nozzlewizard

Hello people, hope this is the right place for this sort of thing, here goes

I'm new to subarus, fancied an Impreza for ages but never gone closer than a look in a dealers (just before the previous shape came out)

Whilst doing the usual thing on sunday, lying on the couch watching top gear reruns on TV waiting for sunday lunch Clarkson was driving in Scotland in a Evo and the Impreza, got me thinking about owning one again, a quick look on autotrader took me by surprise though, prices aren't ridiculously high for such an impressive car, even latest shape WRX STIs seemed very very tempting.
An Impreza now well and truly the next car for me, can some of you answer a few simple questions for me please?

Security wise are the standard cars safe to use everyday with out masses of extra security or is it loads of sleepless nights if I get one?

Is it a pain at all getting one insured if its the PPP spec model? not too dependent on this but if its any more than normal trouble getting a PPP insured then the standard car will be more than ok.

And as an outsider coming to Imprezas in general is there anything I need to look out for, like how to spot an import from a UK car?

Thanks

corradoboy

Standard security is very good, leading to the preferred method the ******* use is to come into your house and acquire the keys, as there is a transponder in the key which communicates with the ignition barrel and ECU. If you don't have the right key, the engine ain't doing nothing. The OE Sigma Cat1 alarm is OK and has some good extra features, the RAC Trackstar is OK for novice thieves but pro's know where it is and just rip it out. Best to add something like a Blackjax anti-hijack device and use a Disklok, or even better, fit a Dipol gear lock.

Insurance is easy with companies who can be arsed to know what they're insuring. Get quotes from A-Plan and Keith Michaels.

UK cars have "Type UK" badging on the bootlid and the TMIC under the bonnet, and have the side airbag seats. The best cars however are the JDM imports, which are better in every respect.

Do plenty of research, on here, and try and get to a local meet to get as much knowledge as possible, and don't rush into buying any. They are fantastically reliable cars given the performance, but due to that they can have a hard life. Buying from an enthusiast may mean the car has been used much more sympathetically and serviced much more rigourously than some blokes company car that he doesn't give a hoot about. If you check the For Sale forum on here you can view the sellers previous 100 posts to get an idea what they're like and perhaps some nuggets of info about the car.

Only real recurrent problem on new STi's are the rear suspension top-mounts and batteries that go flat.

HTH, and welcome to SNet

nozzlewizard

Thanks, already spotted a gem on here in the for sale section, just a bit soon for the funds