markpaskin

I currently do not own a Scooby but have been thinking about it for some time. I'm looking out for an RB5 at the right money/condition but I keep reading peoples comments about how much it costs to keep the things.

How much do you pay on average a year, (ignoring MOT/Insurance/TAX..)

What are the servicing costs, etc ?

GrahameS

Do a search, it's been asked loads of times on here..

It's pretty expensive though..

GrahameS
(RB5 Owner )

Anger

iTrader: (4)

To much, but worth it

Turbotits

iTrader: (2)

Depends on how you keep it,whether you mod it or not and whether you have a major failure or not.I dont use mine all the time as i have a company van and i recon on about £2000 on fuel alone,Probably another £2000 on servicing and extras.Thats without anything going wrong.

ex-webby

This old chestnut again!

Personally, I would say that any turbo 2ltr car costs approximately the same to run. As regards to the Scooby, service internals are the norm and costs associated with these are no dearer than any other marque for a similar car.... especially when using independant well known servicing outlets. The same can be said for spares etc nowadays.

It obviously all depends on how many miles you do a year, as this greatly affects the money spent (as regards to fuel, service intervals etc etc). I mentioned fuel in passing, but that is probably the biggest outlay in these cars (again as with any 2ltr turbo'd car, dont expect 35mpg).

Put simply.... dont expect to have the same running costs as something like a 1.6 Saxo, but on the flip side you are getting a performance car.

Normally Scoobs are very reliable, so again this should not be a major concern (assuming you pick a good one to start with).

Regards,
Shaun.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

If you have to ask........

They tend to empty all our wallets mate, regardless of earnings, it's the only thing that costs more than a GF. Except a Scooby is more fun, doesn't break down for one week every month and won't answer back though!

You can't really exclude the cost of insurance on a Scooby as it will be substantial and you should take quotes into acccount in your budgeting.

I'm so sorry ladies of SN, I just couldn't resist...still bitter about an ex!

NS04

Turbotits

iTrader: (2)

LOL have to say i agree

markpaskin

LOL !

I have quite a good insurance quote from Tesco which is £790 for an RB5.
Considering I'm only 23 with 6yrs no claims I think thats amazing. I have had other quotes at 1.5k+.

I don't do to many miles, might start cycling to work to cut down on the miles and use the MRS's car for the mundane stuff.

I do have a contact in a garage that will do a lot of the work at cost, but I'd still get the servicing done at Subaru to keep up an unblemished servise history.

Anger

iTrader: (4)

That insurance quote sounds very good to me, im 29 with 4 years ncb and i pay £800

Squadron-Leader

Mark

Not that I'm sad (you understand) but I've kept a record of what I've spent on Impreza's since owning one. These figures DO NOT include Insurance, MOT, TAX or fuel. They're basically tyres, servicing, tracker subs and one or two mods.

MY99 - Sep 2001 to Mar 2004 (2 years 6 months) £4771.61
MY04 - Apr 2004 to date (1 year 6 months-ish) £1691.66

It's the modding bug and fuel that costs... so watch out! I've always used Subaru for servicing, so costs will be more. Here's what I've spent on servicing...

MY99...

3 year - £476.15
6 month - £137.67
4 year - £559.11
6 month - £202
5 year - £300

MY04...

1000 miles - £80
1 year - £220

Most of my friends think I'm mad, but I really don't spend my cash on anything else apart from the odd DVD, family take-away and magazines..... oh and plenty of polishing products

J.

markpaskin

Thanks for the insight, it doesn't look too to bat to me TBH. As with Squadron-Leader I don't spend much cash on much besides going on a few rally holidays through out the year.
I'm not sure how long the tyres will last with me behind the wheel though. I would think the most expense will be the fuel, tyres and servicing. Actually servicing is what I am most worried about, subaru charging what they want for a regular service.

Time to see about that pay rise......
....
...
..
.
.

davidpa

if the insurance, servicing and petrol does not hit you then the depreciation will hit you more...and the fact that the bring out more new models...

ukdave

quick answer is dont think about what they cost or you will never own one,go for a test drive/or drive a mates-buy one see how it goes if you dont like sell it at least youve had one.They arent cheap to run but love every minute when im driving mine 2years on! its the whole package-power, handling,sound and image even with the older cars so long as theyre tidy and not too chav you still get a certain amount of respect from other people-always makes me think ive bought something more special than it actually is (dont buy one if youre after keeping a low profile though lol)

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

Petrol is the main one

£47 to fill it upand should get you 200-210 miles !!!


sometimes even less f your having fun :d

250 if you drive like a Granny


Shop around as there is plenty decent scooby specialists now

£100 oilchange/filter

£300-400 main service every year

Tyres can last 8000-16000 miles @ 400 a set

Insurance might hit you next year as Tesco always give a cheap qoute for the first year

Depreciation isnt too bad now on older modles and if its a good one you will probably run it into the ground

Modification is the biggest expense as you always want to improve it .

But they are the BEST car in the world

(flame suit on )

and you just cant go back to a <normal> car after a scooby

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Ownership is expensive when compared to other far more superior and technically advanced cars.

Genuine Parts - VERY Expensive for what they are...not sure what I.M/dealers are thinking. Even though there is nothing "special" about them. The impreza is a very basic car..even the new ones. So why they inist on charging so much for wear and tear item (pads, discs, cambelts, tensioner/idlers). Make me wonder if this where Subaru actually make their money off the cars to offset the cheap retail prices. DIY is viable for the ultimate skinflint

Servicing - again expensive. Partly due to the parts above, the need for more frequent oil changes, and the gearbox/diff oils. Combined with Subaru labour rates makes it astonishing. Specialists are somewhat cheaper. But complete independents with trusted reputation that deal with any car can be even cheaper.

Aftermarket modified parts - Again expensive for what they are...it's a sellers market so parts manufacturers charge what they like. It really is a case of think of a number, the bigger the better. And then promote it on every tuners mag/site.

Fuel consumption: Driven mildly 24mpg round town, 28mpg A-road, may push 30 cruising at 70mph. Put your foot down too much and it goes sub 20mpg very easily. Added that some models depending on spec have to use 97RON or 97RON + octane booster makes it even more expensive. Although a non PPP UK market car is perfectly fine on 95Ron making little difference - except for the cost (other will argue that, I'm sure ).

Of course, then there is insurance

The cost of MANDATORY visible physical and electronic security - Alarm/immobiliser isn't enough, the scum only realise it has one after they've broken in and tried to unsucessfully hot wire it.

As for personal costs (copy/pasted from my spreadsheet):
I average 25mpg,

Servicing is done in house my myself. So I only pay for parts, fluids and VAT.

Oil change (every 6months /6K
£40

Basic service (every year/15K ):
£45 (oil and filter, screen wash and a washer and general inspection)

Main service (every 2years/30k - all fluids plugs and filters changed, )
£130

Cambelt service (every 3years/45k ):
Belt £70 (gates)
Tensioner £100
Idler £60 x 2
fluids/filters £40

(total ranges from £110 to £330 depending if a new tensioner and/or idlers are needed- usually the latter )

Overall costs in PARTS ALONE in the past 5 years according to my spreadsheet has amounted to £1580.

Cheap until you realise NOTHING has gone wrong on the car (yet) except for an idler pulley and a air by-pass valve. If you add labour to above amount, you can easily tripple it


edit: Currently, looking at the figures, the Honda NSX is working out to be the cheaper car to run on both servicing AND petrol

Banana HavoK

About £13.5 million a year give or take a buck or two

kend

1 arm

1 leg

Dave uk blue mica

they cost a fortune and probably the most expensive car to own i've ever had, fuel economy is dreadful even if you drive it slowly, servicing can work out stupid money and the car needs to be serviced often, if money is an issue then don't buy one mate, the idea of if you don't like it then sell it isn't good cos their not selling well at the moment either so you could find yourself stuck with a car you can't afford to own yet can't sell either.

T5OLF

iTrader: (4)

I bought mine last week(93 wrx ra) after months of saving. I knew the costs involved from looking at this site. I am lucky in that i can do all my own work on the car and my mate owns 2 garages with ramps and all the gear, he also does a great line in credit!!

The main cost if you can do all your own work is fuel and parts, i have spent 95 quid in 7 days on juice and thats just nipping up town and taking my mates for a blast up the bypass by friday it will need filling again!!

And stay away from the parts for sale section on here and ebay as well, i have spent £600 this week on bits. I had to sell my track day golf just to pay off my over draft.
Try and avoid the cars with the close ratio box as 60mph is about 3200 rpm thats whats killing me... and the fact that its the most addictive car i have ever driven, The chip shop run involves going up the bypass 3 times and a lap or 2 round town.

If you can afford to run one then get one you will not be disapointed.

Trap2Terrorist

iTrader: (3)

To be honest, if you don't catch the modding bug, it's expensive on fuel, servicing and insurance.

If anything goes wrong with the car it is expensive to put right (I should know).

If you do get into the habit of "I'll just upgrade this and replace that", it get's even more financially draining (again, I should know).

However, great car. Great to drive, great fun.

Go and buy one now. I know a lad with an RB5 and it is very nice, great looking car.

markpaskin

I haven't been put off yet !

I'm going to have to be carefull with my spending, maybe miss a WRC rally or two next year but I have just got to get one !

It's all I am thinking about now, it's starting to drive me insane. I have a friendly garage/MOT Testing station, they can do the non specialised work for me. Petrol is not too much of an issue as I am self employed!
and I don't do that many miles anyway. (I might though! when I enjoy driving again!)

Anyone know what difference the WR version of the RB5 makes to the insurance premium? I do remember reading some time ago a guy said it wasn't too much more.

I doubt I'll get the modding bug, I've only gone minor things in the past to my cars to make them look tidier. I think the step up in power (from about 120 to 250?) will make do for a while!

Smatt

Imho buying one is the cheap bit. You can very quickly be on first name terms with your local petrol station cashier.
Still worth every penny though.

Greatnorth

So were looking at £100 per week pro rata all in?

as a rule of thumb over say 5 years ALL IN

speye91

my pockets are empty all the time like havin another girlfriend but go 4 it .....well worth it and i do the chippt run the same chippyis 1.5 miles but it takes me about 10 miles and after that still wanna go 4 another bag

nik52wrx

Thats not bad as Tesco quote me 650 on my MY03 STI UK with the Mrs, protected no claims (13yrs) and hire car.
I am 36 for the record.

markpaskin

Didn't think I'd see this old chesnut back again. I can now report that I have had my RB5 since November and I'm still in love with the car!

My average mpg is around the 20 mark, as low as 18 and as high as 23!

I have the WR version of the RB5 and it has a full de-cat so that explains why. I found the insurance more difficult to get than expected. When I went to buy the quoted Tesco insurance it turned out to be well over a grand. I had heard a few bad stories about people claiming through Tesco so I went with a different company around the same price.

PIC 1
PIC 2

See my website for more Pics. www.rallyxl.com

acko

you still got to have a tracker fitted with tesco? Good price for an STI.

Im with the AA and 34yrs full NC since the age of 17, car is My01 WRX and price is £502

So £650 for STI is good imho

ewanrw

Too expensive for me now I've taken a pay cut and no longer have a company car - £100 to £120 per week on fuel.

Wish I didn't have to get rid of it. Will get another one when I get a wage rise or two.

ewan

ewan