Hi all, long time no see

Well after a number of years of travelling with work etc I'm starting to settle down again and fancy a new toy

And for some reason I can't get out of my head that I need something with a distinct sound, a ...... Burble sorta thing

So whilst low mileage bug eye scoobs seem to be a mystical unicorn ( or mystical amounts of money ). I've decided to go different and look at STI hatch's

The only prob I have is I've been away from the scene for a while and I've heard that the early hatch 2.5's had some engine issues. I'm supposed to be looking at a low mileage 08 on Sunday so does anyone have any advice on what to look for in case the car is exhibiting the engine issue ( done 45,000 miles) or what to look for for corrective/preventative improvements?

Any help gratefully received

Cheers

Ian

 

I'm not going to get into the reliability debate as i know nothing about it. I just bought my 330s in the knowledge that it had low miles, unmodified , full Subaru service history , and the dealer map tweak to "help" with the piston issue.
What i will say is that on the hatch the "rumble" that you speak of is a bit tamer than the old ones so if that's a major factor you could look into exhaust change.
Look for already forged engine , if not then negotiate the price and realise that in future you may need to rebuild. Any modifications on a non forged engine would worry me , as to me that is part of the problem with engine failures.

 

plenty bugeyes around bud? http://www.pistonheads.com/classifie...01&YearTo=2002

7-8k gets you something nice so not that expensive. and you get the strong 2 litre engine not the chocolate one.

 

Welcome back Ian

I'd say if going the hatch route you really need to go JDM as that 2.5 is made of chocolate.

Personally IMO I think an STI bug is a surperb buy especially if you can source a JDM version. If was ever to buy another that'sap where my money would go.
It's the classic new age that's only going one way if you buy wisely.

 

Welcome back Ian, ref hatch you need to consider road tax but a JDM would be my advice.

Time to think out of the box and consider a fresh bugeye import the prices are much better now and there's a steady flow coming in. There's a good importer that I'd suggest contacting for a price range and basically they find and ship via their arm in Japan.

 

Ian,

Good to hear you may return. A good JDM WRX hatch may tick boxes as they have the 2.0 litre and more goodies than a UK car, oh and 250 bhp as standard.

As already said the JDM STi hatch would be my choice for spec and engine alone.

Regards

Ian

 

Thanks for the welcome back guys

Yeah the bug eye sti is still top of my list. There is a local place that yabba linked but I do not believe he has a great reputation for the cars.

Will give the chocolate block a wide birth then

Pm sent Si