BedHog

Always loved them (the Impreza that is) and finally got one now I'm old (34) and the insurance is reasonable

I bought an estate - told the wife we needed an estate now we have a dog and the Ford Probe is not practical, she doesn't realise what a monster I've bought.

Anyway it's an import - imported new though so has a known history - it's a 2002 model WRX with a factory fitted Prodrive? kit making it 250 BHP.

The back of the car has the label 20K, I'm hoping there is someone here (I'm sure there wil be) who can tell me about this model - was/is it Jap only?

What is the exact spec?

The car is standard apart from Sti exhaust and lights.

I pick it up tomorrow, and I don't mind admitting i'm like a kid on christams eve lol

Cheers,

Rob.

greasemonkey

If the car is a Japanese import it won't have a Prodrive (i.e. PPP) kit on it. They won't have had anything to do with JDM roadcars, and the PPP is only supplied to official or naturalised UK market vehicles.

"20K" doesn't ring a bell with me as an official Subaru model, could simply be something the previous owner or dealer fitted. Odds are it'll be a standard WRX wagon. 240-250 is about the standard output of these cars running on Japanese pump fuel.

Obviously not possible to tell you what the exact spec is, as we have no way of telling whether it's been modified.

virgin

good luck, and sorry i cant help you,

start a thread caled greasemonkey and he might see your question, i Guarantee he will know !

virgin

oops !! there he his !

greasemonkey

Don't say my name three times whatever you do!

BedHog

Thanks for the replies

As for mpg, the standard WRX figures are similiar to my Probe which is a bit of a guzzler - although I do realise if I thrash it everywhere that might drop a little lol

Hi Greasemonkey, the only thing I could find on the 'net' was this

http://english.auto.vl.ru/catalog/27739/

Mine is the 1st on the left 2nd Row, Pure White.

How do those specs compare to a UK WRX Estate?

Thanks again,

Rob.

Gutmann pug

you need to know what it is for your insurance mate

BedHog

Actually it doesn't really look like that, but I was told it had Sti lights

Here is the autotrader pic

greasemonkey

That website causes more confusion than it solves Rob. The pictures clearly show 2003 model year cars, while the white one you reference is clearly a normally aspirated Sport/GX/GL level car.

Edited to say that the Autotrader pic doesn't really give us any clues either. The headlights don't look standard, but it's difficult to tell from that pic whether they're proper STi lights or not. Afraid we're as much in the dark now as we were before.

BedHog

OK, thanks anyway, once I get the car I can post some detailed pics of it, for the moment i'll just insure it as a 5dr WRX Estate import.

*Edit

Thanks midlife, although I must admit I think the car is awesome as it is and I have no intention of doing and mods - especially not preformance enhancing ones. Maybe in the future when I know what can be done without blowing it up....

Did anyone see the article in one of the morning papers this week - not sure which one it was.

It was claimed that the Impreza was the most expensive car for unscheduled garage visits -at an average of over £1600 per visit (the Ford Ka was best at £86 lol) - the headline was Screwbaru.....

Still I bought one anyway, I'm sure (I hope!!) if i look after it it will be a reliable car....

Rob

greasemonkey

These cars are normally pretty reliable Rob, provided they're serviced properly. The problem with articles like the one you quote is that nobody knows how many of the repairs in question are fair enough, and how many are the result of badly implemented modifications.

It's probably fair to say that a far greater percentage of Impreza engines is modified than would be, to continue the example, a Ka (and of course the EJ20 turbo engine produces rather more than 56bhp ). We also know from this board that many owners of modified cars fraudulently claim under the warranty when their cars go wrong. To what extent is this scenario warping the figures? Who can tell?

The first priority in your case would be to make certain that your new car is set up to run properly on UK pump petrol. If it isn't, the second priority is to order a supply of octane booster, after which you can either order some more, or consider getting the car remapped.

If you start off like that, and carry on in the same vein, there's no reason to believe that your car wouldn't be fundamentally reliable.

Tentenths

Never seen this website before... but its incredibly informative. Well worth checking out.

nraponi

Probably talking out my rear here but...

Can't one of the codes on the chassis number/plate be used to identify the base model and year? I've got a vague recollection of their being a table either in the SIDC FAQ or that "You and your Impreza" book that came out a couple of years ago.

Obviously won't tell you if its had any mods though.

Apologies if talking rubbish!

Nick

Boss Hogg

Could it just be some 'Engrish' - where the Japanese just make up meaningless English phrases with no idea what they mean - 'modification 20k' sounds like just that.

The guy on here who had the Nissan S cargo van will be able to verify - I remember reading Russell Bulgin's story in Car magazine about these - they had all sorts of funny phrases inside them.

Did anyone notice the description of blue colour on the website - 'Grumbling' Mica!!

sickboy

welcome BedHog! You're a braver man than me though. I would want to know exactly what I was getting prior to paying!

Can you not request more info from the supplier? You need to be very certain for insurance purposes.......

mok

If you post the model code (found on chassis plate and should start gdb) I can give you a bit of information on the car.

Gary

www.subaruclubsurrey.co.uk

BedHog

Thanks Gary.

I picked it up this evening, will look for the code tomorrow.

I know I probably didn't research it enough, but I had a quick look on autotrader 1 night and saw it and went for it. It was advertised that evening and I bought it the next morning..... great car and, as far as i can see a great price........

It would be nice to exactly what it is though, for insurance purposes if nothing else...

*edit
Sorry to be a noob, but where can I find the chassis plate? I'll have a look around in the morning but I know they can be in pretty obscure places

BedHog

As far as I can see it appears to be a standard wagon with some factory fitted mods taking it from the standard 225 BHP up to 250 BHP

This is what I was told by the seller and a website i found appears to confirm this......

greasemonkey

Steady on Rob, you're making a number of incorrect assumptions there. The standard output on the JDM MY01 - MY04 WRXes isn't 225bhp, it's 250bhp, so your car doesn't need any modifications, factory fitted or otherwise, to produce this amount of power.

It's the MY03-04 UK/European specification Impreza WRX that is rated at 225ps as standard, so either the website you're reading is wrong, or you're reading it incorrectly (are you sure it's talking about Japanese market cars?).

You'll find the Applied Model code and VIN on a plate attached to the offside (i.e. driver's side) front suspension turret.

BedHog

Thats not what I had been led to believe, but that does make sense. I'm trying not to make assumptions, just trying to make sense of the little info I have.

Just to complicate things, this is an import, but imported new so would it be mapped for UK fuel?

I have a Subaru garage very near to me - will they service it being an import?

So far it has been serviced at Midland Impreza and I have no problem taking it there if necessary, but it's quite a trip for me.

Sorry to ask so many questions but I want to keep this car for many years and look after it well.

Rob

TEXAS PETE

Where’s it imported from?

BedHog

Ok Model number is GGAA58D Options KSC

Engine EJ205DW3BE

Had a quick trawl around the net, but unfortunately my Japanese isn't too good....

waggy doo

iTrader: (1)

Hi
Go to www.sidc.co.uk
FAQ and all models etc are listed.

lpitt

Here ya go. This is the spec of your car:

http://english.auto.vl.ru/catalog/27753/

HTH

Laurence

greasemonkey

You don't have to take my word for it, the information's out there if you want to take a look.

As some of the others up top have said, isn't it a bit of a risk buying a car you know so little about?

Impossible to say, although unless you find something in its documentation that says it has been, assume it is expecting 100+ octane Japanese specification fuel, and use octane booster as appropriate.

Some will, some won't. You'll just have to ask the question.

That is a Japanese market 2001 model year WRX sport wagon with five speed manual transmission.
Just to correct a slight error I made last night, the rated output of the engine is 250ps, not bhp. However, it's likely that the person who told you the output is 250bhp made the same error, and thus it's a safe assumption that the engine is standard.

The specs that Laurence has linked to are correct, however this "modification 20K" business sounds like something the website just made up, and the pictures at the top of the page are for a 2003 model year car, not the 2001MY version.

madmoog

iTrader: (1)

Using the weblink from Ipitt, if you click on 2000 at the top of the page after Impreza Wagon you will get a list of models, prices etc.

Towards the bottom there are the models 20N and 20K. A quick look suggests that 20N is N/A and 20K is Turbo. Perhaps they are local model designations or similar.

Anyway BedHog, welcome and enjoy!

SilverTurboWagon

Sign me up for one in the 'Grumbling - mica' colour at the bottom of the page