DarkStar66

Ooooo. This is my first post on this forum. How exciting!!!

I started looking for a two year old WRX (MY01) with low mileage from an official dealer. My budget is £16k and I intend to fit Morrette headlights.

Then I thought I'd see what I could get for a little over £16k. For £16.5k to £17k I found some MY03 WRXs including some brand new import, but that's a whole other can of worms.

I've driven both a MY01 and a MY03. Of course the MY03 was nicer but then it was a year younger and £18k!

What I want to know is if you think the MY03 version is really worth an extra £1000?

Manners

you should get a newer than 01 for 16k in feb i bought a late nov 02 for £15995 with 10k miles in wrblue

DarkStar66

Sorry, what I meant by MY01 was that it's a Mk 2 Scooby and MY03 is a Mk 3. I think I got the terminology wrong.

Chris L

Hi Darkstar - welcome to the forum

£16K budget will get you quite a lot of car. I think you have a choice. Either push your budget a little and go for a brand new WRX, or look for a nice MY01 for around £11 - 12K and then spend a bit on a few etxras. I started out with Morrettes, then rear Wing, Eibach lowered suspension, Scoobysport exhaust system, Prodrive quickshift - the list goes on... It can end up looking like this





Might be worth checking out insurance quotes to see the difference between a new standard WRX and a modified MY01

Cheers
Chris

sparkykev

Go for a good cheap bugeye, and save your money for some mods. Anyway 03's look too timid, and don't stand out like a bugeye.

subaru-impreza.org

Seriously Nice looking car you got there.... Would you mind if a included it into a newly formed gallery? Your name + scoobynet title would be stamped along side...


Gareth
http://www.subaru-impreza.org

Chris L

Thanks Feel free to add them - I've got a few more if you want.

Cheers
Chris

corradoboy

I got my MY03 WRX PPP 3 months ago for 16,300. OK the mileage was a little over the norm at 20k but for an 03 with PPP and Tracker I thought it was too ggod to miss. Shop around and you should find something similar.

subaru-impreza.org

Thanks Chris L, would love to include some more.

The web address for the pics is here

Thanks very much

gareth

http://www.subaru-impreza.org/

Chris L

OK - I'll see what I can dig out

Chris

Senna

Have you looked at the prices from motorpoint.co.uk £16599 for a brand new WRX Euro import but i've been told that uk dealers have to honour the warrenty and service requirements now that we're all one big happy euro family

DarkStar66

Oh dear, I knew there would be mixed opinions. But from what I gather, no-one is saying that the current WRX (Ver.3) is THAT much better than the previous one.

My intention was to get a bug eyed WRX, change to Morrette headlights almost immediately and then consider a PPP if I thought it was too tame and I could afford it and the insurance. With the new WRX I'd be saving on the cost of the headlights but I don't know if I could justify shelling out even more for the PPP (yeh, I'd probably still go for it eventually! :-) ).

By the way, anybody interested in a Alfa 147? Hmmm, thought not.

DarkStar66

Yeh, I looked into Motorpoint, Trade Sales and Hondas-UK (they sell imported WRXs as well). All their prices seem to be similar and I'm very tempted. The down sides are that you only get one years warrantee, no alarm and if they come from Cyprus, no underseal. These things can be dealt with fairly easily. Motorpoint is too far away and I've heard bad things about the customer service at Trade Sales. I'm not sure about Hondas-UK, I'd never heard of them but their car depot is the nearest to me. I'm waiting for them to come back with a P/X price for my Alfa at the moment. I spoke to my local Subaru dealership and they are happy to service an import. They warned me that I wouldn't get as much when I sell, but £3k less? I don't think so!!!

At the moment I'm veering back to getting a good bug-eyed WRX and doing it up.

Chris L

The 01 is a good car. I came from a classic MY00. Both cars were (are) quick (I've not noticed a huge difference, although the newer cars are heavier). The 01 is much stiffer than the old car, so out of the box, the handling was better. A set of Eibachs and a geomtery alignment by Powerstation transformed the car - miles better than my MY00. They do represent good value for money and if you want to spend a few quid and some well chosen extras, you'll have a very nice car.

Chris

Edcase

Dark star, you have private mail....

GaryCat

I'd go for the MY03 (in fact I did do!). The standard engine has more power (225bhp) and the 03 PPP kit is better than that for the 01-02 if you decide to go for PPP.

I think the best option is to do what corradoboy did and find a bargain 03WRX with PPP fitted.

G.

Edcase

Gary, the PPP is exactly the same for 01 as it is for 03 models, any new ppp fitted is now the remap version.

Nate

iTrader: (2)

Chris,

You just need an STi scoop now then !!

Nate.

GaryCat

Is that right? I read on here that the PPP for 01/02 models was a "simple boost clamp" (whatever that is) and that the 03 PPP was a remapping using the Ecutek utility.

I could be wrong as I don't have a great technical understanding of these things.

G.

Edcase

PPP for 'bugeye' models was originally a piggback ecu that used a small restrictor valve in the wastegate to clamp the boost. When the new PPP came out for the newer models, that then superceded the frankly awful method of the old PPP.

Edcase

Darkstar, did you get the private message? I'm in your area this week but will need to know asap so I can arrange etc.

DarkStar66

Yes I did thanks. You should have a reply.

Edcase

No problem sent you a quick one back

RRH

I've had both MY01 and MY03, as well as a whole host of classic RAs.

The new car MY03 is the better car IMHO if you can afford to stretch to it.