pslewis

After speaking to my Dealer today , he claims to have had only one STi with any trouble ...

Now, he is either telling porkies or the issue isn't an issue at all?

scoobiewrx555

All he wants to do is sell you a car...end of!!

Most of them don't know their ***** from their elbows and don't even own a Subaru. Once he's sold you the car it could blow up tomorrow and his conscience is clear because the warranty will sort it out, plus that sale got his figures up for the month.

If you want to know what's really going on read the forums and ask questions.

pslewis

I would like to know how many WRX's have been sold, how many have gone wrong and how many of those were messed about with?

Not saying it isn't an issue ..... just it may truly be a storm in a teacup .... and mainly down to owners messing about with them (I am still confused why anyone would buy a car then change it - just buy the car you want in the first place?!) Very odd.

That said, if I do buy one and it goes wrong then I shall be shouting from the rooftops!! I don't go down quietly

53

iTrader: (41)

Probably true only sold one

StrikE

iTrader: (3)

^^Well said^^

I have owned a few Impreza's also & by far the best car is undoubtedly the hatch.

I like a few others on here went from a RB320 to the wrx sti hatch, the hatch will pi$$ all over the RB every day and all day, at least 10 times the 'old' car.

Yes there are a few engine problems, most fixed under warranty, some owners are upgrading the pistons them-self.

People slate the hatch far too harshly, if they don't like it pi$$ off & buy a RS or mitsu****sy.

Hatches rule

scoobiewrx555

Yep...And it didn't take too many brain cells to write that eh?? Very constructive!!

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

This sort of statement does your opinion no favours. A better car it maybe, but 10 times better? ... at least? LOL!

StrikE

iTrader: (3)

I stand by my comments

scooby222

as someone who not only put his money where his mouth is but sold a catalunya and an RB320 to buy the hatch Strike's in a better position to judge than most
and i dont even like the look of the things lol

scoobiewrx555

Making such sacrifices and selling two P&J's for the good of an STi hatch doesn't make it a right decision, but the right decision for him. Clearly he loves his hatch and more power to his elbow but it doesn't make it a better car than any of the newage cars.

However this isn't the first time Subaru have fecked up with the quality of a new build.
98/99 cars with piston slap. P1's going pop. And now next gen hatch's going pop.

I'm sure when these STi's are going well they are a cracking good drive but if it's your daily driver you don't expect it to go pop not long after buying it, yet so many cars have. There are numerous threads on the subject just on SN, and if you search around the WWW you'll see similar threads all over the world, not just the UK. That's a lot of cars.

Even though it's covered under warranty what a bloody inconvenience for the buyer. Would i want to buy a car that i knew had such a potentially serious problem....no thanks!! IMHO and as much as people are really starting to like the car i'd rather have an older model and spend good money on that instead.

There's an ugly Bugeye S202 for sale and i think it's bloody gorgeous, and ultimately IMHO a better car than the later newage models. and yes i've driven all newage models now so that's based on my experience, but as i haven't driven a hatch yet i can't say it's a better or worse car than that, but in any case whatever i say it's just an opinion, not gospel fact!!

Off Your Marks

iTrader: (3)

Look, I don’t doubt you guys for a minute. You have a wealth of experience with owning many previous Subaru’s. I am sure that for you guys the car is better - most cars do tend to improve with each model - manufacturers iron out problems etc. However the point I made was this: If my wife for example (who knows nothing about cars) were asked to research Subaru Impreza’s and provide a report on popularity, sales, reliability and depreciation she would base her opinions on what feedback she found.

So as much as the current hatch owners love their hatches, the fact remains that the general consensus is that they are not too pleasing on the eye, they do seem to have a major engine issue and sales figures are very poor. Combine that with lukewarm press reviews and the option of many other hot hatchbacks offering very similar real world performance and damn sight cheaper to run, buying a hatch would not be a great overall decision. This is the answer IMHO to the OP question.

It doesn’t represent my personal opinion - I have never driven one. I cannot compare them to the Hawk I own or the classic I used to own. That said; I wouldn’t buy one though because I’m not too fussed on the looks and as shallow as that sounds I don’t want to own a car that makes me grimace every time I look at it. I mean would you marry a dog ugly woman just because she was good in bed? You would have to find her attractive in the first place surely!?

pslewis

In my many years of being alive I have always witnessed people saying that the car they currently own is the best one they have ever had ... they cannot admit to having made a bad mistake. Human nature. And these cars are not cheap either, so - loads of money has been spent on what may turn out to be a turkey!

Abx

iTrader: (15)

I love my Hatch, its performance and its looks, I loved my Hawk before that, however with ref to the above the best all rounder I've had is my 52 plate Focus ST170, the initial cost (2nd hand), spec, hadling etc were all spot on, it did look a little bland but it was and still is my favourite car I've had to date, would still have the hatch though as the ST was good in 2002, today though its outdated.

Back on topic, the hatch really is a good car and if it was'nt for the engine issues it would be the best everyday impreza todate, it has to be, things get better with time and if Subaru really thought it was a downgrade on the Hawk then they would never have released it.

If you think how much better it is in everyway, performance, handling, comfort than any of its predecessors and all with airbags, climate, heated seats and everthing else a car has today then its actually pretty good.

At this time in my life I want to drive a Subaru, my Hawk was getting old and I wanted a newer car, I could have had a Mitsi but in real life as a daily driver just not practical, next was a RS4, again not practical, will not drive a Astra VXR or similar euro box, FRS was too expensive and only has 4 seats, so the hatch was a no brainer for me, its better in everyway than my Hawk, its a hatch so is more practicle, its was not too expensive and with a couple of choice styling mods is IMO a lovely looking car (in the flesh), I get so much more +ve attention in the hatch than I ever did in the WR Blue Big Spoilered Saloon, which I have to admit suprised us.

All I really have to say to the OP and the haters is, go and see one in the flesh, not a std one with the std 17's but one with some nice rims or a 330s or similar, take it for a drive and then come back with your comments, until you drive one you cannot make an informed decision, I too was not keen in 08 when they were launched but once I'd seen one at my dealers and had a drive I was convinced, for me and my family the Hatch STI is the right car for us right now, its may not be everyones cup of tea but engine issues aside is a dam fine car!!!

mgcvk

I will have to drive one at some point because I still can't get around the "bland factor" with the hatches. Before I could ever afford an impreza I was drawn to the fact it was a slightly odd, garish but practical fast car and apart from Mitsis different to everything else.
Focus RS gets the looks and styling right for the hatch market the hatch Sti is aimed at in my opinion - shame no 4wd on it. Impreza hatch needs an aggressive restyle to compete.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Look I am not trying to be nasty here but I am gettig a bit fed up of being told to go and drive one and ignore the looks.

I have driven one (two actually) and yes they were very good in many ways, but for me not what I want out of a car - felt heavy and a bit too rounded off in terms of the delivery of the performance etc.

For me though the biggest issue is the looks - I really do not think I have ever seen an uglier car - the front is an absolute dog's dinner and the STI version is worse than the cooking versions. On top of that certain things about the interior and the exterior styling make the car look cheap.

I know I will get comments about how poor the classic interior is etc. etc. and that is fair enough but my classic did not cost me £30K.

More than that though I could never buy a car with known issues like the engine problems with the hatch. Any car that cost as much as that and has to have an after market re-map to be sorted out is just never going to get my custom. Even if it is 10 times the car the Hawk Eye was.

Abx

iTrader: (15)

How much was a Classic Impreza back in th 90's new? I bet in real terms with inflation etc the new one is priced very closly to the old.

IIRC a mid range Escort in the 90's was about 7k, today a mid range Focus is about 11k.

Abx

iTrader: (15)

And just out of interest when your Classic goes what would you replace it with in todays market? When I was looking I really struggled to find anything I liked or was willing to drive that was as practicle as the Impreza, nearly opted for a 911/996 but not practical, not keen on M3's, don't like Merc's, Focus RS was a 4 seater, Renualts to cheap build wise, VW's overpriced and bland, Audi's not keen, VXR well its a Vauxhal, in reality for sub 30k for a 300+ bhp car there is not that much around, that I liked anyways.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Yes the Classic was about £19K in the late 90s, but I am not sure what the point of you raising that is?

As I only paid £5K for my car I am not too worried about the interior or any other things that the classic does not do so well and yes it has a few 'faults' which I accept would not make it a car for everyone.

I am not saying the classic is a better car than the hatch, it clearly isn't and shouldn't be, but for me it is a car I prefer for the reasons mentioned above.

As for today's market day to day I drive a CTR and am pretty happy with it. Good build quality and nippy, not too thirsty and I have the Scoob for a bit of fun. I did have an 03STI for a few years from new, but that was a reliability nightmare and IM were useless so I think my days of buying new cars from Subaru are probably over anyway sadly.

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

My classic wagon in June 2000 was list price £22700 and a new wrx today with all the bits on is 19 k bargain
P1 was 32k and I regret not buying it now but 10 k was a lot of extra money back then
STi at 27 k is lower then ten years ago and cosworth at 50 k is not really out of the way price ways
look on the American forums there is some fantastic looking examples coming through the scene and the uk will catch up on the yanks
it's a great looking car move ahead with the times And keep your classics locked up for fine weather days

Engine problems that's a different story so I do recomend buy brand new with a warrenty and don't tinker with it or go and see litchfields versions