As title I'm looking to buy my first turbo scooby ive had 2 non turbo blob and hawk but now wanting a wrx as I test drove one the other day and been bitten by the bug!! So I'm looking to spend around the £5k mark and wanting to know what I can expect to get for that money and is there anything that I should be looking out for apart from the usual bits like accident damage and plenty of paperwork, and also good places to look to buy? I'm located in Bristol but willing to travel a bit to buy the right one... So if you've got any tips for a buyer I'll gladly take them
thanks mike

 

with 5k you shouldnt be looking at wrx's, you should be saving for an STI or looking at v5/6 sti's.

Dont settle for poverty spec when an STI is in touching distance, and you may even find one around 5k if you look around.

 

Get a tidy Classic RA and never look back.

 

I'd love an sti but insurance for me is a killer! �� what price should I look to spend on a wrx? Don't want one that's done a million miles.. Saw a wrx with sti upgrades for £5k but the guy hasn't replied to me?.. gutted really looked really clean and low mileage to good to be true?

 

if you must buy a wrx then look at late blobeyes, 2004/5 and if you're a modder try and get as much for your £ as possible.

Problem is, by the time you've declared all your mods (which the cops are heavily clamping down on and seizing cars) you could probably afford a stock STI, which is a MUCH better car

 

Yeah that's true and I hadn't thought of that.. I'm after something tidy and yeah I'm after a blob ideally, and not after a classic not a fan if I'm honest and stir are going for strong money at the moment it's a toughie!

 

Better to have a nice tidy WRX than a shed of an STI that's going to need a load of cash throwing at it.

Look for the cleanest, well documented example you can find. £5k should get you into a very good WRX, avoid heavily modded ones because as mentioned above insurance get's expensive.

For me PPP WRX is a good bet, if you can't find one with PPP it's easy and cheap enough to collect the parts to add it yourself.

WRX PPP makes for a very good daily driver and is significantly cheaper to run than an STI, mine returns 28 to 36mpg when driven normally an STI will be more like 20/25 mpg, which ultimately equates to a couple more days a week in the driving seat before you're back at the petrol station, yet it has the same (well slightly better) real world performance as an STI, it's also a nicer place to be on Britain's pot holed roads.

I mention these points as it seems as though finances may be of some concern so stretching your budget to get an STI may not be the wisest decision, because what your likely to get at the bottom end of the STI market is one that's due brakes, tyres, cambelt, wheel bearings with a crunching gearbox and knocking suspension.

No one is going to sell you a nice clean minter that wants for nothing having just forked out on that lot.

 

Hiya mate, I just got a 04 wrx with PPP fssh one owner from new and 69k for 4.8k. I got mine from a trader as I cba with selling my old car private. Have been told on here that I paid strong money at 4.8 but the market just seems to be that way at the mo and unmodded examples are hard to find. Best of luck with the search tho - am sure you won't be disappointed when u track one down, they're awesome fun and also genuinely useable as a daily driver too.

 

Spot on. Way too much sti snobbery on here. To the point of embarrassment. The WRX a perfectly capable car.

 

But poverty spec is the faster car

 

+1 ^

And for the money will easily keep up with a standard porsche boxer

 

Porsche boxsters are slow though lol....

 

I know but there owners think otherwise lol

 

Thanks for the replies guys I'm more than happy with the power of a wrx (can always upgrade later) I checked my insurance again but amended it to see the difference in price when it's time for renewal in a couple of months and an sti is do able but the extra money I could put into a nice wrx, just need to find one now and a PPP would be worth keeping an eye out for? Any power or handling differences?

 

Hi,
Please feel free to give us a try for insurance if you like. If you wanted to PM me some contact details I'd be happy to arrange for one of my quotes team to give you a call back.
Regards,
Dan.

 

5k is a pretty tight budget for an sti, decent classics are going up in price as well as newer ones, they have all been bought up by craps performance or broken now

 

Power is circa 260 bhp in the PPP compared to 225 in a standard wrx so was a must for me. I was told by my insurer that if you get a car which has had PPP from new it is cheaper to insure than one with equivalent aftermarket mods however this may be different with specialist insurers (e.g. AF) as I'm just with admiral atm. I don't think there are any handling differences although am sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. So far as I am aware PPP is basically an exhaust (with one of the cats removed) and a map. Interesting point to note is that the 0-60 on paper for a PPP wrx is 4.8s is which is quicker than a standard sti. Not sure if this holds up in practice but it feels pretty rapid and the bhp is certainly the same between the two. Hope this helps

 

Yeah definitely a great help thanks! I'll be looking at getting a pro drive now!

 

No worries, post on here what you're looking at. Everyone is happy to help and there is a ridiculous amount of knowledge on here from some of the more experienced folk!

 

Well I have been looking at this one and hoping to view it it has been modded but would value any opinions
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifie...--2004/4262185

 

Is a very nice looking motor although I think it's been on a few weeks and I would be careful with buying any car with the engine light on. Am sure the guy is genuine and a the engine light may just be in due to the tgv and lack of map however you can never be sure, it might be something more serious.

Also I've heard mixed things on whether you need to have the car mapped if its had a decat - some say running without for long periods may cause issues. Probably the best thing to do with any private purchase would be to take it on a test drive to a specialist and pay them to run diagnostics and look the car over, that way you can be a bit more confident in what you are buying

 

That just looks like trouble from the word go...


Maybe something more standard?

Subaru Impreza 2.0 WRX 4dr

 

Sound advise I did worry about the engine light being on as it could be a cover up for a serious issue. im going to view hopefully Tuesday so will see what's said about it?
Ok I think I'll avoid...
And I don't mind standard, after something clean and well maintained with plenty of paperwork is what I'm ideally looking for
Also should I avoid high mileage or are they pretty sound?

 

Or buy a JDM WRX with the extras over the UK poverty spec with AVCS and 250 bhp as standard.

 

You add the words jdm or import to your insurance... £££

 

Rubbish. Speak to Keith Michaels or the other specialists, a common myth put about by many unknowing owners who cannot be arsed to go beyond GoCompare etc and not true.

https://www.scoobynet.com/insurance-...608e17aa5d26dc

 

even with the added power? I always thought it would be higher as it's not a UK spec?

 

Dont swallow subaru 'uk's' BS lol

 

note taken

 

Subaru uk did allot of scare mongering back in the day claimign parts were hard to get hold of etc etc, was total rubbish and pats are not any difference price wise unless they are specific upgraded parts like sti components.