Slow_Ste

My first post here, so hi nice to meet u all.

Now what im here for is i want a new car, i want a scooby! Im just wondering what i should expect in terms of car age/model/mileage for my money. Also are there any inherrent faults with certain versions which i should look for. Ive got £7000 budgeted for the car and £1700 for insurance atm. Im 23 and have 1 year NCB, i currently drive a ford focus ....


Also how are the engines at high mileage generally? obviously it will depend on servicing and how its been driven etc, should i be put off by a scoob thats done 90k+ ?

Thx for your help.

Soulgirl

Hello

I bought my sti2 2 years ago... back then it was 8k but now you can pick older versions up quite cheaply. I have done some mods and to be honest I don't ever think about the worth in fiscal terms, just grin terms (at the last rolling road day I put out 280 BHP).

The insurance will probably hit you hardest but if you keep the purchase lean you will still be able to afford it. You can get good, and I mean very good older model imprezas... I guess, at the end of the day, it depends on what shape you have set your heart on. Even if I had all the money in the world I wouldnt go for the newer shaped ones... I just don't particularly like them.

Of course, when I bought my car I proceeded to spend about 1200 on a new exhaust/air induction and another 1000 on ice and recently 1000 on new wheels, 500 on exterior cosmetic surgery and have a new chip in the pipeline

The list is endless I guess though, without the personal taste mods you have to consider the cost of running. I use around £35 a week petrol and thats around 180 miles. Then I do two decent services a year at 300 each. And of course around 100 blank cd's a year coz I like my music compilations

WH03JAM

Only one thing you need to consider in owning a scooby.....


do you like Shell garages????

Soulgirl

Not only shell... BP fuel is good and I HAD to use Texaco on the way up to my latest soul weekender which also provide 97ron. I'm sure it was texaco?

NickPotts2

I think for 7k you could pick up any number of differing specs of scoobys around. I test drove a nice WRX for 7k not so long ago.
However, when I was looking into Scoobys a while back, I found that insurance companies seem to be particularly bothered about imports. I had my heart set on the WRX, only to find that the insurance for it was crazy! I was 26 with 3yrs no claims at the time.
In the end I bought a Toyota Supra, which is what I drive today. Having said that I purchased a Subaru Wagon turbo yesterday for a second car. The insurance of the turbo's seems to be a lot less. Obviously they are not as fast as a WRX or STI, but they are still quick imo.
Other guys may have more experiance on insurance. I think it will prove to be the deciding factor though if you are 23 with 1 yr NCB.

Nick

corradoboy

As Nick said, insurance will be your biggest hassle. I'd recommend looking at UK classic Turbo's. Just had a quick recce on Autotrader and at the sub £8k mark you'll find 99-01 Turbo's with as low as 37k. As it's your 1st Scooby and you're quite young, start low with an un-mod'd UK car and enjoy it for a few years. You can ad stuff as you go along like zorsts, chips, brakes & suspension mods, but by starting with a base UK car you can get over the insurance hurdles. It'll get easier after 25, and much easier after 30, and believe me, time flies when your having this much fun

Happy shopping, and welcome to SNet

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Hi mate,

I'm afraid you'll most likely need to budget much more for insurance: I paid £1800 for a UK turbo and I was 28 at the time. Insurance companies are very reluctant to insure under 25s on Scoobies now, probably the "chav effect" :-) Also please remember to take into account fuel and servicing costs! Scoobies prefer Optimax and if you want them to last then they have to be serviced to the letter of the manual by a specialist (saves money and generally better service than a dealer) With a 7k budget you need not be looking at higher milers. You could get a car with 50k for that quite comfortably. If you're going to buy one, there are several things you must look out for

-HPI and full RAC inspection essential
-Fsh essential
-Get one with as few owners as possible- see if you can speak to the previous owners if possible, but certainly spend time talking to the curent owner. If they thrash the car without warming it up, don't let it cool down etc...walk away then and there! Where has it been serviced. What oil petrol has it been run on? Does it have any mods? All questions you need to ask.

Hope this helps.

NS04