Smurf786

iTrader: (5)

Hi people new to scoobies and dont know much about them apart from there fantastic machines. Anyways im going to see a 93' WRX hopefully tomorrow just wanted to know what i should look out for. Its in blue with 95,000 on the clock. His asking for £1800 is that a fair price? Also im 24 with 4 years NCD where can i get cheapest insurance for this?

Thanks

Smurf

subaru-impreza-2000

Hmm, thats abit high on the milage.. try knock money of for that reason, also make sure you have a good look around the car and check the paintwork, make sure it hasent been cheaply 'touched up', also no matter how nice the car looks, make sure you go for a long test drive, and try drive it yourself (providing you are insured) you want to see what the car performes like, for as long as you can, to make sure theres no noise, or bangs, or rattels etc. Also the price is there to get knocked down, so make sure you haggel abit

Other than that, if you take a long test drive and have a good look around it, then you should be fine. Oh yeah, and one main thing you want to AVOID, is getting overexcited about owning a Subaru.. and buying the first one you see, regardless of things wrong with it, Because there are plenty of good ones out there.

And ignore things, e.g. scratchs or little dents or paint peeling, just because your excited and want to buy the car, if you do then make sure you point them out and haggel these things on the price.

Smurf786

iTrader: (5)

Very Good Info there. Thanks alot for that subaru-impreza-2000. What about insurance any particular place i can get a good price?

Thanks

Smurf

subaru-impreza-2000

Hmm, not too sure about that one mate, try places like confused.com and Car Insurance | Compare Cheap Car Insurance - Compare the Market, untill you find the cheapest quote

Oh yeah, btw if you do buy the wrx, take some photo's of it and post them up in the 'Members gallory' people will give you some friendly feedback or pointers on what could be improved or changed ect.

Smurf786

iTrader: (5)

I will defo put some pictures up would love the feedback as i aint got a clue. Lol. Thanks for your help mate. Been reading some post's really addictive. Some really good info here.

Thanks

DJ_Jon

iTrader: (7)

Try Keith Michaels or A-Plan for the insurance.

With that sort of mileage you want to be taking someone who knows about cars with you. The last thing you want is to have to rebuild the engine on it.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

I'm with Jon on this one. Take a mechanically minded mate. Make sure you view the car in daylight, preferably not rain as this hides blemishes well, which you can obviously use on the price.

If it's a well kept example £1800 is around the going rate nowadays for a bog standard WRX (not special edition etc), but if it's like a lot of other WRX's of the age, the price is a little optimistic. 95,000 miles shouldn't put you off, again if the cars been looked after, ran on the correct fuel etc. I would personally rather have a 100,000+ miler which has been serviced correctly and not chavved up, than say a 50,000 miler which has been cained everywhere and has lexus lights

Listen to the engine from stone cold for bottom end knock, and the same from the gearbox and rear diffs as these will obviously deteriorate with age and mileage. Theres a reason a lot of old Scoobs are cheap now and that is because any old chav from a council estate can pick one up, insure it incorrectly and thrash it everywhere. It's a shame, but sadly true of the older models especially.

If you get a good 'un though, fair play, and as mentioned above, get some piccies in the members gallery (hopefully minus awful bodykits and lexarse light substitutes).

HTH

Andy

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Well its a 16 year old car, find out when it was imported into the country, check the oil to see what colour it is, if its like treacle then walk away, lack of servicing just kills these engines, also check the gearbox oil (dipstick is at the back of the engine), if its low it either points to a leak or lack of maintenance as people usually forget about filling/changing it.
Also check the coolant (its best if the car is cold for these checks), then take the car for a drive (having had a good look at the bodywork, especially around the front screen and rear arches for rust).

When out on a test drive, casually drop what fuel the owner recommends into the conversation, anything less than super unleaded then walk, they don't respond well to 95 ron fuel, it will lead you to a 2.5k engine rebuild.

You need to be looking for an unmolested (no chavvy bits added) clean (standardish) example with history, get it hpi'd and inspected for piece of mind if you want it, then put some money to one side, the brakes normally need upgrading to the 4 pots (they have subaru written on them) as the 2 pots suck

Also, the saloon and wagon run different turbo's and power (wagon is 218bhp and saloon is 237bhp) so keep that in mind (though I would say a wagon would have had an easier life in most circumstances).

Tony

timmy2take

iTrader: (7)

Have a look out for the oil shaft seal as I've had 2 of these go before.

If you haven't got a head gasket sniffer tester give it a good run and let it idle for a while to see how the temp gauge looks.

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

IMO History History History!!!
Mileage has never been an issue for me, A clean un modded full history car with 150k is more likely to get my money than a 50k with no traceable history.

As far as Insurance I have always found Elephant to be the cheapest.

Smurf786

iTrader: (5)

There's a pic of it. I love the colour and look and i know i cant find another WRX in this colour that is WRX its so hard finding them. I found out this is an import and im sure its been thrashed. He doesnt seem keen on dropping the price and its had 7 owners and only 2 months Tax And Mot left so its put me off it but i still want it confused shall i just walk away? How much do engine rebuilds costs should it need one?

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

All Classic WRX's were imports. Why not do as Tonyburns and COB suggest take someone who is mechanically minded and have a look. It actually looks quite clean on that pic, at least the wheels seem looked after

Shaun

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

Thats either sonic blue or WR blue, Not sure which one but its a normal Impreza colour, Maybe not for that year though.
If you have any doubt in your mind walk away, An engine re build will cost £1k on a good day, thats assuming nothing else is wrong.
If you have the fat end of 2 grand to spend there is loads out there.
For that money you will find something on auto trader for a dealer that you can buy a warranty for.
Search 1 - 3 k on the trader and loads will come up, plus at a dealer you can PX use credit cards and have statutory rights.

On the surface it looks like a clean car but you have to listen to your gut on things like this, if you miss out on a good one then so be it, better than buying a lemon.

Smurf786

iTrader: (5)

Thanks Guyz whats the difference between the WRX and standard turbo models? Is there many available in this colour? My Budget is about £2300 but been looking for about a month this is the first classic ive come across that is WRX and in this beautiful colour. It dont look too chavved up aswell.

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

WRX is the import version of UK2000 turbo's (I think) a lot of people refer to all turbo cars as WRX's.
I think that colour is a re spray I dont think I have seen a pre facelift wrx in that colour from new.

If your near london there is a lovely one in a garage for £2.5k in green.

4wheel

iTrader: (2)

Mr O Brian do chavs only come from council estates?

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Well forget what I was going to say, you can check on the vin plate what the colour code is
Here is a list of colours for the years

Subaru Paint Codes

Tony

PhilMcAvitie

First off - you will want 12 months MOT, if that is not forthcoming then walk away.

£1800 is a fair price if the car is right.

Any sign of a Dump Valve - run away.

Check History closely and do a HPi.

95k Miles is absolutely nothing - just run in if well maintained.

Ask if the seller will mind an RAC or AA Inspection and look at the response.

Good luck

subaru-impreza-2000

Thats some right luck, my brother was going to buy this a while back, it looks really nice i have got to admit! and i was giving you advice on it
But he ended up buying a WRX RA, heres the sale pictures that i saw, we where very intrested in buying it, it looks like a mint car..

Smurf786

iTrader: (5)

How much was this for sale for? It is up your end in Leeds actually. The guy says he got this as a P/X if its been brought and put up for sale again does seem abit weird. Hmmm. Also is there any common things these babies fail on in MOT?
Those pics u put up look awesome. Make me want to buy it now. Lol

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

If it's changed hands a number of times in its recent history, it more likely that it won't have been looked after too well.
I don't think that colour is standard for that year, therefore it's probably had a respray, so check the rear arches as they start to rust on older models - normally around the top of the arch, but also down between the arch and rear door. On the l/h side of the boot there is a flap for the wheel jack - look in there to see if there are any signs of damp or rust.

It is difficult to tell from pictures just how good/bad a car is. Personally, I'd like a car that has had the same owner for a while, who can tell you about how the car has been serviced, the type of driving (weekend toy or daily commuter?) etc. If its been taken on as a p/x it is going to be difficult to judge how the car has looked after. A difficult choice!!

timmy2take

iTrader: (7)

Another vote from me that it isn't a standard colour for the year.

Smurf786

iTrader: (5)

I have some pictures of the wheel arches and it looks ok but obviously without getting ur fingers in u cant tell. What year does this colour usually start from? If it's one colour i love its gotta be this one.

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

If its sonic blue then its 1997

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Go and have a look at it see what it's like in the flesh with someone who knows a bit about cars

Looks like a nice car from the outside and at £1800 it costs about the same as a set of OZ wheels with Toyo Tyres.....

Shaun

subaru-impreza-2000

Also, it looks like hes swaped the crystal clear headlamps for standerd one, and removed the indicators

Smurf786

iTrader: (5)

Its the 93 so i dont think they have crystal clear headlamps.

his-n-her-scoobs

iTrader: (5)

WRX is Jap import
2000 turbo is UK car

Biggest difference is the cost of insurance with the imports costing 4 times more to insure on average. At 24 this may be a significant factor. Uk cars cost me and the wife around £300, in our 40's, full no claims, business use and some mods (4pots, prodrive exhaust etc) declared. Heaven knows what an import would cost you. Recommend you get quoted first then assess your finances and requirements.

As above, Jap cars start at 220bhp for the wagon, rising to about 280bhp depending on spec/age. Uk cars start at 205bhp rising to 220bhp but really do not seem much slower on the road IMHO probably cos the smaller turbo winds up quicker.

Very different gear ratios. Uk cars are much more relaxed and fuel efficient on the motorways. Imports usually have air con and rear wash wipe (saloon) as standard. Air was an option on the later UK cars (post MY96 I think).

Imports suffer if not run on super unleaded whereas UK cars OK on normal unleaded. UK engines appear to last longer before the dreaded big end death rattle and subsequent £2k rebuild, probably because they are pushing lower power.

For the money I would go for a face lift uk car, pref 4 pot era. They are about and the summer hols make good hunting for this type of car. Most sellers struggle at this time of year and are more willing to haggle as realism takes over from optimism.

Good luck don't buy the first one you see. Test drive a few, they can all feel very different, especially on tired shox and worn brakes/transmission. After driving three or four you will get a feel for what to expect.

subaru-impreza-2000

He had them fitted at one time, have a look at the pictures i posted up, he had cyrstal headlamps on then, but on the pictures you have, there back to basic clear ones

Smurf786

iTrader: (5)

Ah yeh. Well spotted. Must hav sold them or sumat. They will defo have to go back on though should i get it.