BenRichardsFife

Hey everyone!

i am currently looking at buying an impreza and wanted to get some help for deciding wether i should buy it - or not

I currently own a 1993 Toyota Supra. its an Automatic and a Non-Turbo, so yes, its not the holy grail of supras, but its only my 2nd car so be nice lol

anyways, i put my Supra onto a website called "www.swapz.co.uk" i dont know if anyone is familiar with it, but i just put my car on it to see what interest it gets. then i got a message from someone selling a 2002 Impreza WRX STI Type UK with the prodrive pack aswell, claiming 305BHP. obviously i would take an STI for my supra in a second! but my car is obviously worth ALOT less than an STI, so i asked the guy selling it why he wants a car with 80bhp less (not to mention an automatic aswell) and he said its because he has a 2JZ-GTE engine (the engine from the twin turbo supra) and he is looking to build a project car and obviously needs a supra to put the engine into. this sounds like a genuine reason to me if im being honest, so i dont see why he wouldnt want my supra cos it is a well looked after example.

the impreza claims to have a full service history with oil changes every 4000 miles, it also has 10 months MOT (mines only has 4 months) and he is only the 2nd owner owning it for 4 years.

the car unfortunatly has 108,000 miles (172,000km) on it :[ but the owner re-assured me that the oil has been changed every 4000 miles and its been serviced fully. he said there is no oil leaks from any gasket and it runs sweet as nut so im trying to not let the high mileage put me off

here is a pic of the engine bay
http://goo.gl/rLNS0


it is common knowledge that if something sounds to good to be true, then it probably is...
but im meeting the guy on sunday so we can look at each others cars and see what we think.

so really i am asking for any advice in advance so i dont make any mistakes when looking at this car

any help is greatly appreciated

Ben

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I'd keep the supra, but thats because i've always liked them and toyotas = trouble free motoring, where as impresa = troublesome expensive motoring.

No real reason to be afraid of the milage if it's a well looked after example, and the fact that he has had it for 4yrs is a good thing on account of him probably knowing the car inside out.

scoobs are a fun car to own and drive but they are very expensive to run, and very particular about how they like to be treated, and should the worst happen, it's usually fatal, so full rebuild required, which does not come cheap and needs to be done by the select few, otherwise you will need it doing again, very soon after.

Now i don't mean to sound like a doom and gloom merchant, because i love them with a passion, but you do need to do your research and go in with your eyes wide open.

The Sti is a very good starting point to subaru ownership because it has all the best running gear.

What ever you decide, i wish you the best of luck with it.

g7prs

iTrader: (5)

Hello and welcome from a fellow Fifer

what do you think your car is worth if you were to sell it?

Tony Harrington

iTrader: (8)

I can understand your concern. I am the owner of my 1st scoobie & am very happy but really took my time because it can be very costly if one chooses the wrong car, having said that this applies to other performance cars.

Mileage is down to preference some ppl don't mind a higher mileage car if its been looked after and there is adequate proof of this. Make sure you check all the history. The fact that it has had 2 owners can be a positive in as much that it has not been thrashed & continually passed on.

Has the car been used for track days, used daily or just for weekend. Who has done all the servicing (professional, enthusiast or DIYer). May be a good idea to have someone alongside you who has some working knowledge of Subarus or performance cars if that's possible.

Bear in mind insurance can be expensive but in your case not as bad as mins as you already own a performance car which will go in your favour. There are some good insurance brokers on Scoobynet with competitive rates.

Hope things work out for you mate & that this advice is helpful to you!

BenRichardsFife

Hey buddy! What part of fife are you from?

And I would probably get about 2500 for my sup

g7prs

iTrader: (5)

Kincardine ( in Fife just )

I would say his car is worth more but the mileage will put some people off. As has been mentioned the full service history and low number of owners is a good thing.

BenRichardsFife

How old are you bud? What school did you go to? I'm from rosyth lol, yeah the cheapest WRX STI I could find on pistonheads was more than £4,000 so its definitely worth more than the supra but the miles are kind of putting me off, owel - with proof of the fsh and if the car runs sweet I don't see no reason not to take it

g7prs

iTrader: (5)

( cough ) 36 ( cough )

I went to Dunfermline high but that was a few years back now

There are guys on here with cars that have done over 200,000 but it depends on how well its been maintained and what kind of life its had.

BenRichardsFife

Lol, I feel like a baby now, I'm 20, I went to scumfermline high aswell,

And yeah I'm guessing the EJ20 should be decent if its looked after, serviced and not thrashed...too often haha

g7prs

iTrader: (5)

Have you checked out the insurance for the sti yet? They can be very expensive for younger guys to insure.

BenRichardsFife

Yeah man its all sorted

datuck

just my 2 pennys, make sure u let it go cold and then start it up. as subaru's love to hide there knocks, bangs, pistonslap, when warm. don't want to swap it and only to wake up in the morning the next day to find it sounds like a bag of nails.

g7prs

iTrader: (5)

When you get one if you have a look over on....

SIDC ( in the scottish section )

and

scottishscoobies.net

you will find loads of local meets and runs

BenRichardsFife

Thanks for reminding me, cold starts are a must for viewing a used car, blue smoke and rattles - I pray to god its sweet as a nut haha

BenRichardsFife

Sounds awesome, thanks bud

g7prs

iTrader: (5)

I would be worth having a look on those sites before you get go look at the car as somebody might well know of it.

datuck

yes a big must, go on youtube and type in impreza pistonslap, cam belt tentioner. and learn the sounds, check the car doen't backfire even slighty or shake from left to right to much it will alittle its a flat4.

But from what u said i would be very worried about swapping it myself. sounds to me like he wants rid of the subaru.

u must ask yourself why is he in a rush to get your car why wouldn't he just sell his sti for 4000 grand and buy a real supra. and if its an auto it wont be as simple as just changing the engine if he wants manual gears. theres a hole lot of work involved.

wrx fifer

iTrader: (34)

hi ben, im from glenrothes, where you from? best to come over to scottishscoobies.net thats where all the scottish guys are, loads happening, monthly meets, events, shows,etc etc.

grant

L.J.F

iTrader: (31)

02 bug sti engines have forged pistons as standard and as such will make piston noise on cold start but this sound will fade as the oil warms up. If looked after these engines will keep going, and the 02 sti lump is one of the better ones made to date


Find out what oil the car has been run on and what fuel as this is very important when considering a high mileage car.

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

Even for an ugly bugeye, that seems a bit cheap to swap for a car that`s only worth 2.5k I know they go for a lot less than Blobs but still

Osimabu

iTrader: (2)

No one's mentioned it yet, and I suppose I've got a bee in my bonnet about this, but you will also want to look very hard to see how rusty it is underneath.

Here's my first ever post on this site:

https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...ame-query.html

Have a read and you'll be able to see what makes me so sceptical.

And also check the brakes aren't worn out or badly corroded as they cost a fair bit to replace.

Please let us know how you get on.

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

That`s shocking mate I haven`t seen that thread before.

Osimabu

iTrader: (2)

It was a shocking car, especially coming from a Subaru main dealer, and I was very lucky I got my cash back. Ultimately a useful experience though.

BenRichardsFife

I've had a little listen on youtube at "pistonslap" it sounds a little like a tractor? Or a diesel generator from my work a little lol, so I'll keep my ears listening for that, - I'm guessing that's a walk away job yes?

And I know exactly what you mean, I was asking myself the same thing "/ he's had the car for 4 years so maybe he is just genuinly bored of it? And he's had a supra before so he knows they are plenty of bang for your buck - but this does sound a little too good to be true - I'm going to have to go with my instincts and use all these tips to help me, thanks for your post lad

BenRichardsFife

After reading that I will most certainly be checking the subframe and under car VERY well :O that's a disgrace bud, thanks for the heads up

BenRichardsFife

How's it going fellow fifer :P I'm from Rosyth buddy, I'll register with that website if all goes well with this car man cheers

BenRichardsFife

The owner claims the car has been filled with magnitec oil every 4000 miles, I'll be asking of proof of this of course and hopefully he's a wise man and uses only v-power like me haha

datuck

Well it's because of the short piston's subaru use that cause the pistons to slap. As they get worn they rock a little, im on my 3rd subaru now and the one that has pistonslap only started once i topped up the oil. which makes me think it had thicker oil in it, that the owner put in to hide the noise. So there's alot of tricks owner use to sell cars, as for a walking away from a subaru with pistonslap well yes and no. As subaru themselfs state, its doesn't mean theres anything wrong with the car its just a subaru's noise. but it's always better to get one without it lol.