Newbie

[Sleiper]

Hi guys just joined the forum, name's Stu, 27, i come from Edinburgh.

I am looking to buy a 2003- 2005 WRX STI PPP and am looking for advice as to what to look for common faults etc.

i have tried looking for buyers guides and have failed miserably however in my defence i am new to the forums .

any help would be appreciated. cheers.

[sti_steve]

Hi mate, welcome to SIDC. I've just parted with MY03 STi with PPP and it's currently for sale at Ian Grieve Subaru where I bought it a year ago. Common things to go are the rear shocks which I had replaced under warranty which is a good reason to be buy from a dealer as you do get that extra peice of mind although the price is much higher than a private sale. I never had a problem in the year I owned the car.

I'm sure someone will be along with some advice!

Good luck with your search

[mystery machine]

Welcome, Stu

FWIW, I wouldn't get too hung-up on the PPP - you can have the car remapped by a third-party mapper such as Andy Forrest (Subaru specialist near Edinburgh) and you will most likely see higher performance gains than the PPP manages... and it'll be custom-tweaked for your car. A '03-'05 will be out of manufacturer's warranty anyway, so why not?

http://www.andyforrestperformance.co.uk/16226.html

Happy hunting!

[B8WSR]

Hi there, Took me well over a year to get my sti ppp, and did i go and see a few bangers in that time

I bought private and had to go down south to get it As long as the car has full history with invoices to prove,few owners as possible and the bodywork looks straight, and the colour looks the same all the way round, you cant go wrong Had mine for nearly a year now with no problems,apart from being a greedy bam

But i knew that anyway having had a classic before

When i was searching for a sti, i went up to ian grieves in falkirk ,and the salesman told me that if i bought an sti private "i would have to spend 2 grand on it....FACT"

Just like to say that he was talking alot of BULL.......FACT!!!!!

Hope this helps and you get your car soon

[denners]

Hi mate

My advice would be to make sure any modifications (not including PPP!) have been done properly - look for receipts of major work at reputable garages. Poorly done mapping is a good way to kill a scooby... Also make sure all the oil changes have been done on schedule; by Subaru is a bonus but not essential. Listen for rattling in the turbo (when cold and when hot) and feel for responsiveness on and off boost. Buying privately has its advantages - check out the owner to see if you think they've treated the car properly. If you buy from a dealer the previous owner may have been a total ned that caned it from cold and stopped the car on full boost pressure....

Good luck and feel free to post details of good candidates on here for more detailed advice!

Matt

[scoobyseller555]

Hi there, Took me well over a year to get my sti ppp, and did i go and see a few bangers in that time

I bought private and had to go down south to get it As long as the car has full history with invoices to prove,few owners as possible and the bodywork looks straight, and the colour looks the same all the way round, you cant go wrong Had mine for nearly a year now with no problems,apart from being a greedy bam

But i knew that anyway having had a classic before

When i was searching for a sti, i went up to ian grieves in falkirk ,and the salesman told me that if i bought an sti private "i would have to spend 2 grand on it....FACT"

Just like to say that he was talking alot of BULL.......FACT!!!!!

Hope this helps and you get your car soon

Talking from experience FACT

The salesman at Ian Grieves in Falkirk,well i would have been one of them. FACT

I have sold over 250 STI's in the past 6years FACT

And the recon costs including the warranty thats supplied for 12 months and the service schedules being brought into line can EASILY reach £2000 FACT

So how much warranty did you get with your private purchase that was out of manufacturers warranty???you havn't needed shocks at the cost of these fitted,you havn't had any problems with leaking brembo calipers,common fault on sti's.your car was serviced bang upto date on both age and mileage,hpi checked,mileage verified,30 day exchange policy,Breakdown recovery for 12 months..............................................bla bla bla NO I DIDN'T THINK SO??? FACT

I also don't think that you would have been told that 'if you buy an STI privately you will definately have to spend £2000 on it' but i bet if we had taken your car and put it through our workshop or any Subaru workshop for that matter we would have been able to spend money on it to bring it upto our standard. FACT

In essence i think i may be better versed on the pro's and cons of buying and selling Impreza's than most,and you have been very very very lucky to have escaped buying an STI privately and having no spend on it in a years running. FACT

[gordi82]

we often spend 2k or over preping our cars to SUBARU standards.

[wrxmania]

we often spend 2k or over preping our cars to SUBARU standards.

Lol - then we spend 2k a year modding them (if we are being thrifty )

Brian.

[B8WSR]

Talking from experience FACT

The salesman at Ian Grieves in Falkirk,well i would have been one of them. FACT

I have sold over 250 STI's in the past 6years FACT

And the recon costs including the warranty thats supplied for 12 months and the service schedules being brought into line can EASILY reach £2000 FACT

So how much warranty did you get with your private purchase that was out of manufacturers warranty???you havn't needed shocks at the cost of these fitted,you havn't had any problems with leaking brembo calipers,common fault on sti's.your car was serviced bang upto date on both age and mileage,hpi checked,mileage verified,30 day exchange policy,Breakdown recovery for 12 months..............................................bla bla bla NO I DIDN'T THINK SO??? FACT

I also don't think that you would have been told that 'if you buy an STI privately you will definately have to spend £2000 on it' but i bet if we had taken your car and put it through our workshop or any Subaru workshop for that matter we would have been able to spend money on it to bring it upto our standard. FACT

In essence i think i may be better versed on the pro's and cons of buying and selling Impreza's than most,and you have been very very very lucky to have escaped buying an STI privately and having no spend on it in a years running. FACT

i'm just repeating what the guy said,which in my opinion was scare tactics so that you buy from the dealer.

i also said to him that "so if i was buying a car from a private seller and it had full subaru service history from ian grieves garage that it would still need 2 thousand spent on it!!!!! and he could'nt answer!! FACT!!!

the car that i did buy was serviced by a main dealer down south more times than the intervals and mileage advised!

shocks were done under warranty,as for you saying that if i took my car in to a workshop that they would find work to do on it.....I DONT THINK SO!!!!!!!!!!!!! You could take a brand new car into any garage and they would find work to do on it fact!!!!!

The reason i am confident in saying this,is that i was a mechanic in a prestige franchise for many years!!!!FACT!!!

[sti_steve]

Is it just me or is the word FACT losing it's meaning in here?

Anyway, the guy is looking for information on 03-05 STi's so let give him some help!

[scoobyseller555]

FACT,thats why i picked up on it

[scoobyseller555]

i'm just repeating what the guy said,which in my opinion was scare tactics so that you buy from the dealer.

i also said to him that "so if i was buying a car from a private seller and it had full subaru service history from ian grieves garage that it would still need 2 thousand spent on it!!!!! and he could'nt answer!! FACT!!!

the car that i did buy was serviced by a main dealer down south more times than the intervals and mileage advised!

shocks were done under warranty,as for you saying that if i took my car in to a workshop that they would find work to do on it.....I DONT THINK SO!!!!!!!!!!!!! You could take a brand new car into any garage and they would find work to do on it fact!!!!!

The reason i am confident in saying this,is that i was a mechanic in a prestige franchise for many years!!!!FACT!!!

Well theres £440 on a twelve month warranty blown straight away.Its never scare tactics,its relevent to probably 80% Plus used Impreza's out there that are 3 years or older,AND,being in the trade previously in a prestige franchise for many years you are,and should be only to familiar with recon costs to dealer standard!!!Just because a car has a full franchised SERVICE HISTORY i don't understand your point,if the car is out of warranty the customer could be moving on for other mechanical reasons that they have been advised of but not bothered fixing,so a full and concise service history is irrelevent.

Each to your own,but i have seen so many times people buying what they think to be a 'cheap' car only to find that they have to pay a fortune to bring it upto standard,and to refer back to the shocks being replaced on your car-SO WHAT???i know cars that have had 6 sets of shocks in a year so just because they have been replaced means nothing.

BACK ON TOPIC.

at the moment there is very little between a dealer supplied car and a private purchase price wise,with everything that comes with buying from a franchised dealership you know you have total piece of mind and a car that will require no spend for at least a year.

Gav

Edited January 17, 2010 by scoobyseller555

[A19SKN]

Howdy and welcome along

[scoobyseller555]

Is it just me or is the word FACT losing it's meaning in here?

Anyway, the guy is looking for information on 03-05 STi's so let give him some help!

Your Impreza was a prime example,it had £000's spent on recon had a full history,you had a full years warranty(£440) and in the year you had it had 2 shocks replaced(£600+).

Its a minefield out there,low miles,low owners and high price normally gets a good car,a good price is just a bonus.Buy on condition and get a check done independently if you can,ANY dealership will do this for you for a fee(proven check) and can sell you a SUBARU backed warranty once the check has been carried out(time and mileage restrictive)

Gav

Edited January 18, 2010 by scoobyseller555

[mystery machine]

Buy on condition and get a check done independantly if you can

That's some good advice right there.

I would certainly have an independent check (AA, RAC, etc) carried out on any car with an asking price of much more than a couple of grand. Absolutely for any car being bought privately or from a non-franchised dealer - some of the latter don't do much more than pick cars up at the auction, give them a wash and some tyre-shine then sell them on to you, and some of their warranties aren't exactly 'comprehensive'

[denners]

I would certainly have an independent check (AA, RAC, etc) carried out on any car with an asking price of much more than a couple of grand. Absolutely for any car being bought privately or from a non-franchised dealer - some of the latter don't do much more than pick cars up at the auction, give them a wash and some tyre-shine then sell them on to you, and some of their warranties aren't exactly 'comprehensive'

Maybe goes without saying but also do a HPI check - even if the seller claims they have already done it. When I did mine I got 10 days of free insurance which was worth the £20 itself....

As far as warranties go I would make sure that if you are given one its a proper Subaru warranty. I got a car with a mickey mouse warranty (Scotsure or something) from a Subaru dealer once, and it turned out not to be worth the toilet paper it was written on

[scoobyseller555]

the other thing about an HPI report is that you are insured for a total loss of £10000 with a gold report,so if it comes back after and upto 12 months that for instance the car has outstanding finance on it you have monetory comeback so not leaving you out of pocket.

Any aftermarket warranty must have a big claim limit and cover things like turbo's etc,you will pay a premium for this but whats the point in a piece of paper with a claim limit of £250 or £500 per claim when on an impreza that doesn't pay for much.

Gav

[col666]

If your buying from a Subaru main dealer and the car has had modifications,(i.e dump valve) fitted by a previous owner, make sure this is noted in the warranty handbook.

As once you leave the garage and something breaks they WILL NOT honour the warranty, p**s you about for 2 weeks then bill you for £600 to get the car back in a millions pieces worse than when it went in.

p.s. 2005 Hawkeye STI For Sale, bargain price as I havent used it for months being overseas.

[Wee Jock]

Well theres £440 on a twelve month warranty blown straight away.Its never scare tactics,its relevent to probably 80% Plus used Impreza's out there that are 3 years or older,AND,being in the trade previously in a prestige franchise for many years you are,and should be only to familiar with recon costs to dealer standard!!!Just because a car has a full franchised SERVICE HISTORY i don't understand your point,if the car is out of warranty the customer could be moving on for other mechanical reasons that they have been advised of but not bothered fixing,so a full and concise service history is irrelevent.

Each to your own,but i have seen so many times people buying what they think to be a 'cheap' car only to find that they have to pay a fortune to bring it upto standard,and to refer back to the shocks being replaced on your car-SO WHAT???i know cars that have had 6 sets of shocks in a year so just because they have been replaced means nothing.

BACK ON TOPIC.

at the moment there is very little between a dealer supplied car and a private purchase price wise,with everything that comes with buying from a franchised dealership you know you have total piece of mind and a car that will require no spend for at least a year.

Gav

Hope ma car lasts longer than a year

[Wee Jock]

Welcome to the forum mate and good luck with the purchase of yer new car.

Bought my 57plate STi from Grieves and I have no complaints.......... yet!

Wee Jock

[stev555]

Hi mate i would go 2 a dealer,i got my car private,and had 2 spend £1800 on it after 2weeks .you may pay a little more but you get the peace of mind,good luck

[markymark]

If your buying from a Subaru main dealer and the car has had modifications,(i.e dump valve) fitted by a previous owner, make sure this is noted in the warranty handbook.

As once you leave the garage and something breaks they WILL NOT honour the warranty, p**s you about for 2 weeks then bill you for £600 to get the car back in a millions pieces worse than when it went in.

p.s. 2005 Hawkeye STI For Sale, bargain price as I havent used it for months being overseas.

All I can say it looks as though the Subaru warranty is worth FU** ALL

[Sleiper]

thanks 4 the advice guys!

me n stu have found and hopefully gettin it on Tuesday! buyin from a dealer....so excited!

first subaru so cant wait!!

Leslie

(sleipers mrs)

[wrxmania]

What are you getting and where from?

Need to get pics up asap after you buy it

Oh - don't forget to join SIDC (top of the page link) to get your dealer discounts on parts & servicing and other perks etc.

Brian.

[Ovv]

What are you getting and where from?

Need to get pics up asap after you buy it

Oh - don't forget to join SIDC (top of the page link) to get your dealer discounts on parts & servicing and other perks etc.

Brian.

Detective Chris thinks its this one:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/adv...amp;logcode=emf

If it is, then I would love to here what it was like to deal with them, I have my eye on a car down there.

Cheers

Chris.