Sarie

Thanks guys, muchly appreciate the replies! Warrior, that's a lot of car for the money, what a shame you have to sell it! If I had the cash now I'd be tempted, although I think 280bhp might be a wee bit much for me to get insured on haha ;o I'm in Derby, so if there's anyone around here who'd be willing to let me take a look at their WRX I'd be massively appreciative. I'd really like to get a look at the engine and have a chat with someone who owns one. I service my existing car myself and if I could service the Impreza then that'd be a major plus, particular when it comes to doing the regular oil changes. I've driven a WRX STi on the track and I LOVED it but that was about 6 years ago now .. however, since then I've been waiting for the day I could afford one That said, despite the fact the STi is the better car, I don't think I can justify it right now.. I don't think I'd get insured and if I did it'd probably push my pockets just a little too far, so for now I think I'll stick with the WRX and if in a year or two it's not bankrupting me then I might upgrade to an STi After what I've been driving lately, 220 horses will be more than enough to keep me happy. Thanks for the headsup on repair costs too Nev, that's about what I expected so no nasty shocks there thankfully! My brother has been trying to flog me his Audi A3 3.2 Quattro but I looked into maintenence costs and to replace cambelt and tensioners is around £1500 !!! The A3 looks too boring for me anyway I've checked insurance on the WRX and I'm looking at around £1100 fully comp, possibly get it down to about £900 through the likes of Sky so it's expensive but affordable. Given it currently costs me £550 TPFT to get insured on my 99bhp Rover 45 I think that's pretty cheap really. If I didn't need the money to go towards the Impreza I'd take my Rover 45, put a brick on the accelerator pedal and watch it drive off a cliff the day I buy my new car This is the sort of thing I was looking at, although I'd rather buy from an enthusiast than a garage as that way I know the car has probably been well cared for.. but so you have an idea: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201207450015869/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/price-to/4000/body-type/saloon/model/impreza/make/subaru/keywords/wrx/postcode/de224nb/page/2/radius/1501?logcode=p Thanks for the info on the other cars too, I've looked at the Fiat Coupe and the Nissan 200SX but both are generally on pretty old plates so I'd be pretty wary of repairs and also imo neither of them are as badass as the Impreza I'm not planning on cruising big miles much so the more fun the car handles the better as I'll be taking it out into the Peaks on weekends, thus AWD is very appealing

Hey everyone, I'm looking to replace my car in the Summer with something I will actually enjoy and the Impreza WRX (around 03 plate) is at the top of my want list I know from rummaging that purchase price isn't going to be an issue, and I'm not massively concerned about MPG because I only live around the corner from work so the bulk of my driving will be out of choice for pleasure so I can choose how much fuel I use I've been driving for 8 years and I've yet to own a car I actually love... so far all my cars have been chosen out of necessity so I want to get this choice right as it will be my first PROPER car If you could help me by answering a few questions and giving your opinions then I'd be really grateful 1. Is it easy to service yourself, and if not, how much does a full service usually cost? 2. I've been warned off the boxer engines by a few people who own performance cars as they told me that they're difficult to work on and tend to be unreliable?? I've found nothing to confirm this anywhere so I'm not sure I believe it; would certainly value the honest opinions of those who own one 3. How expensive are parts for repairs? I know on any performance car parts aren't cheap but what am I realistically looking at for say, a cambelt or a clutch? 4. Any major known faults/common issues? I collared a guy in an Impreza at a garage this evening and he told me his Scoob has been incredibly reliable so I'm hoping to confirm this is generally the case. Please be honest... I know you're all going to love your cars to bits and won't want to criticise but if you can give me a full and honest picture of what I'm possibly getting myself into I'd really appreciate it The only other real contender at the moment is the Honda Civic Type R. These are significantly cheaper to insure, have bombproof reviews for reliability and are also around the right price and power. That said, they just don't appeal to me as much as the Impreza... I love the AWD and the size and shape of the Impreza as well as the fact I can have a turbo wheraes the Civic is a VTEC. The Civic sort of says "sensible compromise" at the moment but I'm pretty fed up of compromising and would really like to get the information required to persuade me that an Impreza is the way forward A bit more information: I'm 25 years old, female, been driving just over 8 years.. would like a car betweem 180-230bhp, reliable and not too expensive to buy and maintain, my purchase budget will be around £5k. That's the EVO out then I've got experience driving turbo cars and love them, although so far my knowledge is mostly of diesels. Have also been looking at the FTO but I figure with the age of them they're likely to throw up far more issues than say an 03 Impreza. Opinions welcome, the more honest the better