hi there,

I've got a good oportunity to buy a WRX 03 Blobeye SW (non STi) here in my country. The car has covered some 50k miles, and it is in good body/interior condition. Due to lack of maintenance of the previous owner, the car has a botton engine issue but it is a good deal anyway. Can rebuild the engine twice and not get close to the full car price...

Found a lot of 'useful' reviews on the Internet about this year car such as 'I hate the cupholder' and that the non folding rear seat being an issue in the sedan model, but nothing really helpful regarding engine, transmission, suspension etc that I should take care of...

The deal is almost closed, but I'd like some input from owners regarding the mechanical stuff. The car is going to be a dd car, will cover most of the travels I do and most of the time my wife is going to drive it.

So, what are your thoughts on YOUR blobeye WRX? Any critical / recurring issue with it?

cheer - Marcio

 

In 5 years of absolutely thrashing my 03 WRX to death, hitting the rev limiter and fluffing gear shifts copious amounts of times I've only suffered 3 CV boot splits, 1 dead battery and a squeaky rear shock absorber.

2 issues from when I got the car haven't got worse: slightly sticking rear caliper piston and low compression in cylinder 1.

One strange thing is in the first 3 years of ownership the car used 1 litre of oil a month, in the last 2 years it's used 1 litre.

 

I had a wrx for 3 years and other than upgrades and basic servicing it didn't need anything else. Very reliable if you find a good one.

 

Thanks for the feedback. After reading a lot of threads from blob owners I finally decided to get this one for my wife. Now I'm just getting the tools to rebuild the engine and that is it!

Here is a pic of it, I hope to start the rebuild in the next couple of weeks and get the job done in a month or so:

 

This is a wrx SL in the UK; great practical daily driver... have fun

 

Nice cars that can be made to look awesome. Just make sure any additions are tasteful.

 

Yep try to avoid daft sticker kits and strange bumpers - and a couple of choice mods can make them pretty quick too!

 

Thanks for the tips guys. Using my other car as a reference I don't think I have too much of a bad taste regarding mods lol but this blobeye is going to be my wife's dd car, so OEM look and everything else will remain as stock as possible, maybe only de-tango'd headlights :-)

cheers