ibz2004

Hi everyone. I have owned a bugeye non-turbo and very briefly a bugeye WRX - but am now looking to be a newbie Sti owner.

I have have spotted a few around the midlands (all of them Type UK) which i will view over the coming days. My budget is around £5500-£6500 and after something without any engine mods.

Tomorrow i am going to view a Hawkeye sti for around £6k (60,000 mileage and no engine mods). Does this sound like a reasonable price?

Any tips or advice on what to watch or hear out for when i lift the hood or take it for a test drive?

i have been a member on here for a while and alot of the sti jargon goes way over my head. I also do not know much about the different spec cars (other than that a Type UK is from the uk and that a JDM is Jap import - i know about this because i was reading up on the crazy tax bands).

It will be a daily runner for work which is about a 2miles away.

So any help will be much appreciated. Thanks

fingerscooby

That's seems far too cheap for an hawkeye Sti...., they are closer to 9-10 grand. Are you sure it's an Sti and not a wrx??

moneys

iTrader: (5)

THAT IS CHEAP, IVE got a 2006 one and if i was selling id want close to 8-9k, mine has had the hg upgraded and arp studs though so is as good as bullit proof unless you start going for high bhp. Save your money a bit longer and get one thats well sorted, at least the HG upgraded. Oh and dont listen to all the crap tht will come along soon with the likes of dont get one, do get one as they are awesome cars with a huge amount of torque that makes driving them a pleasure

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

The ringland is the major issue on the 2.5's which helps the HG to go.

That car is way to cheap.

ibz2004

Am i correct in assuming there is less chance of this happening with a 2.5 WRX ?
after looking at the average prices you guys are right it is way too undervalued so i think i will stay clear of that one. Other similar hawkeyes on autotrader are going for £9k as Moneys pointed out.

I am not a speed merchant and i was even considering a low mileage hawkeye WRX

chopperman

How can ringland fracture help the head gasket to fail ?? There 2 unrelated issues. From what i've seem it seems to be one or the other.

op. check for any water leaks, bubbles in the expansion tank or creamy residue. also check for knocking shocks.

Frenchwood

STi's should be no less than £9k IMHO.
WRX's around £6k.

I was told:
Look out for possible head gasket failure, and inexplicable lumpy or "off" running, hesitation on or before boost (possible ring land fractures)
Knocking on the suspension
And don't touch a modded car unless its had a forged rebuild (add a few more ££££ to the price)

Saying that, head gaskets are apparently common on all the 2.5's so if its had them done already (properly) I'd expect to (and would happily...) pay a little more

More power, more prone to ring land failures.

HTH

chopperman

I would just like to add to this post if i may.

Another sign of possible ringland fracture is, lumpy idle and turning over slowly like a weak battery when starting. This is caused by low compression. Smoke on start up can be another sign but it can also be normal due to head and crankcase breathers being plumbed into the intake as standard. It tends to be more excessive with piston fractures though.

Pramas

theres no way therres a decent hawk STI available for 6k, are you looking at KTC by any chance? if so avoid, 6k is hawk wrx territory

ibz2004

KTC??? i have checked and it was advertised incorrectly as "Subaru Impreza 2.5 WRX STi Type UK ". It is indeed a WRX made to look like an sti (with the badges etc) - whether this is an oversight by the dealer it remains to be seen.

guinnessman2001

Keithley Trade Centre.

Just google it and read some of the comments from buyers of their cars.

Steve's Sti

iTrader: (2)

agreed with above look at least 9k but best to get one that has been forged, even a low mileage one can suffer from ringland,

Frenchwood

You may, and +1


Agreed!

OP, when you find a motor, before buying it, you'd do well to stick the reg number into the search engine here and in google too (with and without spaces in the number plate), and see if the car has any history, if nothing turns up, a quick post on SN asking about it, may turn up some information that the dealer simply doesn't have! (Not that they'd part with any info anyway!)

Good luck on the search.

Aaron1978

iTrader: (12)

2 miles? Get a push bike

Seriously, it won't be good for your car to keep driving two miles with pretty much none of your fluids up to temperature. I'm not saying don't buy the car by the way.

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Any contamination into the bores causes problems for the associated components. Perhaps I should have said "could help".

Frenchwood

Fractured pistons and ring lands shouldn't touch the head gasket, contamination in the bores or not.

If the ring lands have gone its actually LESS likely to cause head gasket failure that side due to lower compressions against that head as gases escape the broken ring/land.

It's the "lift" on the heads that kills HG's due to compression from forced induction and head/stud design flaws.

On the flip side, broken ring lands and metal particles *could* (albeit unlikely) push past pistons and damage the valve train, although this would be more likely if the piston crown broke.

cuprajake

iTrader: (11)

No one factoring it could be a spec d. They hover around the 6-7k mark

I had my heads go.

Only real way to test is to get it to temp then give it a sustained blast of high boost then let it idle. If the car does t cool itself down then it's a good chance that the heads are lifting under boost.

The head gaskets don't always fail in the traditional way so you may not get mayo. I didn't.

Jake

Frenchwood

+1. Sniff tests won't always go positive either.

chopperman

Yup, i agree