Oy! I've decided to buy myself my first subaru and i would like some help/opinions from people with experience/knowledge of this,

 

I do have offers to buy these cars: Subaru Impreza GT 25 ANNIVERSARY EDITION 1999, Subaru Impreza WRX Richard Burns Edition 2001, Subaru Impreza 2,0 JDM WRX STI 2000.

 

or is there any other i should look for? i'm not rich so the new ones are out of the question. 

 

it will be used daily, alot in snow and mountains but also on "normal" roads.

 

Thanks for any feedback.

 

*edit: not sure if this is the right place to post this

Edited January 18, 201610 yr by Skyr

skyr,

 

"I'm not rich" and " it's a daily driver" when added to a car that is already 15 or more years old, and requires premium fuel to keep the turbo charged engine happy, doesn't sound like a wise choice is being made to my thinking.

 

Don't get me wrong, I've owned 4 Subie OBW's since 1997 and have absolutely loved every one of them. They are great cars, and if maintained properly and not hotdogged, they are a dependable as any car made of over 30 000 parts could be. And, in a few years time, I will own another one.

 

But purchasing a 15 year old turbocharged car that requires premium fuel, that is going to be a daily driver, is asking for what could be a lot of financial pain and suffering. A car in this category is far better suited for the person who has the finances to make it his/her toy for the weekend, because he already has a more civilized (no turbo/no premium fuel/3 to 4 years old Forester/OutBack/Impreza) and can afford the downtime and the money when the turbo or the clutch goes on the toy.

 

Sorry to be so blunt, but you asked for an opinion, and I've seen a lot of young people buy an older "performance" car as a daily driver and regret the decision in a very short time.

Thanks for the feeback. 

 

I do make enough to buy fuel for my use, and i do have a couple of ready to be trashed cars i can use if anything breaks down. Are they known for having turbo and/or clutch failures as you stated? or just like anyother car.

Stay away from the turbo versions. Nothing but more work and less reliability IMHO.

the risk with turbos - while never zero - goes down quite a bit if they are; A. never associated with a person who abused the car (racing, 'tuned',  'teenagers' ,etc.) B. have been well serviced  C. Low-ish miles . But, you would want to ASSURE yourself that it's good buy - as said, turbo or turbo seal failure is gonna be expensive. AT LEAST have a reputable Subaru-experienced mechanic drop the pipe and inspect the turbo's shaft play and look for leaking seals.

Another vote against a turbo. They can be great cars, but at that age and mileage, you're probably asking for extra expense and hassle.

 

Look for the usual signs to suggest the car was well maintained and free of large defects - service records, cleanliness, good fluids.

 

Smooth idle, smooth acceleration, smooth shifting. Look at the back of head seams for significant leakage. Drive it in slow tight circle to feel for torque bind.

 

Those are all solid cars. The supremely reliable ones were the 93-98 Imprezas equipped with the EJ22 motor. Those offer the combination of more reliability and lower price tag. 1999+ was a solid motor but were due for at least one head gasket job somewhere along the way where the older EJ22 was usually good to about 300k+ when maintained.

agreed. 2.2 is a great engine with decent power.

the imprezas that came with the 2.2 are the best looking model in my opinion

the driving experience of a Subaru is unparalleled.

i too would love a turbo, but dont have the finance or time to get married to one.

the 2.2 gives me alot of pleasure and is very reliable.....cheap fuel also keeps me happy

Turbo's are high maintenance - people do get $5,000 - $10,000 repair tags for them for a variety of reasons.   You can google it - they blow motors and turbo's regularly.

They can be great vehicles, can mitigate some issuse, and they're certainly fun but you're talking about 15 year old vehicles, risk is substantial. 

thanks for all the answers. The cars are all completly original and from a dealership only doing subaru's. the Subaru Impreza GT 25 ANNIVERSARY EDITION 1999 is now sold so that's out of the question. the wrx has 159 000km on it and has only had two owners and been kept in a garage from both previous owners.

 

I've talked with the dealership and currently they don't have any 93-98m with the EJ22.

Edited January 19, 201610 yr by Skyr