Hi

I'm looking to buy an Impreza Turbo / WRX in September, and would like some advice if possible. I have £15k to spend on the car, excluding insurance.

1: What sort of vehicle should I look for for this sort of money? Preferably I want a standard-spec low mileage 99 model -will my money stretch this far?

2: Is a jap WRX worth any less / more than a standard UK car? Is there a general concensus as to which one is better in standard trim?

3: Is there anything in particular I should check/look out for whilst inspecting a vehicle? Any must-have options>?

4: Is the 5-door in the same league as the 4-door and are prices any higher/lower?

5: Anything I should avoid like the plague, are there any tell-tale signs that an Impreza has been scr3wed by a boy racer (hopefully they are still out of the price league for most "bad boy" sticker afficiendos)?

6: Can anyone recommend a reasonable insurance provider? Lowest quote i have had so far is £1900 with Privilege. (I'm 23 with no NCD)

7: I understand these cars are not cheap to run - Is the ownership experience worth the cost compared to say a golf vr6 / audi a3 / other performance-biased cars?

Apologies for my poor English, and thanks for any advice you can give me

S. Laars Vandermeer

 

Depends what you want really, if you go to a dealer (always the best place) then your not really going to get an MY99 but the uk car is a safer bet than an import.
What you need to look for is full service history, as much love as you can see the car has had, ie lots of receipts, all these cars get run hard and fast so dont think your going to get one that has had an easy life, you wont, what you want is one that gets run up and turbo timer'd down to keep the turbo safe.
Fully synth oil at change times shows the owner appreciates his/her car but still check for smoke on acceleration (blue aint good ) gearboxes are known to go after lots of abuse, need to check that it doesnt pop out of gear or feels like it doesnt want to go into one, clutch judder is another "characteristic" which you dont really want, check all the panels are in line as alot of scoobs get splattered also they are prone to the unlikely attention of scum, we call them theives so a hpi check is worth the money.
Check the brakes aint naffed and that all the tyres are the same type, cheap tyres normally means they cannot afford to run the car which in turn means bad maintenance
A jap import will depreciate faster than a uk car though, and if someone tries to flog you a euro import make sure that it has fsh too, some say they aint worth as much as a uk car because of the warranty, and true they aint (up to 3 yrs anyway) but if its been cared for more than the equivelant uk car its still worth the money

Tony

 

One in the Private section £ 13K ono

 

One of my friends is selling a Jan 99 silver uk turbo. E-mail me for details. Its in excellent order and it is around the price you want to pay. It is also totally standard.

Regards Mike@PD