ndwall

Hi folks and folkesses (?),

Now how to make my first post as funny as the others I've read... Don't think I can to be honest. SO serious stuf from now on in none of that Sex after baby rubbish (will respond to that after this).

I have come into a few quid thanks to my freinds at Portman Building Society re mortgage team, and have hit my mid life crisis at 32 (don't think I'll go to far beyond 60) and therefore I'm keen to get a decent motor to make my day a little more enjoyable.

Now I know you folk have some seriously nice peices of kit but I'm only after a standard WRX I think.

The wife has told me not to spend anymore than 9 - 10k plus I have a ST24 on a T plate to trade in or flog, so I reckon another £3,500 if I'm lucky. Have put this in Autotrader for 4k this Friday.

Anything I should worry about on a standard WRX ?
What should I look out for ?
Should I be afraid with the mpg figures I've seen on here ? and does a UK car require shell optimax ?
Trackers ? I assume there is some monthly subscription fee but how much.

Insurance isn't a problem as I get a bit of help from my job

To give you an idea I have spotted a 1/2003 WRX with 20k on the clock, fssh, tracker and 17" gold alloys in my local autotrader privately for £13,500. Bargain I thought but I don't know. Then I've seen two wrx 2004 on ebay for around 13k too although I'm scared of ebay after being duped out of a lot of money by a conman in Bulgaria.

Any advice greatly received.

john_s

iTrader: (1)

UK cars don't "need" optimax, mines seems to run better on it than on SUL. Don't let the mpg figures scare you. Just don't think about them. Tracker subs were (are still AFAIK) £99 per year or £300 for as long as you have the car.

Best piece of advice i can give? Get one!!!

John.

julian N/W wrx my93

full service history isn't every thing on these!

plent stories of cars with fsh going pop, and ones with out lasting forever!

Graz

2003 WRX will have around a years warranty left on it, extendable by another two for a few hundred ££ (£450?) including breakdown cover. FSH is everything if you want the warranty to remain intact, and it's a good indication that the car has been well cared for.

UK car will run on normal unleaded but it's not recommended as it saps performance. Super or Optimax is best, also gives a little more safety margin against detonation.

Anyway if your going for a UK car you can't go too far wrong. Jap imports are a bit more tricky

ndwall

Yeah I want a UK one as I have no idea where my nearest Shell is and if I need to fill it up once or more a week it could cost a fair bit.

Should I get an AA check done on the car or are they not worth the effort ?

Vegescoob

Go to www.scoobycity.co.uk some Norfolk peps on there. Will tell you where Shell is. plus I think there's a Shell website with map of stations. First time I put Optimax in my 99UK Turbo I noticed the difference. Will only use it now. Plus in our 1.3 Micra. Told a mate of mine and he started using it in his 99 Honda Blackbird (fuel injection) and that went better too.
Why not go to nearest Subaru dealer and get test drive. That will convince you that you need one.

Little Miss WRX

Welcome to Scoobynet and good luck in getting a Scoob.

Graz

As I've said you don't have to use Optimax, super unleaded is fine as well. In fact some say they get better performance on super than Optimax, it's all a bit subjective really.

Optimax is only really essential if you run a Japanese import, they're mapped for 100 RON fuel, the highest octane you can get in the UK is Optimax at just over 98 RON depending on how fresh it is Super unleaded is 97 RON, normal unleaded 95 RON. So even with Optimax some additional octane booster is needed to get to somewhere near 100 RON. If a low octane fuel is used then the map in the ECU may not cope and detonation may occur, if bad enough it will blow the engine. UK cars have a different ECU map to cope with the worst fuel you could throw at it (within reason ).

On my classic I get around 240 - 250 miles from a tank (60l), i.e. the fuel light is on but only takes 50l to fill. On a long run 300 miles, enthusiastic driving 150-200 miles or worse.

Regarding the AA check, if you're buying privately then it is probably worthwhile, however if you can see if you can find a local Scooby specialist to look at it, they will know so much more than the average AA inspector does. From a dealership it's supposed to have a multipoint inspection prior to sale plus you can take it back if a major fault developes.

Good luck

Jimmy Dell

As Vegescoob has helpfully pointed out, pop over and visit the good folks of Scoobycity. You'll get lots of helpful 'local' advice on there.

Welcome to SN as well.

oakey100

I bought a brand new WRX end of Sep, done 2200 miles. I have only run it on Optimax, so don't know what it is like any anything else. Will stick with the Optimax though! If you drive a lot with the engine not really warm (say 5 miles, my distance to work), I get about 19 mpg, longer trips and motorways about 22 mpg. Really ragging it round country lanes, not gettin out of 3rd I get bout 14mpg. The engine is still loosening up so should get better!

I would only buy uk models, with FSH.

Good luck

ndwall

Thanks for the advice. So in theory I should be OK with Unleaded.

I have three dealerships near me all offer test drives but not sure if they are keen on th 24 hour one's.

I'll take a look at scoobycity

Thanks again. Now must sell me ST24.