STERNRITTER

Ok as you can guess i am on the hunt and saving like mad.
Had a look at http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...48gh?logcode=p this , wasnt keen on the price but i took it for a spin anyway .

Made my corolla t sport feel pedestrian , anyway i checked all the usual bits bar oil (dealer could have topped that up this morning ,dont mean much ).
The car seemed to check out no rust , although he said the battery kept getting drained .One of the headlights has quite a bit of condensation in,and also the the rear of the car seems to steam up badly ,so i am sceptical about damp seeping in somewhere .

so is there anything specific to look out for...

steve ex vauxhall

iTrader: (5)

Welcome to the addiction that is Subaru mate

Do you know anything about them at all?

They can be a bit on the exotic side of things to look after.

You can either, take someone with you to look at it that knows what they are talking about,
Or you can dive straight in and then start to solve problems ( that's what I did)

Use the search engine above to try to answer your questions.

Steamy rear window can tell you that there's water getting into the boot ( Subaru give you this as standard) lol

But a lot of garages do valet the cars so it could also be that there's just a little bit of dampness left in there

Dan-

looks like a nice blobeye, need to ensure the belts are done as for condensation its very cold outside, i somtimes need to drive with the windows down and that still dont stop the rear window misting, headlight is an easy fix the garage could change if there a good dealer

STERNRITTER

Ok thats fine , i know that the belts need changing every 40k/4years ish .The servicing aint a problem id do it myself apart from the plugs.

I had it on full lock and booted it , if the diffs were shagged it would have shown.The ac was ice cold .didnt check the boot as the price was strong and i dont buy the first car i look at anymore .

one question ,i am quite long (6"2)and the seat didn`t go as far back as i thought it would have .Can you get longer rails , also the wheel is the size of a bus wheel what are the smaller options ?

pflowers

Hmm, I am sure those seats are from a bugeye not a blobeye?

Dan-

i never knew you could test a diff that way :P, i noticed the seat is rather close, im only 5"9 and i nearly have it on full back and all down!

i might be wrong but the sti wheel may be smaller even though its big to what im used to

STERNRITTER

Ha the diff testing , i thought why not the back stepped out a lil :P.

I am dam sure it was remapped the way it pulled to the redline cant be standard ,its the first one iv drove so i dont know , the only mod i could see was a vent to atmosphere dumpvalve.Ok looks like il have to research the seats then.

Also are they really sensitive to bad camber roads ,as it was pulling a lil to the kerb .

what are the main advantages over the blob v the bug apart from looks .

Dan-

that catches you out sometimes very even in 25c heat in the dry, pulling from a t junction not what i wanted! ive not driven a wrx blob but mine shoots through the rev range very quicky, i would go and get a drive in another you know to be standard

they are very bad to rutting constantly fighting the wheel on country lanes!

not alot untill you get to a 54 plate blob then the interior had a change

STERNRITTER

The step wasnt as bad as i thought initially , i tried to make it happen so was ready for it.
Ok im glad you said there was no difference ,no point spending extra cash.Keep it for mods .
I do need to drive another one , i mean it was just alot faster than my tsport ,now you maybe thinking different league of car .but i havent let a standard 2.5t focus st get away and they are the same power as standard .So that points to a map .Back to autotrader and pistonheads .
If anyone else can give me anymore pointers ,cheers in advance

TurboAndy

iTrader: (1)

Hi and Welcome.

What mods are you planning on? only reason I ask is you might be better off getting an STI rather than get a WRX and spend money to get STI power but still run 5 speed box etc etc.

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

"Wasn't keen on the price" how much do you expect to pay for a performance car

STERNRITTER

mods wise , nothing stupid ,decat ,filter , fuel pump and remap to whatever is safe.

As for the price , 4k you can get a STI with a lil haggling,not the price in general ,of course in the grand scheme of things its effing bargain but there are better scooby deals out there .that car was only up the road so i thought id take a look

TurboAndy

iTrader: (1)

Ok. Reason I ask is a few people I know went and bought WRX's and didnt know about STI's and now wish they had got one.

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

buy a sti or else diesals will leave you after owning a wrx

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

Not mine you won`t, nowhere near

mike74

Re the battery getting drained... sounds like the good old ''smartcharge'' again, where the battery only gets charged when a load is detected on it, so as long as you keep the sidelights/heaters on whenever your driving it should be ok.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Welcome, first off your right about the price, it's a bit high for that year and miles, but even car dealers have to eat, for that money your nudging bug sti territory, but it would be a bit of a dog.

You don't mention what your budget is and what the car will be used for/how hard a life it will get.

This place is full of STI fanboys, but not everyone want's to look like an extra from fast and furious every day what they don't like to hear is a modded WRX is faster and easier to live with than a standard STI because it's lighter, longer gear ratio's and a faster spooling turbo means it makes it's peak torque well before the STI so on the road will be quite a bit quicker with the right mods, i have both so i'm qualified.

If your into modding then STI all the way, because it is a much better place to start, stronger engine and box and generally better spec to lead a hard life.

If you just want a quick daily that still has plenty of grunt when required but keeps a certain amount of refinement on uk's crappy roads, and doesn't have you needing new fillings every 3 months as well as constantly p1ssing blood from the battering that your kidneys take, then the WRX it is.

Last point is look on here for well looked after examples with light mods and save ££££ if thats what your after doing, better geting one that someone else has spent a fortune on.

Norman Dog

iTrader: (1)

Nearly £4k is too much for an 03 WRX, especially with the mileage and faults described.

And those cheapo budget tyres......

STERNRITTER

i was thinking the alarm/ tracker ,i suppose as id drive it everyday it shouldnt be a problem

budget is moot ,say 3k + 1k for my t-sport for the perfect one ,i do have a lil more saving to do though (dam you xmas).

As for what i want ,i want something i can drive everyday .We all want ******** power but i am realist 280/280 will do me perfect .So the wrx it is i loved the way the turbo spooled so quick and held to 7000rpm,the ride was so nice felt slightly softer than my albeit lowered t sport .Plus i dread to think how much extra the insurance is for a STI .

I dont want to be spending money on blown engines ,been down that road before .Im not scared of the mileage ,id purchase on 100k just to scratch the rally rep itch for 18months