Kimmy25

Hi guys and girls

I'm new on here and really need some help. I am looking to buy an Impreza but don't know an awful lot about them. I had a go in a WRX a few years ago and have been dreaming about getting one ever since.

I've got up to 3.5k to spend. After looking at a few quotes i'm expecting to pay around £850 - £900 on insurance. I've got full no-claims and i'm 26.

Is the WRX 2.0 turbo the one to go for? I obviously want the best I can get for my kinda pathetic budget.

Any advice please...

The Chief

Get a bog standard UK Turbo if you can but dont take this the wrong way but you'll struggle with 3.5k - and get an inspection, dont touch anything without history

Kimmy25

Yeh, thought I might struggle with only £3.5k to spend. I've seen a couple in Autotrader for that price (even £3k) that look pretty tidy. Should I not touch them with a barge pole or do you think it's possible to pick one up worth having?

I'll def get it checked out. Do you think an import is a no no?

When you say Turbo do you mean the WRX? There's an STI too isn't there?

Cheers for the advise mate

The Chief

If you buy an Import make sure it is mapped to run on UK Fuel i.e. 97/98ron as jap cars run on 100 ron.

dont let big mileages put you off though, there are plenty of examples with over 100k on the clock that run great

BLACK V5

Uk cars are called turbo. Only import classics are called a wrx. These have more power and are normally better spec. Insurance can sometimes be almost double compared to a uk car though.

Kimmy25

Ahh. I didn't know that about the Turbo vs WRX = UK vs Import

I'll bear that in mind about the insurance, fuel, inspection and mileage too.

So do you guys think whatever I get for my budget will be a bit of a shed or is it worth having a scout around?

gaz c

if you can save another £1000 it will give you a lot more choice. wheather you go for an import or uk dont buy the first one you see. have a good look round theres lots to choose from. if you look at an import ask the owner what fuel he uses. if he says normal unleaded walk away. these should be run on at least ultimat or optimax. (with octane boost as an option). if you take a scooby for a test run and you can smell burnig oil dont panic. its a coman fault with early classics. the rocker cover gaskets are allways leaking. oil drips onto exhaust up pipe and burns the oil. make sure the cars got some history. dont worry about high miles they are a strong car.

good luck.

gaz c.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

TBH with £3500 you're going to look at 99 complete 5hitters before you find a good one unfortunately. Most of the stuff around this price is straight from the dock auctions, will have no history, a questionable mileage, be rough as a dogs **** and will basically be the stuff no decent import dealers want to touch.

Definitely check with your insurance first, if they have quoted around £900 for a UK car, an import could be loads more than this. If the £900 is for an import, then a UK car will be cheaper to insure as its a couple of groups lower.

Kimmy25

Cheers for all the info guys! There's so much to know before I just jump in and buy one.

I've got a soft top at the moment so i'll keep it for the summer (probably not get a very good price for it at this time of year anyway). I'll save like mad between now and then and get as much info about Scoobies in the mean time so I don't get myself a duffer.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Best time to sell a soft top is in the spring because people buy them to use in the summer. If you try and shift it in the Autumn you'll get loads less - most car dealers dont even bother keeping them in stock once the summer has gone as they know they cant sell them.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Kimmy,

To be honest, I wouldn't- not with that budget. It's just too risky. U'd be looking at an import -probably with a question mark where its history should be! When you consider the age of the cars you'd need to be looking at and that WRXs need to have been run on SUL and OB to be safe on UK fuel, and that an engine rebuild would set you back 2.5k it just doesn't make good financial sense.

There is no such thing as a cheap Scooby I'm afraid, Sooner or later, you pay!

I've got a mint ultra low mileage MY99 Turbo at home, but when I look over my receipts for the last year and a half I've spent......erm, well, lets just say a four figure amount on servicing and consumables alone!!

Save yourself some heartache, save up more money or go for a cheaper car.

Sorry to be a merchant of doom!

Ns04.

StiX

iTrader: (4)

Have a look at this:

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...12#post5608612

Up for 4k, he might take 3.5k?

Its a UK Turbo which is near enough standard, with full service history and its just had a full service with cambelt change.

Its done 100k but thats not an issue if its been looked after, which this looks like it has.

My old MY95 WRX had done 102k, and my current MY00 96k - both excellent cars and very reliable.

This looks a good first impreza turbo to me.

The Chief

I totally agree with above, you'll say you wont spend anything on it but trust me one way or the other you will do.

I paid 6800 for mine and i have spent over 2k on it already.

Its addictive

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Yep, but I wasn't even referring to mods; just servicing and consumables that you need to keep the car runing correctly.

Ns04

Kimmy25

This isn't sounding very hopeful!

I'm going to keep doing a bit of research. There's a hell of a lot to learn

Had a look at that one for £4k Stix. Cheers for that mate! Looks like a nice car that's been well looked after. In my price range too and it's a UK one like you guys advised.

There's also the Mica Black one in the cars for sale section. The guy seems pretty keen to get rid of it as he's bought a new one and is open to offers.

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

Always risky to buy at the bottom end of the scale.

10+ year old performance car with 100k+ miles and no budget for breakages?

StiX

iTrader: (4)

As everybody says, these are not cheap cars and very expensive if things go wrong.

So if you still want to get one, minimise the risk by buying one like I suggested. i.e UK, full service, unmodded or slightly modded.

The mica black one, if thats the one with 128k, has a lot of mods. You'd be better advised to stick to a standard one.

The Chief

Thats without the mods

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

I'd steer well clear of one with high miles and mods if you've got no budget for repairs, you're getting to a stage where consumables might need replacing, already. Assuming your consumables are all in good order, it's still advisable to take a newly acquired 2nd hand car for a good service: many people would advise an interim and cambelt change as a minimum (that's £300 plus straight away). If you don't and the cambelt lets go, that's 2.5k for an engine rebuild.

Here are the service prices from where I get my car done (and they are a reasonably priced specialist).

http://www.xtremescoobies.co.uk/servicing.htm

You really must not cut corners with the servicing and maintenence of these cars of they will cripple you financially.

I hope I don't sound too much like a moaning git, but you really do need to go into this with your eyes open- too many people think they're getting a cheap car end of story, when -in reality- you're getting a car cheap that costs a lot to run!

Ns04

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Got my cam belt done for £160 I reckon you can get a half decent scoob for £3.5k although if you do not know a lot about them id suggest finding someone that does to help you. I sold my old scoob for around that price last year,it had some jap history(made no sense to me)I had changed the cam belt
as soon as i bought it and had an oil change . It was definitely not a ****ter and if it was not for the fact i sold it in February i would have made my money back on it.

rs_daz

Sorry to jump post but Im in the same situation at the mo, just selling my rs turbo at the mo and will have around 5k to spend on a smart uk turbo.Having owned a turbo before I know turbo cars arnt cheap to run my rs turbo does about 35miles on £15 how far is a std uk turbo off that?

BLACK V5

Bloody hell. That works out not much more than 10mpg? Id get about 70 out of my JDM WRX.

I mean 70 miles on £15. Not 70mpg. LOL

rs_daz

Yeah its pretty poor on mpg heavly tuned to its eye ***** lol and i use it as a everyday car..
70 miles on 15 thats more like it cheers for the info

95blackWRX

i have a 95 wrx i would chose an import and if u go to bell.co.uk for insurance u will only pay 600 i am 26 with full no claims and thats how much i pay u mb better with about 4 grand to spend