Am I sick or just mad!

Here I am looking at buying an Impreza at last! Now I have the money what I need to know is what and why is the best value turbo'd Impreza to buy and keep standard. Is it a new UK WRX. Euro WRX. old UK turbo. import WRX. Import STI. What is the best value for money Impreza? everyone must have an opinion about this one!
thanks mad

Adam M

The best value one is surely the oldest and cheapest?

The car is fairly relaible assuming it is standard and services are maintained. Performance differences can be huge, but on the whole all standard cars are super quick. SO bu a 6k one and look after it.

I have probably spent double that just modding mine (at least).

Am I sick or just mad!

Adam the £6K one might be the cheapest but is it the best value one if it keeps needing bits replacing as it is getting old and worn out now?
mad

Adam M

as i said, so long as you maintain it like any other (cam belts every 45,000 brakes, clutches if necessary) teher is no reason why it should need any more money than any other impreza. Change oil regularly etc. Standard engine runnign standard boost is very capable, and the older ones stand a chance of being closed deck blocks!

Am I sick or just mad!

Whats a closed deck block?
mad

Adam M

its an older type of engine block that has more metal supporting the cylinders than on the later open decks. It isnt really worth worrying about now!

Am I sick or just mad!

Would just like to say Adam you are a top bloke. No one else seems to have an opinion on here.
mad

Kippax

You could buy a modded Sti5/6, 320 break, under 20,00 miles, 15/17K, FSH.

Very good value.

[Edited by Kippax - 10/23/2001 3:47:37 PM]

Am I sick or just mad!

The STI ones do seem good for the money but I saw on the telly once, that guy that use to do top gear something Wilson I think, saying that alot of them are nicked from Japan and besides they are not ment to run on uk petrol and so keep blowing up. How do you STI owners keep affording the rebuilds?
mad

scoobyhead

I brought a MY 95UK scooby with 66000 miles and full history,no mods.Im in the forces in Germany.I was worried sick it would let me down.It did 6 trips to Germany and back in the first 2 months of having it.It is without a doubt the most fun and reliable car ive ever driven,and ive had a few!

It cost me 8 grand,talk about value for money!!!

Good luck with your choice!!

Adam M

first of all,

just a quick suggestion. It isnt wise to spam the general forum with posts about big feet and how fast you have travelled, people will get annoyed and it doesnt accomplish much.

If you want to do that, post them in the muppet forum, you wil still get replies.

as far as quentin wilson is concened, dont worry about him. he likes to scare monger.

Both my imprezas have been imports and while it is true that uk 95 ron fuel isnt great for them, there are steps that can be taken to make everything ok. It is a performance car as it is so is better run on 97 ron super or 98.6 optimax (not conveinced by this 0.6 lark).

If worried about history when purchasing, you can insist on a check to guarantee it wasnt stolen from japan.

It was stated that teh impreza was not one of the biggest targets in those organised theft rings.

Dont believe a lot of the crap you hear. If the engines did keep blowing there would be no demand for them, and lots of us on here wouldnt own them. Engines do go, but only if you dont know what you are doing. As I said, take the right steps and the motoring is hassle free if you want it that way. I like to complicate things by modding my car all the time.

Am I sick or just mad!

Adam you have re-inforced my view that you are a top bloke by giving me some constructive advice with regards to Impreza's and also being able to see past my strange sense of humour as well. It has been taken on board now the sad thing is if only other people could be so constructive in what they say
mad

robs

Get a cheap one. A bit of hunting should get you a clean, early, fSsh standard UK for < £6K. Mine has now done 107K (got it at 82K, 3 years ago). The only thing I have had to do is replace the rear discs, tyres, and service it. Services are not cheap, but they aren't on new ones either....Don't know how much more it will depreciate, but it won't be as much as a newer one!!! I'm sort of guessing (hoping!) that prices will level out a bit for older ones, as Cossies etc. A standard UK will be cheaper to insure.

Mark A

iTrader: (1)

I bought mine(early 94 with 50k miles) from Japan for £3500, it needed a little work including the SVA, the shocks & clutch are worn but if you budget for this type of thing it really is a bargain.
100% happy with it, I use it everyday to do 100 mile round trip & I will buy another from Japan in acouple of years from one of the large companies on the internet.
Check out showatrade.com

Cheers Mark. Any help needed I'm sure people here will guide you, they did me & I was greatful.

ScoobyDoo555

I've got an MY95 UK 5dr. It's now got 77K on the clock and has (touch wood) never let me down. The only things that have gone wrong are -

1. Faulty boot lock on Central locking (fixed under warranty)
2. Rear wiper stopped working - faulty relay (fixed under warranty)
3. Rear wheel bearing (fixed under warranty)
4. Hesitance from 1.5K - 2K (then the normal Impreza gring takes over !!!!) FIXED using RunRite (see Pete Jackson @ Listers Worcester) Fault - engine coverd in carbon deposits. Results? WOW!!!

Changed the seats over to the bucket/sport seats, but in the orginal cloth trim - makes one hell of a difference!!!

http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/thread.asp?ThreadID=50721

Other than that, I've got Scoobysport MIM 17" wheels on it (just getting some new tyres) and a cool ICE.

I will be keeping my car for AGES - I love it. When I change it, I'll still probably go for another older one (LOADSA character!!)

Hope this helps,

Dan

DARREN

I've been running a 96 STi for 18 mths and had no problems at all,its serviced when it should be,recent cambelt and run on Optimax and millers octane booster.
No problem whatsoever!!!!!!!!!
Darren

neveryoumind

IF you're going UK then buy as new a car as you can afford, the interior got better year on year. I started looking for a MY96 UK to start with and ended up with a MY99.
Purely because the interior is sooooo much more liveable with.
<cough, bigger wheels cough bigger spoiler cough better looking, cough nice and shiny in the showroom cough>
It's coming up to it's third birthday (January) and has 65k on the clock. September Dyno showed everything as expected, with no nasty build quality surprises so far (touches wood/cheap grey plastic )

robs

Yes, later cars have better seats, better looks (if bigger wings and more holes in the bonnet are your thing!), and a teeny bit more power. Ultimately, they ALL look pig ugly (oops!!??), and are full of cheap plastic, but that's not why you buy one is it - it's because they handle and go like stink??!! We're looking at value here...so given that they are as reliable as a reliable thing, the main points to consider are reducing depreciation (older the better?), avoiding major outlay on parts (FSSH will help), low insurance (UK rather than import/special), and running costs. So an older UK model, with FSSH, has to be the answer...

Rob Mo

iTrader: (1)

an older model!

I brought an MY00 wagon, I love it , can't compliment the cars as a build enough, still having the traditional clutch judder problems, and as a new mota (ish), the 6 monthly services and wax treatments cost some dough, even if you use such excellent places as Scoobysport.
The problem is, if you turn into one of us car crazed muppets (and I'm not at all bad), you will never be happy, Ok UK cost for me last September was about £20k, but immediately I needed to lose the twin pipes and got an sti box, now in the post is the scoobysport rear section ( desperate for the rest of the zaust but got a wife and child and neighbours!!! ), next, by the time I reach 13k miles will be tyres, but oh no!, we can't do that, we want 17" or 18" rims too!!!.

what I am saying is that the less you pay, for what at the end of the day is a superb reliable fun car, the more cash you have to turn it into a super superb reliable fun car...oh yeah, from what i've heard, be careful of what chip set you might dabble with, and don't drive with turbo turned up ALL the time...otherwise, I myself would probably on hindsight have purchased an older model, even thought about chopping in mine but would lose too much, and it's fair to say, I know how mine's been treated ( I love it to bits, and am nearly divorced!!!).

hope this helps, just an opinion though!

rob