It's 10 years old, it's done 53k miles and it's £29k

https://www.torque-gt.co.uk/white-r205-280219.html

That's a lot of money... couple more £k is brand new Type R... similar price is nearly new Golf R and a couple of year old RS3, A45 or Focus RS.

... and yet with a simple re-map, it would be some car and I'd never see another on the road.

Trouble is that putting mileage on such a rare thing in our crappy weather is going to have a BIG impact on future value, which wouldn't be such an issue with the others.

Aaaaaaaarrrrrgggghhh!!

 

Future value is only an issue if you're selling it. If you want one as a daily, why the **** not?!

You could get a uk hatch and spend the change on replacing the engine... less of an impact on the residuals as long as you dont go daft on rebuild. road tax would be a bit steep in comparison to the others.

 

the limited number cars always have a premium value, add that onto a jdm and they get a big jump. are they worth that? depends on how you see it, you could get a tuned sti with higher spec than that with 30k budget, but then its just a moded scoob.

 

i wouldnt be paying 30k for one no.

 

That's the crux of the problem - seems like almost nobody will. It's been there since last summer, so the market for it is obviously tiny.

It's not so much what it costs now, but what it'll be worth in 3-5 years. Can't get that bit out of my head. It'll clearly be a ball ache to sell in future without taking a big hit.

Still worth £15k in 5 years with 90 odd k on the clock? Probably just about, but bit of a hard sell.

 

itd be a very very hard sell, whereas likes of s202-204 have a following, the hatch market really doesnt at all - its the blacksheep of the family even though they are cracking cars. i think you'd end of losing a fortune in depreciation.

you'd be better off with a Spec C hatch at around 20k

 

There never going to be a type r etc plus do you really want a Mazda 3

 

I would tend to agree.

If only the R205 didn't exist!! What has been seen cannot be unseen. Buy a Spec C and then think - wish I'd bought that R205!

Re the Mazda 3 - I'm not a huge fan of the looks either, but need a hatch/estate on a daily driver.

 

30k also has you in cosworth money also, and it may have a better resale with only 75 in existence

 

In 5 years time, the only R205's holding their value, as now, will be low mileage examples, not ones with 50k+ on the clock. If you buy it, use it.

 

Might put a cheeky ‘cost to change’ offer in. It’s been there a good while, so you never know.

 

There is this one for sale as well, cheaper and less mileage …….

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/COMING-SO...8AAOSwjyZeOtN-

 

that famous bn Europe guy has one too

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUBARU-IM...EAAOSwFxhdg-ti

 

that one looks to have the wrong seats

 

I thought that when I looked at it, but wasn't sure....

 

Never heard of him

Probably doesn’t take part exchanges though.

 

Incredibly , Recaros were not standard I think

 

Having driven hatch spec cs both with and without Recaros, I would say they are a must have, unless you are over 15.5 stone.

 

R205 is a no brainer

 

This made me chuckle in the decription:

POWER CIRCA 340BHP, GOES LIKE A STABBED RAT, WITH A LINEAR POWER DELIVERY DUE TO THE TWIN SCROLL TURBO SYSTEM.

 

can some one please translate?

 

Ive messaged him before. Bit of a comedian

 

Has to be with his prices

 

No one mentions the fact that fossil fuel cars days are number and will probably get taxed to death making it an even harder sell. Road tax is already high and puts a lot of people of I am sure, I know it hurts when I pay my £500+ every year and that is only going to get worse. Buy it and use it.

 

True, but road tax on an imported hatch is currently £275

 

That's a bonus. Buy it

 

Yes, that’s part of the appeal. Having something like this as a daily driver isn’t going to be possible for an awful lot longer.

Love this review - explains exactly why I don’t want any of the German cars in my first post. The Type R is appealing, but I really love having AWD.

http://www.speedhunters.com/2010/07/..._impreza_r205/

Thanks to Hedgecutter for confirming these are still PLG for ‘Road Tax’.

 

Believe me, I've been tempted by all those R205s, but I would want lower mileage, and also, my spec c provides a much cheaper, low hassle daily.

 

The spec C has similar improvements to the R205 over a normal STI, question is are the R205’s improvements £10k better than the spec c’s?

I like the yellow spec C ICP have. Even more so after I watched the tskuba vid where one keeps an Exige 240 at bay for a few laps until it heat soaks

 

I believe you implied that your worried about selling in future but you then say that the appeal as it will not be an option soon. You cannot have it both ways. It will be a very hard sell in the future low mileage or not.
Are you mad? No, you only live once and if you do not get one now you will be thinking about it for the rest of your life. You obviously really want it so DO IT.