JDM Subaru legacy twinscroll
Discussion
So, I've done a few threads on here for my last few cars but have never done a car history view as well. Seems a few people have done the car history threads recently and I've enjoyed reading them, hopefully this will make a good read too.
So, I've got a new car, infact it's not actually here yet but due to make a 3 hour trip on the back of a transporter tomorrow.
So, before I talk about the new car let's do the history, I've been driving for over 20 years now so been through a fair few cars. Rather than list them all I will cover the last decade or so:
So this starts in 2011 ish, when I moved jobs and no longer had a company car.
With no deposit and no desire to finance a car I had a modest budget, but I also had no kids so something fun was needed, so here she is, a 2000 Toyota Celica 140, completely stock other than an air filter. Bought from a guy in Stoke.
I did have my lovely Honda Hornet at the same time too.
I kept the Celica for a while but wanted something a little quicker... Enter the Clio 172. Bought from a lady in her 60s who lived a few miles from me. Did have a dent which was filled and painted to make the exterior as nice as I could. Also full service Inc dephaser which wasn't cheap.
The 172 was fine but with a child on the way and a growing dog I decided to be sensible, enter the 2004 BMW 320d touring, practical but a bit dull, a cheap remap made it alot of fun though. Which was needed since the Hornet had gone too
Once my eldest was out of the buggy I no longer needed an estate and there were some great deals on brand new Abarth's, the BMW became the deposit and the rest was PCP. It was bone stock, the salesman commented that it was the only one he had ever sold without a single extra. Great car
New job meant a longer commute and another baby meant the Abarth no longer met my needs, enter the incredibly dull Jeep renegade diesel....
To balance out the dullness a friend and I went halves on this, a 1994 Celica ST202 import. We stripped the interior, added strut braces and chucked it around the track, was great fun... Will I blew the engine... Sold as spares or repairs on eBay
The jeep depreciation was epic.... A job change meant I no longer needed a diesel so the Jeep was sold via motorway to a dealer and I bought my 1st shed, a 2006 Corolla T sport, mechanically sound but average bodywork.
Didn't keep the Corolla long, not really sure why. Part ex'd against this, a brand new but pre reg 2019 Abarth Turismo, 165bhp Vs the 135 in my original Abarth.
The Abarth was awesome, so, so much fun but... It did under 3000 miles in a year due to covid and I could no longer justify the payments, we also now had 2 dogs and 2 kids so needed more room. So, the Abarth was sold via motorway and is now with a dealer is Portsmouth.
q
So... What does a petrol head with 2 kids, 2 dogs a need for performance and a desire to avoid financing do?
Well, he looks into importing a car he's always wanted, a 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX wagon. Then, inspired by MDMAs thread on piston heads and having driven a n/a version starts to look at Subaru legacies. Was about to push the button on importing one when I decided to post a thread on the legacyuk site to see if anyone was selling a car which was already here, I got a few replies and 1 stood out, a 2003 model in silver, totally standard other than a remap to run on UK fuel (they are setup for 100 Ron from the factory so need to be adjusted to the lower quality in the UK), imported into the UK in 2012 by it's current enthusiast owner. The only challenge... The car is 200 miles away and it's covid lockdown.
Remember that abarth... Well the dealer who bought it sent a lovely guy to collect it, as fortune would have it he lived just 30 miles from where the Subaru was.... A deal was agreed and the guy who took my abarth is lined up to return a week later with the Subaru.
Buying remote is not ideal but the seller is a longtime member of the forum,a real enthusiast and I got a really good vibe from him, seems like a genuinely nice guy, infact I will miss our regular messages when the car arrives, I received alot of pics, did all the checks I could and convinced myself it was worth the risk.
The payment has been made, the paperwork is complete and the car should arrive tomorrow.... Watch this space
So, I've got a new car, infact it's not actually here yet but due to make a 3 hour trip on the back of a transporter tomorrow.
So, before I talk about the new car let's do the history, I've been driving for over 20 years now so been through a fair few cars. Rather than list them all I will cover the last decade or so:
So this starts in 2011 ish, when I moved jobs and no longer had a company car.
With no deposit and no desire to finance a car I had a modest budget, but I also had no kids so something fun was needed, so here she is, a 2000 Toyota Celica 140, completely stock other than an air filter. Bought from a guy in Stoke.
I did have my lovely Honda Hornet at the same time too.
I kept the Celica for a while but wanted something a little quicker... Enter the Clio 172. Bought from a lady in her 60s who lived a few miles from me. Did have a dent which was filled and painted to make the exterior as nice as I could. Also full service Inc dephaser which wasn't cheap.
The 172 was fine but with a child on the way and a growing dog I decided to be sensible, enter the 2004 BMW 320d touring, practical but a bit dull, a cheap remap made it alot of fun though. Which was needed since the Hornet had gone too
Once my eldest was out of the buggy I no longer needed an estate and there were some great deals on brand new Abarth's, the BMW became the deposit and the rest was PCP. It was bone stock, the salesman commented that it was the only one he had ever sold without a single extra. Great car
New job meant a longer commute and another baby meant the Abarth no longer met my needs, enter the incredibly dull Jeep renegade diesel....
To balance out the dullness a friend and I went halves on this, a 1994 Celica ST202 import. We stripped the interior, added strut braces and chucked it around the track, was great fun... Will I blew the engine... Sold as spares or repairs on eBay
The jeep depreciation was epic.... A job change meant I no longer needed a diesel so the Jeep was sold via motorway to a dealer and I bought my 1st shed, a 2006 Corolla T sport, mechanically sound but average bodywork.
Didn't keep the Corolla long, not really sure why. Part ex'd against this, a brand new but pre reg 2019 Abarth Turismo, 165bhp Vs the 135 in my original Abarth.
The Abarth was awesome, so, so much fun but... It did under 3000 miles in a year due to covid and I could no longer justify the payments, we also now had 2 dogs and 2 kids so needed more room. So, the Abarth was sold via motorway and is now with a dealer is Portsmouth.
qSo... What does a petrol head with 2 kids, 2 dogs a need for performance and a desire to avoid financing do?
Well, he looks into importing a car he's always wanted, a 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX wagon. Then, inspired by MDMAs thread on piston heads and having driven a n/a version starts to look at Subaru legacies. Was about to push the button on importing one when I decided to post a thread on the legacyuk site to see if anyone was selling a car which was already here, I got a few replies and 1 stood out, a 2003 model in silver, totally standard other than a remap to run on UK fuel (they are setup for 100 Ron from the factory so need to be adjusted to the lower quality in the UK), imported into the UK in 2012 by it's current enthusiast owner. The only challenge... The car is 200 miles away and it's covid lockdown.
Remember that abarth... Well the dealer who bought it sent a lovely guy to collect it, as fortune would have it he lived just 30 miles from where the Subaru was.... A deal was agreed and the guy who took my abarth is lined up to return a week later with the Subaru.
Buying remote is not ideal but the seller is a longtime member of the forum,a real enthusiast and I got a really good vibe from him, seems like a genuinely nice guy, infact I will miss our regular messages when the car arrives, I received alot of pics, did all the checks I could and convinced myself it was worth the risk.
The payment has been made, the paperwork is complete and the car should arrive tomorrow.... Watch this space
Just had a call from the delivery driver, to let me know the car has been collected and also check the weather.
It's snowing heavily in Maidenhead where the car is being collected and just started here too, the good news is that the delivery driver was prepared, swapping the brand new fiat delivery truck on for a trusty old transit with winter tyres
Feeling good about the car, "The car looks great by the way, you've got a good one there, few little marks on the bodywork but the interior looks brand new and the engine sounds great".
The driver knows what I paid for it and said it's a bargain and he would happily buy that car with his own money.
I knew it wasn't perfect, firstly the car is old enough to buy itself a drink in June and secondly the seller was honest about the faults.
ETA is 1pm given the weather.
These JDM models are difficult to price, anyone want to guess what I paid for a 2003 118k (first 41 in km rest in miles) legacy twinscroll imported in 2012 with 1 UK owner ?
I'm not asking for any reason other than to see what the perceived value is
It's snowing heavily in Maidenhead where the car is being collected and just started here too, the good news is that the delivery driver was prepared, swapping the brand new fiat delivery truck on for a trusty old transit with winter tyres
Feeling good about the car, "The car looks great by the way, you've got a good one there, few little marks on the bodywork but the interior looks brand new and the engine sounds great".
The driver knows what I paid for it and said it's a bargain and he would happily buy that car with his own money.
I knew it wasn't perfect, firstly the car is old enough to buy itself a drink in June and secondly the seller was honest about the faults.
ETA is 1pm given the weather.
These JDM models are difficult to price, anyone want to guess what I paid for a 2003 118k (first 41 in km rest in miles) legacy twinscroll imported in 2012 with 1 UK owner ?
I'm not asking for any reason other than to see what the perceived value is
So, she's arrived, got here about 1:30 the trip took an hour longer than expected due to the weather.
Usually go shopping on a Friday but held off so I could time new car day with food shop day meaning I wasn't breaking any rules by driving (although the lack of food in the house meant it was beans for lunch but no toast)
The car is as described and I'm really happy with her, so smooth and comfortable, not driven an auto for a while, forgot how good they can be.
I do keep having to remind myself the indicator switch is on the other size but otherwise it just felt right and like I'd owned it for ages
I've got a ton of paperwork right back to the original import papers from 2012 and the original bill of sale.
There's an almost identical one with lower milage on eBay at the moment, will keep and eye on what that one weeks for to try and judge if did well or not. Either way it's a great car with 11 months MOT, nearly new tyres a full service history.
Think I might invest in some parking sensors though.. she's a big girl
A few pics attached
Usually go shopping on a Friday but held off so I could time new car day with food shop day meaning I wasn't breaking any rules by driving (although the lack of food in the house meant it was beans for lunch but no toast)
The car is as described and I'm really happy with her, so smooth and comfortable, not driven an auto for a while, forgot how good they can be.
I do keep having to remind myself the indicator switch is on the other size but otherwise it just felt right and like I'd owned it for ages
I've got a ton of paperwork right back to the original import papers from 2012 and the original bill of sale.
There's an almost identical one with lower milage on eBay at the moment, will keep and eye on what that one weeks for to try and judge if did well or not. Either way it's a great car with 11 months MOT, nearly new tyres a full service history.
Think I might invest in some parking sensors though.. she's a big girl
A few pics attached
Edited by Roboticarm on Sunday 24th January 16:25
Roboticarm said:
So, she's arrived, got here about 1:30 the trip took an hour longer than expected due to the weather.
Usually go shopping on a Friday but held off so I could time new car day with food shop day meaning I wasn't breaking any rules by driving (although the lack of food in the house meant it was beans for lunch but no toast)
The car is as described and I'm really happy with her, so smooth and comfortable, not driven an auto for a while, forgot how good they can be.
I do keep having to remind myself the indicator switch is on the other size but otherwise it just felt right and like I'd owned it for ages
I've got a ton of paperwork right back to the original import papers from 2012 and the original bill of sale.
There's an almost identical one with lower milage on eBay at the moment, will keep and eye on what that one weeks for to try and judge if did well or not. Either way it's a great car with 11 months MOT, nearly new tyres a full service history.
Think I might invest in some parking sensors though.. she's a big girl
A few pics attached
Looks great.Usually go shopping on a Friday but held off so I could time new car day with food shop day meaning I wasn't breaking any rules by driving (although the lack of food in the house meant it was beans for lunch but no toast)
The car is as described and I'm really happy with her, so smooth and comfortable, not driven an auto for a while, forgot how good they can be.
I do keep having to remind myself the indicator switch is on the other size but otherwise it just felt right and like I'd owned it for ages
I've got a ton of paperwork right back to the original import papers from 2012 and the original bill of sale.
There's an almost identical one with lower milage on eBay at the moment, will keep and eye on what that one weeks for to try and judge if did well or not. Either way it's a great car with 11 months MOT, nearly new tyres a full service history.
Think I might invest in some parking sensors though.. she's a big girl
A few pics attached
Edited by Roboticarm on Sunday 24th January 16:25
I wouldn't worry about the one of eBay, it's irrelevant.
You found a car your happy with, the vendor was good to deal with and the car was as described.
Move on and enjoy it.
Alfahorn said:
Looks great.
I wouldn't worry about the one of eBay, it's irrelevant.
You found a car your happy with, the vendor was good to deal with and the car was as described.
Move on and enjoy it.
Thanks, you are or course 100% right, I'm more than happy with the price I paid and that's all that matters.I wouldn't worry about the one of eBay, it's irrelevant.
You found a car your happy with, the vendor was good to deal with and the car was as described.
Move on and enjoy it.
The vendor was brilliant, really nice guy. In his 70s and a true enthusiast, the car before this was another legacy and his new car is a Subaru estate too.
Buying a car without seeing it and handing over payment for something you've not seen is always risky, I certainly got lucky in this one but I just got a really good vibe from the vendor and it turned out to be worth the risk.
So, a few weeks in... Not driven as much as I would like due to lockdown but have used the car a few times. My initial observations are that's it's such a comfortable cruiser and the auto box suits it so well, However when you want to this thing really can shift, stick the gearbox into sport and push the loud pedal and it just goes ! The grip is immense (it's my 1st 4x4)
It doesn't feel like a big car to drive either.. until you need to park of course
Kids are loving the extra space in the back and I'm loving not having to change gear.
It doesn't feel like a big car to drive either.. until you need to park of course
Kids are loving the extra space in the back and I'm loving not having to change gear.
DanG355 said:
I reported my own thread with a note asking to change the title and the admins did it for me. Click the triangle next to the edit post icon and you’ll get the pop up page.
Thank you Dan and thank you to the helpful mod who responded to my request and had updated the title 
Yes, it's Tsuinsukurōru which is twinscroll. Had an annoying little dent I wanted to cover up but wanted to do something interesting and figured this would pay homage to the cars origins and is also a bit of "only a car enthusiast would know" thing.
How is yours progressing ? Still waiting on the DVLA ?
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff