scooby11

Hi everyone, I'm newly registered here, though have been browsing this bbs for ages.

Finally hit the magic '25' (insurance purposes), and am looking to get a classic shape 99 or 00 turbo in mica blue. Wondering if anyone can advise on running costs, ownership, etc.

I have to drive loads for work (different client sites), so looking at about 300-400 miles a week or approx 20k miles a year on average.

I live in North London/Herts borders, what sort of servicing costs am I looking at, and what is the servicing frequency? any recommended specialist garages around these areas?

I'm estimating about £400 for servicing a year, taking into account my mileage above, or is that underestimating it? Is there a lot of price difference between main dealers and specialists?

Fuel efficiency I gather is approx 20-25 mpg, depending on how 'heavy footed' one is. Well, Im not that bothered about fuel effeciency at the moment anyway, i reckon the burble of the scooby engine will keep petrol worries away for a while.....

I have a budget of approx £8-10k, I reckon this can get me a decent sub 50k mileage classic?? just need to sell my current ford focus first...

Any views on the servicing costs/intervals/recommended garages will be appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

ns

Edmondo

Hi there


Have got a Mica Blue MY99 Turbo...Do about 300 + miles a week and just about a tank of fuel..£50.......Service every 7.5K costs me about £200 ( only cos eldest is a mechanic so get discount )....

Tim Caddick

Hi Scooby11. I've had a MY00 Dark Blue Mica Turbo for the last 4 years - Great motor. I do around 120 miles of town driving to £25 of Optimax, which is about 250 miles per tank. However, on longer runs/motorway work, I have had 350 miles out of a tank.

It still gets serviced as per the Subaru schedule, which is every 6000 miles, or every six months, whichever is the sooner. Subaru servicing has worked out to be between £150 & £180 for a "minor" service, and £480 for a "major" ( which is all the fluids & oils changed). As I only do around 6000 miles per year, my local Subaru dealer tailors the servicing for me, so I've seen 6 minors & 1 major so far.

There's no doubt about it, Imprezas are expensive to run when compared to ordinary cars like your Focus, but they easily find ways to make you forgive them that!

£8-£10K should easily find a 50k or less car, privately. Dealers like to add a hefty premium, like another £2k for a low mileage Classic, or at least that's my experience when wondering around my local forecourt. In December, I saw an ordinary looking P-reg Turbo (with leather) with £9k on its windscreen at the local franchise. Try looking around 2 or 3 dealers to get a better picture, & look at a number of private unmodified cars. It's worth putting the time in to buy the right one.

Good luck!

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Hmmmm.
Well most 99/00 cars are now 5-6 years old, that means on the 99's this year will probably mean a BIG 90k service (5-600 quid), on the 00's you wont have the cambelt change until 8 years (it changed from 3 to 4 years from 99 to 2000) so will reduce the cost slightly.
7.5k services are pretty cheap, normally less than 100 quid, 2 year are around 200ish, 1 year same as 7.5k, 2 per annum so.....
This excludes fuel of course, plus consumables like tyres etc.

Tony

Allan

iTrader: (1)

I've owned my MY00 from new, car will be five in Mar and has cost me a total of £9800 since I bought it.

This includes:
Dealer servicing, tax, insurance (about 700 PA), sundry items, tyres, exhaust (350), extended warranty (460), wheels (900).

Excludes: Petrol.

So for my basically standard car it's about 2K per year + petrol.

Allan

pappasmurf

Mine MY00 classic.
Good job your not worried about petrol consumption. I average about 21mpg on optimax.....your eyebrows will rise when you relise how much you do use in a year!
Serviceing costs about the same as my Transit i drive around in the week. 7.5K service intervals...£90 for interim and about £200 for the next.
Biggest expense will come when you relise you won't want to keep your car as standard and start spending on mods!....can become addictive.

finally, make sure you get a Scoob with a full service history.

scoobimax

I run a MY99 and I would recommend finding a good independant specialist. I'm lucky that scoobyclinic are on my doorstep.

If you decide to get one try this link, you could do a lot worse. I think this is a beauty;

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=395379

Max

scooby11

Thanks for all the information and advice. Very useful indeed. Is the servicing interval 6k miles or 7.5k miles?

I am viewing two this cars this weekend, one is a MY99 with 27k mileage, and another one is a MY00 with 42k on the clock. Not much difference in price.

Scoobimax, thanks for the pointer, but I think i will buy standard and then mod up to spec once I get 'used' to the power.

I'm not that worried about petrol costs, as company pays 40p per mile for all travel to client sites, which should cover petrol money if not servicing.

Again, thanks for all the help.

NS

scoobimax

AFAIK 7.5k service intervals on the classic, has changed to 10k on blobeye but not sure about bugeye - cambelt change is 45k or 3 years on MY99 and 60k or 4 years on MY00 according to the service book, but I know people with MY00 who've done it at 45k/3 years to be on the safe side.

Max

markGT

If you are worrying about running costs don't buy one, thats my advice. When I bought mine I couldn't care less that it drinks petrol at an alarming rate, however I now live in France and it only costs me £30 for a tank of petrol. I couldn't care about the servicing costs either. But what I did care about was the smile that it put on my face every time I look at it or drive it and thats all I care about when I buy a car. I am suprised when I read posts about people complaining about the costs of scooby ownership. Its well documented about how expensive they are to run, so why do people moan about it. If you want low running costs buy a Focus TDCI. So when people ask me about runing costs of the impreza I tell that I dont know and dont care!

Mikey Ace

iTrader: (1)

just one small word of caution.... your first years cost will be higher...

simply because you will large it up at every opportunity - because it's just sooooooo funny to accelerate/brake and corner like that... true, eh?

we got a my97 wrx sti version 3, and in 9000 miles we had nailed a set of tyres, front discs+pads and a clutch.... but it really was some serious fun.

We drive FAR more conservativley now, in fact, we may as well own a smart car for all the pace we have in our driving now...

Worth bearing in mind for the first few months running costs, so look for a car with nearly new tyres at least! Don't forget - ALL your mates will want a "demo" of the scoob.... and you'll want to show it off I'm sure. But it does cost a bit after loads of loony sessions.

By the way - best cars on the planet IMHO - you'll never regret it!

good luck.

mikey

TAINTON

Yep MY00 cambelt was done @ 42k just for piece of mind.....cost about £175 I think so not that bad.

Service costs as suggested aint that bad, especially of you find a specialist such as the clinic, tsl, extreme etc etc.
I personelly use the clinic due to their labour costs ie £20 hour.

Fuel is a knightmare drive it like a granny totally and you should see just over 300 miles froma full tank......I usually get about 250 from £44 mind you ive got the pack on so not sure if that affects consumption.

Best Ashley

scooby11

thanks people

the more i read your posts, the more I'm prepared for it, so it cant be that bad. I'm not that worried about running costs, but I do get what mikey's saying, ie first year costs will be more.

I really do like the classic shape much better than the more recent models, so I'm hoping I can pick up a decent one, if not then I'll go for a bug eye and get the headlamp conversion done.

I do agree specialists are the way forward, rather than main dealer, especially since warranty is not an issue for cars of this age.

will keep you updated on my search.

thanks again, great advice as always.

NS

heple1983

I own a MY99 - i get 100 max to £20 thats driving normally not screwing it just town driving.

If your checking 2, make sure you check all the gears THEY ARE RE-NOUNED FOR A SNICK INTO 5TH (which isnt good) also check the clutch on boost make sure its not slipping as this isn't cheap to replace (350 all in is a cheap job).

Hope this helps.

Craig