M12ES W

Hi All, Brand new to the site.. always been on two wheels but have a 2 year old son and want to see him grow up, so have started looking for what else will give me a smile. I know there is no straight forward answer to this, but…. Generally how reliable are unmodded Imprezas? I have been trawling the trader and PH and notice quite a few with rebuilds (not always high milers) and some engine replacements, again on cars that are not that old.. Would I be right in thinking these would most likely been modded or just neglected, or is there a genuine need to rebuild or replace the motors. I know you need deep pockets to run an Impreza, but mine only go so far ; ).. I’m thinking of a blobeye for around £6k without silly miles.. sound realistic?

GlesgaKiss

Hi and welcome to Scoobynet.

Subaru's are pretty reliable cars when looked after properly. Reasons for rebuilds are usually poor tuning/mapping, bolting on mods without remapping, jap imports that have been brought into this country and havn't been mapped for UK fuel - although the P1(which is a UK car) also had this problem due to basically just having Jap Sti Engine with a slightly altered Jap Sti ecu(this is a known fault with the P1, hence all the rebuilds). Oil pumps on older cars were also known to fail - you can buy modified ones from tuners that don't have the same problem.

Also people doing high speed runs on the classic shape impreza's, as their bonnet scoops are ineffective above 100 - not sure about the bugeye's scoop.

Mostly it's down to poor mapping, but when set up properly, an impreza is a great car that can take alot of abuse.

I've had my 10 year old impreza for over a year, it's seen a fair bit of abuse, and I've not had any engine related trouble with it whatsoever.

greenonedave

Reliability on the subaru is fantastic, even Clarkson said that they made Honda seem like a tin pot outfit. The main points have been mentioned before,
full subaru history, if modded make sure been done properly, My wrx covered 85000, and my gl wagen have covered 77000, and have never missed a beat.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

If looked after and driven sensibly i.e. not ragged from cold etc.. then they are very, very reliable.

My UK turbo is now running 340bhp with supporting mods and apart from the occasional duff maf sensor hasn't put a foot wrong.

As a general rule, look after them, and they will look after you.

They are NOT cheap cars to run though. You need to work out the costs of keeping the car insured and maintained before you take the leap.

ns04

GREGGYG

iTrader: (2)

One of the most reliable cars you can buy.

Ved

If serviced correctly, warmed up and down and treated to some nice mods they will run to 150k before needing major work. Pretty amazing for something with supercar pace.

G-string

iTrader: (1)

As above very reliable for a performance car, as long as its got a full service history and been looked after, Im not saying all of them are but you buy with your eyes wide open.

subaruturbo_18

I've had my uk turbo since my 2007, and nothing has gone wrong once.

Best advice is to keep some money to the side, then when you need tyres, pads, services, or if something should go wrong etcetc you will not be stuck with a broken piece of metal.

war1974

agree had 3 now and all been reliable and fun to boot

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

im on number 14. never had one go pop yet

welcome to scoobynet

+Doc+

Number 4 here, not a problem with any.
Fingers crossed though cause I own a P1 on the original engine

Ved

You're backing yourself there

wiley

iTrader: (63)

6 months and still fine for me

wiley

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Had mine 2yrs previous one 3yrs both very reliable apart from MAF's. Expenses - needed new clutch after remap, and upgraded the brakes, as I kept warping/cracking discs oh and fuel. Having said that picked up a misfire this week, so new coilpack is next I guess.

N_Scooby

iTrader: (2)

Mines a 1995 WRX, owned for 4.5 years. 105,000 miles on the clock - still on original engine and gearbox (whining like hell for the last 2 years, but yet to break!!). Been reliable but parts are on the pricey side and being a 13 year old car bits are wearing out now. Don't want any other car now!!