Looking to get a WRX and think i can afford up to a 96 car. What sort of money can i expect to spend on one about this age. I have a budget of £4500. Is a 1996 car with reasonable mileage out of my reach ?

I dont want a wagon, 4 door saloon and got to be manual with hopefully a few mods like zaust and suspension or something.

Is this likely or will i only get something a bit older?

dai

 

£4500 should get you inside a tidy UK Impreza Turbo ... forget the Imports, you can afford a proper one.

Wagons are better, but I understand that they may not appeal if you are young.

Try and get a one owner cherished example.

Avoid modified examples ... do that yourself if you wish.

Do NOT buy a cheap one .... ever!!!!

Happy Hunting

Pete

 

Go for an import there faster

 

Nothing wrong with imports Pete though there are alot of dogs coming from the docks now
UK car is a safer bet but you still need to do all the checks, though most modern hot hatches can easily keep up with them in standard form.

Tony

 

I agree (with the UK part!!!) you will get a better history and the car will be undersealed, unlike the imports; most important for the weather we get here. There can be all sorts of problems regarding fuel etc with imports as well i.e. you may require to use octane booster etc. I sold my old MY98 saloon UK turbo for £4,950; it had a new engine from API Engines and was reasonably standard. As Pete says, you should get one for £4,500. The advantage of going for an import on the other hand is that there are loads out there so with supply and demand and all that, you should be able to pick one up cheaper than a UK car.

 

cool, but they seem to be more on autotrader for that year. Maybe £5000 for a good 1996 car.

Dont mond import or uk car as long as its good.

 

You should (if you shop around) get a newer one than that (UK car) for £5k. Remember your insurance will be cheaper on a UK car as well

 

Imports the only way to go, more power, better spec, just be carefull there are dogs out there

 

And a WRX can pull away from most modern hot hatches can they? Flashing their ugly aftermarket foglights in the windscreen of the car behind?

 

I bought a UK Turbo a month ago, 5k - but 95k miles.

Nowt wrong with it, standard apart from Magnex cat-back.

A few minor changes later and about £1600, 272bhp/272lbft and new clutch, MAF etc. etc.

Stretch a bit further than your 4.5k and get a much newer example is the point.

Classics have 'flattened' - cheapest WRX £3k and latest MY00 £5k, so not much in it. Get the best.

 

I agree, get a MY00 if you can ... they were so, so much better than the early cars .. more powerful and also a better place to sit.

MY99 or MY00 should be your aim (but I do doubt £5k would pull a really good one of those)

Pete

 

20bhp does make a difference though its the restrictive exhaust on a scoob thats a killer
Then you have to look at how well the car has been serviced, if its a real dog it could be running 40-50bhp down, but my import doesnt seem to have any problems with hot hatches, ok its an STi but it LOOKS like a wrx oh and no ugly foglight either, its in the cluster

Tony

 

You doubt wrong pslewis......

£5k - 95k, and a good one - does happen!!!