MikeySabes

Hello all,

im obviously a newbie here,

im 21, coming up 22 i have a ford fiesta si at the moment,

now i have a few years no claims my insurance is getting cheaper and i want a half decent car,

i live on a main road and my parents cars are on the drive, so i only have the road, so this is why i only have a fiesta, i would not dare leave an impreza outside my house over night as it would probably not be there the next morning,

yet my girlfriend lives 3 mins away from me and her dad has a nice big drive, which only 1 car is parked in, and he has as good as said i could keep it on his drive, i mainly stay over her house too so i will always be able to drive it,
id like it more as a toy too, not something to use to go to work in,

i will get on with my question now,

i am looking for advise on buying a subaru impreza WRX, i think this is the model i want but i need some help to confirm this,

some one i know has one of the newer shaped ones, he took me out in that a few weeks ago and since he did that, ive wanted to get one so much more, i think there amazing,

thing is, from where ive been looking, there are so many models

is there any advise you lot can give me when looking at one ?

certain things to watch out for,

+ another thing is, would you advise me getting one that is UK spec, or a jap import?

do i understand the jap ones are quicker ? but limited on the top speed

+ if i had a jap import, would getting parts be an issue ?

and the main question is, am i going to be able to get something that is half decent for £2500 ? up to 3.3k ? ideally the budget would be 2.8 but if it was something alot cleaner i would spend the few hundred more

im not looking for a newer one, i want one of the older ones, obviously id have a newer if i could get one for that kind of money,

ive been on auto trader and ebay looking, but they really only seem to be the older ones at that sort of money,

yet on this forum i have been looking at the cars for sale and ive seen some very nice ones which have been newer and at a nice price so to say,

+ with insurance, if i want a 2 litre turbo WRX, is there a certain model i need to be telling the insurance company ?

so far i have got insurance third party fire and theft for around £500

but i hope that is for the 2 litre turbo

and my last question is fuel related,

i am wondering how thirsty these are, everyone ive spoke to so far reckons there really crap on fuel, yet it seems like theres are getting better mpg then my fiesta, as my fiesta will do around 100 miles to £20-£25 driving it fairly careful ?

my friend with the newer shape one reckons he can get about 80 miles from £20 if he is giving it some stick, i thought that was good


sorry about my stupidly long post, i just dont want to end up buying something i should not have



Cheers

bob r

iTrader: (46)

First thing is, if you intend parking the Subaru on your future in laws drive, have you considered that he may get his front door kicked in and battered for the keys, when you are tucked up in bed at your parents house?

Does he want and understand the potential hazards?

Secondly if you do intend to buy a Suabru Impreza, go for a UK classic rather than the WRX. Performance is slightly down on the UK but it should be more reliable and cheaper to insure, amongst other reasons.

andy_s37

Hello mate, welcome to SNET.

• The impreza WRX in the shape/price you are looking at is an import only so this will affect your insurance quite heavily.
• The Turbo 2000 AWD was an official import (you will see it called a UK turbo e.t.c.) and sold by Subaru main dealers and you will find your insurance will be a bit cheaper on one of these.
• UK turbo (classic) power output/torque increased slightly in later years due to revisions on tubo specs e.t.c.
• The UK turbo was down on power of the WRX's due to a smaller turbo which is probably one of the reasons that insurance is cheaper.
• Subaru main dealers will only really help you out if you have an official Uk car (it has a 17 digit VIN number (?))
• I get about 100-110 miles off £20 from my de-catted MY99 uk turbo.
• I would expect that when the new model comes out the prices of classics will fall lower than they are now, so it may be worth waiting a little while, then you will be able to get a better quality car and it will give you longer to save.

Hope this limited info helps, i'm sure someone with alot better knowledge will be along to help you further.

MikeySabes

Yeah, i have thought about that mate,

although, where they live, it is down this little turn off, hardly any one goes up there, its nicely out the way

although, there is a few nice cars up there what they would rather go for,

there is a new shape impreza wrx parked a few doors down the road from him, my mate lives next door too, he has had a few really modified cars and hes never had any kind of problems down there,

with the classic bit,

what are the specs on one of them ? and are they easy to find ?

the main thing i like is the seats in the wrx and the fact its a turbo, it has to be a turbo model, and with it being parked over my mrs place, it wouldnt have to look standard, i could actually have something nice looking and a decent set of alloys,

i had an escort before my fiesta, put some 17`s on it and within a week there had been 3 attempts for them or the car to be nicked, and we dont even live on a funny area, my way is normally quite good compared to some areas around here

Thanks for the fast reply

MikeySabes

Andy,

thanks for the comments,

that mpg does not sound too bad to me, id even be able to use that for going to work and it would be better than my 1600 fiesta,lol

does this mean ALL of the WRX`s im seeing on ebay/autotrader are imports ?

Tidgy

tbh the first port of call you want to find is insurance, can you afford it?

and also can you afford to run the car? not meaning to insult you but there have been a few people on here buy the car and then can't get insurance at a reasonable cost, or afford to run them, not the kinda car you can run on a shoe string.

they eat tyres, eat brake pads, and drink fuel like you have a hole in your tank.

right thats the sensible bit out the way, hers some info for ya

tbh for your age your realisticly gonna be looking at a classic uk turbo, which vary from 2.5 for an early car in not brilliant condition, to prob 7 or 8k for a top notch late classic with low miles.

they have 208 or 214bhp, but tbh not enough to notice any difference (newer ones have 214bhp)

you wanna find one with full service history and the more reciepts that come with the car the better.

specs for a 99/00 impreza are 214bhp/214ftlb, 0-60 in 5.3 second (iirc) top end 147mph.

standard form they grip like nappy sh&t, but they tend to be a bit twitchy. MPG your looking prob mid to low 20's in the real world, and only goes lower (unless you do motorway miles). Later models also come with abs.

If you wanna go down the modding route your only limitation is your wallet

JAKbauer24

not to mention gear boxes

hi tidgy ....

and hello MikeySabes ,.... keep this in mind im 25 my insurance is stupid and im broke mate pure and simple the cars the cause i have no other overheads and was earning 22k plus ...... but also if its what you want go for but be careful

welcome too SN BTW

Tidgy

oi get to bed you, you've gotta be up in the morning, o hang onin a few hours lol

catch you in a bit mate cos gonna come upa nd see what the crack is with my toy

MikeySabes

Tidgy,

insurance shouldnt be a problem i dont think, as i say when ive been giving details on WRX`s, my quotes have been around £500, ive not spoken to any one about a multicar policy yet, my fiesta is getting fairly cheap to insure now too, so on that issue it shouldnt be a problem, dont know if the multi policy will be cheaper though,

i know it wouldnt be cheap, but i also do motocross and thats not that cheap either, my mrs moans at me, but all i say is, " you cant put a price on motorsport or fun"

im also a photographer, i go round mx tracks taking pics of riders and they buy them, thats also one of the reasons id like an impreza, something nice to get to the tracks in

with my motocross its normally hasle loading the bike up, getting it all ready and all the rest, then my mrs also nags on at me about that, she dont like me riding at all, least if ive got a nice car i can have some fun in, she cant moan about it, because i can just jump in it, and were off,


for the classic is it simply called an imprezza UK classic ?

JAK, hello, cheers,lol

dont you find it is worth it though ?

i dont drink or smoke, live at home so i basicly pay buggar all, thats the main reason why i think i can do it

DANNYBOY2511

with the clasics the jap spec's wher wrx and the uk spec was turbo 2000.
they changed all that with the new age and all wher called wrx or sti.

I'm only 24 and my scooby was my first car. wrx 93 £1800 with endsliegh.

Tidgy

500 sounds way way to cheap tbh, i'd get that confirmed before you do anything like buy an impreza.

bearing in mind i'm 25 and paying £900, so 400 less and 3 years less sounds way off the mark, which company is it?

the calssic imprezas' look like this and are called uk turbo's anything up to MY00 (model year 200) will be a classic.

MikeySabes

im with endsleigh at the moment,

that was on moneysupermarket.com

that car looks bloody amazing !

if i could have something that looks anything like that id be WELL happy !

id like that style spolier too, its the mrs that is demanding that lol


im going to get a quick quote now to check it,

the other week i was getting loads of quotes on different cars, my dads got a golf V5 2.3, its around £400 for me to insure that

do bear in mind though !, these are third party thire and theft ?

not fully comp ?,

+ ive found one of the most expensive cars for me to insure is a fiesta rs turbo

Tidgy

ahhh, that might make a difference, but i'd still expect it to be higher tbh

thats mine by the way, bit out of your price rang though i'm afraid, looking at about 5k for something similar, and thats not including the mods lol

DANNYBOY2511

Mine is fully comp, you'll find em

Tidgy

https://www.scoobynet.com/private-sa...sh-5250-a.html

as if by magic lol

andy_s37

Mike try directline. I pay just short of £500 on my MY99 turbo. I'm 27 and have 7 yrs NCB (touch wood). Don't forget that you can only use your NCB on one car if you don't do multicar, obviously this would mean your fiesta insurance is going to go back up.

Andy.

MikeySabes

kool,

ill give them and elephant a try tomorrow

RICH S202

Hey

If i were you i would steer clear of any Jap import until you are older. Only the pre 00' models that are called STI and WRX jap cars. Any cars onward will be called WRX and STI. The STI' s are distinguished by being called type UK's. Like the guys say start with a Turbo 2000 wich is cheaper to insure for a start and a good car on which to commence your Impreza experience, then in a few years go for an S202 (Jap) like me

Happy hunting

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

If you've been out in a newer WRX, they have the same power as the old classic had, but given the classic weighed substantially less, the classic has the better performance.

Seats in UK classics were nice too.

Get one 97on and get the newer seatrs, bigger wheels, white dials, uprated interior, facelift etc.

Get one 99 on and get facelift, 4 pot brakes etc.

Alcazar

Brun

I would still expect TPF+T to be way more than £500 at your age.
Personally, i wouldn't want to spend £3k or less on a Scoob as i would expect you are paying for many miles or a car with some years under it's belt.
I'm sure there are plenty who have bought a car like this buts it's not for me.
Prepare for high running costs.
This is the sort of money i have spent on various stuff for my Uk 99

Front pads = £100 (once every 15k miles or so)
Disks = £200 (every 25k)
Tyres = £300 a set (every 15k)
Servicing = £100 - £450 twice a year (ish)
Fuel = 22mpg on average (have seen 16 mpg )
Mods £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££'s

air.mech23

Dont buy a really cheap and old one just for the sake of having a scoob.
You'll probably end up paying for it further down the line in the form of an engine rebuild.

Like any car you get what you pay for and performance cars dont come cheap.

Running costs are quite high aswell. Even if you dont use it much it will still need oil changes at least every 4000 miles and regular servicing by people who know what theyre doing.

UK spec should be cheaper to insure, although at your age i suspect it wont make a great deal of difference as all the insurance company will hear is '22' and 'Impreza turbo'. That will set the alarm bells ringing im afraid.

Try Keith Michaels or A-Plan. I was 22 when i got a standard 95 WRX import and paid £1400 fully comp.

MikeySabes

Righty,

thanks for all your words,

its been a great help, i will defo be going for a turbo 2000, but ill save a bit more money, try to get something a bit newer

i just want something that i can have some fun in on the weekends,

i dont know if there are any, but i also want to try and go offroad in it,

something like that track what they do the rally days on at silverstone

do i take it the NON turbos are rather a bit slower ?

the most powerful cars ive drove i spose are my dads V5 golf, thats around 170 brake, brothers old focus ST170, bosses 206 gti, and lastly an astra turbo

would the non turbo version keep up with them ?

i did try getting another quote this morning online, and i dont know whats happend, now they all seem to be around £900 -up to 2k on a 2000 Turbo,

even me mum said y dont she insure it if its quite cheap, then me just use it as i can drive n e car on my insurance, but obviously i shouldnt think thats the best thing to do, i want to do it on my own

as for the serving etc, my brothers a mechanic so that kind of stuff i dont need to worry about, i do all the servicing on my fiesta too



Cheers

MikeySabes

awesome !

just got a quote with Ecar insurance on this (used the numberplate details)
eBay.co.uk: 2000 SUBARU IMPREZA TURBO. NO PX OR SWAP (item 200099421744 end time 22-Apr-07 21:15:03 BST)

£680 third party fire and theft for 12 months,

that doesnt seem to bad does it, forget the questions on the non turbo, im having a turbo now

just need to get a bit more money together,

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

only thing that would worry me on that fella, is the fact its a cat c. that means yes its been repaired from probably a good bump, but how well.

also if you ever sold it, you would get considerably less for it with it being in an accident, which you would have to admit to any prospective buyers. not trying to put you off by the way, im 22 and have had 3 scoobs since passing my test last march lol.

on another note, ecar are superb to deal with. im fully comp for £1750 on a 99 uk turbo, similar to what your after. if you want any help etc, pm me, im not a know it all, but being young myself, id be more than willing to assist in your mission into scoobydom

good luck anyway fella.

andy

MikeySabes

Andy,

thanks for words, i prob will be pm`ing you,lol

as for that car, i was simply searching ebay for some turbo 2000`s, i didnt even read the txt on it, i just wanted the reg number so i could get a quote on one, wasnt too sure it would affect the quote if i didnt have a reg number

Cheers

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

fair doo's guy. plenty of wose heads on here, and some right ***** too, so just make sure you dont get involved with "the baiters"

im not a guru by no means, just offering help to a newbie like i was 11 months ago. i was having a mooch about autotrader and pistonheads. some half decent uk classics going around £3000-3500. even if they have high miles around 100-110k mark, as long as they have been cared for... another point for you fella.

andy

SVXNUT

Go for an SVX, A 1996 good one is £2500, with 3.3l to play with, and in standard form quicker on the spec sheets than the early imprezza's. Its also a damn site rarer!!. Only problem is they are Auto's and a bitch to modify in this country due to rarity.

Brun

You must be reading some funny spec sheets!!!!!!!!!
They weigh around 1600kg, ugly as hell and have 226 bhp from the spec sheets i've seen!!!!!

SVXNUT

Have you checked the curb weight of an early unmodded uk turbo. The ones i've seen in the flesh are 1450 kgs on the Vin plate. My unmodded SVX is showing 238hp at the wheel at the local garage.

Brun

Kerb of an early uk Scoob comes up as far less than that every site i've looked at.
If your car has 238 atw then it should have around 300 at the fly - you sure it's at the wheels?