theathea

I have a chance of buying privately the following
55 reg. WRX with 265BHP PPP exhaust ,intercooler mod
38,000 miles very clean, Full service history (mainly oil services )

but an import in 2005.Do not know if UK or Jap.spec yet.
Valuation in current market ? Any pros or cons.
Is the cambelt due soon/costs ?
Anyone tell me the oil pump problem @ 40,000 ,have heard about it
but have done a search and cannot find anything on here.
THANKS IN ADVANCE. lets see if how good a forum this is

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

It wont be a JDM car, PPP cars are always UK/EU imports, but should be slightly less in value than a UK car.
Never heard of an oil pump problem @40k miles, wives tale most likely

Tony

Mark'sWRX

Agree, most likely an EU import, so hardly any different to a UK car. Just check it has a Thatcham 1 alarm for insurance purposes.

Value would be £8k to £8200.

Haven't heard of any oil pump problems. Cam belt change at 50k or 5 years, but not that expensive.

If looked after, it should be a very good car. Only known fault is knocking from the rear shocks of that year WRX, but it doesn't affect all of them.

theathea

thanks guys, PPP pack fitted just after it arrived in the UK.
Now Top Gear is over lets have more input PLEASE.
Still very undecided at the moment because of
High car tax,insurance,not TOO worried about fuel & service costs.

SunnySideUp

No Oil Pump issue at 40,000 miles.

Intercooler Mod would make me worried, why?

Plenty of genuine UK cars about at sensible money with FSSH .... no need to buy an Import these days.

Just my opinion.

scoobystiv8

I think you will find the intercooler mod is the uprated pipe fitted as part of the PPP. Why buy a UK when the EU imports are cheaper and identical spec?

theathea

Uprated pipe correct, sorry for the mod confusion,
should have put performance part.
Reason for buying UK spec....cheaper insurance probably
and may have tracker/alarm as standard.
but what would I know,only got one days knowledge of these
so far . Haven't even bought the car yet.
Does around £8,000 sound about right from private seller(obviously
no warranty )....genuine car and service history to back this up .
There are about 30 similar spec WRX cars on Pistonheads at the
moment ranging from £6,900 to maximum £10,500 from top dealer.

Mark'sWRX

£8k sounds bob on to me, but have a good look around for a bargain from a desperate seller. Having said that, its not usually worth travelling the length and breadth of the country looking at dogs when there's a good 'un nearby.

Insurance will be no different (as long as it has an alarm) and the road tax is reasonable as it was registered before March '06 and is under the 225g band. Currently 'only' £210 compared with £440 (IIRC) for all models '06 onwards.

tomdscooby

or you could pick up a similarly aged and milage STi for that ball park price

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

I've had a 55 plate WRX PPP since it was a year old. Its my second such car. Both have been extremely reliable, with no breakdowns or serious problems. My rear shocks were replaced at 10k and Prodrive backbox had some surface rust, so it was replaced at 2yrs 10 months old. Petrol wise, £50 gets me around 260 miles around town . Tax is £215. Servicing is no worse than any other performance car. You can save a fortune and learn an waful lot about the cars by using a specialist. The PPP cars should be fed a SUL diet, I use Millers 10/40 oil and change it every 6 months. Cambelt,as previously mentioned is at 50k. 60k service is all fluids, reckon on around £350 at a specialist. Tyre and brake wear is dependant on driving style, if you need to replace them, there are plenty of decent packages available to upgrade. Once my warranty expired I went down the decat/ remap route, having upgraded the brakes, anti roll bar and bushes. I've decided to keep hold of it for a while longer as it ticks all the boxes as a fun, family car. In fact, I've kept it longer than I kept my Escort Cosworth, and the Impreza has been a heap more reliable. Best of luck. Bob

theathea

Update ,bought the car today £6750. Really good price or would not have
considered it otherwise.
Good to hear tax is only £210, but can only go up next year I suppose.
Insurance £480, fully comp. protected no claims. no tracker needed.
Already had a new rear shock absorber recently ,Mark you were spot on.
(think the other side might be noisy) , anything else I need to check ,common problems .
Never heard of "SUL" = super unleaded. Ta everyone!

Mark'sWRX

Well Done! I'd say you got a bargain, there.

Let it warm up fully ( at least a few miles) before driving it hard and be gentle for the last mile or so to let the turbo cool down.

Check the oil regularly. Most don't use any oil between services, but running it low will cause expensive problems. Servicing is every 10k or year, but most people recommend an oil change at 5k/6 months. Use decent oil (fully synthetic is best for peace of mind, but not strictly necessary).

They run best on super unleaded, but can run on normal 95 if you have to. Shell V Power is best or Tesco 99 (if you can get it). BP Ultimate is not recommended.

Enjoy!

theathea

Thanks Mark for the advice.
Got the car on a ramp today and very surprised to see
absolutely no signs of any oil leaks from engine,g/box,etc
Bone dry, makes a change.Hope I will be saying how reliable
this is in two years time, it's looking good so far.