me mate has got a n plate imported standard scoob with 75k on clock,no rust or issues,its in real good nick,but are the imports dearer to insure? and will it be reliable if i hike it up to 340bhp odd? ill only have one if i get shut of cossy but i dont want one if its as much myther as cossys are,i know the general rule is buy the best and at least ill know what mods are on it if i do it to my mates standard one,so would you use one daily in all weathers? they suffer much with rot?

 

good as gold as a daily driver mate, bit thirsty tho.

if you're wanting one, hang fire for a few weeks as i'll be getting a cheap impreza you might be interested in; could do a deal with you on your cossie aswell if interested

 

Think the imports require proper undersealing as there not treated for our shite conditions but these cars do seem to do the millage and plenty old ones out there that look clean cars

I would have one but only if i knew the car to be honest as they are affordable to the fanny brigage that will hammer the cunt out of them

 

No rot issues at all,mine came into Britain in 2000 on an m plate and never got undersealed,no rot at all.treat surface rust quick though as my rear arch went very bubbly in a short period cos I ignored it.
Great to live with,100% reliable,very quick,good handling although the brakes are utter shite,although easy to upgrade.
Generally ok to work on but major jobs it's honestly easier to pull the engine out as liteally everything plugs in or is quick release or take to a garage who know the score.
I'd be cautious of modding it too much engine wise as they have had issues although out of the factory imports should feel a lot quicker than a standard cos anyway due to weight/gearing.
I've had both variants of Cossie,4x4 and 2wd where both weren't standard and the scoob up to a ton would do both in easy,gearing runs out a bit after 120/130.
Petrol wise,a touch heavy in town but ok on the motorway.crap if you boot it everywhere!!!
They tend to fly the Mot which is nice,in 5 years mine only failed on standard shit but it did need a cat and lambda once although they were originals,ask a Ka owner how many lambdas they've had fitted in 17 years!!!!
Generally superb cars,only let down IMO by the Chav image theyve sadly attained of huge exhausts,pitch black windows,rally pack stickers and dreadful mudflaps.
There's plenty of good ones out there for £2k right now which will give you years of trouble free motoring.
Oh,one thing while I remember,apparently they can suffer from running lean,owners noted that the car was going really well a few days before the pistons started getting holes in them due to detonation.apparently,down to faulty Afm so worth budgeting for one of those.

 

I know of a few people who have imprezas and they have loads of problems with them. Like engines going pop gearboxes fookin up and turbos going. A good friend of mine is getting rid of hers soon cause she has a bit of bother with hers. At the end of the day sex pest if you wanna get one get the 20 odd year old cossie sold and get one.

 

I've got a 96 sti and I've been using it daily over the winter and it's been fantastic. Mine was standard but I've lightly modified it with a new mappable ecu, electronic boost controller, bigger AFM, bigger injectors, exhaust, suspension & brakes The most important thing with Subaru's is running them on the correct fuel, the reason the majority of engines fail is because imports aren't mapped for our shit fuel, I took mine easy until it was mapped for vpower.

Before this I had a 2 wheel drive sapphire and there is no way I would have used the Cosworth in the same way, I've only had mine 4 months and I've covered the same mileage I would in 2 years of Cosworth ownership

 

Ive just got myself a 2003 wrx PPP as my daily, but I also have the td escort van if the fuel gets to expensive.?
After owning a Cossie last year it was great fun and I would do it all again but the problem was I spent more time working on it than enjoying the drive
Just went for a change this year and spend more time enjoying it rather than waiting for the next thing to go wrong on the cossie lol.

 

My mates had 3 massive engine failures on his import STI, 350 bhp.

Another friend has had 2 on his blob eye.

Saying that I have 2 other mates with Scoobys and not had a problem with them.

 

Yes.

I have a 1999 uk turbo as a daily which ive had for a year and its been the most trouble free year ive every had. Snow, mud, building site, sand, dogs, snowboards, shopping- it goes wherever.
Flew through its MOT on tuesday and has never missed a beat all winter.
And being a uk car, i run it on 95ron petrol (shell/texaco only mind).

 

Dont some STI and imports have problems with bottom end and oil pump failures.??

 

The petrol thing is very true,forgot that!!!v power all the way on mine,no issues,it used to idle bad on the 99 tesco stuff.

 

mine ive had for almost 4 years now and its been reliable but the last 18 months ive not bothered with it as much and got a daily runner but ive done over 30k miles in it and 2 ring trips and it was my daily driver for the first 2 years and then for about 5 months till the 2nd box died and i just cant be arsed to fix it so its in the garage in bits whilst i get bothered to do anything with it ( though now i got the clio i wouldnt hold my breath for a while pmsl)

as said fuel is bad on them and insurance is also a cunt on them ( mine is a sti V3 which i get rapped on insurance ) but HONESTLY i love mine hence ive not sold it,,, im actually collecting parts to make it even faster if im honest