Scottish Elises

Moring All,

Not quite a 'what car' post, but the Disco 3 was written off on monday by some chump in an x5 on my morning commute, the nice chap (who a swerved to avoid) carried on driving as i casually slid into a tree - contrary to popular belief, it didnt jump out in front of me, and it didnt jump out of my way either!!

So i have been put in a bit of a position, i have reported it to the police etc, but as i only got part of his reg, (did get the rest later on - seen it on the same bit of road 3 time since) As far as my insurance are concerned (at this stage) I drove into a tree for the fun of it.

anyways, back on subject, im looking to buy a 10k(ish) motor thats going to provide a bit of fun, but last me through the winter months also, i have decided a STI impreza probably ticks all the boxes, like the below (now sold) Scoob,

http://www.briandowniecarsales.co.uk/us ... 0480160865

having not had any experience of these at all i wouldnt mind knowing what to look for etc?

cheers.

Sorry to hear about your crash. Here's hoping the police can do something about the other guy.

I'll bet you are regretting swerving to avoid him; wishing you had let him crash into you. It's human nature to swerve though; I'm sure I'd have done exactly the same.

Can't offer any comment on the scooby, but glad you are okay. Disco looked a mess on FB.

Great choice! I'll PM you my mobile number and you can pop round for a shotty.

Not much to look for except perfect history (or at least oil changes) and signs of scruffyness. Cambelt will be due on Hawkeye aged cars, but even if it hasn't been done it's not expensive.

280BHP standard, PPP goes up to 340BHP depending on loudness/decat. I'm not tempted to fit the PPP yet, but you might be (ya hooligan! )

Rear dampers can be clunky, but they just need repacked... £10 for grease and a day's fiddling. Build is unrefined inside but mechanically bombproof.

Mine seems fine. Only needs a £20 AC belt as that's a bit squeaky.

Symetric 4WD is making easy work of ice and snow. Aparently it can go uphill with any 1 wheel having traction (better than 4motion, quattro etc)

Glad you're okay..... where to start with the STI???

I loved my 2002 STI and miss owning it. Practical family car, superb performance & handling.
However I don't miss the bills associated with running it! You can get a lot of car for the money but they are not particularly cheap to run, maintain or insure.
There are lots for sale, essential to get one that's been well looked after. Many are sold when the young owner realises how much it's going to cost to fit new parts. Others will have had cut corners with servicing to save money.

Road tax: £450 per year from ~05 onwards.
Insurance: from £300 per year to mega £££
MPG: low 20s around town, mid to high 20s on the motorway. Less on a run! Need 98 RON V-Power.
Tyres: £120 per corner for the OEM Bridgestone RE070s 225/45/17.
Brakes: £200-250 for a set of performance front discs & pads. Rears are a bit cheaper. eBay can be cheap but quality???
Servicing: Every year or 12k miles. £200-£400 depending upon which one. £500+ for the 5 year / 50k service including cambelt.

Early 2.5l STIs had issues with melting pistons. Was fixed by an ECU update, make sure it was done by a main dealer.
Engine & 6-speed gearbox are very strong. 2nd gear can be awkward when cold.
Listen out for transmission noise from the back of the gearbox can mean the rear prop-shaft bearings are knackered (£700).
If any of the cats have been removed then it's essential the ECU has been remapped otherwise they run lean and/or suffer boost cut out.
The radiators tend to split along the top, replacements are ~£100 plus fitting.
Knocking from rear suspension struts is very common. Replacements are £500 each from Subaru. Common to fit aftermarket BCs or Whitelines.
Corrosion to the front subframe is common on 01-03 cars. MOT failure & £1000+ to fix with new Subaru parts.
Minor oil leaks from the cam covers common in older cars. £200-300 to fix).

Lots of cars have been modified or accident damaged. Usual rules apply.
If used on track then tyres, brakes & suspension bushes take a big hammering.

I'd love another STI but not practical at the moment......

Drop me a PM if you have more questions.

Mark

Maybe also worthwhile canvassing some opinions on the SIDC forum as the majority of members will be pretty local to you and there could be someone looking to sell you a well looked after example.

Can't offer you advice on the Scooby as not had one (had an Evo but you are always in one camp or the other as to your preference )

Also - maybe best getting a Shell V-Power car so you at least get some cash back with the petrol bills.

George

The SIDC forum is pretty slow these days, especially for car sales. Most people are using Pistonheads for the classifieds.

Lot of useful info on ScoobyNet, especially if you use the search function to avoid the rubbish.

John Stewart lives in Kintore and is a walking wiki on all things Subaru!

Got your PM Graeme - i will give you a shout - totally forgot thats what you bought

aye you are riught there dom, next time... im aiming for them (actually will probably still swerve into a tree)

Thanks for the detailed response Mark!!

I had figured that the running costs would be pretty similar to the Z4M, so thats not a huge issue, it will probably work out cheaper (certainly in tyres + brakes thats for sure!) all of the ones i am looking at (there are not many around at all) seem to have had the cam-belt service, or will have it on confirmation of sale, which is good!

Im really hoping to find an unmolested example, if it has the factory PPP then that would be a total bonus, but not essential.

Douglas, Yup, i will have a look and maybe post up on SIDC, i have the Vpower card - albeit slightly cracked... must get a new one before it dies! (which has came in handy for the M5, Z4M and 748 - you get a decent gain from having it)

Also might give John S a call!!

Thanks.

John Stewart is definitely the man to speak to. It is also speaking to Andy at R A Motorsport in Perth. They usually have couple of cars for sale and a massive depth of knowledge.

PPP cars are pretty good. I would not be too worried about a modified car. Just as long as it is only sensible mods. It is worth taking the car to Andy Forrest Performance for a Remap just for piece of mind. Andy knows more about subaru engine mapping than probably anyone in the world. So if the car has been mapped by Andy, you will know it has been done properly.

There is also the Scottishscoobies.net forum which may be worth a look

John Stewart is definitely the man to speak to. It is also speaking to Andy at R A Motorsport in Perth. They usually have couple of cars for sale and a massive depth of knowledge.

PPP cars are pretty good. I would not be too worried about a modified car. Just as long as it is only sensible mods. It is worth taking the car to Andy Forrest Performance for a Remap just for piece of mind. Andy knows more about subaru engine mapping than probably anyone in the world. So if the car has been mapped by Andy, you will know it has been done properly.

There is also the Scottishscoobies.net forum which may be worth a look

So important, i said it twice

Shout my name again Scott and I might hear you

I've got the same car as Graeme, and mine has now done 53k miles. I've had mine regularly serviced and not had any major problems at all. Only thing of note I replaced were the brake discs and pads which were worn after about 40k. Not had any suspension noises. I've had my last couple of services done by Russell at BHP developments in Chapel of Gairoch at very reasonable rates.

I'm currently running mine on 9 year old winter tyres on a spare set of rims (still have another spare set of rims as well somewhere in the garage). I've also got the prodrive springs fitted, which lower the car slightly and give a slightly more compliant ride with one passenger, slightly more neutral handling, but a harsher ride when carrying one or more passengers.

I'd be more than happy to help you look at any potential purchases and look for any common problems. It's a buyers market for these cars at the moment, so there are likely to be some good deals to be had, particularly from private buyers.

Road tax on the 06/07 models onwards is the £450 bracket, which probably isn't any different from the Z4 etc.

Slight sidetrack... John, do you know of anywhere that still sells the Prodrive springs?

I'm not sure if any Subaru dealers would have a set in stock. They were made by Eibach originally. I'll ask a few people I know if they are still available. The part number was SACC2655

This is one spring set that Prodrive have sold out of, and won't be ordering any replacements due to lower demand. Pro-R also do an Eibach kit (http://pro-r.co.uk/products?filter[cat] ... ]=5&page=4), but it is slightly different.

Great info, thanks. I'll watch ebay for the old part number, and if that fails I'll try the Pro-Rs. Much appreciated.