hi recently re-joinned the site

iam owned in total 7 scoobies,and now due to work and other issues iam now driving a 1.0 polo,doesnt really match up.
the problem i have had no luck with these scoobies at all,iam 25 and had sports when i was 19-23 which due to not having such a powerful engine i was ok with and had no serious issues with, in the last 3 years ive has 4 turbo's 1 uk turbo 2000 and 3 jap imports, i prefere the imports though.

skipping the sports i started with a uk turbo 2000 when i was 23,after just a month of owning it started jumping out of gear,it being my first turbo i thought nowt of it its only when i look back i relise the box was on its way out.
next was possibly the biggest money pit ive ever owned a 95 wrx around 300 bhp i wont say what i payed for it as it makes me sick, on the way home the gearbox......well it sounded like it blew up,anyway i replaced box,clutch i had engine out on drive aswel, it tooks months got it all back in running when money and moral ran out it was sold for 1k,
next was a silver 93 wrx owned 2 month bottam end started knocking!
gutted!!! that was that i wasnt paying for a rebuild i also wasnt swapping it for anoth engine.was then sold.
last one was a royal blue 94 wrx brilliant con engine was mint,body mint
was a brilliant car, i bought it for just 1200 due to needing breaks and a new hand break,it was sorned on the drive, then came the insurance for some reason they quoted stupid prices,i then said thats it with these cars iam going sensible, that was sold 1400 pounds,ive now found a specialist gary moley who will insure me as iam only 25 with 2 years ncb, dont no why al a sudden the companies dont want to touch scoobies,anyway il go to moley.

my issue is do i stick with a imports or uk, i dont really was a uk because i cant afford to buy a uk as there newer and i was a lowish milege, i can pick up a good import for 1500 but my worry is il own for a few weeks and something will go wrong

do i wait til i can afford a uk or stick to imports??? mmmmmmm

 

UK cars are a lot cheaper to insure normally, if you have to pay a bit more for one you'll save it on the insurance. And I bought my 97MY UK Turbo 2000 for £850 with 7 months tax and 13 months MOT, so if you're patient and a bit lucky you won't need to spend loads either!

 

at the age of car your looking at the import/uk thing is a bit of a moot point tbh, if you want some reliability spend money on the thing and stop buying cheap ****ters ! do you honestly think your going to get a nice example for £1500 ? Try and find one either unmodified or modified sensibly, buying from an enthusiast might be a good idea (more likely to have been looked after properly) and loads of receipts or history is always a good idea. Check over any cars with a fine tooth comb or take someone who really knows what their looking at if you dont.

 

yeh i mean bodywork iam not assed about as iam in the trade,my last scoob really was a minth sold for 1400 as nobody seems to want to buy when i was selling,i think alot of it is luck, my last had loads of paperwork,new box,clutch,forged engine,wish i hung on to it, i want the same car as standard as poss,i know you can find decent imports or maybe a uk for that money but like you said there not reliable

 

Buy cheap buy twice (or seven times in your case). Add up all the money you have spent on s£$%ers and think of the car you could have got for that, i would guess at least a late low miles classic sti or even a low miles newage that wont have given you half the issues.

 

id love sti but at 25 ive no chance on insurance, did have a bug eye,that was best car ive owned

 

So get another bug wrx, they can be had for little more than a classic and may not offer the most thrills but give it a year an you can get yourself an sti. Its worth thinking that even the best classics are getting on for at least a decade in age now.

 

Agree with what you're saying but I picked my 4th and most recent Impreza up for £1380 That wasn't an eBay win, just what I haggled the owner down to from £1395

Can be done but it's a UK wagon so not the most desirable model - hellova family car though (once it's mapped by Bob Rawle ).

 

there are always exceptions to the rule, but generally your not going to get a nice example for £1500

 

yeh i mean iam going to give it abit and have a look at a few first,wait for the right car

 

i'm 25 and im running a 2006 Hawkeye JDM Litchfield Type 20 (everything decleared) this is cheaper to insure with a specialist than my old turbo 2000 was with Herts insurance company, they wanted 3500 quid, i laughed and went JDM and aint looked back after going specialist insurance.

MY00 Classic turbo 2000 was a minter with about 70k when it went, full history, modded by a reputable tuner etc that went for 3.5k to a mate, i could have got more but i didnt want the car to fall into the hands of a chav.

there are nice motors out there but i reckon your looking at more than 1.5k

 

i just bought my 1998 impreza v4 wrk sti last month
good condition 60000 miles on the clock i paid £2900
and last week the head gasket went.lol
luckly the guys from my local impreza forum are going
to help me get it going sweet again.
it hasnt put me off my one at least when its done
i know the gaskets will be good and the timing belts
and tensioners and things like that will be spot on

 

i dont want to sound like an idiot but jdm means? and which model are these

 

sorry mate JDM stands for Japanese domestic market which means a import basicly no particular model just all imports.

The model i have is the hawkeye https://www.scoobynet.com/subaru-444...r-jdm-sti.html

Not saying thats the model to go for but do some shopping around with the insurance see some of the insurers in the insurance section https://www.scoobynet.com/insurance-19/ and you may be surprised on what you can get.......... i know i was, i went with A-plan in the end although Sky were cheaper the policy was very basic and with all the extras worked out a lot more than A plan

Keep us updated with what you go for

 

iam after a 93-95 import insurance seems higer due to imports il keep looking,but i dont have the budget for a newer one so will have to be as cheap as really

 

I have a clean 95 wrx wagon for sale.70k black, z4 ecu with scoobychip, td05, walbro pump, decat, hks induction kit, 17s, 4 pots facelift bonnet lights and grill, hids, flaps. Been sat on the drive for about 3 months so now needs mot but open to sensible offers.

 

Ok money rules, but you need to be careful with imports, JDM cars, call 'em what you will.

Firstly, they are all buuilt to take 100 octane fuel, which is NOT available here. Importers eirther don't know this, or conveniently forget it, resulting in a car running on poorer fuel, and posible engine damage soon after it's sold. Even running one on V-Power isn't really good enough unless the map has been tweaked. Many importers won't do that, it adds £500 to their bill, not easily recouipable on a second hand car

Secondly, since the handbook etc is all in Japanese, (if you even GET one), how do you know if it's been serviced correctly? Or at all?And given that they spent a decent part of their lives in Japan, where undersealing isn't to our standards, is there any wonder they get bodywork problems when they come over here?

The cars you are talking about are now between 16 and 19 years old.


NOT a good starting point for much tuning, I'd say.

 

yeh ive had 3 imports,none understealed and like you said the fuel is a problem,also ive never had a booklet ive got mot and the paperwork i.e mot etc the uk one for under 1500 have high miles,id like a cheap one in need of bodywork maybe

 

Instead of buying unreliable old ones in need of repair and throwing your money away, why not spend half a year saving up for a decent one -good things come to those who wait.

 

yeh t be honest i will nt be buying till summer now