Hi folks, finally getting back into an impreza after a couple of years, am lucky to be in a position to get 1 as a second car, any way after finding a sweet 1 uk my00 close to me, I've been pipped to the post by a guy from Belgium! Apparently he coming over sat to pick her up, although the seller has told me its mine if it does fall through, fingers crossed!
Any way I've also seen a nice looking Sti import on a v plate, 100,000 miles on the clock, is there anything I need to know or look at when buying an import as I've not gone down the import route before?
Any help and advice would be appreciated cheers

 

Check for rust under the car mate.

 

Especially around the rear arches and the rear of the sills.

 

Obviously history might not be complete. Look for obvious signs of neglect and depending when it was imoprted it may be immaculate. Bear in mind imports will need the under side sealed, and insurance a bit higher

That mileage seems a bit high fella for an Import. I have a 97 sti and its only got 65000 on it. Check if its still in kms

 

Thanks guys, since found out it was imported brand new, full folder of history, and oil and filter change last week clocks have been converted to mph

 

do you have a link to car?

ian

 

The import (if both cars are of simmilar condition) is a much better car

 

Import car lol and have you got a link.

 

No links ;-)
So people would definitely go for a V plate STI import over a uk my2000

 

I'd pick the STI everytime.

 

Yeah its just a better with more hp etc.

 

Mine was the same £28k when new, I have the original sales invoice from Warrender for 01 March 1999 .

 

Do imports come with underseal?

Thanks
Sam

 

Not normally but we offer a full underseal service for £150+VAT

 

I think the importers slap some on when they arrive here. God knows what sins that hides

 

Don't be silly, i don't want under seal, that's extra weight lol.

One day i might build a JDM shell up after i smash my Turbo 2000 to pieces, so it's good to know they don't come with under seal.

Any particular reason does anyone know?

Thanks
Sam

 

I dont think the japs keep their vehicles long enough to worry about such things.

 

Hardly 3 years. MOT costs over 2 grand with no free re test and its all done by the govenrment so you can't get a garage you know to pass the car. Also they hate secondhand items thats why no one robs bikes there and because they are so cheap there lol.

 

apparantly the japs dont put salt on the roads, that would explain why most of the imports have snow tyres on when they come over here, i got mine undersealed for £60 from a subaru specialist.

 

Id make sure thast it actually was an STI. Look on eBay and youll see that most 'STI's are areally WRX models with STI stickers.

Look on the SIDC sites FAQ, soo what an applied model number is and where to find it and then check that. Itll be something like GC8F4ED. If it doesnt end 4ED (or 4DD for an STI Type-RA) then it isnt an STI.


Simon

 

Or "...2DD" for a 2dr STi Type R too.

 

Right folks, I missed the uk my2000, it did go to Belgium in the end, *******! Lol
So thinking of going up north on Sunday to view the sti, spoke to the guy on the phone today, he told me he is being as truthful as possible, he also mentioned that it is common place with sti's that they suffer from some piston slap when 1st started up? Is this true? He was more than willing to go for an hour's test drive to cover duel caridge way, country lanes ect, also said if it wasn't for his missus not wanting to drive it he would not be selling as he's only had it for about 5 months, he also said one of the pistons on the brake calliper had siezed slightly where it wasn't getting used as he rarely drives it, but his mechanic had sorted this just thought he should let me know? I would be going from Oxford to Blackburn for this car, he sounds honest enough and the car looks sweet, but in my experience you can never tell!!! Any1 in or around Blackburn fancy coming to check it out on Sunday? Lol

 

Piston slap; possibly. IIRC, around 98-00 cars suffered from this when cold. Someone will correct me I'm sure if I'm wrong lol

 

Btw, would love to post a link so you could have a look and let me know your opinions
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3213980.htm

Please let me know what you think, I have arranged a day to go up and have a good look, test drive and hopefully buy

 

The STi's pistons are forged - although they're not as strong as many aftermarket jobs - but forged nonetheless. Forged pistons are deliberately undersized for their bore by a few thou, as when they reach normal operating temp., they expand a little. So when they're cold, they "slap" against the sides of the bores as they go up and down; but once fully warm, the fit is perfect, and the noise goes away.

So yeah, some engines will make a slapping noise - so is normal.

Just to corroborate it, my previous 93 WRX had a rebuld and STi 3/4 pistons were used. The slapping noise was very noticable, when compared to the previous std 93-96 non-forged WRX pistons (which were silent).

 

Bit high on the mileage, given there's no rebuilt engine. Unless, of course it's still in km in which case it's 'only' c.64,600m. I'd ask the chap if and at what odo reading the speedo has been converted to read in MPH (if at all!).

I'd also ask how many previous UK owners there were and when it was imported - you don't know what fuel it's been run on, see. The v.5/6 STi have aggressive timing/fueling maps and if not run on a at least 97 (but 99 would be better), you don't really know how much detonation the motor may have seen (as it doesn't mention a remap for UK fuel, either)...

Coincidentally, you often see a pattern of unmapped-for-UK-fuel MY99/00 cars' motors (inc. P1s) let go at around the 60k miles mark!

 

It was imported new in '99, has had 4 previous owners and is in mph, no rebuild that I know of but will ask the guy now,

 

Thanks mate, good to hear

 

Was going to ask about the pistons to. Mine does sound a little odd first thing, but once warmed up its quite!! Glad thats cleared up

 

Right having a few second thoughts about this car, found out there is service history up to 65,000 miles but nothing after? Seems a bit dodgy, then I find out the car is still in the previous owners name as the guy selling it has had it on a mates trade policy for the last 5 months? I did a text check on it and it was showing 5 owners, but the guy told me. 4, only when I questioned him did he say oh yeah I forgot its still in previous owners name and says 4 on log book, so with previous owner and current I would actually be the 7th owner? All starting to sound a bit dodgy, what do you think???