Thoughts on this STI

[Hippea]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-impreza-blobeye-...




This has tempted me but a couple of things concern me -

There seems to something wrong with the colour on the drivers door, possible accident damage?

Back in 2017 it failed its MOT on front subframe rust, is this of concern? Reading online it seems to be common and just a c frame rust?


I’ve had a bugeye WRX so know the basics to look for but what is everyone’s overall view of the car above?

[Skyedriver]

I'm no Subaru expert (often fancied never bought) but that door would jar on me every time I walked up to the car.
Rest of the car looks tidy with limited owners and lower mileage.
Isle of Wight? Salty air?

[vxr2010]

the subframe issue , it was either removed and no longer has one or it’s been replaced , worth an hpi check it’s around 25£ to give you the answers you may need , wheel bearing plus various arb links need changing , they keep on being flagged up on mots but not changed plus a shock is an issue so that’s a pair of shocks or the whole lot , i would not just change one shock , plus rust on the bottom of a hub , main thing is it fairly rust free and is engine and box ok as they are the big money items

[Hippea]

Skyedriver said:

I'm no Subaru expert (often fancied never bought) but that door would jar on me every time I walked up to the car.
Rest of the car looks tidy with limited owners and lower mileage.
Isle of Wight? Salty air?

The door would drive me mad as well, I would want to know why it’s like that, I find fade being very unlikely.

Isle of Wight isn’t too bad for rust actually, lots of old cars have done ok over here. My bugeye WRX wagon had spent most of its life here and it didn’t have a spot of rust on it and I went digging.

[Hippea]

vxr2010 said:

the subframe issue , it was either removed and no longer has one or it’s been replaced , worth an hpi check it’s around 25£ to give you the answers you may need , wheel bearing plus various arb links need changing , they keep on being flagged up on mots but not changed plus a shock is an issue so that’s a pair of shocks or the whole lot , i would not just change one shock , plus rust on the bottom of a hub , main thing is it fairly rust free and is engine and box ok as they are the big money items

Glad to hear the subframe issue isn’t a big deal. I saw the advisories for the other bits and bobs, I would factor in a couple of grand to get all those sorted as well as a full service, fluids etc which I like to do with any car purchase, a long with a under seal.

Like you say a hpi check is wise. What appealed to me was the low mileage and the fact it was stock, the price seems reasonable for what they are going for these days.

[Not a Diesel]

Isle of Wight. Old Sea air thing. My dad used to say dont buy a car from Montrose to me ( I lived in Scotland). I did go & see one and it was rusty. I think that was just because it was a 15 year old 80's car.

I live on the South Coast so across the water from the IOW.

Sea air will be a downside but the upside is it does not snow not much frost so winters with very little salt//grit dropped on the road and blasted at underside of car for 2-3 months.

Auction has ended so I did not see the price.... or the door colour.

Something that catches out on the blob is the wider front wing & subsequent angle into the door sometimes makes the wing & door look different colours as you move around in the light. ( Same on E30 M3 etc). But front & back doors should look the same.