. Can't seem to get the MOT history up

johno01

same mate, could find any mot history 👎

stockcar

without knowing a customers name or a garage that ordered the work its hard to say for definate but looking at the spec list they are NOT parts that AS Performance would usually use in any build so suspect that the engineering work may have been undertaken by AS Performance but NOT the actual build...........

NOSSY_89

I was thinking that, going through the build spec didn't sound like something Alyn would sign off on. Sounding more and more like the car I think it is.

johno01

What’s the score with it mate?