S1rst

Im looking at buying a cheap run around for around £3000 and somehow ive found myself looking at subaru's!

It seems you can get 2000 models for this sort of money which is pretty good value in my opinion.

Anyway, what should i be looking for when going to view them. Im not wont be getting a chavvy one or even a modified one if i can help it. What are the common faults with the 2000 models and what should i be checking and looking out for?

Cheers.

Dangerous Malcolm..

I nearly bought an X reg one, but I'm sooooooo glad I bought the BM instead!

Depends what you want out of it to be honest.........

Ebonycossie4x4

iTrader: (4)

get a standard one, Watch out for bottom end rattle when warm.

watch out for problems going into first at low speeds.

Rust around rear arches and top of windsreen.

other than that they are like any other car when looking at them, Ive bought and sold a load of them and have only had one problem which was a bottom end rattle and it didnt develop until after i sold it.

They are good alround cars for the money and fairly easily tuneable.

Ebonycossie4x4

iTrader: (4)

But compared to a bmw they are noisy uncomfortable and horrible to drive lol...

But maybe you dont want comfort?

ShiftyOldScoob

iTrader: (3)

I bought a L plate wrx off my m8 for a grand...it had a fully recon engine and box too ...it looked really ratty but i absolutely loved it to bits! you could rag the life out of it all day every day and it would still start first time and NEVER miss a beat

Things to look out for are corroded rear break pipes (there routed over the top of the fuel tank and a mare to change properly) rocker cover gaskets have a tendancy to leak but thats an easy fix
When driving hard, be extra carefull going from 1st to 2nd as if you get it even slightly wrong it'll eat the synchro
Also if the car is tuned, the standard boxes are only good for 350lbft whearas the sti boxes are much stronger

TBH there isnt really that much that go's wrong with them as there pretty bomb proof,just remember there really quick cars and have been driven hard so look out for the usual service history and evidence of crash damage etc

other than that for 3k you should get a pretty nice car..you'll not regret buying one, I loved mine,only got rid as the rite deal was struck for my saff

mike s2 rst

watch out for leaky diffs!!that can lead to lots of probs and costs!but mostly any type of rattle from engine esp bottom end!they love spinning bearings

S1rst

Cheers, a couple of things to go on there then.

Seems to be loads available but i think it might be a bit of a task to find a nice one that hasnt been abused. Definatly want a standard one though, and it will be staying standard too.

Having said that, how much can you up the power by (keeping it well within the 'safe' limit) with just a re-map exhaust and filter?

S1rst

Yeah comfort doesnt bother me really mate. I wont be going far in it anyway. Im just after a quick, cheap, 'non-boring' car that i can give a bit of stick every now and then.

mk3stevie

Had a uk turbo 2000 on a V. Relly enjoyed driving the car, had chip, filter and decat exhaust. Did 20k in it in a year (bought it on 38k) and never missed a beat, just serviced it and replaced front discs and pads. Servicing is often and dear but other than that was a good car.

studabear

when i was thinking of buying 1 I was told to avoid anything with a cone filter/induction kit as this can screw the map/maf sensor up leading to running lean and meltdown

2 seperate subaru drivers told me that

hth

st3v3

the worst culprit of ANY Subaru Impreza is DIY tuning, make sure fueling( if remapped or any any state of tune) is correct and service history is a good thing to have.
As said synchro's from 1st to 2nd and if you can get a car with a recent cambelt change (approx £400 from subaru, £250 from independent)
Radiators can split as they have plastic end caps,some have piston slap as the norm, if this doesnt go away in the first 3 mins or so walk away, watch out for High speed runs as the bonnet scoop isnt quite up to it, infact its the overun that kills these engines as when you acclelorate the fuel makes for a kind of coolant in the bores, when you let off there is none and the temps soar, not so much on standard cars, but more on tuned, it will be piston 3 that lets go everytime!

Ive had tooo many beers now to think so, enjoy the car.

steve.

S1rst

Thats great, thanks for that. At what mileage should the cambelt have been done? Cheers.

woodz77

i went a bought a 51 reg 325i sport coupe the other day . with the tv headunit fitted from factory etc . lovely comfy car ........... keep it a week , saw a 03 reg scooby and the chap wanted a E46 so being cheeky i emailed him if he fancyied a deal ( i paid £5k for the bmw and the scooby was up for £6k ) . he came round within a few hours and now i own a 03 wrx scooby and i fookin love it . the bmw was luxery etc but i just love the scooby . all depends waht you want cos they are 2 complete different cars . the scooby has fully leather , heated seats and climate control and sun roof so still got some luxery lol

BRAMMER

iTrader: (23)

I've got a sonic blue 2000 AWD PPP 260bhp and does about 20(ish)mpg - great run around

CraigJ

Insurance wise the Uk Turbo 2000 is alot cheaper to insure than an import WRX. I insured my Uk car for £700 when i was 22-23. I had quotes recently and an import was still twice as much to insure as a uk model. I think Uk ones were about 215 bhp and the wrx was only 240 so not much in it really.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

I thought imprezas are good.They are cheap as chips for the preformance you get.

TIFF

I had a standard UK2000 Wagon on a W plate as a runabout.........very good but VERY heavy on fuel

Alan_D

As others have mentioned, the problem is usually the owners. Look for a totally standard car with full service history from Subaru or a specialist. They are really reliable cars(almost bulletproof for a performance car) when looked after properly.

If you're looking at a car that has any kind of modifications, be it an induction kit or exhaust system, make sure the car has been mapped to run them. If the owner doesn't have a clue what you're talking about with regards to mapping when he's fitted the car with some ridiculous induction cone then walk away. The car may have been running lean for some time without having the car remapped for the mods!

Although having said the above, I bought a UK car which had an induction kit and full stainless decat system on it and it was running rich, and obviously safe!

There are loads for sale so don't rush into anything...you'll be able to find a mint one in your budget whatever it is, as there are enthusiast owned cars of all ages. You could keep an eye on the 'For Sale' section over at www.scoobynet.com too.

Alan_D

My car was a 98(R reg) and the limit of the standard turbo was around 280bhp. If you fitted a better panel filter, a full stainless exhaust system(possibly decat if you can get it through an mot) and a 255lph fuel pump, you would probably see 260-270bhp after a remap. That would be totally safe if mapped by someone decent, and would be a quick point to point car.

If you want to see how far you can take things and get a rough idea of how to go about that, take a look at this website http://www.andyforrestperformance.co.uk/index2.html

Find your year of car down the left hand side of the page.

muz

I think most of it ha been covered but,
check the rear brake piping. Prone to rotting and a twat to replace. Just had to have mine done as the brakes failed at 40mph!
If it's been modified and not had a paralel fuel mod done no.3 piston may have damage. Many young lads mod theirs, run it on 95 pump fuel and no.3 piston runs hot and lean.
Rear arches rot on the inside edge by the door shut like on Saph's.
Only the very early STI's upto and Inc V3 can have piston slap when cold as they has a different forged piston to the others IIRC.
1-2 syncro goes and doesn't engage if you thrash it from a standstill.

Saying that for the money I doubt there's a better car out there. My brothers just bought. V3 STI to break for £900! An it's tidy.

Alan_D

They all have piston slap unfortunately. Lol Mine slapped from cold for the year and a half I owned it! That was a 98 UK Turbo.

Tangodeltasierra3

If you want a cheap runabout mate you can do worse than look at Volvo T5's ive had 5 now - you will get an 04 reg ex police for around £2500 in the S60 variant , V70 a bit more, even a normal 2.0t is 180bhp standard.

stevieturbo

The biggest problem with most Subarus....are the previous owners !

timrud

Clutches!

stevieturbo

Clutches are perfectly fine unless driven by fools. Same applies to any 4wd car.

timrud

Well I suppose it links in with your point that its previous owners that are the problem

S1rst

Well ive been to see a few and wasnt over impressed with what ive seen so far. I dont think this is going to be as easy as i thought to find a nice one! One bloke told me it had FSH with all receipts from new and when i got there he said he had lost it. One advertised as totally standand 'never messed with', yet it had chopped up interior and some extra holes in the boot lid! And the other one was just a heap, with rusty arches and random scratches/dents all over, when it was supposed to be ''mint mate''!

[/QUOTE]The only Volvo i really like is the C70. I used to have a 2.0t and loved it. I wouldnt mind a T5 C70 come to think of it, but i wonder if it may still be a bit 'boring' compared to a scooby?

S1rst

And is it just me or is it a sellers market at the moment? Ive phoned a few at dealers and they all say they wont take a penny less than the screen price. Ive always expected (and got) at least a few hundred quid of screen price for cars around £3000-£3500. Not anymore it seems. They dont seem to want my money.

There used to be a time where small car dealers actually wanted and tried hard to 'sell' you a car. Now it seem there not bothered. Some of the phone conversations ive had recently are laughable!

muz

Strange you say that. the girlfriends brother just traded in his Golf FSI in at our Ford dealrs for a 56 Fiesta ST. They gave him a damn good trade in price for the Golf, knocked £500 off the ST and put 4 new tyres on it, a cambelt, a water pump, 3 year warentee and a full valet! Thought that was good.

orion88

for thqat money buy a skyline man

or a 200sx
or a volvo t5 ive destroyed enough scooby in mine and theyre bomb proof
that been said mines decated filtered and chipped to 300bhp
still ive spent less than 2k and that includes buying it

S1rst

Skylines or 200 sx's dont really do anything for me mate. Never liked the old skylines if im honest. I must say im tempted buy a C70 T5 but just wonder how exciting/bland it would be compared to a scooby.

The search continues. Anyone know of any nice standard 99-01 classic facelift scoobies for sale other than whats on ebay/AT/PH then please let me know. Im fed up of looking at over advertised crap at the moment.

mozzy

theres a few on here
http://bbs.scoobynet.com/private-sale-cars-352/

timrud

What about an Evo 3-4??

Or have you already discounted one of those from your search?

S1rst

Thanks for that, but already been on there and doesnt seem to be any standard classics on there for this sort of money.

S1rst

The only evo i really like is the 5 or 6 mate. Its on my list of cars to own though, but more money than i want to spend on a run about at the moment really.

Tangodeltasierra3

www.t5d5.org

rb5371

iTrader: (4)

I had a 1998 uk turbo with the tiny td04 turbo had 100000m on it i fitted a fcd,afr Walbro fuel pump,full decat,bleed valve and ported the headers with 1.3bar of boost this made 290bhp and 301lbft although torque curve was like a v upside down lol! it was a lot of fun off the line.
I used this for 2 years like this about 20000m and it never missed beat.