TRH16V

Hi there I've always been in to Imprezas from the days when Collin McRae use to drive one and I was big fan off his, I'm 19 at the moment and looking to buy an Impreza within the next year but before I do I want to learn every thing I can before I hand over my hard earnt cash, hoping you guys will point me in the correct direction.

Bit about my self, The name's Rix currently Own a Vauxhall Cavalier turbo 4x4, before you put your boxing gloves on this is a car I've wanted since I was about 8 so we go way back.
Currently studying uni and all that and working part time.
I love cars and especially boost.

Anyway the car I've got my eyes set on is either a Type R V5 but I'm tryner stretch the budget to a P1. That's it really always been a big fan of these cars but never really re searched them proper.

Rix

P4UL

iTrader: (1)

Bloody hell 19 with a cav turbo and wanting a impreza, I could only dream of owning one when I was 19.

P1 is basically a V5 type R with the DCCD removed and ABS added and better suspension for the UK roads . If you are looking for one try and get one that had the engine rebuilt or replaced.

TRH16V

Mate I bought the Cav turbo when I was 17 I love these cars I've spent thousands on it. I worked hard and I don't like having cash stacked away doing sod all it's meant to be spent I'm young once, live life to full I say lol...
or if in doubt flat out, that's a legend line
The Impreza I've always loved since the days of playing Gran Turismo in 1997 up till now lol. I've only sat in one Impreza which was my mates older brother had one and I liked it a lot.

The P1 I like the colour styling and best of all 0-60 4.7 Seconds. The only thing I'm gonna miss is having the 6th gear in my cav turbo at 130 put it in to 6th and any thing behind you gets blown away lol.

Ricerocket0_1

Why get one with the engine rebuilt or replaced? So what you are saying is.......buy one that's been thrashed and abused! Don't give advise like that if you don't know what your talking about fella. My Type-R has not been mapped for UK fuel, now done about 75k miles and is as sweet as the day it left the factory and that goes the same for any P1 also!

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Welcome
Well lets start with the part your not going to like, running costs!

Insurance, this will stop you in your tracks, its a group 20 car, very few insurers will insure under 25's on a P1 (or type R) and those that do will charge you the earth, and we are talking 2-3k here atleast.
Servicing, not one to do on your own if you dont know this engine, one false move and its 3k rebuild time plus its a 10 year old car (well 11 really as its based on the version 5 STI and not the 6), your looking at £6-800 quid for a major service, 120ish for a basic oil change, 300+ for a cambelt if it doesnt need anything else replacing due to wear, brake discs are cheap, as long as they are the subaru 4 pots (and those are not good anyway), if your talking alcon brakes then for front discs and pads, pushing 500 quid (none standard oem items), more from a dealer
Maf sensors are quite cheap, around 100-120 quid now (common issue), oil pump would need upgrading on a higher mileage car (set you back a couple of hundred quid for an uprated item as standard ones can jam), rust on the rear arches is common and can be expensive to fix.
Fuel economy isnt good and these can only be run on super unleaded (v power etc), especially the type R's.
Still with 276bhp they are not too bad, not the quickest out there but not slow either, just expensive to run.

Tony

Hurley1611

listen to this guy mate, he talks a lot of sense.. i think the insurance is going to be your biggest issue to be honest... best bet is to try a plan or keith micheals before you even think about parting with your money.
When i was looking i was after a P1 like you, but its finding one within budget etc, and eventually i settled on this:

and havent been happier,just have a good look and dont rush into buying the first one you see.

SamP1

If you're gonna be stretching to afford a P1, my advice would be get a type r instead as you can get more or less the same car for a fair bit less which will give you more to cover others costs. As others have said factor in the running costs because they're not cheap, 18 miles to the gallon when you're only running v power is really painful. Insurance at 19 is going to be ridiculously expensive too. Servicing adds up, tyres are £100 a corner, new clutch £500+ and the engines on these cars can blow up, so personnally i'd advise going for one with a rebuild by a reputable garage if possible- there are well looked after cars which make it to 100k + miles without going bang but for peace of mind a new engine has to be preferable to an older one.
I'm not sure if the type r has the same brakes as the P1, but again if possible get one with a big brake upgrade, Alcons, Brembos or even better AP Racing as standard brakes are notoriously poor on the classic imprezas.
At some point you're likely to want to mod the car and you will end up saving £££ in the long run is you buy one which has already had the work done. Saying that, insuring a modded sti/p1 at 19 might be next to impossible anyway.

Good luck with your search.

TRH16V

Thanks for all the advice chaps but I've had these all in to consideration before insurance on my Cav Turbo is Group 17 which I've just about been insured on through my dad's company. Insurance is fine for me I can get insured it's just paying the price and I'm willing to spend £1800 on insurance which is what I've been quoted on an Impreza at the age of 20, but my initial plan was to buy the Impreza and store it in the lock up until I'm about 21 and in that time I can do what ever I want to it. Buying the car isn't too much of an issue and the maintenance side of things that's what I wanted to investigate on and they're are costly but to have these cars you gotta pay the price I suppose.

I won't be rushing in to buying one any way I'm gonna let the right car come to me.

I don't give my cars to garages, I do the work my self or I give them to my cousin who is performance car specialist and had these cars when they were brand new.

I trust no garage with my car not after what happened to my friends Lotus Carlton but that's another story.

Thank you for all your input people much appreciated and has been useful. You've answered my questions and that's what I came for once again lads thank you.
Rix

bolasti

iTrader: (6)

you have pm

TRH16V

Thanks for the offer mate appreciate it but I'm not after anything like that. Cheers.