I've been looking on Autotrader and found several (mostly '94 cars) for around £6000. While I'd really like to buy one, one of my mates said "for that price they've all been thrashed".

Is he right - would you guys recommend paying this sort of money for a WRX? Any other buying advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

 

I suspect most performance cars have been thrashed - however I would expect a shagged MY94 to be going for around the £4.5-5k mark unless someone is trying it on

Service history and receipts for very regular oil changes and the cambelt changes at 45 and 90k miles are a must. I have an MY93 WRX which has had the oil changed every 3k miles. As a precaution I would have the cambelt done anyway after buying for peace of mind.

You can always get a mechanic to inspect it or I'm sure someone on this bbs would happily go along with you and help you spot things that were not normal.

Has it got a knocklink or any other monitoring devices - what psi is it running (walk away from an overly boosted scooby).

Read up as much as you can before going to look at any car - research will help you alot. Also I wouldnt buy a scooby from someone who was completely clueless about their own car.


[Edited by Scooby96 - 9/27/2003 9:34:09 AM]

 

If it was me I would look in the for sale section on here. IMHO you have a better chance of getting a car that has been looked after by the owner. www.sidc.co.uk is also a good place. There's also a good FAQ on there.
I agree with Scooby96. Get someone who knows about Scoobs to go too.
The best bit of advice I would give is if it looks too good to be true, it probably is and if your not happy walk away.

Steve

 

i went a looking for cars in that range - it takes some time choosing the right one - also you have to be patient..i didnt see many i REALLY wanted from the outset - so doubled the figure i was looking to pay. Found 3 straight away that fitted the bill and usual things such as full history, low mialige etc, etc

All i would say about the 6K bracket is you pay for what you get you cant expect the car to be everything you want at that price. You will get a good car but just be carefull in your choice, i was lied to about 4 cars i viewed, so beleive your own eyes only(or some one who knows scoobies/cars).

Spot the history gaps, look for re-spray work, do your homework on the type/model of car you want know what you need to see with the type your buying. Ask other people on scoobynet for information on a type of car and what to look for as there's a lot of name changing out there at present with some people calling the car a 555 or limited version without plates on show or car anniversary badges removed...jsut some idea's anyways

MOST IMPORTANT NEVER FORGET "HPI" - saved my bacon twice already. Also if your going to buy an import from a dealer i would do a jap history check as well - cost between £30-£70 but there are a lot of insurance wright off's coming into the UK from Japan being sold as clean vehicals as HPI not involved at that point.

Get the HPI check(need reg number/vin number/MOT Certi Number) before you leave to view the car...saves a lot of embarressment at other end when your happy with the car and HPI it to find scrapped or insurance write off etc..

Spoke to an importer last week(jsut back from japan)who advised me that the market is slowing down now and the cars coming onto the purchasing market are of a lower level condition and higher asking price - just a pointer of things to come...Get into the market now before it dries up..(for information he reckon the african markets are buying a lot of the jap cars now.)