Perhaps a well looked after 2 litre might be a good compromise?
Maybe but IMO its got to be the Turbo, if your going to be "satisfied" with the standard 2.0l's performance then you have a whole range possible options for that kind of money.
To me the whole point of a good used Turbo, is that it provides an almost unbeatable amount of performance per £ without having to compromise on practicality. The reliablity record is an added bonus.
Chad.
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Yep, did think about the 2 litre 4WD sport, but then you go from awesome performance to ok-ish for an estate performance. I am a bit worried about whether i'll get a decent one for the sort of money i'm prepared to spend though, although i would be buying at auction.
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Having been an WRX owner for 10 days I'm now an expert...(not).
Two pretty good resources for Impreza info., model details and even cars for sale are www.scoobynet.co.uk and www.sidc.co.uk.
Both have forums and I have seen fairly recent requests for "which Scooby for 4K". One thread here:
forums.sidc.co.uk/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadi...3
I personally don't know what sort of Impreza you'd get for £4K but there is a big market in Japanese imports (rather than UK or even EU sourced vehicles). There is a very big market for modifications to these cars from exhausts to complete ECU remaps.
Some of the Japanese imports are designed to run on 100 octane fuel and so high mileage examples may have been damaged by using our fuel without octane boosters.
And finally insurance. Any car with modifications will cost substantially more than a standard car but there are a few insurance companies that will cover you. For unmodded cars the general consensus seems to be Tesco, L&V and even Direct Line. I'm in my 40s with full no claims and paying over £800!
Anyway, good luck with the search - they are fun to drive, that's for sure
Paul
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A £4k Impreza turbo is indeed likely to be completely knackered.
Can't agree about the Impreza Sport (ie 2.0 non-turbo). As a Turbo owner, I rather fail to see the point of these cars. You get only one of the benefits of the Turbo (handling) but all the drawbacks (expensive parts, insurance & servicing, tacky interior, no toys). As for the looks, Imprezas are about the driving experience, not the image.
Buying an Impreza sport seems to be missing the point.
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As an owner of several Subaru's (starting with a '94 Impreza Turbo when no-one knew what they were), I disagree about the Impreza Sport.
I just got one for my wife a couple of months ago. Compared to her previous Golf, it is a revelation. The interior is fine, everything works like a dream (car has 40k on), there is the same precision feel as on the Turbo and the handling is cart like.
If anything, the handling is slightly better than the Turbo - there is much less power for a start so the chassis is vastly understressed - it is easier to have great fun without having to get to crazy speeds, the insurance is much cheaper than a Turbo, the servicing is cheaper and the parts issue is almost irrelevant. I've hardly had to buy a part in 9 years of Subaru ownership.
The biggest reason the Sport is overlooked is because it will always be considered the 'poor mans' Turbo by the baseball-cap bunch and the 'Scooby' brigade
Which is a pity because it's a cracking little car.
Oh, and they don't cost a fortune.
Ours is a pristine 5-door (estate), in silzer and cost just over 4k from a dealer with 2 years full Subaru warranty. We love it.
jd
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Hi Owen. Whilst I've been waiting for my new job to start a friend and I have been spending a bit of time sourcing an Impreza Turbo to buy, enjoy, and sell. Just a bit of fun really.
I've spent weeks looking at about 20 imported turbos (WRX) coming through auction. I reckon this is the best, cheapest way to get a clean one and the way that lots of dealers use.
We bought a silver WRX Station-wagon yesterday and they are awesome. You're a man of taste.
Trouble is, the old adage about not scraping the bottom of the barrel is even more true with this car, As the Warranty Direct survey confirms. £4,000 just won't do.
The hammer price was an excellent £3,150, but by the time we've done the SVA, MOT, tyres, immobiliser, add buyers premium etc. It'll come in at about £4,800 before road tax. That involves a wait of around 3 weeks.
You might get £300 off a 93/early 94 but that's the best you'll do and the risks are obviously greater with an older car. If £4,000 is your absolute limit save some more or get another car. Good luck!
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Well, after having a look around on the internet i've decided that we're definitely going to get one, although i concede i might have to pay a bit mroe for a tide one. I'm hoping that buying at auction may save me a bit though, or might consider importing one myself. So if anybody has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated! In particular, it'd be handy to know:
1) What to look for when buying (the specialist sites are suprisingly light on decent advice for this, most commonly "get one with FSH" sort of stuff. More specific stuff would be handy.
2) a quick rundown on the different models (e.g. WRX, STi etc, i'm still not 100% what the differences are!)
3) Any advice on imports, like is it easy to import yourself, and what are the pitfalls of buying an import, etc.
Many thanks!
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Owen
This might help....
www.sidc.co.uk/faq.htm
Bear in mind that anything badged WRX in your price bracket will be an import. Might be worth posting/searching on the Scoobynet forum too - www.scoobynet.co.uk
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Well just to give an update, this morning I bought a 94L impreza estate in silver, absolutely mint condition, full dealer history with 82k miles. I was expecting to pay up to £5k, but i got this one within my original £4k budget - i'm very, very pleased - the car is awesome!
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Congratulations!
Its nice to hear that you've managed to buy exactly the model you wanted and within your original budget - well done!
You'll have to tell us more - how many did you view before this one? What experiences did you have?
See, you've got me interested now.....especially at around £4-5K seems a great performance bargain.
Keep us posted on how you get on and enjoy your new motor (I'm sure you wont need any encouragement!)
Chad.
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Chad.R - only the second one i viewed, the first was an import for sale at a dealer. The import was in nice condition with an alleged 38k miles on it, but obviously no history to back this up. Also, loads of mods, exhaust and induction kit were the visible ones, god knows what else had been done, i assume it had been chipped at least.
Since i preferred something with known history, and needed a completely standard car for insurance reasons, i decided that we needed a UK car, so just kept an eye on autotrader, where this one came up on Tuesday i think. So all in all, since deciding we wanted one and gettting one was only a couple of weeks!
This one really is mint, completely standard (even the stereo) and absolutely spotless inside and out. And the performance is awesome!
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Well done, Owen.
Your experience shows that prices for tidy, early Imprezas have obviously dropped substantially.
Congratulations and welcome to the club.
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