RS3

My old man is after a WRX Sportwagon, buying new as is lured by the main dealer offering a reasonable trade in, £500 free options and 3 years free servicing on an 05 model based on the list price of about 21500GBP

Hows about some advice on preferred colours, "essential" options, alternative places to buy (bearing in mind his somewhat rigid beleifs mean he wants a UK only car) and views on resale in 2-3 years...

A good buy? Opinions?

Cheers

Dave.

corradoboy

Colourwise, WR Blue is superb as long as you accept that almost every other car out there is the same colour. I think black is stunning on the new-age cars, but it'll be a biatch to keep clean. Everyone's in a hoop about the new Crystal Grey colour. I haven't seen it in the metal, but it looks very close to silver, and should have been a bit darker IMHO. Nearer RB5 gunmetal colour. You'll probably have to haggle harder for a good discount on any colour except blue, and allowing for trade-in try to get the price below £19.5k.

As for essential options, the PPP (Prodrive Performance Pack) free's up the cars power and makes it what it should be before EU nannying regulations steal its thunder. Make sure your insurance is OK with it though. Prodrive springs are superb, and you may want to consider a brake pad upgrade at some point, but there's little point paying for the Subaru ones. Just run the OE stuff 'til they're shot and then get something like EBC Reds. Cosmetically, wagons look sweet with roof bars and the rear wing, and some nice tints would be Apart from that, some bling 18" alloys will finish it off nicely. I'd go for PFF7's if you've got the cash, or OZ Superleggera aftermarket.

Baby Blue

I have just taken delivery of a new Crystal Grey 5dr, a bit difficult to keep calling myself Baby Blue (it was my DBM 4dr). Looks fantastic, colour is very close to std wheels.

The only advice I can really give is shop around. I ended up buying from Stan Palmer in Carlisle & I live in Nottingham. Can't fault Palmers - superb customer service and really nice guys to deal with. Well worth the 400 mile round trip to pick it up

Including a good trade in price and interest on pcp I saved over £4k on list price

Can't afford PPP just yet but then it still has to be run in so have made do with WRSport back box for the burble.

BB

shaunywrx

How about this one, got ppp fitted, it'll keep up with my mate's 02 sti

shaunywrx

Oh, don't know where you are in the country, but Ashburton Motor's in Devon, will alway's do a good deal, and the service is second to none.

mattdoyle

I have a o4 wagon in black(brilliant colour with the gold fleck in), I am saving up for the PPP(or similar), definately change the back box(I have a Subaru WR Sport) as this increases the preturbo response and sounds wonderful.

My previous was a 98 wagon and there is no comparison. Also own a Legacy Outback.

How many cars can you fit wife, 3 kids and dog in and still see off a boxster!!

936ADL

I may be biased but i'd go for black every time.

PPP is a must. I also went for prodrive springs, privacy glass from the B pillar back, and i also had it de-tangoed. The de-tango is definitely worth doing, especially if you go for black. It makes a massive difference, nd gives a much cleaner look.

I've recently also fitted PFF7s which look the dog's'.

austen_wrx

I'm sure mark won't mind me posting this, its is a lovely looking car with some very nice subtle (and not so subtle) mods

Squadron-Leader

I got a good deal in April last year from my local dealer (Gatwick Subaru) with a fare trade in on my 99 Wagon for a new 04 WRX Wagon.

They had a silver one in stock, so I did the deal on a Friday and picked her up on the following Wednesday

Trouble so far....

a) Gear box changed at 10K due to play and noise issues
b) Crank or Cam sensor re-aligned due to dodgy staring issues
c) A few rattles here and there but, nothing major

Mods so far....

a) STI Fog light covers
b) Ninja Back box
c) Prodrive lowering kit and geo set-up
d) Blitz Boost and Oil Temp gauges
e) Scott Lowe front splitter (well almost)

Thoughts so far....

a) Cabin is better finished than my 99 by a long way
b) Doors go thud
c) Performance is similar to that of my 99 but, power delivery is smoother and spread out across the rev range
d) It carries a surprising amount of load with the rear seats forward
e) There's enough room for the wife, 11 month old daughter and me on trips away
f) Seats are not as good as the 99-02 models but, they're a bit plusher
g) Air-con makes the engine lumpy and upsets the performance. This is identical to my 99

All in all I'm happy. The Prodrive lowering kit has really made a difference to the handling, though after driving around for 3 weeks with it... the woo hooo factor has disappeared a bit. Solid rear drop links and ARB will help I guess

It's one of those cars that's got everything IMHO. Performance, load carrying, good engineering, a few faults, not the fastest thing out there but does go, modding capability, wife friendly, and great fun to drive.

Would I get rid of it? Hell yes..................... if I had a spare 60K to spend on an Audi RS6 Avant!

J.

RS3

Thanks for the above pointers... I was thinking that the new silver / grey was an ideal colour too. The WR Blue is a no go as "It's too close to that Nogaro colour on your Audi!"

Any views regarding resale and residual values of WRXs vs GXs?

I wouldn't bother, the RS6 is a real pudding, admittedly a very fast pudding, but nevertheless you'd be better keeping the WRX and buying a second car too

ScoobySu

On a 42 month PCP on a relatively low mileage (8k pa) we've been quoted a balloon of just over £7.5k - much lower than the ballon we were quoted 3 years ago of £9.5k.

But if you think scoob residuals are bad, take a look at the Volvo V50 T5! Very nice stealth mobile that went almost as quickly as the scoob but drank petrol even faster (it kept beeping to tell you how many miles left in the tank - when we drove off the forecourt it said 60, and 1 mile down the road it said 35!). Lower insurance group, better loading bay BUT residuals were terrible!!! £25k plus to buy - ballon after 3 years @ 8k pa ................. £7k!!!

We went for the Crystal Grey as we wanted a stealth car - it looks brilliant (even after doing 400 miles in 2 days), especially with red callipers! Give Ian at Stan Palmers a ring!

SS

umeerw

the wagons do look gorge, i would def go for the leather upgrade, costs i know but really does fiinish off the cars somewhat drabby interior. Anyone know how long it takes to oreder and have the PPP fitted.
umeer

Baby Blue

Providing you don't want Crystal Grey or an SL, dealers can get them in a few days. Took nearly 4 weeks to get ours but well worth the wait

BB (Scooby Su's other half )

RS3

SL? Is that the one with leather and sunroof? Anything else on the SL over standard?

umeerw

i think its just heated seats and a few other electric gadgets

Baby Blue

S = Sunroof
L = Leather (heated)

Even dealers will tell you that it's not worth the extra cash - cheaper to get leather upholstery aftermarket.

BB