BristolLee

Hi all,

I'm Lee from Bristol (just incase the name wasn't a giveaway ) and after years of gawping at passing Imprezas and following rallying, I can finally afford one of my own!

I've narrowed my search down to a MY03-05 "Blobeye" WRX Sedan.

But from searching trade and private adverts I've got a few questions. I have tried searching various forums but haven't had the best of luck in finding definitive answers. Sorry if I ask things that have been covered before, I only do so because I've not found answers!

• Do the colour of the sideskirts/exterior details denote anything other than MY?
• Most Blobeyes seem have about 50-60k miles and are selling for between £6-7500. What little details should I look for to seperate an average example from an outstanding one?

I will shortly be taking a trip to Tiley Subaru, but are there any other Subaru specialists in a reasonable distance that forum members would recommend I visit?

Thanks in advance for any help and advice and I look forward to becoming part of a vibrant community.

Lee

Scooby Wagon Addict!

iTrader: (10)

Hi Lee,
Welcome.. I'm a Blobeye owner ( wagon obviously )
In answer to your questions ..
Re the sideskirts .. No.. as you said only the year .. MY03s were not colourcoded ..04 > were.
As for other details , obviously things like full service history is essential , 50,000 is the timing-belt service so make sure it's done as it's an expensive one. Also oil changes in-between , tho not essential, signifies the owner looked after the car.

Other things like if it's fitted with a Prodrive Performance Pack ( PPP ) then even better .. this was a dealer add-on costing £1700 comprising of exhaust , hoses and ECU change giving 40bhp/ + 40lbs/ft torque more ..tho you should declare this to your insurance company.

Hope that helps a bit, and feel free to ask any questions

Steve

BristolLee

Steve,

Thanks for the warm welcome and swift reply!

I was aware of the PPP and had actually meant to ask if it could still be retrofitted or if it was only available when the car was bought new?

Thanks for confirming about the MY colour-coding. I shall definitely be looking for a MY04 car now.

Am I right in saying that oil changes should have been completed every 6 months or 7500 miles? I think I remember reading that on Scoobypedia.

The main problem that i'm currently having with the search is having time too look! Between the girlfriend playing Farmville and her saying i'll go with her on silly social outings there's just not enough time in the day!

One final question, there are a lot of private sellers as well as dealers. Where have many people on here bought their cars from?

Cheers again

Lee

Scooby Wagon Addict!

iTrader: (10)

Hi Lee ,
The PPP can be fitted any time .. retro and from new
The oil changes would be every 5,000 miles as the Newage scoobs have 10,000 mile service intervals .
I personally haven't changed the oil inbetween services in all the many previous scoobs I've had.. tho I always kept an eye on the oil levels etc , and I dont drive it that hard anyway

I have pretty much always taken the easy route and bought from a Subaru dealer.. Now some may flame me for doing so but it has saved the hastle when trading in and always liked the fallback of a 12 month Dealer warranty... thank goodness I did ..
I bought my MY05 Wagon end of January..1 week later the Big End went.. Engine rebuild with new crank, pistons etc
Now in 8 yrs of scoob ownership that has never happened to me before but thank goodness it was under warranty.. I couldn't have afforded it otherwise. Edited to add my car was full Subaru dealler history etc .. guess I was just unlucky.
Anyway , happing looking .. and don't rule out the wagons

Steve

WRX Blues

Lee,

I'm an 2004 Blob owner. I bought the car 3 years ago and have racked up £50k miles without any problems (now 75k). I got belt changes done at 50k and always have regular 7-8k oil changes although the handbook specifies every 10k.

Mine is a PPP, but on reflection I would have got a standard WRX and then added filter, sports cat, etc with a re-map. I am sure guys on here will tell you that even with filter and re-map they have made similar gains but with a better and more rounded map than the PPP.

It would appear that most PPP'd cars are different. If you talk to owners many make different power and levels of boosts?

Scoob owners generally treasure their own cars and buying privately, as long as you take all of the usual precautions, shouldn't be a major issue.

Good luck and enjoy

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Only classics and JDM cars have the 7.5k/6 month service interval, UK cars from 2001 onwards (MY01 cars) have 10k/1 year service intervals.

PPP is an option, fitted normally after the car is registered and has done 1k miles, ensure it has the certificate to prove its a PPP'd car if your after one

Tony

ian_wrx

iTrader: (2)

welcome by fellow bristol friend

deffo go for a PPP mate if your not going to mod it urself as they need that little extra to make the drive as they should mines a standerd ppp (03 WRX saloon)

also mines just tipped 100k with full service and i have just done a cambelt on it and it runs like new

a good friend of mine works for tilleys so if you do get one drop me a pm and i'll forward you his details if you need and work doing as his prices are much better than theres lol

and hes a scobby nut, hes got a 600bhp classic and his did has a 04 uk sti

Camoscooby

iTrader: (5)

Welcome to SN dude

BristolLee

Many thanks again for such a warm welcome! You're all much nicer than that Evo lot! to them!

Cheers Tony. Little bits of information like knowing to get a PPP certificate are just the sort of advice I need. 10k/1 year servicing would fit perfectly with the amount of driving I do. I'm currently doing about 8k a year, in a Ford Ka *cough*.

Great stuff Ian! Thanks for the offer, will bare it in mind!

Where are you in Bristol?

When I get through a few viewings etc and get a car i'm seriously considering would you mind if I got in touch and have you come along to help? As all the mags and guides say, always best to take along someone who really knows what they're looking for.

Think I'm going to try and find a totally stock MY04 WRX (in silver). See how it goes and then if I think it needs more, go for the PPP. Tiley currently have an MY03 WRX http://www.tiley-subaru.co.uk/UsedCars.aspx for £5990 which is tempting, but I prefer the smoother look offered by the body coloured skirts/bump strips on the MY04.

daz_vx220

Alright pal, i bought one last week. 2004 plate with 35k miles, it is on register as cat d but only paid 4k for it with full subaru service history. Very nice car and practical.
If your on a tight budget, dont always be put off by cat d cars, some great bargins out there.
daz

Allan

iTrader: (1)

Hi Lee and welcome

If you see an 03 that fits the bill you can always change the side skirts yourself. My 03 WRX has Sti skirts, which I think look nicer than the version fitted to the 04 WRX.

BristolLee

You make a valid point Allan. My problem is that i'm a bit lazy and also inexperienced with anything other thab toppingvup fluids, changing wheels and bulbs.... Bad form i know!

Berks-Jack

iTrader: (10)

Welcome aboard Lee.

I've got the same car that your looking for 53 Reg wrx. The previous owner had taken the bump strips off the doors, to be honest i hadn't realised it was supposed to have any until i saw the pic of the car in the link you had posted ha ha He also had the skirts colour coded but the tops of the skirts have started to flake and need touching up. You maybe better off trying to source a set of STI skirts instead?

Hope you find something soon that'll put a big grin on your face

BristolLee

Jack,

I don't dare think what the skirts must have looked like with paint flaking.

Allan, cheers for posting the pic, those STi skirts do look a lot sleeker. The pic also got a surprise response from the missus too! She just doesn't get Imprezas at all (and normally enjoys telling me about that fact) but she liked the WR Blue Mica on yours. This was a surprise because every other blue or WR Blue Scoob she's seen, she's hated!

Gonna try and pop to Tiley tomorrow and have a look at the Blobeye I posted earlier in the thread. Just gonna be honest with them and say i'm narrowing down the options and seeing exactly what I want as even 6k or so is a lot of cash to spend!

Allan

iTrader: (1)

You're welcome
Skirts are available second hand and easy to fit, doing the odd tweak here and there is all part of owning a Scooby

Berks-Jack

iTrader: (10)

Its not to bad Lee. The wrx skirts have a flat top on them and its only parts of the flat top bit that have flaked, not noticable until up close but on a long list of things to do. Engine goodies are priority at the moment

Take it easy on the test drive, it's got a bit more grunt than the Ka

kgt

iTrader: (1)

Any chance that car already has PPP fitted as that looks like a Prodrive backbox versus the twin pea shooter on the OEM ??? I could be wrong but sure someone on here could tell you.

Dan W

Welcome Lee.
I bought my second Impreza in April -a 54 plate blobeye STI PPP after buying my first one in Mar 2006. That was a 2001 bugeye WRX. As soon as I started coming on here I started modding the car. After a while decided to stop modding an buy and STI PPP which apart from a few cosmetic changes will remain standard.

Love every minute of driving it.

BristolLee

Hoping to find out the answer to that question myself tomorrow. Will update you when i find out.

I took a cursory glance over a MY03 WRX this afternoon at a local garage (http://www.allsportscars.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=721). The garage is has a reasonable reputation although they are known to overcharge a fair bit. This WRX was not very well looked after. Pretty much every panel had deep scratches, it had obviously been sat for ages as it had an off side front flat and some really bad corrosion on the discs and even the callipers.

Just for ***** and giggles, I got the guy to plip it and got in and he gave me it's life story, which really put me off! The car certainly had a turbo etc, but it had "mistakenly" been first registered as a GLX, supposedly by the main dealer. The garage didn't have the service book or full logbook (only the green transfer slip) as the previous owner was "getting a new logbook made up".
The plot of this car had bigger holes than the exhausts at a scooby gathering! DEFINITELY ONE TO AVOID!

Just doesn't seem to add up does it?

The search continues!

CAT2

iTrader: (3)

Hi Lee, another Bristolian here. I would try and source a car on here if possible, you'd probably be paying over the odds at Tileys.

I must say, I never go near them for anything now - having used them initially I found them very expensive, surly and not very helpful. Been getting mine serviced at Subaru4you in Newbury, but will now be using Chris Palmer in Bristol - they seem to know their stuff.

Whatever you do, you're gonna love owning and driving your Scoob.

BristolLee

Cheers Cat2,

Don't think i will pick up the car from Tileys, but going to look at cars at main dealers is a useful way of working out worst case costs for servicing etc (for budgeting running costs). Plus at the moment, i need to see as many cars as possible to get a sense between a really good 'un and a heffer in a posh frock.

Will take a gander at Chris Palmer for numbers etc now too. Thanks for the tip.