Hello everyone,

Great site, and has made my evenings a lot of fun 'researching' about the impreza...would anyone be able to help with buying advice below?

1) Im after a classic turbo, probably MY99 or 00, and preferably in mica blue. I have seen quite a few on the internet as UK SPEC, as opposed to UK CAR. ANy major differences, are insurance companies likely to see UK SPEC as imported?

2) When viewing a car, how can you tell whether it is UK SPEC or a UK CAR?

3) Also I test drove a MY98 model which was significantly cheaper than MY99, apart from the obvious exterior differences, are there significant differences in driving between the 2?

4) Lastly, I'm possibly going to test drive a 99 DBM in Surrey today, reg plate P1 FST. Anyone had any experience with this car, i.e previously owned by a scoobynetter?

Can't wait to get one, though I think looking for one is half the fun....

Any help with the above is appreciated.

Thanks a lot

 

UK Spec would lead me to believe that it is an import made to look like a UK model.
I *think* the differences were pretty minor - foglight inclusion, the undercoat stuff (for UK weather!), de-restricted & speedo conversion......Might even have had a remap to deal with UK fuel too.

Insurance companies will still see it as an IMPORT (WRX) though - so it will be more expensive to insure.

MY98 vs MY99. Umm again, I *think* that the MY98 only had 2-pot front brakes and a slightly lower BHP output...... slightly revised interior too.

Can't help with the car, but FWIW, I LOVE my MY99 So much so, that I've been finding it really hard to justify a change to a newer Scoob

Have fun

Dan

 

MY 98 has the phase 1 engine, 380cc injectors v MY99 phase 2 engine with 440cc injectors, then there was the power difference, the MY98 had 208bhp and 201lbs of torque? v 215bhp and 214lbs on the MY99, though you can hardly tell on the road.
The phase 2 engine cured a few problems that the MY97/98 engines suffered from (piston slap, though thought of as common, only maybe 1 in 10 cars suffered from it, uk and jap imports).
The 99 has clear crystal headlights and front fogs, better interior etc, the MY00 came with the map lights also, and had colour coded wing mirrors, though the side skirts on all the cars were not colour coded.
Imports v UK.... easiest visual means is if it has the 2000 turbo sicker on the rear left hand side, a UK service manual with UK dealer originating stamp in the book (you couldnt get the service manual on an import as you needed the chassis code and if it wasnt a uk car you didnt get it).
Sonic blue was an import only colour on MY00 cars, same colour as the P1 and 22B, so another givaway.

Tony

 

If you're after a mint MY00 UK Spec car in silver with PPP and 17" alloys and very low mileage I know where one is. Not mine of course

PM me if you're interested.

 

T25 ive pm'd you regarding the car for sale

 

You'd probably be wrong then.
Genuine UK Spec should be "parallel" import, i.e. from somewhere else in Europe. At that stage, it should be "exactly what it says on the tin" - i.e. identical spec to the UK car: mapped for UK fuel, with underseal, fog lights etc. If it is supplied with certificate of conformity to prove it is full UK spec, most insurance companies treat it exactly the same as a UK car - they might want to see the certificate is all. The only significant difference was the amount of warranty offered (1 year UK spec Euro versus 3 year UK in 98-99 I believe) - which will have expired anyway. There really is nothing between the cars now.

You do get a service manual with European imports, although in most cases, you should find the PDI stamp would be stamped in country of origin - often Belgium or Holland, and the book may be subtely different to a UK service book.

Japanese imports will have a different specification, including more power, less underseal etc as standard. These are more pricey to insure. The awkward ones are e.g. Cyprus imports which IIRC are almost UK spec, but not quite.

 

You're getting confused between JDM and Euro. Big difference.

If its a Euro import then you will not be able to tell its a import as its EXACTLY the same car as a UK supplied. You 'may' be able to tell from service book and PDi.

Its the same car, just a different origin.

Bob

 

thanks for all your replies and advice

I just got back from seeing the car, and whereas it looked very nice in DBM, it had very little service history. The last stamped service in the service book was in November 2002!!and at 29k miles, whereas its currently got 46k miles on the clock.

THe dealer 'reckons' it was serviced but not stamped or reciepts not kept. Can i trust him? I think it would be better to walk away. Also, it had leather seats which were quite worn out.

T25, thanks but I need to get it from a dealer as I want to part ex my ford focus.

Hades/BOB'5, i think from what youre saying its a UK SPEC model that I saw last week, and not a JDM. If insurance companies are not going to charge me more, then I dont see any disadvantage in buying a UK SPEC car with a certificate. The woman i spoke to at Elephant didnt seem to know what i was talking about.

Once again, thanks a lot for replying. Im seeing another one on monday, but its silver....

 

Sorry, I was referring to a JDM

Dan