Hi guys,

As the title of the thread suggest, I'm looking to buy a Subaru Impreza WRX blobeye and would greatly appreciate your expertise to educate me with some things I should look out for.

For the last few years I have had an increasing interest in buying an Impreza but have always been put off by the reputation that they have and by some of the horror stories of engine rebuilds and works of that sort. I'm happy to pay for maintenance of the car but don't want to pay for replacements of parts due to someone smashing the car at every opportunity possible!

That being said I'm looking to buy an 04 - 06 plate Impreza, car to be standard with reasonable mileage and have a budget of between £5-6.5k. Ideally a Blue one with Gold alloys but these have kept their value well!

I have read quite a number of threads but would appreciate further information if that's possible. Please can you provide some details of what to look out for. My main concerns are around the turbo, transmission and engine / damaged pistons / headgasket.

Thanks in advance. I look forward to hearing your replies.

Regards

Subaru_Hass

 

its a 2.0 so has none of the piston & headgasket issues you allude to, they are mainly restricted to 2.5's

reputable service history is the key. as well as the common sense when buying any car

try to hook up with local subaru guys in your area, theyll hopefully keep you on the straight n narrow, and even help source/view cars

 

Always make sure car is kept cold for when you view if it's been warmed up touch the down pipe etc to see if it's been warmed up as you can hear any noisy piston slap or any other unwanted noises let the scoob warm up and take it for a local and long stretch to test all gears wen warm check coolant pipes etc etc
If it's been looked after all tyres should be same size and make this is a good sign as its an awd sports car and tyres should be a priority IMO good luck
I use to charge £50 wen going to buy a scoob for someone else and drive it back as I have a traders policy a lot of the times I use to walk away simply because wen asked to leave the car cold and don't start it till viewing the Snydy dirty selling ones always try there luck and warm them up so wen you go to start it at home you'll here the tappety noise that you didn't hear when viewing stay calm and don't get excited as you'll miss all the negatives taking someone with you will defo help as they can see the car from a DIFFRENT view / angle

 

Shocks fail, causing a knocking noise at low speed.
Standard wrx brakes seize.
Rocker cover gaskets fail and ooze oil.
Corrosion can be an issue.
Full service history and regular oil changes are a must.
Any mods should have been done by a reputable person that you can contact.
But generally, treated well they are mechanically very tough. Good luck!

 

Thanks guys. I appreciate the responses 😃 Hopefully I'll find a nice decent one 👍

 

The blobeye is a fairly strong build from the factory. You don't get many that fail, unless they run low on oil, poor servicing, run at high RPM/MPH for long durations (bonnet scoop doesn't 'catch' the air at over 90MPH, so under bonnet temps rise and high RPM can kill the crank)

as mentioned, the shocks can clunk at low speeds

Mine has FSH (no expense spared) and had 100k on the clock when I bought it, when new it had 225bhp. With 100k it made 242bhp on the rolling road. It shows they can perform well at higher mileages when properly looked after

Make sure you take someone with you, don't be fooled by a nice sounding exhaust

 

The JDM cars have better specs and power outputs. The myth about insure costs on import cars are false with specialists.

 

Not my thread but thanks for all the info anyway guys as i'm after a blobeye too, exactly the same year and model

And to the OP, if you're in Manchester I guess a good start would be to not buy this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-SUBAR...801&rmvSB=true

 

Hi,
If you need any help with insurance at all for any vehicle you're looking at then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.

 

If you speak to flux about insurance, make sure they don't screw you with mileage. I phoned up and they beat my renewal quote, I phoned my insurer (keith michaels) and they dropped the renewal price a bit. I phoned flux back and they beat that price by £60, so I took the policy out. When I got the documents through, I was limited to 3k miles per year. I phoned up to complain and they said when I had phoned up I said I only do 20-30 miles in a normal week (I do, but they didn't include the holidays and days out that I had mentioned). I said I had done 4.5k in the last year. They said they could ammend the policy and charge me £120 extra. I told them to F**k off!. I told them to cancel the policy, they did and charged me an admin fee on top!. It cost me £120 for 3 weeks insurance

 

Thanks for the lols

And I might add, if you're coming down to Bournemouth steer clear of this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Imp...25.m3641.l6368

After the owner describing it as a "stunning example" I found myself looking at a car with 4 very worn tyres (NSF was illegal), unevenly worn front pads which needed replacing, knocking rear suspension when I test drove it and an auxiliary drive belt which was so badly worn it had actually split into two parts which were rotating on the pulleys side-by-side (the ADB is something I always change on a car; it's an easy job which costs £10-£15 but if it breaks 2 or 3 things go wrong at once and in all the rustbucket Montegos etc i've owned i've never seen one as bad as that).

TBF the bodywork/interior was immaculate and it drove OK apart from wooden brakes. When we got back he asked me to leave because apparently his mate was coming round for a beer it felt like he was trying to push me into making a decision. Not very flexible on price when I mentioned the faults either but luckily it was only 8 miles away so I learned a lot and walked away.

 

Shame you're unable to cope with more then one car from each customer
Awful insurance company, don't even waste your time with these. . .

 

Haha yeah I'm based in Manchester but wouldn't consider something like this!
It's proving quite difficult to find a nice well looked after blue blobeye with low ish mileage!

 

Thanks for the heads up. I would have gone ans viewed this and probably would have been as disappointed as you are. However, I didn't fancy travelling all the way from Manchester in case it was a let down!

 

No worries, it's really difficult to buy a car properly!

I really liked it TBH, the bodywork was immaculate but the guy just wouldn't accept it needed money spent on it. I got the impression the guy before him had looked after it but he'd owned it for 18 months and not done anything to it

 

Why WRX and not Sti?

 

not everybody in the world want's a fvcking STI!!!!!

Why not a JDM?
Why not a spec C?
Why not a cosworth?
Why not a 2.0 non turbo?

STI's cost double the price and not everyone will use them to their full potential.
Replacement parts cost more on the STI.
The ride is harder on the STI.
The STI has worse fuel economy
The WRX has a better ride quality, better MPG and weighs less. The WRX has longer gears and is faster than an STI with the same power.

If you want 400BHP+, get an STI or better. If you want 350BHP max, get a WRX

 

Yeah basically what Dave said. For the budget I've got I'd like to pick up a nice looked after wrx than a modified high mileaged sti..

 

Haha, that sounds like the usual rant of a WRX owner

 

The world doesn't revolve around STI's!

I'm not having a rant, just speaking the truth.

If I wanted an STI, I'd buy one.
If I wanted a JDM, I'd buy one.
If I wanted a spec C, I'd buy one.

Hell, If I wanted a 22B, I'd go out and buy one.


Below 350 BHP the WRX is good. Up to 450BHP the STI is good. If you want 500BHP+, buy the best condition shell you can, irrespective of model. Most parts will be removed and upgraded anyway


How many people pay the extra for the STI, then replace/upgrade parts? Turbo, injectors, front mount, ARB's, Brembos, ECU

 

I thought Dan might have responded to our replies