Uk 2010 wrx hatchback brought December 2022 for 6k we are only the 2nd owner it had covered 100k with full service history, 2 month into owning it blew the exhaust to pieces due to corrosion & we had to pay 280 out for a custom cat back system, there was also corrosion on the cats but we managed to keep them for now luckily as they are definitely not worth replacing due to cost, don't want the hassle of mot or the cost of remap to run safely and turn of the engine light. Had it back and was happy with it for 2 months then the turbo went costing us another 670 quid, so all of a sudden this 6k car has become 7k in just 6 months, 800 miles later complete boost lose, been of the road 3/4 weeks now trying to diagnose, I think the car has cost to much to soon and dreading what it could cost this time round. I have zero trust or confidence in the cars reliability and worried that the costs will never stop coming, only thing is we can't afford to lose this amount of money so quickly but have no idea what to do with it? Please help?

 

When I get to this point with it a car, it's time to sell! I'll swallow the loses and move on.

 

The other thing is that it's a 2.5 rather than a 2.0, so the *probability* of something expensive engine-wise is always there?

 

its a WRX so the 2.5 argument doesn't apply as much


if it was mine after sinking that much in id be looking an informed judgement on the car from a reputable Subaru indy

 

my sentiments exactly. Get it to some who knows Subarus inside out. There are many advertised but I’d trust 6-8 with mine. It’s high on mileage but that said if they are standard they are fairly bomb proof. I’ve had 3 in 18 years and the only major problem I’ve had outside of servicing / brakes / tyres / mots is an exhaust o2 sensor , a wheel bearing and knocking suspension. Not many could say that on any make ! I’m a massive fan of Subaru reliability.
get it looked at and go from there. I think you’ve been unlucky and the previous owner thought “service history” was how many times you’ve pulled into a motorway services. I’m dubious of a full service history without good reliable paperwork and invoices.

 

that's how I feel right now tbh

 

my thoughts exactly

 

I thought all the 2.5 turbos suffered the same problems, does the wrx have a better reliability record than sti?
It's at central subaru now

 

thanks, it was completely standard when we got it, pretty much still is apart from the cat back we had to get due to corrosion on the original exhaust & a recirculating bov

 

It will be a forever ending money pitt, the sooner you can sell it the better imo.

 

its the STI that cracked pistons issues and blew headgaskets as standard. the standard 2.5 WRX was very reliable.. the only 2.5 WRX model i ever heard of having real headgasket issues was the GB270

 

It's a 13 year old car with over 100k on the clock - you have to budget for some immediate remedial work. You can't expect to buy it and simply fill it with fuel every so often - it's not a 2 year old Toyota. If you aren't handy with the spanners to carry out preventative maintenance or prepared to pay someone else to do it, then maybe an old Jap rally-rep isn't for you. Especially one that only cost £6k. Expect to pay a lot more for a low mileage 1 owner car with a huge stack of receipts - and get it inspected first, if you want an easy ride. Any secondhand car out of warranty is a punt, unless you can get it up on a lift and spend a few hours inspecting everything. At the age and mileage of the car, a rotten exhaust and a blown turbo are not unusual occurrences. You need to get the garage to perform a full inspection of the condition of the car and what needs immediate attention. Then decide from there whether it's worth spending anymore money on it.

 

100k miles? Might need new cambelt and clutch soon too!
Also danger time for laminated head gaskets to start delaminating.... 🤔.....?

 

Out of curiosity why did it need a new recirculating bov??
as per..
https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-...hatchback.html

and was the Perrin one you fitted adjusted/tuned correctly as per
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/p...SP-TAC-610.pdf

 

I've either been unlucky with this 1 or very lucky with my previous 4 all of which were similar mileage but never experienced any real problems

 

I know they aren't needed and not ideal for these cars, I went with the perrin mainly for engine dress up, didn't really like it and ended up swapping for turbo smart same as the 1 in your picture

 

 

The cat on the downpipe had collapsed and gone into the centre cat blocking the exhaust, it's full decat know but I've been told it will need a uprated fuel pump and remap to run like this,
not something we ever planned to do with this car but I suppose it could of been worse and cost more.
glad to have it back, hope it lasts longer this time

 

boost issues on these can be fairly easily to identify without taking it to a garage. have you check all the boost pipes for splits in them ?. could be the solenoid which are fairly cheap to replace if im honest. definitely get the decat mapped in!! and a higher rated fuel pump will definitely help. mine cost me £100 odd by what i remember.

 

Did you sell the cat for scrap, will be worth a few hundred. That would ease some of your cost.

Think your quite lucky to of had so many high mileage Impreza's with no issues, specially if turbo charged.

Alot tend to get abused and not looked after well. Unless standard and one owner type.

 

1st gc8 was standard, can't remember how many owners, was silver and I sold it after 6 months because I didn't like the colour.
​colour
2nd gc8 was standard I was 3rd owner, modified it and over 3 and half Yr never any problems, that got stolen never recovered.
Replaced with another gc8, full decat, blitz induction, apex ecu, again 3rd owner, never any trouble owned for 9 years.
Then blobeye wrx brought standard and extremely cheap, owned 8 Yr and only maintenance on wear n tear.
I've had it too good for too long maybe