Looking To Buy An Impreza Hawkeye, Thoughts?

[agoutimonty]

Hi all,

As the title suggests I may be looking to buy an impreza or Evo to replace my current car which is a 2004 Celica T-Sport. I really like the look of the Impreza 'hawkeye' models which I believe were available between 2005-2007. . Absolutely love Impreza's and I've always wanted one, I have a few questions so I'm hoping I could get a bit of advice from you guys please?

Ok so:

* RELIABILITY I have a few concerns regarding the reliability of them (some people say they go wrong a lot), should I be? what's your experience with this, are there any models/ages that I should stay away from?

* SECURITY The car would need to be parked on the street outside my house (I don't have a drive/garage), I'm a little anxious about this as I imagine these are No.1 on a steal list! Have any of you had any issues in this area, thefts or attempted etc...? Are they fairly secure?

* RUNNING COSTS Are they ridiculously expensive to run!? Not fussed about petrol costs as I do v.little mileage in a year but more interested in servicing, repair and insurance costs.

*NOISE! I know, I know! These are awesomely loud but in all honesty I'd probably prefer a quieter one if I had the option. Any tips or tricks to reduce the sound level/are any of the model variations quieter than others?

Think that's all, any advice for any part would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

[scouk]

Hi agoutimonty,

Welcome to the SIDC forums

To quickly go over your queries:

Reliability - Subaru is one of the most reliable manufacturers out there.. As long as the car has been looked after they will quite possibly be one of the most reliable cars you'll ever own! Having said that there are reports that the rear shocks on the hawkeye models wear out quicker than they probably should and start knocking over bumps. Other than that, I'm not aware of any other problems except the usual wear and tear like you'd get on any other car.

Securty - Most of the models after 2000 are pretty damn secure with their alarm immobiliser systems.. It really depends on your area as to how likely you are to have trouble.. But yes as you suggest, Impreza's can attract all sorts of attention

Running Costs - Yep pretty hefty compared to a normal car.. expect around 20-25mpg. Insurance, generally anythign from £500 to £2000+ depending on age, licence, location etc... Cant really comment of servicing and repair costs as I do a lot of that work on myself but parts are not over the top really.. And may specialists aftermarket parts are cheaper than genuine dealer parts.. Also become a SIDC member and you may be able to wiggle additional discounts!

Noise - Standard cars are actually pretty quiet really.. Relatively speaking..

Hope this info is of some use..

[Richie Cross]

What Al says

I've had my blobeye wagon for 3yrs and never had any issues.

Yes, the car would attract attention but considering how many people we have on the forum, I don't think I've read too many posts about cars being nicked.

[agoutimonty]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your reply, really helpful and assuring to hear that you both haven't had any issues with yours. Would like to hear any thoughts from others too!

Great, so they're generally fairly reliable then - shocks shouldn't be too much to replace if they did wear right? What's the recommended interval for servicing and how much can it cost (approximately)? I only do about 4,500 miles per year as the car is just for occasional use (I'm unable to drive to my place of work)

My area isn't too bad to be honest, was just concerned as I would feel much happier if it was parked off road. Do the Impreza's come with things like trackers as standard etc..?

Interesting that you think they're fairly quiet, there's one or two near where I live (the older style ones) and man they sound like thunder when they go past! Are the newer ones any quieter then? I've been looking at just the 2.5 litre options really, in particular the 'WRX SL' variant or the 'STI' one. Apart from the extra power in the STI's is there any other good reason to get one over the WRX SL or are they pretty much the same in terms of features and strength?

Really do appreciate your advice with this, as you can see I know very little about them apart from the fact that I really like them!

Cheers

[scouk]

Great, so they're generally fairly reliable then - shocks shouldn't be too much to replace if they did wear right? What's the recommended interval for servicing and how much can it cost (approximately)? I only do about 4,500 miles per year as the car is just for occasional use (I'm unable to drive to my place of work)

Servicing is at 10,000mile intervals unlike evo's which I beleive used to be half that

Great, so they're generally fairly reliable then - shocks shouldn't be too much to replace if they did wear right? What's the recommended interval for servicing and how much can it cost (approximately)? I only do about 4,500 miles per year as the car is just for occasional use (I'm unable to drive to my place of work)

Replacement rear shocks I think for a pair cost around £160 for parts + time. roughly

Servicing, someone else will probably ocme along and correct me on this but I think the average is probably around the £300-£400 mark..but varies between intervals and depends on brakes wear and stuff.. There's a big one at 50,000 miles where they change the timing belts..

My area isn't too bad to be honest, was just concerned as I would feel much happier if it was parked off road. Do the Impreza's come with things like trackers as standard etc..?

Yeah keeping it off hte street would reduce the chances of little bumps and mirror slappings but youd get that with any car. Just be vigilant. and try not attract too much attention to yourself.. Not easy in an Impreza

Interesting that you think they're fairly quiet, there's one or two near where I live (the older style ones) and man they sound like thunder when they go past! Are the newer ones any quieter then? I've been looking at just the 2.5 litre options really, in particular the 'WRX SL' variant or the 'STI' one. Apart from the extra power in the STI's is there any other good reason to get one over the WRX SL or are they pretty much the same in terms of features and strength?

Those noisy ones probably arent running with the standard exhausts. The most popular modification to an Impreza is changign the rear backbox to a more noise one. It's a quick change that can make the Impreza pretty loud depending on which one is fitted.. But Its not a requirement of impreza ownership to change it .. Also the hawkeyes have slightly different exhaust headers which are equal length from both sides of the engine, unlike previous models, which makes them quieter and smoother sounding than previous models with reduced burble noise..

The main differences between WRX and STi other that the power/performance are uprated suspension, 6speed instead of 5 in the WRX, a few pink STi badges on your car. THe mechanical bits of the STI are generally stronger than the WRX. THis doesn't mean the WRX is soft the STi carries more bhp and torque so some bits are stronger to cope. IF youre not planning to modify the cars performance or not plannning more than 300-320bhp the WRX seems to cope well. Expecially the hawkeyes, which have been known to hit 350bhp reasonably happilly.. The STi also comes with a Driver COntrolled center differential (DCCD) which allows you to switch the split of the 4-wheel drive system from automatic, 50/50 split (ish) to I think around 70/30 putting additional power to the rear wheels. This is controlled using what is effectively a wide mouse wheel near the handbrake.

Really do appreciate your advice with this, as you can see I know very little about them apart from the fact that I really like them!

No worries.. that's what the club is here for

[Gary WRX]

Hi and wlcome to the forum. I won't answer your questions as the guys have done this already but I was in your position last year selling my Celica T Sport for a Blobeye WRX. It was the best decision I could have made as there is no comparison between the 2 in terms of power and handling the Impreza is 10 times better and more practical having 4 doors!

Yes my petrol costs have increased considerably however if you find a good specialist dealer servicing costs etc are not much higher than the Celica and the benefits far outweigh this.

Take a couple for a drive mate and I'm sure you will be hooked!

[agoutimonty]

This is excellent advice, thanks so much for your time

In terms of cost of maintenance the Impreza is defo looking like the better choice here. Also, if i go with a WRX I can get away with group 19 insurance! not sure if there's much difference in terms of £ between 19 and 20 but hey its a saving! I'm 25, licence for 6 years and 5 years NCB, my insurance isn't too bad at the mo but I suppose I'm only driving a 190bhp (Insurance Group 15) Celica!

I noticed you quoted figures of over 300-350bhp, I know that stock the WRX's are 226bhp and the STI's are 276bhp. How easy and cheap is it to get that much of a power gain from these (sounds like a HUGE increase to me!). Very interested to know if this can be achieved by re-mapping or is it much more of an expensive/bigger job!? And most importantly how much!!! hahaha

[agoutimonty]

Hi and wlcome to the forum. I won't answer your questions as the guys have done this already but I was in your position last year selling my Celica T Sport for a Blobeye WRX. It was the best decision I could have made as there is no comparison between the 2 in terms of power and handling the Impreza is 10 times better and more practical having 4 doors!

Yes my petrol costs have increased considerably however if you find a good specialist dealer servicing costs etc are not much higher than the Celica and the benefits far outweigh this.

Take a couple for a drive mate and I'm sure you will be hooked!

Hahaha Cheers Gary!

Petrol costs shouldn't be too much of an issue for me as I do very little mileage anyway, the main concerns were the other running costs and most importantly reliability! I don't need to tell you how bulletproof the Celica T-Sports are, I'm looking for a bigger, faster alternative now BUT cant be dealing with the headache and stress of a car if its always going wrong! The Celica is absolutely spot on for this and never given me trouble ever (touches wood )

How was the increase in insurance costs for you, was it a big jump? As I mentioned above the Celica is only group 15 compared to 19 in the WRX so a little nervous about that!

Cheers mate

[agoutimonty]

Hi Dipsy,

Have I missed something on your post LOL?

Cheers!

[agoutimonty]

My reply has this ( ) around the sentence.Never hear any problems with the 2.0 litre Jdm Sti engines

Ahh thanks Dipsy, now i see!

So they're fairly quiet then, don't mind a good bit of noise when i'm pushing it but a burble/excessively loud noise all the time gets quite tiring! So they're all fairly quiet apart from the STI's? The WRX's are quieter?

Cheers

Edited August 8, 2010 by agoutimonty

[Gary WRX]

Hahaha Cheers Gary!

Petrol costs shouldn't be too much of an issue for me as I do very little mileage anyway, the main concerns were the other running costs and most importantly reliability! I don't need to tell you how bulletproof the Celica T-Sports are, I'm looking for a bigger, faster alternative now BUT cant be dealing with the headache and stress of a car if its always going wrong! The Celica is absolutely spot on for this and never given me trouble ever (touches wood )

How was the increase in insurance costs for you, was it a big jump? As I mentioned above the Celica is only group 15 compared to 19 in the WRX so a little nervous about that!

Cheers mate

I'm trying to remember what the difference in insurance was it was not as much as I was expecting. I pay monthly and it was about 7 pounds a month more so 85 quid a year which for the difference in performance is very little to pay!

Bear in mind as well even though the WRX only has 30bhp more than the Celica the difference in torque (230 vs 133) makes it a completely different animal so you won't be wanting more power for a while and when you do you can get mods to take it to 280bhp relatively cheaply - remap, filter and wxhaust upgrade

[agoutimonty]

I'm trying to remember what the difference in insurance was it was not as much as I was expecting. I pay monthly and it was about 7 pounds a month more so 85 quid a year which for the difference in performance is very little to pay!

Bear in mind as well even though the WRX only has 30bhp more than the Celica the difference in torque (230 vs 133) makes it a completely different animal so you won't be wanting more power for a while and when you do you can get mods to take it to 280bhp relatively cheaply - remap, filter and wxhaust upgrade

That does sound way too cheap so lucky u!!! I pay around £700-800 a year for my celica but I imagined a scooby would knock that to way over a grand? Having said that I'm only 25 and living in South East London which isn't the cheapest of insurance areas

Never realised you can get that much more power out of them with such little mods, ScoUK mentioned figures of 300-350bhp - didnt think that was even possible in a car that only does 230bhp stock (without seriously major mods of course!) Anyone know approx costs for doing such mods and the associated (approx) bhp increases for each? Will take this into consideration when making my choice between getting a WRX or an STI!

cheers dudes!

[tony_eldridge]

Welcome along.

The guys have done a sterling job with your Q's Thats something this forum does best

Never realised you can get that much more power out of them with such little mods, ScoUK mentioned figures of 300-350bhp - didnt think that was even possible in a car that only does 230bhp stock (without seriously major mods of course!) Anyone know approx costs for doing such mods and the associated (approx) bhp increases for each? Will take this into consideration when making my choice between getting a WRX or an STI!

More power from a scooby is so much easier than most other cars. Thats true of most turbo cars though TBH. All a scoob requires is panel filter, fuel pump and replace the exhaust, inc cats. With a WRX an STi intercooler and injectors are useful too. Then remap it. Hey presto 230bhp becomes 280-290bhp Do the same on an STi and 276bhp becomes 330

You asked the difference between WRX and STi. Well put simply night and day.

I also have similar experience to you in that i went from a '03 Civic type-R to a '53 blobeye WRX. 197bhp FF to a 225bhp 4wd was a a small step in terms of power, but a drop off a cliff in driveability! I owned another WRX after that and now i have a STi model which was as big a shock as joining subaru in the first place!

I've also never had a single issue other than wear and tear items with any of my scoobs!

Finally noise. No a standard STi isn't really any louder than a standard WRX. Infact my first WRX was treated to a Magnex BB and centre and sounded lovely. My current car has one cat removed, plus the centre replaced and a Prodrive BB and the guys at work reckon its quieter than my old car! Keep it standard and they really aren't that loud

Edited August 9, 2010 by Ace

[MDScooby]

I have a 06 Hawkeye and i got it when i was 29 and thanks to my mate at Chris Semmens Insurance Brokers i got my insurance for £745 which i didn't think was to bad considering the type of car it is. This probably has already been mentioned but the cars do come with a Subaru Thatcham class 1 alarm system which usually keeps the insurance vultures happy. In regards to a tracker system i found that the cost of installing the tracker and then the annual subscription will not save you that much on your premium maybe about £40.

I haven't really had any problems with my hawkeye and it doesn't make much noise when driving around the only noise you'll get is if you go over about 50mph when you'll start to hear the whine of the diff a bit more. I'm very happy i bought the scooby as its so much to drive.

[scoobydude]

If you fit an insurance approved tracker you will get cheaper insurance, which will bring the running costs down nicely. My Hawkeye has been very reliable thus far, with the exception of the damned rear struts / topmounts. It ceratinly isn't quiet, you can't hear yourself think when pressing on . I tend to steer clear of power hikes, I've witnessed too many newage scoob owners throwing money at tuning them up only to have them go bang because they didn't chuck enough money at them and were unrealistic about the consequence of trying to screw too much power out of an engine which really doesn't lend itself to big horsepower.

[iainc]

If you fit an insurance approved tracker you will get cheaper insurance, which will bring the running costs down nicely. My Hawkeye has been very reliable thus far, with the exception of the damned rear struts / topmounts. It ceratinly isn't quiet, you can't hear yourself think when pressing on . I tend to steer clear of power hikes, I've witnessed too many newage scoob owners throwing money at tuning them up only to have them go bang because they didn't chuck enough money at them and were unrealistic about the consequence of trying to screw too much power out of an engine which really doesn't lend itself to big horsepower.

Never had an issue with mine at all, and that was with the remap/decat/CAI. Was a daily driver and never missed a beat (only issue was punctures due to the crap roads )

The hawkeye is the second scoob I've had, first one was a 94 UK Turbo wagon, and although I thought it was quick, it was nothing compared to the STi (std it rolling roaded at 300bhp).

Personally I figured if I was getting one, I might as well get the STi as it already had a bit more than the WRX, both in terms of power and "extras", 'cos in terms of running them, there really isn't a lot between them all (ie the old 94 wagon *averaged* 18mpg in the 4-5years I owned it )

Would have said now is definitely the time to be looking for one anyway, 'cos I think there are plenty of good ones on the market at the moment and not a huge amount of serious buyers, hence they are going for less than I think they are actually worth (although I'm obviously biased considering I was trying flog mine with little interest from anywhere )

Only real reasons I wanted a change, was down to the crappy roads puncturing the tyres, and looking to get something a bit slower for a change (was far too easy to go very quickly )

[pezza_no1]

Well I'm 28 and have a '57 plate STI, I'm paying £540 fully comp, all mods declard (there's quite a few) and like for like policy... Only thing is that I have to have a tracker... which was fitted from factory anyway on these. Even last year at 27 I paid the same. It was nearly £200 cheaper than my '94 classic STi!

With a full decat exhaust, fuel pump, Hyperflow front mountwith cold air induction relocation I'm running 393bhp but a massive 470lbft!?! Get way much more torque with the 2.5 engine compared to 2ltr. And that's over fueling slightly so another tweek should see slightly higher figures

Even with the complete Miltek exhaust system it's nowhere near as loud as my old classic at all. Fuel wise... Umm... 150miles to a full tank around town, yet on a decent run that mileage figure will easily more than double.

I brought the car on 900 miles and had it for a year and has now done 8900 miles and (touch wood) the only thing that's failed is the inner cv boot on the side of the gearbox on the front right wheel.... Which was replaced free of charge as still under warrenty.

I vote for the STI all day long over WRX... Nothing against the WRX at all but I know if I were to have one then every time I saw a STI drive by it would just bug me that they had the slightly better, quicker car. My line of thinking is if you can afford the best/top of the range model then why not get it!

Whatever you decide tho I'm sure you won't regret it... But do make sure it has FULL service history with it

[agoutimonty]

Apologies for the delayed response I've been away for a few days. Really nice to see so many helpful people on here, makes me want to get one even more now! haha

I guess next steps I'll see if I can get a quote from my current insurers (I go via Adrian Flux brokers), just to give me a rough estimation on price.

Could anyone just confirm for me which years and models had a tracker fitted as standard (I believe the hawkeye's are from 2005-2008, did these all have them- 'Pezza_no1' mentioned that his '57 plate STI' does)

Also tax, it says on Parkers Online that the STIs have two road tax prices dependant on when they were registered, so for 12 months 30 Nov 2005 – 23 Mar 2006 is £245.00 (Tax band 'K') and 23 Mar 2006 – 30 Jun 2008 is £435.00 (tax band 'M') see: http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/road-tax/?de...amp;deriv=32937

This correct?

Cheers

Edited August 13, 2010 by agoutimonty

[Rab89]

Could anyone just confirm for me which years and models had a tracker fitted as standard (I believe the hawkeye's are from 2005-2008, did these all have them- 'Pezza_no1' mentioned that his '57 plate STI' does)

My 55 plate STi has a tracker.

Also tax, it says on Parkers Online that the STIs have two road tax prices dependant on when they were registered, so for 12 months 30 Nov 2005 – 23 Mar 2006 is £245.00 (Tax band 'K') and 23 Mar 2006 – 30 Jun 2008 is £435.00 (tax band 'M') see: http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/road-tax/?de...amp;deriv=32937

This correct?

Yep, correct.

[pezza_no1]

Definately shop around for the insurance. And yeah mines £435 a year, so plus insurance you're looking at a grand a year to run... Unfortunately for me both fall at the same time so that's one expensive month for me Lol

Dipsy - I did not know the 2.0 JDM twin scolls produce the same torque figures as the 2.5, that's interesting to know.

[scoobydude]

Regarding Trackers, UK STI's do have them as standard, but they are Trafficmaster (used to be Trackstar). I had a bit of an issue with them when my STI was towed after a prang last December. The WRX doesn't have a tracker as standard, but I had a Tracker Monitor fitted to my GB270. This is very good. When I had the bodyshop deliver it back to me (after someone drove into the back of it a set of lights), the Tracker people phoned me to ask if I knew it had been moved without the keys almost instantly.

[agoutimonty]

My 55 plate STi has a tracker.

Yep, correct.

Cheers for confirming

Definately shop around for the insurance. And yeah mines £435 a year, so plus insurance you're looking at a grand a year to run... Unfortunately for me both fall at the same time so that's one expensive month for me Lol

Dipsy - I did not know the 2.0 JDM twin scolls produce the same torque figures as the 2.5, that's interesting to know.

Again, thanks for that - yeah its expensive if they both land in the same month, that happened to me with this car so what I done was only bought 6 months Tax the first time to offset it, then bought 12 months from then on. So theres now a 6 month gap between the two

Regarding Trackers, UK STI's do have them as standard, but they are Trafficmaster (used to be Trackstar). I had a bit of an issue with them when my STI was towed after a prang last December. The WRX doesn't have a tracker as standard, but I had a Tracker Monitor fitted to my GB270. This is very good. When I had the bodyshop deliver it back to me (after someone drove into the back of it a set of lights), the Tracker people phoned me to ask if I knew it had been moved without the keys almost instantly.

Okay great, so all STI's have them then. I was looking at the tracker that you mentioned here: http://www.mobilesystems.co.uk/Tracker-Monitor.html So theres a £195 cost (fitted) which isn't bad then a yearly fee of £135, does that sound about right? I'm not sure of the difference between the 'Monitor' and the 'Horizon' one though: http://www.mobilesystems.co.uk/Tracker-Horizon.html It says that the horizon one is also trackable by GPS which makes sense but also "Information of vehicle’s location and direction relayed to appropriate police force" does that mean that the 'Monitor' one does not do that? If it doesn't inform the police of its location isn't that a bit pointless then?

Cheers

[dibs]

The tracker fitted to the later hawkeyes (possibly all) is a MetaSAT unit. This tells you about the features.

It was 100 Euros to renew when I did mine a few month back.....

Dibs

[scoobydude]

Okay great, so all STI's have them then. I was looking at the tracker that you mentioned here: http://www.mobilesystems.co.uk/Tracker-Monitor.html So theres a £195 cost (fitted) which isn't bad then a yearly fee of £135, does that sound about right? I'm not sure of the difference between the 'Monitor' and the 'Horizon' one though: http://www.mobilesystems.co.uk/Tracker-Horizon.html It says that the horizon one is also trackable by GPS which makes sense but also "Information of vehicle’s location and direction relayed to appropriate police force" does that mean that the 'Monitor' one does not do that? If it doesn't inform the police of its location isn't that a bit pointless then?

Cheers

the monitor tracker uses rf radio to tell the police where it is and will activate when the motion sensors detect movement without the keys or if tracker activate it if you inform them it's been nicked with the keys. The horizon system adds a gps positioner as well. There's a really cool new one as well which let's anyone authorized to see where the car is real time on an interactive rolling map on their computer. You can get an annual subscription at about 135 quid a year or pay about 300 to get a subscription which is for as long as you own the car. If you plan to keep the car for more than a couple of years that's the cheapest option.

[agoutimonty]

Cheers for that guys, once again very helpful indeed

I called my insurance company to get a couple of quotes on both a WRX and a WRX STi. I'm currently with Adrian Flux (Brokers) and insured with NIG who refuse to insure an Impreza! Adrian Flux done me a new quote with Aviva (cheapest one they could find) and its coming up around £1200 for the STI and £1050 for the WRX (both £300 excess). I'm 25, 6yrs experience with 5 yrs NCB, Comprehensive insurance with 6000 limited mileage per year. Does that sound about right? Not so bad i guess but is a bit expensive since i only pay around £650 at the moment! (fair enough I am going from insurance group 15 to 20!)

Which Insurance companies have you guys found cheap for Scooby's in your experience?

Thanks