I think the best thing is firstly not to rush in!
Take your time, you can and will find a car for that money thats mint, take heed though that there will be dogs around, especially that year and you may be looking for a while. I waited 6 months for my latest
Do plenty of searching on here for the info on, well virtualy anything!
Another consideration is do you want an import or UK/EU car?
Imports are a diff' animal and come with more factors that should be taken into account, insurance for starters is more!
Someone will probebly post the link to the SIDC F.A.Qs,
Have a good look through that as there is alot of very handy info on there.
Welcome bye the way

Gary

Edited to say, cambelts, simple, if theres any doubt, get a new one on it.

[Edited by Leviathan - 11/6/2003 8:53:12 PM]

 

Theres also alot of truth in what Tony says above although they are about, they get much harder to find at that bugdet!
Mate of mine is in the same boat and is aiming for around 6k.
Parts wise, some peeps will say that import parts are harder to get, ive had 2 in the last 3 years and ive never had trouble getting parts for them, as long as you dont start bending them
Serviceing wise, you would need to find a specialist again as Tony advises, this is because most main Suburu dealerships wont touch imports with a barge pole.
I dont think theres much diff between the 2 price wise for servicing!

[Edited by Leviathan - 11/6/2003 9:02:23 PM]

 

Hello Nick, i keep telling him i'm worth more but he takes no notice of me. I even asked him how do i do these smilie things on Scoobynet but he wont tell me.

Tony

Can i e-mail a few things to you. You have been really helpful but i dont want to abuse that helpfulness. I would just value your opinion


Shaz x

edited because i tried smilies he he

[Edited by Scooby_Shaz - 11/8/2003 8:12:10 PM]

 

Hi everyone!

I'm new on here and i think i need a bit of help with buying my first Scooby.

I have been looking on the For Sale Forum and seen a few cars on there that i think fit the bill but i'm also a bit worried that i might be buying a bad car.

I'm looking for a nice classic shaped four door. I want to pay about £4,000 to £5,000 for one and i think looking at the adverts i am looking for a 1995 imported car?

I'm not interested in the added modifications, i just want it to look nice and be relatively reliable. Around 50,000 miles really i think would be about right?

So now what should i do. Should i make sure things have been done to the car ie cam belt? I've done a bit of searching on here and found it to be great help but theres nothing like hearing a personal opinion is there.

Please dont ignore me because i know these things have been done to death but having lurked for a week or two, i think everyone is genuinley helpful.

Sorry i'm ranting <women eh!>

Shaz x

 

Hello
You could purchase my scoob but i feel its a little out of your price bracket
Well for 4-5k your not going to get much of a scoob, even an my95 that doesnt have mega miles on the clock and has probably been crashed too
The WRX's wont have much in the way of history (you would be very lucky if you got any history with a WRX and you would be looking at possably a highish mileage MY93 for 5k).
To get a decent scoob you need to really extend your budget, this isnt a car that you can run on a budget as the 2 services per year (6 month or 7.5k whichever is first) will cost you a nice 500+ quid alone) and the super unleaded fuel for the Jap import cars (with octane booster to be on the safe side due to them being mapped to run 100 ron fuel to our 97 ron) will also make a dent into your pocket
I can however point you in the direction of a very good place for servicing your scoob, if/when you purchase one, and thats ProSport of Stockport (0161 432 9999).
They are extremely helpful and knowlegable (plus the prices are fixed so you can see what its going to cost you at service time unless you want a different type oil etc).
Good hunting but id put more money in the pot if you want a reliable, lower mileage scoob (make sure it has a full history too!)

Tony

 

Thanks Gary

I've found the SIDC FAQ and no doubt now that my printer is running red hot, i shall find it a most interesting read tonight (not).

So insurance on an import is one thing, do they cost more to repair and because of this should they be cheaper than a uk car?

Thanks for coming back so quickly BTW, muchly appreciated.

I dont think i can wait that long.........but will try tsssk!

Shaz x

 

Tony

Thanks for being plain and honest, thats what i want!

So 5,000 is not enough. What should i consider a good value price.....as Gary say's above, dont rush it so i could buy some time to come up with the extra.

Yes i know Scoobies running costs are high, thats why i'm a) testing the water at the lower end of the market and b)i can afford the running costs if i keep payments on the car down

Shaz x

 

Thanks for that

My other half comes on here and has a bug eyed model eeeeeewwww!

He confesses that he knows nothing of the import and classic type models so i'm forced into asking for all your help which i really do value and appreciate.

Luckily Tony, my other half knows of Pro Sport in Stockport as he's had work done there and he was really impressed with the work and the price. Do they sell cars or is it just a garage?

Just a thought then, should i buy from a garage or private. I do have to sell my little car anyway, perhaps part exchange would be best then?

Shaz x

 

Hello and welcome to the mad house,

For ur insurance give Liverpool Victoria a call, number i got them on was 0800 514514 but there are 2 or 3 other numbers as well.

 

Thanks In Disguise

I'll them a call tommorrow. I've only tried Tesco's so far......just for an idea!

Shaz x

 

Shaz,

Here is one you can find in the NW auto trader
(an example but its in there!)

1998 SUBARU IMPREZA 2.0 TURBO 5DR Westwood MotorsHATCH, 1998, R reg. 82000 miles, met green, 1 f/keeper, FMDSH, MoT 04, PAS, a/c, 5 spd, Recaro seats, Cat 1 Clifford alarm, e/w, 17 a/w, spoiler, c/c/b, c/l, music. . 01484 . . . . (trade)
£7,000
17 miles

Note the following!
Full main dealer service history, the owner has looked after the car, if they have the documentation then even with 82k on the clock you know its been pampered

1 former keeper (this car is trade so only one owner from new!)

Aircon, its a 1k optional extra on uk cars!

Met green..... some people dont like this colour, possably the worst colour to get in most cases but it does grow on you (a workmate bought a met green my00 for his missus, he says the colour has grown on him )

Clifford cat 1 alarm, nice touch and you can add accessories to this!

As its also a trader, you can ask for a HPI certificate, or get the reg, do it yourself and speak to the previous owner.

Now the down side.... its an MY98, it was the second year of the uk cars to use the td04 turbo which is smaller than the previous my96/95 cars so not quite as violent a hit from the turbo but still pretty effective (you dont get MY94 uk cars), they had problems with piston slap (normally effected the car below 30k miles though and hit both the MY97/98 cars, both uk and Jap imports).
The brakes suck (anything previous to MY99 sucked to be honest with you as they were pathetic 2 pots and even the 4 pots wernt that good with the standard disc/pad combo) but there are a few different discs/pads you can get to improve this though 4 pots are the way ahead

Just keep an eye out for a good one, when you find one with any extras like a/c (on uk cars) and full service history (documented with the receipts is better ) then go look at it but it is a little higher than you expected to pay unfortunately (even though there were cars in the 4-5k cat, only 1 stated FSH, and that was a uk car with 80+k miles).

Tony

 

Same ole story, can be abit of a lottery buying private, thats not to say that there arnt genuine cars around privately!
You could always employ an AA inspector or the like, if the seller has nothing to hide they shouldnt mind.
HPI is also a good idea.
As far as buying trade goes, some of the warranties they sell you can be abit, erm, iffy anyway but you do have abit more come back should somthing go badly wrong!

 

Jeez!

Minefield ! thanks guys this information is priceless i didnt think of any of this.

Tony, Gary i'm looking at one at the moment, it goes like this......

MY94 WRX CD Multiplayer, air conditioning, lowered & adjustable suspension, full stainless exhaust, 17" wheels, 52000 miles FSH, scoobysport downpipe, original also supplied if wanted), STI5 rear spoiler, Q shift, PAS, full electrics, turbo timer Cat 1 alarm, immobiliser, tracker. 53000 miles on the clock it has been fully serviced and the cam belt was done at 23000 as a precaution when I bought the car

Turbo has a slight whistle and I have a new TD05 but can not be bothered to fit it. I will include a set of standard front discs aswell.

What do you think?

Shaz x

 

Forgot to say i left the price out to see if you could put a value on it, he he !

Shaz x

 

Shaz,
Upto MY94, ABS was an option on the WRX's, you will have to see if it has this fitted.
You will also have to see what fuel its been run on, with a full decat, nothing less than super unleaded and lots of octane booster will do (the engines det their hearts out whilst running higher boost and the wrong fuel) leading to expensive engine rebuilds (around 3k )
You will hear the turbo whistle up due to the decat (jap cars only have one cat, uk cars have 2, one in the downpipe, for both uk and jap, 1 in the centre section on uk cars).
The full service history gets me, alot of jdm cars dont have any documentation, you will need to check with the service book if it has one, it will be rather full for an my94 (around 19 services, poss the 127.5k service next).
If it takes your fancy though, go have a look, see how long the owner has owned the car for, ensure you start the car from cold (foot on clutch as you start up, no blip of the throttle or if the owner starts, no revving from cold, sign of abuse from cold IMHO).
Ask what fuel he uses (dont say do you use super unleaded, if they use unleaded, walk away, it may end up very expensive for you ).

Tony

 

No more than 6k for a 9 year old car IMHO.

Tony

 

mmm, dose'nt sound bad but it wouldnt would it
May sound daft but even if you just went along and had a look just to get some idea at what your looking at, obviously you dont have to buy the first you see.
The thing to remember also with an aftermarket down pipe is that you will also need the standard one to get it through MOT as that one has been de-catted which is good from a power and noise point of view. Its probebly making around 250bhp with that set up
Keep scanning the Trader's site to see whats around and at what money their going for.

 

Ha ha Tony

You get a cuddly toy on the price !

So if i get good positive answers to both your questions then pending say an AA inspection, would you say it was okay then.

Seems to be a big issue then with service history and i think this has to be ironed out before i view?

Thanks again you two, you are a big help

Shaz x


I really do appreciate this because you must have done this to death.........sorry

 

I'd still get the car looked at by a speciallist also, it may cost you a little in labour but it could be better in the longrun.
Buying will be up to you though, there are more than enough cars out there to choose from as Gary has stated, so look at as many as you can, because its no good buying a car then seeing one better the next week

Tony

 

Yep, patience is a virtue as they say!

 

Thanks very much Tony, Gary you've been a great help. Can i call on you again if i need a bit more advice please

Thanks

Sharon x

 

oooo go on then! Course ya can, no probs!

Gary

 

He he,

Sounded like i had your arm up your back then Gary.

Anyway i think i'm a Scooby regular now......so i know it all LOL

Shaz x

 

Yup not a problem as they say, advice is always free so get as much as you can

Tony

 

[Edited by STI -V4 - 11/8/2003 10:45:48 PM]

 

Just reading above comments.

Picked up new WRX from dealer yesterday. Queried what petrol (haven't had scoob before)? We said should it be Super Unleaded (no optimax locally) and he said they no need for that, they run absolutely fine on unleaded.

Is this something we should believe or not? Having read earlier remarks about fuel I don't want to be putting the wrong stuff in!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Gaz

 

I'm takin an educated guess here that you're Buzzer's wife? Am I right?
If so,tell the tight fisted git to dig deeper and buy you a more expensive car.Or swap him for his,and let him have an old shed!! lol
If I'm wrong and it's not you,apologies!!

Nick

 

PMSL

Nick well done mate your right. She's bloody hooked on the things now and askin allsorts of questions which i just cant answer so she said sod yer then i'll go on Scoobynet and find out.LOL

She knows more about Classics than me now and doin all her own research even started reading the SIDC FAQ

Shes quite welcome to get a bug eye but she says they are butt ugly (jealousy i think )

you are more than welcome to finance another feckin scoob in our household mate coz i cant, this all her own doing and i'm just lettin her get on with it

TBH it was that 22b she saw in Blackpool that caught her eye. She said ooh i'll get one of them. I said yeah have you got 25k in your pocket. She said why are they 25k.........my response.......They just are

 

Gaz,
We are talking about a classic JDM car (Jap domestic market or grey import ).
Now if its one of these and not a euro/uk type wrx (MY01 onwards) then you will end up with no engine very quickly (they are mapped to 100 ron fuel and as we only get 97/98 ron it can and does cause det in the engine), if its a uk/euro wrx (bugeye/blobeye MY01 onwards) then yes, you can run these on unleaded but running on super unleaded will give you better response, more power and better mpg to boot! (its the best power mod for virtually zero money ).

Tony

 

Shaz,
I'll tell you how to do smilies....

: D =
; ) =
: p =
: o =
: rolleyes : =
: eek : =
: ) =

To use the smilies/expressions simply remove the spaces between the colons and semi colons etc

That's about all I can think of,you can obviously link into other smilie sites and pick em up from there but that's lesson number two!!

Pete,get your money out mate,you can't take it with you!!!