cbemoore

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this has been done to death, but I'm new on this board.

I'm looking at buiying an early Impreza (MY95ish) but I'm struggling to understand the prices.

With most cars, an import is cheaper than a UK car. But Impreza WRX imports seem to be advertised for a lot more than the UK cars.

I know the imports are more powerful, but what other differences would there be between, say, a MY95 WRX and an MY95 UK car?

Also, what's the percentage price difference? Do they cost about the same? Or is there a premium for the WRX?

Cheers

Chris

chiark

Right then, this gets confusing...

Prior to 2001 (the new shape) the UK spec car was known as a Turbo 2000 4WD or Turbo 2000 AWD, with some special editions. It produced between 208 and 218 bhp as standard.

The WRX was for the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) and developed more power (around 240).

Subaru changed their nomenclature in 2001 to make everything the same. Or so you'd think. The turbo impreza is known throughout the world as the WRX, but the specs change between markets.

If buying an earlier car, the WRX will be cheaper than the UK spec car by and large, despite being better equipped and more powerful. HOWEVER, you cannot have any non-UK spec car serviced at subaru garages. This isn't a problem, as there's many specialists who may work out cheaper.

Big problem is insurance. Insurers don't like the imported models - just look in the Insurance section for the run-around that some people have.

Either way, they're excellent cars. See the SIDC FAQ too, as that'll explain more than I have here.

Welcome

Nick.

Charlie H

I bought my 93 WRX a few years ago coz they were a LOT cheaper than the uk ones (£7k for mine compaired to £11k for same year uk with loads more miles) However the price difference is very different now and if I did it again I'd go for a uk model instead. Not coz of any problems Ive had, it's just easier to get parts/servicing and the power difference in the early WRX's isn't that much. Don't forget 93/94 WRX's had 240 bhp (on 100 ron fuel) not 280 as a lot of traders state!

I think people with imports forget that they paid a lot less in the first place and in my opinion some of the asking prices are way to high. However, my girlfriends, brothers, workmate just sold his 94 WRX estate for 9k !!!!!! I was gob smacked that someone would actually pay that for a car you can pick up a lot cheaper elsewhere, so there you go.

If it was me, I'd go for a uk one with good service history, but that's just my view on it. Don't forget, you can always change the seats later for the better wrx/late uk ones

Hope this helps

jasonwrxowner

cbemoore....You have mail.

Marky-San

I've got a limited edition WRX STi MY94, where I could've bought a 97/98 UK car for the same money.

So it works both ways I suppose is what I'm saying.

naughtybutnice

cbemoore, no ****, start off by either phoning stuart, or Simon @ teg motorsport (01524 733837), or visit townendgarage.co.uk. that will give you an idea of the import side of things, personaly, i wouldnt have anything but an import but will leave that up to you to sort out!!!
but then again im lucky, cos ive got a quality specialist impreza garage down the road from me!!!
Martin

[Edited by naughtybutnice - 11/15/2002 9:31:39 PM]

chrisp

If you think you are going to buy a UK and ARENT going to buy an import then please dont drive an import, trust me .

naughtybutnice

DanTheMan

Generally the Jap specs are higher (apart from a **** radio) like air con as standard, alloy bonnet & boot, sports interior, more BHP, electric everything & rear wash wipe.
Also I believe the Jap mileages are quite low, so they are in better nick if they have just been imported. I bought a 93 WRX a few years ago which was several grand cheaper than the same UK car BUT cost more to insure....
horses for courses mate

chrisp

Mine has a very light steel boot but it not ally, well a fridge magnet stuck to it. The bonnet is though as it didnt . No wash wipe on the RA as well and no bright switch

scoobysnacks

Chrisp's right about the steel boot, but the bonnets are alloy and people are usually really suprised at how light they are.
As has been said already, the imports are better in a lot of ways with the only downside of real note being the higher insurance.
However, if you modded your UK scooby to 276 bhp I'm not sure it would be that much cheaper if you were honest with your insurer... Go for the import then, they are just that bit more 'focused' than UK cars.

Tractor

My advice, if you are looking at that age is to get an import, as in many ways the specs were more different in the early years (e.g. seats).

Specifically, I think the real bargain of the Impreza range is the Sti2 - it was the first 276bhp Sti, has all the goodies and one of the lightest body shells. Its also a little more subtle than the newer models but is just as brutally quick. You should probably be able to get a good one in private sale for around £8k.

You should still look into the standard insurance issues etc.

Alex Creasey

Tractor,
Couldn't agree with you more with regards the Sti v2 as I've had mine 3 years and it's still fab!
Think the v2 is 260 bhp as standard though.
Personally I would say import for an early car but each to their own. And insurance can be a real nightmare!
Cheers

Chris.Palmer

Personally I'd like the Servicing options only available to UK models.

The insurance quotes for UK Models.

The performance of a Jap Wrx - that's invisible to UK Subaru Dealers.

But surely this is not possible?

Well - if you took a Jap Wrx 95 ECU Map - tweaked the Fueling & Ignition for even better performance - then Seriously raised the boost & the fuel cut off - Then blew that into the ECU of a UK PreMy 97 Car?

Naw - that's not possible - http://shop.scoobynet.co.uk/Product.asp?ProductID=499

Chris

[Edited by Chris.Palmer - 11/16/2002 2:02:52 AM]

Tractor

Some subaru dealers will service imports, and the Sti 2 was the full 276bhp, the 260 was the Sti 1 I think.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

No doubt ill get slated for slagging off jap imports here but here goes
Right, buying an early wrx import can actually be a bit of a nightmare the main reason being is that alot of these cars come from japan without service history so you dont know what your getting and also you dont know if they have been crashed etc
Its a real minefield buying an import basically, it doesnt mean you cant get a good one though but alot have become available to the boy racers who havnt run them on the correct fuel, havnt serviced them properly etc so you have a more likely chance that these will cost alot of money when they go bang (which subaru's do if they are mistreated/unserviced/run on wrong fuel type).
Service wise though, you will probably get it slightly cheaper than a uk dealer by going to a speciallist which is a good point but a major service (inc cambelt) will probably still cost you 500 quid and its 2 services per year (or 7.5k whichever is first) and these can vary from 50 quid for the oil and filter change to the biggie cambelt one as stated above (but most of the time one of the services will cost you around 2-300 quid if not a little more).
Modifying..... ok, jap imports can be modified quite easily but it seems to be a general consensus that on the jap cars modifying should be accompanied by a remap of the ecu (which may cost you a few pennies) rather than the earlier uk cars which have a more "flexable map" to start with
If you want security from a scoob then i would buy a uk one, it may not have all the goodies of the same year WRX but they are still very tunable (just ask Rich Wild and his 340bhp uk MY96 ).
All i can now say is some friendly advice
Check out www.sidc.co.uk for info on the various models, look around but you dont need to buy the first car that you see! there are lots of scoobs out there, some in much better condition than others and get it HPi'd!! that is a MUST! on a car like this or else you may face repossession etc if its not been paid off or it could also be a ringer/stolen car

Tony

Tractor

I agree with most of your points Tony, but the guy should know that the dodgy ecu problems you speak of are way more common on the late Stis. Earlier models are not plagued by this and seem to be more robust. Should still be run on the right fuel of course!!

Also, you are right that it is a minefield. However, if you look hard and get the car checked over you can find a bargain. Par for par, I'd always take an import as I think they are much better cars year for year as standard, especially with the early models. The UK cars really look like poverty spec by comparison. However, it takes a lot longer to find a good one as you say, and its far easier to get burned.

Your point re the boy racers can be applied to early uk cars too - I would have thought the cheaper insurance would make them easier to attain for them.... basically both UKs and imports are attainable by them now.

s.t.u

thank god it's not just me finding hard to find the right car i was going for the sti v5 but the horror stories have put me off so i think i,m going for a u.k car low miles and 1 owner.
insurance:tesco.com sti v5 £850 u.k £560 that was till my wife trashed her c5 on a607 on thursday and thats now put it up another £100
stu

clarence

I think it's 270ps for the STi & 275ps for the STi 2. The MY95 WRX has 260ps, so early cars are either 240ps or 260ps.

chrisp

Everyone thinks this blowing up is STI5 only, NOT true. It just seems that the V5 are the ones talked about mostly. I suppose the V5 came along at the height of the popularity of the grey imports, hence the fact there were plenty imported. The 97 and 98s had a lot of problems with pistons and piston slap and a lot had to have replacement short engines most of them the UK spec motors. The older cars had much lagger turbos which were great when blowing but hard work when off turbo.

I cant really comment about buying a second hand import as mine was brought over new but I have run mine exclusively SUL/Optimax and octane booster (every fill up) and apart from the 1000 service (done locally by a specialist) it has a full history with TSL. At the recent RR day the guy said it wasnt detting and the curves were spot on but it was overfuelling at very high revs as were most of the cars running a standard map on the day (UK and import). It cost just less than an MY01 WRX PPP UK at the time (but the PPP wasnt available at the time).

Did I make the right decision ? - I think so but everyones priorities are different.


Has it cost me more to run ? - Mine has been serviced the same as a UK schedule except specialists tend to be cheaper labour wise than my local dealer.

Insurance ?- my RA has mods and cost me 850 first year, and few more mods 950 second year and just renewed with a few more bits on for 1000. I reckon a modified UK would have been a few hundred cheaper with the same mods. With the same power output it would have cost me more to modify it to the same level (probably destroyed the warranty and resale in the process. My Ra isnt really midly tuned so greta resale as it hasnt been messed with) and the insurnace gap would obviously have been reduced as well.

Would I have brought a UK car anyway ? - possibly not it would probably have been a euro import.

Just my thoughts and reasons for going grey.

Cheers

ChrisP

[Edited by chrisp - 11/16/2002 3:56:07 PM]