Help! Many Thoughts Needed!

[Impreza_Noobie]

Hi guys

I will be in St. Andrews to study for my Masters degree on September this year.

I'm a Thai citizen who currently owns a 2003 STi. I will have to part from my car as soon as I leave my country and would certainly miss it a lot.

Therefore, I am contemplating buying another STi once I arrive in Scotland.

I would appreciate your answers based on these questions:

1. Due to their price similarities, why should I not purchase BMW E46 M3 or Porsche Boxster S 986 over the STi? Please note that, in my country, a Boxsters and an M3 cost two to three times more than a STi.

2. Is a STi an 'attention-getter' or rarer when compared to the latter cars mentioned in the first question?

3. What are the substantial benefits of a 2005 Litchfield Type 20 over 2005 PPP STi?

Additional comments which may be relevant to my enquiries are welcomed!

Cheers

[RACERX]

stick with what you no if you like the scoob have a look on pistonheads for a price idea and maybe check out price of petrol here before you commit yourself

Edited April 6, 2010 by RACERX

[boab type ra]

porsche boxters and m3 r good in a straight line but not so good in corners and bad weather.

[rig-pig]

there is 2 subaru main dealers not to far from st andrews, 1 bmw dealer and no Porsche dealers,

whatever you decide to get drop me a message close to the time you come over and i will point you in the direction of some good friendly garages that wont rip you off, i use to work and live in the st Andrews area so any info you need just drop me a msg

Edited April 7, 2010 by rig-pig

[st3ph3n]

  boab type ra said:

porsche boxters and m3 r good in a straight line but not so good in corners and bad weather.

Granted in the snow or rain I'd not be pushing as hard in a RWD car, but in the dry they are both outstanding cars round bends. That's a ridiculous statement to make.

[Impreza_Noobie]

  RACERX said:

stick with what you no if you like the scoob have a look on pistonheads for a price idea and maybe check out price of petrol here before you commit yourself

124 Pence That's ridiculous. What has Brown done?

  boab type ra said:

porsche boxters and m3 r good in a straight line but not so good in corners and bad weather.

Does bad weather hit Scotland often?

  rig-pig said:

there is 2 subaru main dealers not to far from st andrews, 1 bmw dealer and no Porsche dealers,

whatever you decide to get drop me a message close to the time you come over and i will point you in the direction of some good friendly garages that wont rip you off, i use to work and live in the st Andrews area so any info you need just drop me a msg

That's good news! In that sense, Scooby is on the top of my list.

I will definitely keep you posted about my plans. Cheers mate.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Impreza_Noobie

[Impreza_Noobie]

My beloved STi.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Impreza_Noobie

[foley]

Nice looking scooby mate, Love the blobeye in white,

Yes we always get bad weather in scotland but you get use to it

Edited April 7, 2010 by foley

[Phil MC]

Hi mate,

For what it's worth I'll give you my opinion on what I would do if I were you.

As has been mentioned previously, we don't get much nice weather even in the Summer, so for me that'd rule out the Porsche. I know it's a fair bit drier in the East, but arguably colder and windier too. Not the kind of weather I'd immediately be thinking about getting the most from a cabriolet .

With having the magnificent scottish countryside, and the gateway to the Highlands not far from your doorstep I'd really lean heavilly towards another STi if I were you. It's really all cars for all people. It'll be perfect for our (crappy at times) roads, and tbh I don't like M3's so that would rule itself out straight away .

Do you really need a car???? Remember you'll be a student, doing everything that students do

Good luck with reaching your decision, but it'd be the scooby everytime for me.

[boab type ra]

  st3ph3n said:

Granted in the snow or rain I'd not be pushing as hard in a RWD car, but in the dry they are both outstanding cars round bends. That's a ridiculous statement to make.

I have a classic ra and my m8 has a bmw m3 and it can`t touch me on a twisty road but can pass me in a straight line, i know a guy who had a porsche boxter s that after giving him a go in the ra sold his porsche and bought a sti type ra so thats the proof i have to make the the statement.

[supremeweb]

I would just have my car taken with me!

[RS Grant]

To the original poster, if you wanna pull the posh poontang in St Andrews... its gotta be one of your german choices (or maybe a Honda S2000 as a jap alternative??) but if you're going to spend a lot of time on the internet visiting 'specialist' sites that cater for single gentlemen then it wont matter what you drive.. so best thing to do would be to take a drive of a few cars that interest you and make your mind up from there.

In my opinion, if an M3 or Boxster is out of your league back home, then why not give one of those a try over here??

  boab type ra said:

I have a classic ra and my m8 has a bmw m3 and it can`t touch me on a twisty road but can pass me in a straight line, i know a guy who had a porsche boxter s that after giving him a go in the ra sold his porsche and bought a sti type ra so thats the proof i have to make the the statement.

To be honest, I've driven the E46 M3 recently and it absolutely won me over... in fact, after a drive in a 'normal' M3, my Impreza was put up for sale. I had the intention of spunking serious cash in the direction of an M3 CSL, however, I've thought better of it and decided that over 25k on a car which will get light use is a bit much for me to consider seriously.

However, I would absolutely buy a 'normal' E46 M3. Ok, in a straight line, my Classic would beat it... but the RWD balance and direct steering make it far from a poor tool around the bends. In fact, on quick A-road, the Impreza would have to either be far more powerful or have a much more talented driver to pull any meaningful distance on the M3........ where the Scoob (and Evo) come into their own, is on the b-roads and unclassified roads where there are lumps, yumps and bumps a plenty and their rally derived set-up can start to show a clear advantage over the more top end cars which dont have so much compliance over these surfaces.

A big plus point for me was the feeling of quality you get in the BMW, which is many, many leagues ahead of an Impreza (IMO).

Cheers,

Grant

[mystery machine]

Good post, Grant.

...and many thanks for making me wish I'd looked at some M3s before buying the STI!

To the O.P. - all the examples you mention will have their pros and cons as cars to own in Scotland, but - driving-wise - I think you'll only really have any kind of idea of what's going to work for you once you've come across here and gotten a feel for the kind of roads you're likely to be spending time on. If you're looking for attention (I'll assume of the female variety), then I'd suggest that a nice-looking German car will get the juices flowing more readily than a Scooby*... Audis in particular are very popular here with the "Ikea generation"

* female members of the SIDC community excepted!

[boab type ra]

Just for the record i didn`t say the bmw was a bad car just sayin that the m3`s ive raced could not keep up on twisty roads but pass me on straights

[Impreza_Noobie]

Cheers lads, I have read every single comment and will definitely keep them in my long-term memory.

My 3-month hourglass has begun its count down. I'm still trying very hard to get over my current STi and put it on sale - I am emotionally attached to the scooby; most you blokes would probably understand.

My biggest concern is the insurance. It is ludicrously expensive - Confused.com gave me the cheapest quote of 3700 quid for a 2005 PPP blob-eye STi; not to mention it is a third party only. From this stand point, it seems my chance of buying another scooby is quite slim. And it gets slimmer when the cheapest quote I obtained was for a Boxster S 986 (3000 quid).

Does anybody know a person who can offer a cheaper rate for such car? I'm not sure if there is a possibility to cut a hefty sum off my current quote. I would be more than happy to pay 2000 quid or less.

Cheers

Edited May 3, 2010 by Impreza_Noobie

[thebigfelly]

  Impreza_Noobie said:

Cheers lads, I have read every single comment and will definitely keep them in my long-term memory.

My 3-month hourglass has begun its count down. I'm still trying very hard to get over my current STi and put it on sale - I am emotionally attached to the scooby; most you blokes would probably understand.

My biggest concern is the insurance. It is ludicrously expensive - Confused.com gave me the cheapest quote of 3700 quid for a 2005 PPP blob-eye STi; not to mention it is a third party only. From this stand point, it seems my chance of buying another scooby is quite slim. And it gets slimmer when the cheapest quote I obtained was for a Boxster S 986 (3000 quid).

Does anybody know a person who can offer a cheaper rate for such car? I'm not sure if there is a possibility to cut a hefty sum off my current quote. I would be more than happy to pay 2000 quid or less.

Cheers

an insurance quote for my 2003, wrx sti type uk was £998 and im only 27, if i stick with my insurance company which is privelage then they will give me a better deal ,

doesnt help that ive written a car off before and had a cpl bad crashes before aswel , but i blame the women who caused the accidents i was involved in as my driving is prety good id say

[craigdmcd]

Stupid question, but why not import that rather stunning example of a STi of yours over here, and save the grief of getting rid of yours and getting one here - that's what I would do.

[marko72]

Thats a lovely sti. Dont sell it if you can! Import it if thats feasible, no idea costs involved, maybe not a viable option for you. How long you over here for, cant you just keep the car in storage?

Try the specialist insurance companies, sure they could get you sorted cheaper than confused.com style searches.

Good luck.

[Impreza_Noobie]

I have to sell the car in order to fund my postgraduate education. Another ridiculous thing about my country is the fact that cars with an excess hp of 220 will face 300% tax. Nope, I did not overtype a zero. For instance, the retail price of a new STi, in Thailand, is around 79,000 pounds. A used blob-eye STi still costs at least 30,000 pounds.

A brand spanking new E92 M3? 170,000 quid.

With that in mind, I'm afraid it is not possible to ship my car to Scotland .

Prior owning the blob-eye STi, I owned a V6 STi and occasionally drove E46 330i. I would definitely choose the scooby - be it classic age or the GDB chassis - over the 330i any day.

Writing this intensifies my love with the scooby and reminds me how much I will miss it.

Cheers

[sparky_sj04]

  Quote

I had the intention of spunking serious cash in the direction of an M3 CSL, however, I've thought better of it and decided that over 25k on a car which will get light use is a bit much for me to consider seriously.

Grant this is my mate's CSL. It's an absolute beauty of a car. Plus as close to a non-depreciating car as you are likely to get these days..

[sparky_sj04]

  Quote

Does anybody know a person who can offer a cheaper rate for such car? I'm not sure if there is a possibility to cut a hefty sum off my current quote. I would be more than happy to pay 2000 quid or less.

Hi mate,

Try 'Admiral' or 'Elephant' (they are part of the same group). I've always used Admiral for the Scoobies and they were easily the cheapest, plus a very good company to deal with.

Cheers,

Mark

PS - That white Scooby of yours is AWESOME!! Such a shame you can't bring that across...

[thewelsho]

  sparky_sj04 said:

Grant this is my mate's CSL. It's an absolute beauty of a car. Plus as close to a non-depreciating car as you are likely to get these days..

Oh nice! but you should defo buy this: http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=147706

Edited May 4, 2010 by TheWelsho

[RS Grant]

  sparky_sj04 said:

Grant this is my mate's CSL. It's an absolute beauty of a car. Plus as close to a non-depreciating car as you are likely to get these days..

That sounds epic and they are both two essential mods to a CSL too.

  TheWelsho said:

Oh nice! but you should defo buy this: http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=147706

Incorrect JW, he should be looking at going back to his Classic roots withs omething like this: http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=146256

Cheers,

Grant

[thewelsho]

LOL!!!

[scoobywho]

havin had a boxter s as a courtesy car for a month and kicked the living **** out of it i would definately say the scooby is better, the boxter was on par with my skyline in the sore a*** from all the bumps in the road.