Looking to buy my first Impreza.
Discussion
Hi everyone, I’m looking to get my first “proper car”. Moving up from my very first car of 1.2 vauxhall corsa. I want something abit more fun.
I’ve Decided that an Impreza will scratch that itch just fine, but… I'm 21 and don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for insurance so STIs are out of the question for me. Im thinking a WRX would do me just fine. But I’m open to anything that’s around the 200bhp mark preferably a saloon.
The kind of driving I do is what you’d expect from any 21 year old interested in cars. (I have somewhat of a heavy foot) but all within speed limits of course. Mostly getting to the speed limit rather quickly. Rarely do I get over 70mph when on motorways.
My main concern is the mpg. While I have my heart set on an Impreza I don’t know how much I can forgive some of the 15-18mpg figures I’ve read on the forums.
so the dumb questions follow:
Firstly what kind of Impreza do I get? I like the look of the hawkeye but I’ve heard they are more likely to have engine problems?
What kind of mpg figures should I expect from fairly standard driving around town with the occasional hoofing it on back roads?
What kind of mpg would I see on longer motorway driving?
What kind of mileage would I expect to see out of a tank?
Should I go for a 2L or the 2.5? If so is there that much of a change in mpg between the two.
My budget is around £8,000 and I’m hoping for something in the mileage range of anywhere from 50,000-70,000. Is it even likely that I’ll find a decent example for this?
How long can I expect the car to run for? What mileage do they tend to die at?
Finally is there any sort of gremlins I should look out for when viewing cars?
Thank you to anyone who takes the time to reply to my dumb questions. I appreciate you putting up with someone who is completely clueless.
Kind regards,
Josh
I’ve Decided that an Impreza will scratch that itch just fine, but… I'm 21 and don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for insurance so STIs are out of the question for me. Im thinking a WRX would do me just fine. But I’m open to anything that’s around the 200bhp mark preferably a saloon.
The kind of driving I do is what you’d expect from any 21 year old interested in cars. (I have somewhat of a heavy foot) but all within speed limits of course. Mostly getting to the speed limit rather quickly. Rarely do I get over 70mph when on motorways.
My main concern is the mpg. While I have my heart set on an Impreza I don’t know how much I can forgive some of the 15-18mpg figures I’ve read on the forums.
so the dumb questions follow:
Firstly what kind of Impreza do I get? I like the look of the hawkeye but I’ve heard they are more likely to have engine problems?
What kind of mpg figures should I expect from fairly standard driving around town with the occasional hoofing it on back roads?
What kind of mpg would I see on longer motorway driving?
What kind of mileage would I expect to see out of a tank?
Should I go for a 2L or the 2.5? If so is there that much of a change in mpg between the two.
My budget is around £8,000 and I’m hoping for something in the mileage range of anywhere from 50,000-70,000. Is it even likely that I’ll find a decent example for this?
How long can I expect the car to run for? What mileage do they tend to die at?
Finally is there any sort of gremlins I should look out for when viewing cars?
Thank you to anyone who takes the time to reply to my dumb questions. I appreciate you putting up with someone who is completely clueless.
Kind regards,
Josh
Hi Josh,
It is possible to find what you are after but you will struggle.
My suggestion is to find a half tidy uk2000 you'll find it hard to find a low mileage one though. If your keeping it long term you should be able to return a profit.
Perhaps a bugeye WRX, these seem to be a little unloved by most (I have a UK300 bugeye so I'm not hating on them)
My old UK2000 I could get up to 32ish MPG when driving like a saint, either the 2.0 or 2.5 will see you well, I prefer the 2.0 but that's personal preference, after-all it is the "same" engine, tax rates may change on the newer 2.5 cars so there is that to consider.
It is possible to find what you are after but you will struggle.
My suggestion is to find a half tidy uk2000 you'll find it hard to find a low mileage one though. If your keeping it long term you should be able to return a profit.
Perhaps a bugeye WRX, these seem to be a little unloved by most (I have a UK300 bugeye so I'm not hating on them)
My old UK2000 I could get up to 32ish MPG when driving like a saint, either the 2.0 or 2.5 will see you well, I prefer the 2.0 but that's personal preference, after-all it is the "same" engine, tax rates may change on the newer 2.5 cars so there is that to consider.
Don't get too hung up on mileage. The newest hawks are 15 years old
now and 50-70k miles is less than 5k miles per year on average. Very few cars will be that low mileage. If you restrict yourself based on miles you might lose out on some good examples.
Do your research on the 2.5 that was fitted to the UK hawk and hatch...the issues are less prevalent on the EJ255 fitted to the WRX than the EJ257 fitted to the STi, but it's fundamentally a less robust engine than the 2.0 which was fitted to blob and earlier variants and all JDM cars.
Have you checked insurance quotes? And if MPG is a consideration a turbo Impreza isn't the car for you, I'm afraid. You'll be lucky to see 25 MPG in one. In an Impreza you can literally see the fuel gauge move in real time.
Rust is very common - go in with your eyes open.
Consider the Forester XT - basically the same car with higher ride height, and you can get better examples for the same money than an Impreza WRX.
now and 50-70k miles is less than 5k miles per year on average. Very few cars will be that low mileage. If you restrict yourself based on miles you might lose out on some good examples.
Do your research on the 2.5 that was fitted to the UK hawk and hatch...the issues are less prevalent on the EJ255 fitted to the WRX than the EJ257 fitted to the STi, but it's fundamentally a less robust engine than the 2.0 which was fitted to blob and earlier variants and all JDM cars.
Have you checked insurance quotes? And if MPG is a consideration a turbo Impreza isn't the car for you, I'm afraid. You'll be lucky to see 25 MPG in one. In an Impreza you can literally see the fuel gauge move in real time.
Rust is very common - go in with your eyes open.
Consider the Forester XT - basically the same car with higher ride height, and you can get better examples for the same money than an Impreza WRX.
As said above, mileage isn't something you should focus too much on for cars of this age. It may have a bearing on stuff like interior wear, but for most mechanicals service history and how it's been driven are going to be the big factors (and you can't often be sure of the second one). Rust is also common on many Imprezas >15 years old, so thoroughly check any cars you go to see and look through MOT history.
If you wanted to be sure about reliability/lifespan, you could go down the route of buying something with a solid shell and spending money on refreshing/restoring it with things like engine rebuilds (which was the route I took with my WRX). But if you have limited mechanical knowledge and use reputable garages to do the work properly, this gets expensive very quickly. Unless you're planning it as a long term investment and a 'forever car', I wouldn't recommend it.
If you have your heart set on a Subaru and want better insurance costs (and perhaps better chances of 'careful ownership'), there are alternatives. Non-turbo Imprezas won't set your world on fire performance-wise compared to turbos, but many still have >100bhp, <10s 0-60 times and a lot of the same look as WRXs. They're getting rare though, so you may have to be patient to find the right one. Legacys and Foresters are also an option, all have AWD and the Forester has Turbo models, so again you can get much of the same experience.
MPG-wise, the combo of AWD and Boxer engines aren't known for economy. I think the blobeye WRX is (on paper) the most economical turbo Impreza model, and mine is pretty variable. On A-roads and motorways you can get towards 30-31MPG and ~290 miles/tank if you're careful with your right foot, but around town it's more like 24-25 and 230miles/tank. Non-turbos are supposedly a little better, but you're talking 1-2MPG and it likely won't make much real-world difference.
Hope that all helps!
If you wanted to be sure about reliability/lifespan, you could go down the route of buying something with a solid shell and spending money on refreshing/restoring it with things like engine rebuilds (which was the route I took with my WRX). But if you have limited mechanical knowledge and use reputable garages to do the work properly, this gets expensive very quickly. Unless you're planning it as a long term investment and a 'forever car', I wouldn't recommend it.
If you have your heart set on a Subaru and want better insurance costs (and perhaps better chances of 'careful ownership'), there are alternatives. Non-turbo Imprezas won't set your world on fire performance-wise compared to turbos, but many still have >100bhp, <10s 0-60 times and a lot of the same look as WRXs. They're getting rare though, so you may have to be patient to find the right one. Legacys and Foresters are also an option, all have AWD and the Forester has Turbo models, so again you can get much of the same experience.
MPG-wise, the combo of AWD and Boxer engines aren't known for economy. I think the blobeye WRX is (on paper) the most economical turbo Impreza model, and mine is pretty variable. On A-roads and motorways you can get towards 30-31MPG and ~290 miles/tank if you're careful with your right foot, but around town it's more like 24-25 and 230miles/tank. Non-turbos are supposedly a little better, but you're talking 1-2MPG and it likely won't make much real-world difference.
Hope that all helps!
Edited by Drummer_DL on Monday 28th February 17:59
Economy is generally poor, but it depends on your commute and your driving style.
As others have said motorway you can get ~ 30mpg.
As for problems in 15 years I had very few issues:
- Sticking callipers are quite common and need to be cleaned out regularly.
- Mine also had a very minor gasket leak near to the turbo.
- Backing plates on rear brakes rusted away.
- Boot release sticking.
- That was it.
Rear arches are one of the main problem areas so checking/cleaning those and behind the side-skirt behind front wheel arch.
Quite an easy car to work on so well worth doing some jobs yourself.
Worth checking when the cambelt was last done.
Suspension components may need a refresh on older cars.
Plenty of historical threads on PH covering these things
Put some decent types on it and you get a pretty agile and fairly light car that is a joy to drive on a B road in all weathers (albeit with a little bit of old school turbo lag).
Another thing to consider is the tax. A 2.5 liter WRX from 2005/6 onwards is around £600 a year Vs an older 2.0 WRX at around £340.
As others have said, look at the history and buy on condition.
I've had 3 over the years. A turbo 2000, bug and blob. The latest has been in our family for around 10 years now with the mileage over 120k.
I've had very few faults them. The only time I've been let down is when the plastic end caps on the radiator split. But it was very easy to replace the radiator on the drive way.
As others have said, look at the history and buy on condition.
I've had 3 over the years. A turbo 2000, bug and blob. The latest has been in our family for around 10 years now with the mileage over 120k.
I've had very few faults them. The only time I've been let down is when the plastic end caps on the radiator split. But it was very easy to replace the radiator on the drive way.
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