This is aimed towards newbies that maybe looking for a Subaru, the experienced people on here will know all about owning one and what you need to look for when buying one. It's from my own experiences of buying 2 Sti hatchbacks within the last 2 years and some of the mistakes i made which came from a lack of experience of being away from Subaru's for around 20 years, if it helps just one person to avoid some of the mistakes i made then great, condition is everything with these older Subaru's.

What you have to remember with a lot of these Subaru's is they are over 20 years old, even the hatchback which was modern in it's time is now around 15 years old. What doesn't help with Subaru's to stand the test of time is how poor and thin the paint was from the factory and how weak the underseal was. If your looking to buy a UK version of any older Subaru you really do need to do your homework, take your time when checking one out and take your time doing your searches, you have to be patient, you need to be prepared to walk away from quite a few cars before the right car turns up.

If you rush into one and let your heart rule your head your bank account will regret in the long run as you'll be forever putting things right, and even then once you've put a few things rigjht you'll keep on finding other ithings that need putting right.

From all the UK cars i viewed in person, and from the photos i'd seen of a lot of other cars it's rust and corrosion that's the biggest enemy with these older Subaru's.

If i were buying again i wouldn't buy a UK car, i'd only consider buying one if it's had a full restoration where i can see the history of the restoration from photos and it was done by a reputable comany. A lot of these older UK Subaru's are getting to the point where most will need some kind of restoration work, rust and corrosion starts from within and works its way out so even if you may see a stunning looking car from the outside, it may not tell the story of what's hiding in the places you can't see.

Mint cars of this age are rare, i have seen some stunning examples though from owners on here and on forums like on Type RA etc, but they are rare though and not easy to find and the owners won't easily let them go after all the work they have put into them.

The hardest thing is walking away from a car you've gone to view esp when you might of seen 5 or 6 cars previously that haven't worked out, when you have the urge to own one and you can't wait to drive one sometimes your heart can rule your head where you think sod it ive been looking for long enough i'll buy this one, if you have any doubts at all don't do it, your bank account will thank you later.

I don't want to make it too long, condition is everything from what i saw in person with these cars and what i found in my searches. I had to replace a lot of bushes on my modified UK sti hatch, track rod ends, ball joints etc etc yet this car had just passed its MOT so a fresh MOT doesn't guarantee that the car is mechanically right, if your not experienced with Subaru's definitely try and find someone who is that can come and view a car with you, pay them a few quid if you need too as in the long run it could save you a lot of money.

If you want to go down the modified route like i was then my advice would be to buy a standard car that hasn't been touched as a base car and get the mods done yourself if you can afford it, at least that way you know what your starting with and what your getting. If you can't afford doing it that way then try and find an entusiasts owned car who you know well from a forum, who is known by other people and they have all the invoices to back up the work along with the mapping sheets etc, most other mechanical things after the engine are just like looking at any other car, check for play etc and all the usual checks you would do esp when doing a test drive, the engines on these can be fragile esp a modified one so make sure it's been well serviced and well looked after, if you can take someone with you i'd deffo do a compression test on a modified engine, possibly even a stock engine.

That's just the basics from my own experiences, if i was to buy another older Subaru i would import a JDM one from Japan as generally a JDM car will be in far better condition than the majority of UK cars as the UK cars have been subject to 15 - 20+ years of road salt and rain with weak underseal and weak paint, obviously that excludes the very few where the UK owners havent driven them in the wet or in winter etc. I'd buy a JDM one and with me preferring the UK 2.5 engine with the better lower down torque and the burble from the unequal length headers i'd buy the JDM car and do an engine swap, that would certainly cheaper than potentially doing a full restoration on a UK one.

As i said, this is from my own experiences of buying 2 within the last couple of years and viewing a lot of other Subaru's, a lot were in bad condition and quite a few were bins. im sure other people can add things to help a potential new owner from ending up with a money pit.

 

Some sound advice here. Having owned several UK and JDM Impreza's, I would also recommend a fresh import. There's some reputable companies that can find you a good one too. I would avoid buying fresh imports outside of the reputable companies though as I've heard some horror stories of cars being clocked and auction sheets altered. Nowadays auction sheets aren't always very accurate either. I've spent many hours sifting through Japanese auctions and I can tell you there are plenty of poor cars over there too!

My advice is don't buy an Impreza if you aren't willing to spend money on it. They need regular maintenance with proper OEM parts done by suitably qualified mechanics. Avoid cars with cheap mods at all costs; if the owner has cheaped out on the mods, where else have they neglected. Heavily modified cars cost double or more to maintain and will break more regularly (speaking from experience). IMO, the premium models like the S202/3/4, R205, Spec c, etc. are worth the extra spend and will retain their values but will take longer to sell. Classics are light and raw and are generally a bit more brittle. They feel small compared to modern cars and can be a handful at the limit. The newage cars retain some of that rawness but offer more confidence at the limit making them easier to drive fast. The EJ207 and 6 speed box are also very reliable at standard power if well maintained. The Hatch is more refined and softer. It doesn't offer the thrills of the earlier cars but it still very capable, especially with a few choice mods.

If buying a 2.5, make sure you budget for a rebuild (£5-6K) as it will break at some point. Even a motor that is already forged is no guarantee of long term reliability in my experience.

Buy the best condition car you can for your budget. Getting a better car to start with will save you £££'s in the future.

 

I've never had an import, probably because 20 years ago I was worried about servicing in the Subaru dealer network, but times have changed!

​​On prices, if you were to spend £15-20k (I don't have £15-20k!), would it be on a refurbed UK RB5/Terzo/low miles Turbo, or an import?
Which will be worth more in 5 years?

 

depends very much on provenance. Uk turbo will always be worth the least, unless it has provenance like the one that was on here that was owned by the McRae family, then the Terzo may be worth a bit more (than a normal turbo 2000 without the provenance) then a bit of a jump to the rb5 and series McRae.

jdm really depends what it is considering there are loads of different models from wrx, v limited, to sti ra’s and type r 2 door and so on.

 

in my mind the arsé is really going to fall out of the market for the 2.5 UK cars given the tax is up to £695 a year on them now

 

If You would like to buy special edition car rb5, wr1,rb320 ,20thA ,s202 ,s203 etc ,r205, p1 ,ra or ra-r or 22b with plastic body kit on type-r then buy not modified.
If You would like to mod it buy non special edition but modified ,always You can put oem parts selling upgraded ones.
Touch of rust is not an issue if You will keep it long ,4k and it will be sorted for another 10-15 years.

 

That's a good point, it's a joke what they are charging for road tax especially given the state of our pot holed riddled roads, along with mud and large stones from building sites that doesn't get swept up etc etc.

 

Thank you so much for this thread, need some money before even having these, but these cars really interest me and have for years - just delving into research really

unsure if I’d import, but what are the reputable sellers that do?

 

Torque GT and Aberdeenshire Imports are 2 that will import one for you.

 

All very well advising buying an import.... Has everyone forgot this shocker?

https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-...nd-sti-ra.html

 

A jdm import , on 0 emissions , tax wise is now around 325 £ , so again a slightly better cost than a uk one , some have had ulez issues with jdm cars , but if you have a 2006 plate plus you should be fine 👍

 

Some of the links don't work in the original thread like the ebay link etc, from what some people said it was caused by a leaking battery as it was only on one side, you feel for the person but that hardly reflects JDM cars in general. If you use a reputable import company like Torque GT that would have been picked up at various stages of the inspection, they inspect all cars before they go through the auction i know this as i was registered with them. You put down a £1k deposit and they'll start searching the auctions for a car matching your requirements, the inspections are in depth, i must have got 40 photos of one car from every angle you could imagine, no way the car you mentioned would have got past their inspection.

 

Well, from what I recall of the whole sorry saga, the rot was concealed under a battery cover..... no photo would have exposed that without some dismantling. Also, (and I'm paraphrasing here). one of the comments was that all the decent models have now been exported and only rotten ones, from the North Island (?) which has an adverse climate (something like that) are left.

 

Currently importing a JDM WRX STI through Torque GT and the experience has been great sofar, been familiar with them a long time but this is the first time I'm using them myself. The car was actually bought from a dealer, Fujicars Japan, as Torque can also source from some used car dealer networks as well as the auctions.

They managed to source me a 67k mile 2006 hawkeye, which is pretty immaculate underneath, and they are also doing quite a bit of prep work including having the car mapped down at EngineTuner...so when I collect the car all the service and snagging bits the car has will be sorted (at my cost of course).

I've driven JDM imports for the last 6 or 7 years, and would take one over a UK car in a heartbeat, they're generally far cleaner underneath, and usually well cared for. So my biggest piece of advice would be to spend a little extra and fresh import a JDM scoob. Several friends of mine have also used BHP imports who have a good rep as well.

 

When i had Torque GT searching for a car for me they inspected one at a dealer as well, if you have an inspection done at a dealer it will cost you £200 as it's outside of the normal auction inspections which are free and included. That will come out of your £1k deposit,the inspection though is really in depth, i can't believe how many photos they sent. I'm pretty much the same as you, condition wise the JDM cars are in far better condition and are better looked after, some of the under sides i saw of cars you could literally eat your dinner off them.

One thing ive noticed though with the JDM auctions is they can over state the auction rating so you have to tread carefully but if you have an experienced importer working on your behalf they know what they are looking at, they'll point everything out to you that they feel you need to know.

 

Absolutely agree, auction grading isn't to be trusted at all, some grade 3.5s are much better condition overall than 4.5s... always go by the inspection results.

Prime example when I was looking - grade 4.5 wrx sti hawk, only 33k miles on the clock, looked immaculate and nothing to note on the auction sheet. Had it inspected and it had a huge oil leak and some other well hidden issues - that car sold at auction for £21k.

I'd also say it's worthwhile buying as standard a car as you can, although most will have had a few modifications... and i've noticed here in the UK there are quite a few imported JDM cars knocking about with mods that haven't necessarily been mapped for them or UK fuel. Kind of circles back around to a fresh import through a reputable importer being the best option.

 

Plenty of people have had negative experiences with Torque, some like myself were actually life threatening. They are all just car dealers at the end of the day.

 

There is absolutely nothing worthwile buying standard jdm here or there.
Do not forget You are buying used ,close to 20y old car.

 

I’ve had two fresh import from Harlow Jap Autos , not had any issues , mild mods on both cars , and both cars in very good nick , both cars were already in stock , my 2005 jdm fsti imported around 2005 rotten rear arches so i broke it , 100k mikes , it had lived in scotland most of its life so likely worse climate than down south , then another jdm fsti been here around 4 years in good nick , the auction horses in jdm , there are a couple in the mountains so very similar to uk climate and therefore rust wise same issues as the uk , i expect those cars like uk cars some are no more due to rust issues , to date I’ve always been happy with my jdm imports and as I like Fsti it was only ever a jdm import 👍

 

?? that applies to any s/hand car??

 

I know where your coming from but you can't brand all Subaru's as not being worthwhile buying one, their are some great examples out there that have been restored and other ones that have been really well looked after, a lot of very clean imports and ones that haven't been used in the wet etc. It's just they are very hard to find, if you take your time, be patient and do your homework etc they are great fun cars to own with plenty of smiles per gallon. It's just you have to avoid your every day Subaru, the everage car on the street that you'll go to view as those will literally empty your bank account where you'll be forever putting things right.

It was mentioned above as well that the price of road tax on a UK car will really bring the prices down on these cars, after your insurance it's basically £700 a year to have the pleasure of looking at one before you do anything else.

 

The problem is the prices will come down and breakers will be buying and breaking them even more rapidly.

 

Fewer cars on the road = higher prices ? Look at old Ford XR prices when they got past 25 years old.

 

Yes any 2nd hand non special edition ,factory oem jdm or UK subaru.

 

I always pull the charge pipe to look for oil. You can get an idea of how much blow by the car has.

Never by a car with a lot of mods. make sure whatever mods there are used quality parts. You don't want a car covered in no name eBay junk.

Some sellers will have build sheets from a shop. Ask for those.

 

Some interesting points mentioned here. A few I’d share my experience on from buying a JDM model (from an importer)…

The condition underneath of a JDM car over UK is likely to be night and day unless the UK owner has never driven the car and kept it indoors it’s whole life. I had mine under sealed before it ever hit the UK roads as it looked like new and I wanted it to stay that way. Since ownership I’ve had it done again to stay on top of things and it’s obvious how needed that service is as the car has held up exceptionally through the years.

Road tax on the JDMs are brilliant, always have been and look to continue to be much better than a UK variant.

Parts can be more expensive on a JDM car if the part required is specific to the JDM version. Be prepared for big bills in comparison so if buying an import buy one that has been looked after (goes without saying really) in the hope it’ll not need any work doing. For example I had to replace a lamda sensor on my JDM and had to get the correct one… £393 from Subaru UK and there were only 2 in the country, no refunds!! The UK version brand new was £120 (not to mention how many second hand ones were about).

I’ve personally cherished my car and always done what it needed when it needed it and reflects in the car and history it’s had. This is what I’d want if buying one again and I’m sure it’s what almost if not everyone will be looking for when searching for their right one.

Shameless plug, mine is for sale right now (genuine reason for sale, need the space at home and it’s hardly used). She’s a good one if anyone is interested :

https://www.scoobynet.com/subaru-444...ure-heavy.html

Binny

 

Good plug 👍😁 I agree on the above , all mine have been very clean underneath literally like new , well worth under sealing , parts wise Megazip or Partsouq , can be used and often work out a lot cheaper than uk parts , the sites are not specific for jdm cars , so you can use them for uk cars too , shipping to the uk on both is fairly quick , the only specific jdm parts I’ve found so far were tail and headlights , if you know what you are actually looking for Rockauto in the states are good too , but always use the fed ex shipping route as you get the full cost including parts p and p landing costs , arrive with in the week , a new standard uk car not overly looked after by it’s owner , due to our climate is supposed to last 15 years , so buying a clean jdm is a bit of a no brainier , insurance is no higher , tax based on it having a good import Iva test of 0 emissions , and the dvla not getting it wrong means road tax is less than half the price 👍😁

 

If your importing a JDM car i would 100% use a specialist importer for a few reasons, not all of Japan has a warm all year round climate, what you have to remember too is Japan is an island so it's surrounded by salt air, it also has a lot of humidity. Also parts of Japan have snow and ice where they use road salt like we do which is mainly in the North, a specialist importer will know all the areas to avoid. Also quite a few of the JDM cars get tracked hence you see the OEM drivers seat gets removed and swapped for a full bucket seat, race steering wheel and gauges everywhere..

Those are just a few extra things to bare in mind if your importing one.

 

nonsense
buy only moded if non special edition. Brakes,18s ,3" exhaust,suspension,engine and gearbox mounts,clutch,steering wheel,intercooler ,turbo ,fuel pump,injectors and remap will cost You thousands, way over 10k minus 4k for underbody restoration and modded UK based car will be better buy than fresh oem jdm import.
Above is only a begining, other parts could cost You another 10k
Look in Your catalog and You will know how much moded parts costs
are not You on ebay

 

Couldnt agree more, didn't like you much to begin with but your growing on me. 👍🏼