wrxjonny

First of all Ill say hello as Im a new member on here. Ive signed up as Im on the look out for an impreza but im looking for info on them before i buy one. I will be looking for a standard car with no mods, I currently drive a fiesta zetec s which is on its last legs so I have a couple of weeks to find something new. I have a few questions if you guys wouldnt mind taking the time to answer them for me.

1.) I have around 2.5k to spend is this a realistic amount to buy a decent car with resonable mileage?

2.) How relable are subaru's Ive never owned a japanese car before and Im not sure how good they are? Also are parts expensive to buy when they do go wrong?

3.) Thirdly I am doing around 230miles a week driving what is the fuel consumption like if your not caning it everywhere you go? I dont expect it to be doing 45mpg as after all its a performance car but what can be expected from them mpg wise?

Thank you in advance

Jonny

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Yes you can buy a decent car with this, a UK MY99 should be in this bracket, definately an MY98 car, service history a must though.

They are as reliable as you want them to be, mess around and they can (and do) go pop, leaving you with a bigger bill than the car cost you in the first place
They require a fair bit of pampering, services are 6 monthly (though the 6 monthly service is just an oil change) and every 2 years (though this changes due to the type of service the car is due) will set you back around 400 quid from a dealer (less from an independent), be warned a major service will be in the region of 800 quid on this car, I would also start at this point when purchasing said car and have a major service done straight away, it puts you right where you know what has been done on the car, the next 2 years are fairly cheap after that

Depends on the driving, mid 30's on the motorway, high teens in town, high twenties to low 30's on mixed driving, you can see as low at 10mpg when opening the car up a little or if your really good, high 30's on an unmodified example

Tony

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Pistonheads is a good place to start, the MY98 model cars were facelifted over the MY97 (MY=model year btw ) and the MY99/00 cars were noted at being the best of the lot, though can suffer with maf sensor issues (cost 100 quid new) and dont like induction kits or dodgy panel filters (good panel filters are ok, just not the dodgy ones )
Examples below, and budget for that £800 major service, parts like brake discs are reasonable (oem cost from 50ish quid but buy quality discs and pads really)
MY94-98 cars have 2 pot brakes and they are not very good, MY99/00 cars have 4 pots which are better, still not magnificent though.
You will need to do a lot of homework on buying, there is a buying guild here http://www.subaru-impreza.org/impreza-checklist.html

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1960657.htm
I would request pics and when was 57k? would need a belt change imho

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2041610.htm
Depends if you like the wagons or not, you can pick them up slightly cheaper than the saloons.