Subaru Legacy tuned by STi, and its variants

[mondie]

These are rare in the UK and I am pondering importing one. When I lived in Oz I bought a 2007 version enw which I really liked but would love to get my hands on a late model WR blue car with brembos/sunroof and the full STi goodies. Then there is the STi S402 version which I don't know a whole lot about. Does anybody own one or know of any of these models in the UK? Could cost up to £15k by the time its on the road and not sure if its worth that, but struggling to think of something else that meets the breif for the money.

Thoughts PH''ers?

[V8Taxi]

I've been having similar thoughts about these models lately too. I have made limited enquiries about bringing a TBSTI or S402 over, and you're right about the general pricing.

One importer showed me a ~30k mile TBSTI that recently auctioned in Japan which would have been about £16k once in the UK. As for a reasonable S402, you're looking at around £30k OTR here, as they're fetching very strong money over there.

As for competitors... I'm struggling to really think of any.

There's a fairly nice facelift 6 speed Spec B on ebay/AT trader at the minute, but at £15k, I'm sure an equivalent could be freshly imported for £2-3k less. Worth noting also that the auction grade referred to in the advert was when it was imported 6 years ago. It was also sold recently in a private sale for considerably less.

[mondie]

Yeah the s402 would be the ultimate although its really not got a lot more to offer over the later TB STi from what I can work out. At £30k you would never get much back on resale. Furthermore, the front quarters and alloys would be imposssible to replace if you damged them. At £15k for a nice TB, I am wondering if that too is a black hole come resale time as these truly excellent cars are unknown? Resale is not everything of course but I would not want to have to give the car away.

Is the facelift car you mention for £15k a non Sti version, if so that seems very ambitous. I have trawled ebay but not seen it, will take another look.

Cheers

[MDMA .]

One here-
https://www.gtnet.co.jp/eng/usedcar/usedcar_detail...

I prefer the estate version personally, but not often they come up for sale.

The TBSTI is half the price-
https://www.gtnet.co.jp/eng/usedcar/usedcar_detail...

[MDMA .]

Another S402-

https://www.gtnet.co.jp/eng/usedcar/usedcar_detail...

[V8Taxi]

mondie said:

Yeah the s402 would be the ultimate although its really not got a lot more to offer over the later TB STi from what I can work out. At £30k you would never get much back on resale. Furthermore, the front quarters and alloys would be imposssible to replace if you damged them. At £15k for a nice TB, I am wondering if that too is a black hole come resale time as these truly excellent cars are unknown? Resale is not everything of course but I would not want to have to give the car away.

Is the facelift car you mention for £15k a non Sti version, if so that seems very ambitous. I have trawled ebay but not seen it, will take another look.

Cheers

Resale is an issue I'd thought about too. The market for these cars is going to be so small that I suspect you'd either wait a very long time for the right buyer, or take a massive hit when moving it on. It'd be tricky enough with a TBSTI, let alone an S402. I would really like an estate version of either, though.

The wheels wouldn't be a big deal to replace, albeit they'd be expensive. You could no doubt source them fairly easily through BBS. The wings would probably be eye wateringly expensive through Subaru, too.

The ebay/AT car isn't a TBSTI, merely a Spec B, but it's grey and for sale in Wales. Search Legacy Spec B on ebay and price them high to low and it'll be the top result. I've spoken with the current seller and seen the recent advert via which the current seller bought the car. I've wished him good luck with his sale but mentioned that I think it's over priced and will hang around a long time. I'm not giving away anything that isn't already in the public domain by saying that it was bought and up for resale on the very same day for several thousand pounds more - nothing technically wrong with that; people have to make a living, but I won't be buying at that price.

[mondie]

Thanks for the links MDMA, all three are great looking cars. I would buy an S402 no question if it had a proper value in the UK market but it unless few classic mags run specials on them, thay never will. I am a sedan buyer only, but if a wagon is your thing then no doubt you have seen this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-55-Subaru-Legacy-Tu...

Looks like a real bargain unless I am missing something obvious.

V8Taxi, I found the £15k wagon you were talking about and it just seems like its in the hands of a dreamer. Not even McIntosh audio which is one of the key features of the B4.

Does anyone know if a Jap SatNav can be re-programmed for the UK?

Cheers Simon

[V8Taxi]

Seen the TBSTI in the link, but the relatively high mileage and auto box I think are the reasons it's not selling. It's been on there for a while now.

I'm told the Japanese sat nav is useless over here, but apparently it's easy to swap a UK nav in place of it. How good it'll be, I don't know. I'd imagine a half decent smart phone these days has better nav than a car of that age? That was certainly true of the 2005 E46 M3 I had a while ago; I just used my Samsung.

[mondie]

Given its an auto and the mileage, for <6k it still seems like a bargain compared to what else is around. I am disucssing bringing in a TB STi now with a couple of importers and if the right car were to come up - WR blue, manual saloon I think I would be struggling to resist. Likewise if I could get my hands on a top spec S402 for less than £20k I would be sorely tempted. The S204 WRX STi seems to be around 15k so a Legacy has to be worth similar coin to the right buyer I would have thought.

If only the IS-F was a 5 seater I wouldn't be in this dilemma

[TEKNOPUG]

Is the "tuned by STi" actually desirable in the UK though? Surely the reason for a Legacy is that you want something bigger and more civilised than Impreza/Forester? JDM STi suspension on UK roads seems somewhat contrary to this.

[PotatoSalad]

I'd imagine it is, just like the legacy spec b or forester sti. I like the idea of a legacy sleeper.

[mondie]

I would say its desirable to a limited niche i.e. someone like myself who has owned WRX STi's and Evo's but needs a bit more refinement and space as the family barge. Legacy STi seems like a good option.

[PomBstard]

Try carsales.com.au and see about importing one from Australia? All RHD and usually a few for sale - 15 on there today, inc a nice looking 07 wagon with manual box for AU$22k.

If the Gen4 body was wider, I'd have one. Have a Gen5 GT manual wagon instead.

[mondie]

Hey Pom,

I had a look at Carsales and as an Aussie, I bought my TME from there 18 mths ago. Most in Oz seems to have been well used with highish miles. Judging by this car posted upthread which can be bought for £9k without sales tax I am guessing they can be bought at auction for <£7k.

https://www.gtnet.co.jp/eng/usedcar/usedcar_detail...

I keep mulling over whether an S402 is worth double. Perhaps if I am going to do this, it just may be.

[mondie]

Spoken to a few importers and starting to get worked up over this. The going rates in Japan would seem to be about 1.3m for a TB STi and 2.4m for an S402. At a guess, OTR in the UK the TB STi would be around 13k and the S402 23k. I can see the TB STi being worth around 10k to the right buyer, but am a little lost on the S402. It shares quite a few parts with the WRX STi GpC RA-R so I wonder if that would buy it some extra kudos on the used market, or if they may have an collectibility which would put a floor under values. The Japanese prices would indicate so.

I just dont know, my heart is saying S402 in WR Blue but I dont want to burn money on resale either. Thoughts anybody?

[V8Taxi]

Who have you spoken to about this, out of interest?

[mondie]

Both TorqueGT and Imeka Cars who are based in Japan. TorqueGT were excellent when I brought in my Evo and I would trust them imp;icitly if I do this, their reputation in the UK is very good.

[MDMA .]

S402 would be my choice. The high price is simply due to low numbers/rarity of them. You'd really need to want one for 23k though. At that price, that would buy you a Forester STI and an M3!

[mondie]

As I have eductaed myself more on the various STi variants I have now added a WRX STi S204 to my maybe list. They can be had for around 1mill Yen less than an S402 and dont look anywhere near as boy racer as a standard STi while being more hardcore. Its a tempting compromise over a Legacy.

[MDMA .]

How about this-

http://torque-gt.co.uk/car/subaru-legacy-gt-spec-b...