Impreza help please :)
Discussion
A friend of mine is wanting to buy an impreza, budget around 4k and has asked my thoughts on this one - http://r.ebay.com/FcQXW2
Personally they're not my thing so I know very little about them, can anyone offer any advice on specs, models to look out for, good and bad points, weaknesses etc?
Personally they're not my thing so I know very little about them, can anyone offer any advice on specs, models to look out for, good and bad points, weaknesses etc?
Hi.
Looks nice. Right colour and the prodrive stuff always looks good.
Its all about the service history and lack of crash damage.
Impreza's are great and generally very reliable but they can suffer with bottom end issues if not regularly serviced or filled with incorrect oil.
Also, as with all turbo cars they should be warmed up and cooled down properly before thrashing and unfortunately some owners just get in, start and gun it off down the road.
Obviously you will not know how this one has been treated but check its been serviced correctly and listen for any knock or pinking and get the seller to start it for you. If he starts it and revs it straight away to show off or let you hear the exhaust, then he probably has little understanding of turbo'd cars.
Check for clutch slip or a receipt for one.
Obviously check the cambelt (inc tensioners) has been changed along with oil and water pumps.
In the grand scheme of things they are great. I used to import them from Japan back in the day and me and my friends have had loads of subarus among many other interesting cars and I still absolutely love them. as a cheap drivers car to put a grin on your face as well as being practical with 5 seats and a boot they are perfect.
I hope that helps and good luck.
Steve
Looks nice. Right colour and the prodrive stuff always looks good.
Its all about the service history and lack of crash damage.
Impreza's are great and generally very reliable but they can suffer with bottom end issues if not regularly serviced or filled with incorrect oil.
Also, as with all turbo cars they should be warmed up and cooled down properly before thrashing and unfortunately some owners just get in, start and gun it off down the road.
Obviously you will not know how this one has been treated but check its been serviced correctly and listen for any knock or pinking and get the seller to start it for you. If he starts it and revs it straight away to show off or let you hear the exhaust, then he probably has little understanding of turbo'd cars.
Check for clutch slip or a receipt for one.
Obviously check the cambelt (inc tensioners) has been changed along with oil and water pumps.
In the grand scheme of things they are great. I used to import them from Japan back in the day and me and my friends have had loads of subarus among many other interesting cars and I still absolutely love them. as a cheap drivers car to put a grin on your face as well as being practical with 5 seats and a boot they are perfect.
I hope that helps and good luck.
Steve
As with any car.
Every 'modernish' car has a potential £1000+ problem, be it a coded fuel pump, Gearbox ecu whatever.
If your mate wants a Subaru, its not a discussion of 'is it reliable' etc but one of what to look for so he hopefully ends up buying a good one.
As cars go Subaru's are relatively reliable and simple machines.
Here's a PH buyers guide:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-buying-guide-co...
Regards
S
Every 'modernish' car has a potential £1000+ problem, be it a coded fuel pump, Gearbox ecu whatever.
If your mate wants a Subaru, its not a discussion of 'is it reliable' etc but one of what to look for so he hopefully ends up buying a good one.
As cars go Subaru's are relatively reliable and simple machines.
Here's a PH buyers guide:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-buying-guide-co...
Regards
S
I personally wouldn't go look at that.
Someone's thrown some bits at it to try and make it look (unsuccessfully) like an STI. The fact it's been badly cosmetically modified puts me off more than if it had been mechanically modified, which is generally the thing you try and avoid with this age of Impreza i.e any modifications at all.
A full Subaru or specialist history would be a must as they have specifics that a normal local indy or amateur "enthusiast" mechanic might not do e.g. the right oils.
At this mileage and age, check for cambelt and clutch having been done. You have no idea what the last owners have treated it like - people like to 'dump the clutch' for the launch and this shortens the life span of a clutch no end.
Look for paint and signs of respray carefully, they end up in ditches quite a lot.
Generally though, they're reliable well built cars.
In terms of spec to go for, i'd go with a totally unmodified WRX SL (sunroof and leather) or one with the PPP if possible (documented from factory though).
Someone's thrown some bits at it to try and make it look (unsuccessfully) like an STI. The fact it's been badly cosmetically modified puts me off more than if it had been mechanically modified, which is generally the thing you try and avoid with this age of Impreza i.e any modifications at all.
A full Subaru or specialist history would be a must as they have specifics that a normal local indy or amateur "enthusiast" mechanic might not do e.g. the right oils.
At this mileage and age, check for cambelt and clutch having been done. You have no idea what the last owners have treated it like - people like to 'dump the clutch' for the launch and this shortens the life span of a clutch no end.
Look for paint and signs of respray carefully, they end up in ditches quite a lot.
Generally though, they're reliable well built cars.
In terms of spec to go for, i'd go with a totally unmodified WRX SL (sunroof and leather) or one with the PPP if possible (documented from factory though).
Horrific fuel consumption from the boxer engine, regardless of whether it's a wrx or sti, even driving like miss Daisy and keeping it off boost you'll be gobsmacked at how thirsty it is.
I swear I could actually see the fuel gauge needle moving on my sti prodrive.
I also found it to be quite a boring and uninvolving drive.
I swear I could actually see the fuel gauge needle moving on my sti prodrive.
I also found it to be quite a boring and uninvolving drive.
Scarface1 said:
As with any car.
Every 'modernish' car has a potential £1000+ problem, be it a coded fuel pump, Gearbox ecu whatever.
You'd think, but Subaru parts can be an expensive nightmare, and they're not even 'modernish'.Every 'modernish' car has a potential £1000+ problem, be it a coded fuel pump, Gearbox ecu whatever.
I always fancied an Impreza until I worked in a Subaru dealer - it put me off having seen how they only exist by proxy in the UK, how horrific the servicing can be, and just how dodgy most of the WRX/STi lot are under the surface. Had quite a lot of contact with people who had bought one not having done the research, then found it was a complete lemon, sold it on (rinse and repeat with next buyer).
As a car, I still like the Impreza - the sound of the Boxer is intoxicating (IMO, in a way that Porsche never has with their Boxers) - but the reality is that they were an atypical council house trophy, and as such there are just so many dodgy under-service or bodged examples on the market.
it always defies beleif that anyone would think that a 10 year old 4k performance car would be anything other than a moneypit- have to agree about low mpg and possible problems to come.
certainly would,nt be hard to spend 4k on repairs especially if bottom end or head problems rears its ugly head...right mileage for a belt service so £600 straight off.
the uninvolving drive can be transformed with a few simple chassis mods to bring the rear into play- the wrx 4 pot brakes are adequate at best and will benefit from a decent fast road pad and brake fluid change. by 90k the suspension will be starting to show its age too.
mountains of spare parts still available too-many of these cars are reguarly broken for parts by owners and subaru specialist.
personally i,ve always found them to be very simple easy cars to work on and own. many many 2 litre cars make galactic mileages when treated sensibly(pretty understressed in the wrx).its underserviced and abused cars that seem to give the most agro.
not really sure that a wrx that will get beaten by most standard modern hot hatches/hot diesels will feel that special today though.
mike74 said:
Horrific fuel consumption from the boxer engine, regardless of whether it's a wrx or sti, even driving like miss Daisy and keeping it off boost you'll be gobsmacked at how thirsty it is.
I swear I could actually see the fuel gauge needle moving on my sti prodrive.
I also found it to be quite a boring and uninvolving drive.
you might need a little pop out in my 550bhp car--its definately NOT boring or uninvoving;) I swear I could actually see the fuel gauge needle moving on my sti prodrive.
I also found it to be quite a boring and uninvolving drive.
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