Peeliewally

I want to buy an Impreza WRX STI and would like owners feedback as to the running costs. I'm after a standard car and will be doing approx 250 miles every week. Insurance is only £450 fully comp as I'm heading towards 40 but it's the fuel costs and repairs I'm interested in. I previously owned a BMW 325i which wasn't too hefty on the fuel but servicing was fairly expensive. Any feedback from owners would be much appreciated. Thanks.....

corradoboy

There are two factors which will mean you spend enormous amounts on fuel. One - you will want to drive the car every minute of every day. Two - when you do drive it the red mist will descend and you will go everywhere at ridiculous speeds

With a mix of town, mway and country lane driving you'll probably use a tank a week, or about £50. Keeping off boost and driving like your dead you might see iro 30mpg, but expect more like 24 on the mway, 18 'round town and 12 (or lower ) in the twisties.

Use reputable independent specialists for servicing and you'll be looking at bills between £280 for an interim and £500 r so for a biggy.

The other demon which strikes with these cars though is the modding bug. To fund this you will consider the value of your daughters kidneys

phil_wrx

iTrader: (2)

Well sti would be about a tank and a qtr of fuel for 250miles so about £70.

servicing is a lot cheaper than people will lead you to belive

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

I have just sold mine today. I used it for pretty much what you described. It cost somewhere in the region of £60 a week on fuel which I could live with to be honest.
The main issue I had was services, clutches, tyres, brakes.... Its these things that add up over the year.
If you need the above plus a service and you a well thought of specialist then you are looking at a bill of about £2200.

I have no regretted one minute of owning an STi, and you learn to live with the cost.
As soon as we have knocked out a kid or two I will be right back on the STi band wagon.
If you have kids that are booster seat age or above then I would say go for it. You will love the car and treat it like a family member.

Needless to say I am gutted I have lost mine, Take the plunge.... you know you want to.

The Dogs B******s

Dont think about it,just buy one

sparkytrix

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Depends on the age of the family.... WRX is far more family friendly, softer suspension makes a real difference.

imho

dunx

P.S. My STI can squeeze 300+ miles from a tankfull, I can also manage 6 mpg.... (400-ish bhp)

Peeliewally

Thanks for your advice. I'd heard some horror stories about mpg being in single figures and servicing costs being very high but that seems pretty acceptable. Similar mpg to my old 325i. I do like to "go for a drive" every now and then so a blast round the country roads is on the cards...

Nurse Gladys

Firstly I would say sod the cost - you only live once!

We only got our STi in July last year - and it's a third car, so is not used daily. Therefore we can't really help on running costs, but we have found out that you can shop around & find very different prices for servicing, parts etc.

There are lots of very helpful people on here - anything you need to buy / have fixed you can guarantee there will be half a dozen suggestions or recomendations!

We have always made it clear to our 11 year old that she would be sold before the Scooby & she has accepted this!

I can't ever imagine changing from a Scooby now, as I haven't ever driven anything like it before.

sparkytrix

why dont you buy one, then sell it if its not for you?

.....yeah, like thats going to happen

Peeliewally

I'll just pop into the local garage on the way home tonight and get an Auto Trader!!!

corradoboy

Look in the for sale forum on here and you can check out the sellers posts to see how they may have treated the car. You're more likely to get an enthusiast owned car which has been maintained well (cleaning and servicing) and well mod'd (if you choose). Pistonheads is also good, and check out SIDC and the other Subaru forum for sale sections.

Peeliewally

Is there anything I should look out for? What about models imported from Japan? I'm watching a WRX STI on eBay and it's a Japanese Spec and standard (270BHP). 2002 model with 22k miles. Looks very nice. Auction is at £4k for now but finishes on 01 March.

Peeliewally

What about tyres? Do you have to replace all four at the same time as it is four-wheel drive?

corradoboy

JDM models are better cars for the driving purist. Twin scroll turbo with equal length headers removes the burble, but give quicker spool up and more power across more of the rev range. They have stronger engines and remained 2.0 litre when the rest of the world got 2.5's. They have DCCD-A which didn't come here until the WR1 special edition in 04, then on 05 STi's onwards. They also have quicker steering racks, better (HID) headlights, (backlit) dials and a rear wiper. I'd have a JDM, and any special variant from Spec C through RA, RA-R, S204, or the Litchfield Type 20/25 cars before any UK car.

blan

i,v had both wrx and currently sti ,my mrs uses the car for daily running etc , we had a chimps seat in wrx ,and still in the sti , shes only two and half
i cant understand these people that buy a people carrier when they get two kids it does my head in they just , automatically think two kids = space wagon.
get your scoob mate if you,v got the money now .

phil_wrx

iTrader: (2)

forgot to say ive had a wrx and an sti, the wrx is easier to live with as a commuter but the sti is just hardcore

great family car too, loads of room, bigish boot and the kids love it pick kids up from school and everyone else has bmw's and audis

stara

i have a 2007 wrx 2.5 with 290bhp, it does about 22mpg on a hard driving mixed with kids and missus on board, and the best i have had is about 28-30 on a tank. about the sae as a my previous car a lexus is200 with no mods.

Peeliewally

You have all convinced me I'm doing the right thing. There are some very nice cars on here. Anyone want to buy a Fiesta 1.4 TDCI (0-60, 14 seconds), didn't think so. I had my "credit crunch" head on when I bought it a year ago but I can't live with it any longer. I traded my 325i sport in for it to save some money but that was a bad move. Please don't ban me from your forum!!!!! I know I did a bad thing.....

corradoboy

Nah, I'm in credit crunch mode too. Sold my 03 WRX PPP for £11k 2 years ago and would be lucky to find a buyer at £5k now Been running a 60+mpg Skoda diesel ever since, although it is a bit of a wolf in sheep clothing

adehook

i did the same thing and had a 107 before the wrx

G.Mac

iTrader: (2)

Hello there fella, the cost of Scooby ownership isnt too bad, on 250 miles per week you will be around the 1 tank mark on normal driving with a couple of spirited moments, servicing isnt too bad as long as you have a decent dealer near you as for my 40K service I was quoted £200 at the dealer I use. If you have a dependable local specialist near you the cost will be less. The main cost of Scooby ownership is when you get cought with the modding bug (which you will be sooner or later) in the 3 years I have owned min I have spent approx 6K on mods.

The Subaru isnt be best looking car out there (actually it looks pretty shicht) but there seems to be something about it where it seems to become part of the family and you will look upon it as being one of your children that must be pampered!!!!!

You have already made one good decision by the fact that you want a STI, as this is a FAR better starting platform. You should budget between £600 - £1000 for a good set of coilovers as the standard suspension only tends to last about 15K miles (sometimes more, sometimes less) before it will start knocking as this is a weak point in the newage style of Impreza design.

Even with a standard STI you will be amazed at the difference in performance over your current bimmer but I would say that the Impreza is a far safer place to be in an accident that many other cars on the road today and the Newages come with isofix mounts if you have kids of that age.

I hope this helps a little

Graeme

corradoboy

I've often called this 'The Paula Yates Phenomenon'. When Michael Hutchence dumped the beautiful supermodel Helena Christensen for her it wasn't for looks

psigeek

iTrader: (17)

https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-...-answered.html

Might be useful to you?

phil_wrx

iTrader: (2)

i like the reasoning its like not chatting up the fitty and go for her average but filthy looking mate

Ianm1983

I run one and im 26 with a family and im not a rich man, does 20 mpg, im fully comp for 700 quid and I just pay for services to keep my book up to date, aything that needs doing otherwise i do myself, these cars arent the magical box of mystical secrets some people will have you belive they are. Buy sensible, drive well and look after it and youll have many years of happy motoring. Same as any car really only a scooby really wont forgive you if you try skipping one of those 3 rules.

corradoboy

Yup, whilst the fitty is worrying about her weight, her make-up, her hair, her clothes, her nails.....blah blah blah the fatty is worrying you'll dump her and so tries sooooo much harder

Will

And take it up the wrong un

ScoobyDoo555

Actually, with all due respect, that's not strictly true......

IMHO, it depends what you want out of the car. Coming from a different (and lower powered) marque, yes, the STI is face-tearingly powerful
However, this can also be a bad thing. The suspension and handling of an STI is 'uncompromising". Great if that's the sort of thing you're after. Not so good otherwise.

Depending which year you're looking at (ie all but the new abomination), the WRX with a few tasteful mods can be just as rewarding. The ride isn't as brutal, which for a "family" car IHMO, is a better option.

You've still got access to the nice mods etc......

The prices, yes, the STI is a more expensive beast to run. The WRX in reality will cost about the same as your old BM. Possibly cheaper depending where you get it serviced.
Tyres, well, do a search on Scoobynet I changed all four, not because of the "change all of them" rule, but because I had too The general rule is that you can change 2 at a time (same axle), but try to keep the same make/tread.

Bad things? I hated the cr@ppy interior. The seats whilst comfortable on shorter journeys, would hand you your crumbled spine back at the end of a long journey (you would get dust in an STI!! ) Uprate the stereo!

However, the driving and owning experience is UNIQUE. Not as good as it used to be, due to the image. However, if you want a car that is all consuming (in the 7 years I owned Scoobs, I never tired of looking back at them in car parks etc!), it will become a talking point in the family(!), they still turn heads , NOTHING beats the sound of a Flat4 through a decatted exhaust!
There is NO other car that gives the same amount of feeling as the Scoob. The community (here) is quite possibly the best in the world (other related sites are good, but more "cliquey" ) I moved on to something German and Bi-Turbo'd , but I still miss the sound of my old ScoobySported POS

Do it, but look at the WRX option (if you're after something not quite as brutal) - don't buy into the misconception that the ONLY Subaru to have is the STI......

Hope this helps

Dan

radius

Mate......I picked up my MY06 Hawkeye Sti yesterday. Put simply, the car is absolutely ferocious...Ive been out in it most of yesterday and this morning...fantastic drivers car and like everyone says here if you boot it you will use more fuel...it's not what you drive but how you drive it..!!

You will NOT regret the purchase mate...Trust me!!