[JP]

hello everyone..

New member here, looked for a thread for introductions, but didnt find one, so I've opened this one to ask for advice as well..

Read a few threads about the impreza, but they were more focused on newer models, which my budget wont stretch to.....

Anyway, quick run down....

Im from Portugal, been living over here for 8 years now and im 31

I've always fancied a scooby, but never got round to buy one....have had a few share of fast cars, but never the scooby!
Dont like any of the newer models, only the old models with the smaller headlights?

Im just in the process of buying another estate car (audi A4 or passat) and get rid of my old C5 estate... but with a baby due mid august, I've decided to get rid of the missus car as well (Golf 1.8 convertible) and buy something that could be used as family car..... and that I could take out for a blast...

So, the scooby came to mind! always liked it, its fast and has 4 doors! perfect to chuck the baby in the back seats

Never driven a scooby, so dont even know how quick they are..
I have a couple of road bikes and track bikes, so they are always very quick, so once I get into a car, its hard to judge if its quick or not!

but.. as its supposed to be a family car... I just want something a bit quick and fun to drive!

Any ideas? Had a look on eBay, but dont seem to find many of the older models.. have they all been run down now?

gonna keep reading some threads on the forum, see what else I can find

hooo yeh, my budget is around 4k? maybe less, maybe more, depends how much I spend on the audi/passat

thanks for any help
can't offer much help on scoobies (yet), but anything with bikes, fire away

wrx sti ppp

that budget should get you into a nice enough classic. definately get a test drive in one as they're more than a "bit quick". having had a classic and newage, i would say if you want the best point to point car for the money, you cannot go wrong. just make sure you get one thats been looked after, serviced regularly and not been driven through Halfords!

[JP]

I've seen this one ebay, which is just down the road from me....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Imp...item45fc192c9e

this is the model I like, do they have any special name?
and this one on eBay does look standard, exterior wise, as I dont want something out of the MAx Power magazine, yes, will like to have a nice exhaust with a throaty sound, but that's about it..

is the one on ebay any good? lol.. stupid question really, but you guys probably look at it and can say yes or no straight away...

ooohhhh if anyone is into offroading and land rovers.. fireaway questions as I also have a Defender 90 that i use off road, so I know them inside out

cheers!

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

Keep looking mate with your budget you will fine a classic shape in immaculate condition.
Granted the one above has had a few mods and the remap done. Look for a standard one and for about 2500 and spend the rest of your pennies on decat exhaust decent panel filter and a re map.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3060779.htm

06wrx

iTrader: (2)

Welcome ,

if you can travel the one below looks a good advert, he's quite local to me and never heard a bad word about him.

ebay - Item number: 310319304190

i fancied it soooooooo bad but abit out of my budget .

good luck with the hunt....

[JP]

ok.. here we go! I guessed this was never going to be easy! lol

hpoolsteve.. that one looks fantastic!! I love it... showed it to the missus, she said "ohh.. I like the one with the bigger spoiler" lol

that one looks very good though, nice price as well, I think??

06wrx, thanks for that, currently on my eBay watch list!

now, just a quick one, I noticed both of those have the smaller (which is not that small) spoiler, is it the model after that has a bigger spoiler?

ggezzz.. I really am a noob!! lol

TheEvilGiraffe

iTrader: (6)

Classic (pre2000) - Wagon - job done !

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

The one that 06wrx showed you is a WRX STI import. They come with 280 bhp as standard and have different internals in the engine which make it stronger. They are a better model than the UK version i showed you, but they cost more to buy and insure (group 20) as opposed to group 17 for the uk turbo. The STI is a better base model if you wish to start modding it

06wrx

iTrader: (2)

QUOTE ''now, just a quick one, I noticed both of those have the smaller (which is not that small) spoiler, is it the model after that has a bigger spoiler?''

im not sure at all with this, people swap and change them to their tastes, try to buy from an enthusiast if you can, that way you ''know'' they've been cherished or at least they should have !

avoid buying from little chavs who have nailed the sh*t out of them and not cared for them properly, or it'll cost you in the long run, i always like to hear a car im buying started up from cold ( just something i was told by an old boy ! ) so you can hear the cars engine before its walmed up.

although i am not expert at all ! just be carefull and dont fall in love with the 1st one you see, look at a few before making a desission.

[JP]

wagon is not an option.... I'll have the audi/passat as the wagon

hpoolsteve, thanks for that tip, will keep that in mind, I did an insurance quote just off a license plate of one on eBay and was £800 per year TPFT..which isnt too bad, but to be honest I cant remember which model it was

06wrx, yeh I know what you mean, everytime I go to see a car or bike I always ask the seller not to start it till I get there and I always check if the engine is cold before starting it up..
definately staying away from scoobys that have gone through the Halfrauds drive through lol

[JP]

just did another insurance quote using the license plate off the one in pistonheads.... £520!

i think the one i did before was a WRX... not sure though!

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

You will get the jist if you do a quote from the ebay one that 06wrx put up

[JP]

cant use that plate as its a private, nothing comes up.

Need to find a similar model with the plate on show... ideally I guess would be best to buy one off someone from here, more likely to have taken care of their car, but had a look in the sales section and havent found anything yet!

the missus also wants it blue! was the older model ever done with the bright blue as the new models? or are they likely to be resprays?
I think most of the older models I've seen are a darker blue?

wolfie1969

iTrader: (2)

Here try my plate. WRX Jap import.

[JP]

strange... I've put your plate on confused.com and comes up saying cant find any details for the reg plate...

wolfie1969

iTrader: (2)

might be because it`s an import
www.directline.com works but price might be high

mylilscooby

theres always this one im selling

[JP]

mylilscooby... that is amazing!!! called the missus over, guess what she said "its not blue.." lol

do you have it advertised here?

edit: just seen the advert... my god!!! what a beauty!

[JP]

just something I remembered...is there anything in special to look out for on the scooby? are they prone to rust in some areas or comon bits that might get problems?

only asking as if someone asked me about buying a defender, I would straight away tell them to check for rust on bulkhead, front outriggers, rear cross member and floors, plus leaking steering box, propshafts play, etc...

if you know what i mean...

cheers!
thanks for the help so far guys, I think this is THE forum to stay when I eventually get my scooby

wolfie1969

iTrader: (2)

Arches mainly on older uk classics

But thats not a problem usually on imports.

Especially if your a compulsive cleaner like me

14yr old scooby still going strong and only 52k miles !!

mylilscooby

it does have red in the paint work tho lol hhaa its well looked after im thinking of buying an evo or an S5 audi..... but yeah just seeing what interst is on it first!

thank you anyway buddy

[JP]

that looks very clean!!!

does anyone waxoyl underneath? only asking as its usual with landrovers to waxoyl as they get soooo rusty!! that or a galvanised chassi!

i think even if there's some rust wont be a problem as im used to weld and fabricate metal on the land rovers...


Just been looking on eBay... God, there's a load of crap out there! lol... also still trying to figure out how I can find some for like 3k and then others for 7k! they must be special! noticed there's loads of different models around, so im still trying to work my way round it!

mylilscooby

if i was you try to avoid posting many questions on here becuase i have noticed that there are some idiots on here that like to give stupid blunt answers its easier to not look at a post then write but they presist to do it!! Southeastscoobies is a wicked fourm to join and www.japworx.net!!

mine is undersealed have it done every winter i wouldnt bother buying one unless its been done that way you know someone is taking good care of it

with the price some people blag and are chancers just becareful as to what you buy mate

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Welcome JP
Right we need to get some bits sorted out here about the classics...
Engine wise, the STI has forged sti pistons, the conrods are the same across the range so these really dictate how good the engines are for tuning, it pretty much means your top end before a really expensive rebuild is around the 350bhp mark, maybe slightly less depending on how fresh the engine is.
1997 and 1998 model year cars cannot have their ecu's mapped which means you need an after market ecu (not cheap for something decent, ie simtek 1200 mapped), brakes on some models are really pathetic, MY99/00 cars are your best bet as these have the better 4 pots (note better but not brilliant 4 pots, can be improved with discs and pads but still quite pathetic for a performance car) and a mappable ecu
Imports will rust just as easily as a UK car, actually probably quicker if its not been undersealed and had one of the body services (they had body services on the UK classics every couple of years, this basically involved injecting wax into every crevass which helped reduce rusting/water build up, if you can find one thats had the body service and has been kept up to date then it shows its been well cared for, not many would have though )

The 5 speed gearboxes are not that strong, there are 2 types, the TY752 and the TY754, the earlier boxes are quite weak and a rebuild will set you back 600 quid for a standard build, much more for a decent gearset (circa 4.5k), the latter have a reinforced casing which helps a little, still eats gearsets if pushed, though the 754 STI gearsets are said to be hardened even more for strength, still dont mistake this for it being much stronger, people will say they have run sill ammounts of power (torque) and the box is ok, then you get standard, well maintained boxes breaking, the more power the greater the chance of them doing that.
Aircon was an optional extra on a UK car, JDM's normally come with climate control, avoid any JDM without aircon, its a selling point and you want the full package.
Rust is a problem on the older cars (that includes upto the last of the classics), look for bubbling around the rear arches and the front screen (pull the rubber back), the rear arches will cost a packet to fix if the rust is in there deep as its a double skin, and on JDM models with the electric arial, they can rust here too.

V5 model descriptions... this is a tricky area, some are down as GL's, there were only ever 6 official cars as GL's because they didnt have wrx's on the UK's books at the time, these 6 were imported by Prodrive, 3 went to be rallied and were written off, 3 went for sale to the public, they are the original MY93 JDM cars.
Also there are alot of dogs out there, if you are going JDM you need to be aware of a few facts, any car that is older than 10 years old only needs an MOT, well partially true, it also needs to be converted to MPH by law, alot are not, plus they come speed restricted (180kmh or 112mph), then owners will say "restricted still so not ragged" which is total bs.
If you go for an import then ensure its converted to MPH, has a rear fog fitted (some of the MOT stations that get these cars in are dodgy as hell), and dont go by the "1" owner cars, that mainly means they dont know how many owners, just the 1 uk owner, could have had 20 jap owners.

Tony

PS, jap imports vary in power, early wagons are 220ps (218bhp and note JDM's only run on the higest octane fuel available!), saloon wrx's from 1993-1994 are 240ps, 1995-1996 are 260ps, then 1997 onwards are 280ps.
STI's are 250ps for the original MY94 car, v2's are 275ps, v3-6 are all 280ps or 276bhp, not 300bhp as some will tell you out of the factory, huge myth that.

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

JP- thats an awesome first time buyers guide that Tony has wrote. If you stick with them guide lines then you should be ok. Like you said in a previous post, if you can buy one of here or another good scooby forum then they should be looked after quite nicely for you. Please bare in mind that theses cars can be costly if things go wrong.

[JP]

cheers for that Tony!!

that's something to have on my phone to when i go and look at one..
to be honest, I wont be going for a lot of mods and squeeze a lot of bhp off the car, probably just standard will suit me nicely... at the end of the day its a car for the missus and for me to have the odd blast, for serious speed I have the bikes

thanks once again! brilliant list of stuff