P1 buying advice...
10 February 2005, 07:14 PM
#1
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P1 buying advice...
Hello!
Just registered there, looking to buy a P1 in the next few months. Never owned a Scooby before so just looking for any ideas/advice from you guys, milage to look for, probs, extras, price etc etc
Any help would be appreciated!
Cheers
Barry
Just registered there, looking to buy a P1 in the next few months. Never owned a Scooby before so just looking for any ideas/advice from you guys, milage to look for, probs, extras, price etc etc
Any help would be appreciated!
Cheers
Barry
11 February 2005, 06:42 PM
#3
Haven't quite worked out how to attach a lionk to a previous thread, but I gave this advice to someone before so have cut and pasted - hope it's useful:
Hello Mate,
You'll probably get this from the P1WOC, but I can't access that from work at the mo so here's my tupence happeny's worth...
As well as the usual things to look for when buying any car -
The standard brakes are beyond rubbish, so you should find a car which already has a brake upgrade (plenty of them have done this) - if you have options go for one with an AP racing 4 pot kit - this might mean that you'll need bigger wheels - so if you can find one with the 18 Prodrive option fitted, that's 600-800 saved (or at least factored in to the purchase price for you already!). Different schools of thought on whether the standard 17s or the optional 18s give a better ride, but the 18s fill the arches better and allow you to onstall BIG brakes, which are a must over the standards. If the car has the Prodrive kit, check there's plenty of life left in the discs as you may know they cost about £500 a set. Also check the clutch - as mine was knackered at 30K (and a few of the other P1 guys said their's went around the 35-40K mark - especially noticeable if you remap) if still original. AP Racing is the way forward with this.
Check the interior seats very well, as they are a total bgger to come by - took me months to find a replacement rear seat from a breakers duer to *** burns in the original (there a few which come up - some for sale earlier this week as it happens on Scoobynet, but as only 1000 cars were made you have to be lucky to find one trimmed in P1 cloth as it is different from the other coupe's cloth trim).
The paint work is quite thin and easily chips - so expect a few chips and stone dings - and factor in a Chips Away trip or equivalent body shop visit into your buying price - I had a lot of small stone dinks (about 6 or 7) removed and the front splitter and door edge resprayed for about £500, and it now looks mint (spiltter needed doing as AA inspection guy bumped it on the curb on his way back...as well as completely missing a few other major items such as headlamps being cracked - so beware IMHO!).
The other thing to check for, like with most cars, is the suspension bushes , as these can split or in hard use can be squeezed out of position - especially on the front. Not big money to replace, but a pain in the ase if lots of little things to do (from memory both fronts cost me about £70 I think - bushes are less than a tenner I think) - and you should opt for the STI ones as they are slightly harder should you need to change these).
Interior plsstic trim as with all classic shapes is not that durable but you can get replacement parts from any classic shape STi so don't worry too much about that.
A common fault with the 2 door body shells is window scratching due to dirt and other crp getting in between the window glass and the rubber protectors on the door. Replacing this strip and the glass only lasts so long before a repeat performance - if you have a warranty (see below!) this is covered and most dealerships I have heard of will change this no problem.
Lots of the guys worry about the warranties, or lack therof - in my opinon the warranty is not worth the paper it's written on - it technically only covers manufacturing/design defects which were inherent when the car was built (like the window scratching) and not wear and tear - however quite a few guys on the P1WOC have said that they have had worn out cutches and the like replaced under warranty - but I think they have been lucky. There have been a few engine blow ups, but I think a combination of bad fuel, too thin an oil, and modifications were to blame, and a car with over 30K on the clock, regularly serivced should be OK as inherent design flaws should have come to light by now (I'm preparing to be corrected...!!).
I understand that there were early incidents of melting pistons due to incorrect mapping when some of the early cars first came over but I think they were recalled and all remapped????
Other desireable additions are a Knocklink - to warn of pre-detonation and an exhaust system (assuming you want to modify for more performance). Most cars I've seem have the latter. The P1 is based on the STI V as you probably know but without some of the extra bits and pieces such as 2 pot rear brakes etc. As such it is quite stressed and Knocklink is worth the investment of £120 from a group buy.
You have to use a super unleaded - Optimax is favourite I think, but some people have said their P1 runs better on the BP ultimate (which is only 97 Ron as opposed to Optimax's 98).
I've had mine remapped by Bob Rawle and have spoken to a few others who have too, and we were all convinced of the improvement in smothness and pickup.
A piece of advice re servicing - I've got a real bee in my bonet about the standard of dealership service on my car. I've used three dealerships and they were utterly useless and clueless about the car - and overpriced. Dealerships in my experienced are not very used to seeing the special edition cars and treat them as novelty items. When I picked mine up after a service it had 40 miles on the clock and I assume that all the guys jumped in to have a go. IMO you should get the car serviced at a subaru specialist, who know the more stressed cars much better as they see them day in and day out and generally offer a better service - all IMHO and due to bad personal experience!!
Having said all of the above, and to confess that I truely LOVE the P1, if I had my time again, and had known a bit more about tuning before I bought the car, I would probably have gone for an import STI iv or v for around £12K and spent the extra 5K on mods/insurance increase. The P1 as you know has a limited edition bumper and front splitter and this makes these parts pime targets for thieving scum. I get nervious if I leave the car parked out of sight for too long, and whilst the other Scoobs are not that discreet, the replacement parts are more common place and hence cheaper and so less likely to be nicked. The P1 is awesome, as you know it has different suspension from the standard STI, is rapid, and in my opinion looks the business. But you can achieve the same performance with an import STI which will have extra goodies like 2 pot rear brakes and electric folding mirrors, and a torque (front/rear) splitter on the R versions for less money.
Hope at least some of the above is useful (and accurate!). All the best with it.
Hello Mate,
You'll probably get this from the P1WOC, but I can't access that from work at the mo so here's my tupence happeny's worth...
As well as the usual things to look for when buying any car -
The standard brakes are beyond rubbish, so you should find a car which already has a brake upgrade (plenty of them have done this) - if you have options go for one with an AP racing 4 pot kit - this might mean that you'll need bigger wheels - so if you can find one with the 18 Prodrive option fitted, that's 600-800 saved (or at least factored in to the purchase price for you already!). Different schools of thought on whether the standard 17s or the optional 18s give a better ride, but the 18s fill the arches better and allow you to onstall BIG brakes, which are a must over the standards. If the car has the Prodrive kit, check there's plenty of life left in the discs as you may know they cost about £500 a set. Also check the clutch - as mine was knackered at 30K (and a few of the other P1 guys said their's went around the 35-40K mark - especially noticeable if you remap) if still original. AP Racing is the way forward with this.
Check the interior seats very well, as they are a total bgger to come by - took me months to find a replacement rear seat from a breakers duer to *** burns in the original (there a few which come up - some for sale earlier this week as it happens on Scoobynet, but as only 1000 cars were made you have to be lucky to find one trimmed in P1 cloth as it is different from the other coupe's cloth trim).
The paint work is quite thin and easily chips - so expect a few chips and stone dings - and factor in a Chips Away trip or equivalent body shop visit into your buying price - I had a lot of small stone dinks (about 6 or 7) removed and the front splitter and door edge resprayed for about £500, and it now looks mint (spiltter needed doing as AA inspection guy bumped it on the curb on his way back...as well as completely missing a few other major items such as headlamps being cracked - so beware IMHO!).
The other thing to check for, like with most cars, is the suspension bushes , as these can split or in hard use can be squeezed out of position - especially on the front. Not big money to replace, but a pain in the ase if lots of little things to do (from memory both fronts cost me about £70 I think - bushes are less than a tenner I think) - and you should opt for the STI ones as they are slightly harder should you need to change these).
Interior plsstic trim as with all classic shapes is not that durable but you can get replacement parts from any classic shape STi so don't worry too much about that.
A common fault with the 2 door body shells is window scratching due to dirt and other crp getting in between the window glass and the rubber protectors on the door. Replacing this strip and the glass only lasts so long before a repeat performance - if you have a warranty (see below!) this is covered and most dealerships I have heard of will change this no problem.
Lots of the guys worry about the warranties, or lack therof - in my opinon the warranty is not worth the paper it's written on - it technically only covers manufacturing/design defects which were inherent when the car was built (like the window scratching) and not wear and tear - however quite a few guys on the P1WOC have said that they have had worn out cutches and the like replaced under warranty - but I think they have been lucky. There have been a few engine blow ups, but I think a combination of bad fuel, too thin an oil, and modifications were to blame, and a car with over 30K on the clock, regularly serivced should be OK as inherent design flaws should have come to light by now (I'm preparing to be corrected...!!).
I understand that there were early incidents of melting pistons due to incorrect mapping when some of the early cars first came over but I think they were recalled and all remapped????
Other desireable additions are a Knocklink - to warn of pre-detonation and an exhaust system (assuming you want to modify for more performance). Most cars I've seem have the latter. The P1 is based on the STI V as you probably know but without some of the extra bits and pieces such as 2 pot rear brakes etc. As such it is quite stressed and Knocklink is worth the investment of £120 from a group buy.
You have to use a super unleaded - Optimax is favourite I think, but some people have said their P1 runs better on the BP ultimate (which is only 97 Ron as opposed to Optimax's 98).
I've had mine remapped by Bob Rawle and have spoken to a few others who have too, and we were all convinced of the improvement in smothness and pickup.
A piece of advice re servicing - I've got a real bee in my bonet about the standard of dealership service on my car. I've used three dealerships and they were utterly useless and clueless about the car - and overpriced. Dealerships in my experienced are not very used to seeing the special edition cars and treat them as novelty items. When I picked mine up after a service it had 40 miles on the clock and I assume that all the guys jumped in to have a go. IMO you should get the car serviced at a subaru specialist, who know the more stressed cars much better as they see them day in and day out and generally offer a better service - all IMHO and due to bad personal experience!!
Having said all of the above, and to confess that I truely LOVE the P1, if I had my time again, and had known a bit more about tuning before I bought the car, I would probably have gone for an import STI iv or v for around £12K and spent the extra 5K on mods/insurance increase. The P1 as you know has a limited edition bumper and front splitter and this makes these parts pime targets for thieving scum. I get nervious if I leave the car parked out of sight for too long, and whilst the other Scoobs are not that discreet, the replacement parts are more common place and hence cheaper and so less likely to be nicked. The P1 is awesome, as you know it has different suspension from the standard STI, is rapid, and in my opinion looks the business. But you can achieve the same performance with an import STI which will have extra goodies like 2 pot rear brakes and electric folding mirrors, and a torque (front/rear) splitter on the R versions for less money.
Hope at least some of the above is useful (and accurate!). All the best with it.
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