So, i've just purchased my first Impreza! Can't believe after all this time i've never owned one, especially since my last name is McRae and my dad's called Colin (no not a joke)

2002 Bug eye'd Impreza WRX Sportwagon in metallic green.

Now its a second car used mainly for going to work and back (only 2 miles each way) and for when i'm going somewhere myself when we don't use "her car"

How I came upon the car.
Today at work I was presented with it for MOT. It failed on 1 tyre with a deep cut on the sidewall, a numberplate bulb and the exhaust blowing due to a worn gasket and clamp. When talking with the owner he said how he was actually about to trade it in for a brand new Discovery 4 and they were only offering him £1000 for it and only with a new MOT on it. I said i'd quite happily give him that for it, to which he said, ok no problem, and shook my hand.
I was only semi serious but i'm actually happy with my purchase.
He is the 1 and only owner, it has a full Aberdeen Subaru service history with all recipts to back it up. It's totally original and standard which is probably rare with WRX's. Currently on 94000 miles which isn't so bad for an '02 car.
As well as all this paperwork the car comes with the original WRX wheels which are Bridgestone RE050's and also a set of 17inch cheap brand name alloys with 5-6mm tread Vredstein winter trac tyres.
Been over the whole car twice now, and apart from the MOT faults the only other things I can see are a few scuffs on the front bumper which may buff out.
Why a Wagon not a 4 door? Well I have 2 dogs and 4 doors are no good really.
I'm sure it will be infinately more fun than my old Passat TDi yet even more practical.

Pics will follow once I pick it up next week.

The other jobs i've discovered, one of which you guys may be able to help with.
When the car came in the EML light was on, and it listed missfire on all 4 cylinders. They owner told me he just had a NPS (neutral position sensor) fitted and they hadn't cleared the code. I cleared the code, but on the test drive I noticed a slight hesitation when accelerating hard, only slight but enough to notice it. No further codes have appeared after a long test drive. Some reading up says MAF and O2 sensor 1 are both common issues that may throw all 4 cylinder missfire codes.
It was last service at subaru in december 2012 and had new spark plugs then so i'd assume those were ok. My initial thought was the pencil coils but surely all 4 at once would be rare. Maybe i'm just fussy, it doesn't really bother me, it may go away once I fix the exhaust leak since its up near the turbo.
My other issue is the stock alloys, they are a bit flaky and scuffed so i'm off to troll for a decent set of used STI wheels.
Looking through the history this things had A LOT of brakes! at least 3 sets per axle since new.
Oh, just found letter from Subaru in amongst the documents for a recall on the lower arms, seems like it hasn't been filled in.

Any opinions on type or more specifically colour of wheels for a green bug eye'd wagon, been searching all over and I can barely even find a green bug eye'd wagon let alone one with none stock wheels/colour!

 

'a slight hesitation when accelerating hard'.
Is that possibly due to turbo lag?

Post the spec (turbo especially, so someone can say when it's fully spooled) and possible causes will no doubt be forthcoming.

You say it's original but (being devil's advocate) can you guarantee that?
It's possible that something has been modded and there's been no remap.

As for colour-coding, I'm an arty-farty complete and utter Philistine, but no doubt one of us will give some advice.

Enjoy your purchase btw !

 

So I picked up a set of WRX wheels that the car should have had fitted for £80 last night. The paint was flaking but they were straight with no kerbing marks. Gave them to my bodyshop guy today and he's spraying them gold (he's gonna surprise me what shade)
He's doing it free, well i'm giving him the horrible BK racing wheels that were fitted to the spare set of winter tyres.
Not had the car on the road yet, been sitting on a ramp at work while I get it all waxoiled and given a good going over. Going to hunt for that exhaust leak tomorrow since it only leaks when its cold.
On a plus side, got the insurance swapped over from my diesel passat about 10 mins ago. A whole £13 more for the 8 months still to go on my policy. (£234 for 1 year on passat)
Epic cheap insurance for a scooby surely?

 

Welcome to SNet and Scooby ownership!

Loads of things could be causing the misfire, I'd be tackling things 1 by 1. Fix the exhaust leak, reset the ECU (needs to be plugged in to do that as its a newage car) and see how it drives.

Failing that, things I'd be checking are: Front O2 sensor, Coolant temp sensor, MAF and Cam sensor (not necessarily in that order).

Ideally get it logged via RomRaider and see if anything seems "out of whack".

Good luck, and enjoy!