~ ~ Cal ~~

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Thanks folks - I actually have up to £8-9k to spend in reality but my wife is going ape and wants me to spend £3k.....£4k at a push. She reckons I spent enough on the Audi (£15k) and thinks it madness spending more ( which you can understand but she doesn't have the petrolhead disease that we all have !) I tend to be quite impulsive and strike fast when I see what I want ( this I need to reign in a little though)........I am still emailing the guy for more details. I dont think he is dodgy as such ( certaintly not like the other guys from the 24th Sept.) THANKS AGAIN - I really appreciate the help Cal

Gotta love Google - I think this is the guys MLR profile after checking out his mobi number again http://www.lancerregister.com/member.php?u=125585

The engine bay has been subject to a fair bit of corrosion ----- I asked when it was imported here and he said 2001 which would explain the engine bay condition. You'd think he might have washed the car to take the pics though ! Also a worrying gangsta style lean angle on the drivers chair !!!!!!

Thanks folks - this is a total flocking minefield !! Lancashire is miles away from Aberdeen unfortunately Here is the ( very poor !) pics he emailed me ( possibly direct from a camera phone). I asked him if he had a garage and he said he did ( I have yet to see evidence of a forecourt though !!) I reckon I can get him down to £3.8k but against my instinct says hell no. Pics :- Thanks again folk - the advice is much appreciated indeed CGS

Car seems genuine but not so sure about the seller ( Baz Lord ??? of Performance 1000 on Pistonheads) http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/722021.htm Tatty as hell, the guy sent me pictures after I emailed him. He seems okay and has lots of docs. I Googled his mobile number and he's also selling this under a different name !! http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.as...action=bookmark I can get the car pretty cheap I believe but the pics he sent me show that the car needs a right good clean and is hardly in show n' shine condition Thanks Cal

Real nice switch to be fair ! Enjoy !

You kept that on the down low sir ! Another scalp indeed .......... Surely the power needs are now satisfied ?!!! Cal

I would normally go with someone else which is why I decided to have them visit me on neutral ground ( hotel car park 20 yds from entrance) You don't expect 3 guys to turn up though so I slipped into streetwise mode. The guy himself was okay but his mate seemed overly edgy... Shall take pepper spray next time I view a car as a precaution ! Thank again Imy Cal

Update - ...convinced the guy to drive 20 miles to the conference hotel today and meet me at lunch time. No harm in viewing especially at a neutral safe venue. I was rather surprised when he turned up with some other guys. Straight away I felt slightly uneasy dealing with 3 young Asian sub 25 year olds who had all manner of leisure wear on right down to the cliched (sp?) baseball caps n' leather jackets. ( I know this sounds stereotyped - would have made zero difference if they were Caucasian - just scene setting). Two people I can understand but 3 is overkill. He pointed out that he was concerned that I might pitch up with other guys too so brought them along ( you can see where this is going !) Car was tidy enough but bodywork was rough. The guy claimed a "mate" imported it and he never had an auction sheet. He did not bring the V5 with him either......He took me round the block whilst his mates waited at the hotel. Car went like a rocket and was indeed a decent buy if the circumstances had not seemed so "shady". We talked about evo's and skylines during the 3 minute spin and he did know his stuff.... I pointed out it was not an RA and then one of the mates started getting hot under the collar and started saying that I should pay petrol money etc etc etc .... I then basically convinced them that I was totally genuine ( to subdue shirty mate !!) and that the car was simply not what was advertised. At this point the guy I was really dealing with started to chill his mate out having seen for himself that I was legit. I took a piccy of the VIN plate and said I'd call back later after doing some more homework to further passify them. At this point I made my excuses and left faster than I startled gazelle. Morale of the story - trust gut instinct and use the SIDC as a knowlegde base !! I always had my suspicions when the guy did not use his real name but it's understandable. So this hunt is still on and the cash is back in the bank for now. The transaction may have occured if the circumstances were more favourable but too many things did not add up. Thanks for all the help and Grant in particular who I spoke to after the event ....... Cal

Did some background checks ......see below but yet to do a VIN check. Only imported recently which ties in which his claims and explains why is has a long MOT I even checked that the surroundings in the pictures tied in with the surrounding environment via Google Satellite imagery !! Make & Model Subaru VIN Check Click here to perform a free VIN check Engine Size 2000cc Engine Number NK First Registered 4 Aug 2008 Year Manufactured 1995 Former Keepers 0 (Current keeper has held the vehicle from first registration) Body Saloon Colour Blue Finance Protection To enable finance protection please complete the purchaser receipt that has been emailed to you. Vehicle Checks Colour changes There is no record of this registration being subject to a colour change. Plate Transfer There is no record of this registration being involved in a plate transfer. Scrapped There is no record of this registration being scrapped. Exported There is no record of this registration being exported. Stolen There is no record of this registration being stolen. Stolen & Recovered There is no record of this registration being stolen & recovered. Insurance Write-off There is no record of this registration being written-off. Vehicle I.D. Check There is no record of this registration being subject to a Vehicle Identification Check.

Sweet jesus that is a long thread..............car is looking great ! John St. is clearly a bad influence indeed ! That fuel tank is a work of art Keep the piccies coming please ! Cal

thanks again - I'll go along and see what the crack is ! I am still eyeing up cars north of the border as a fall back option ( Pedals & Strappers chariots on my short list).......also waiting to here from someone else on SN about another car

Thanks Imy - the knowledge in here is invaluable........I was not even looking "down sarf" but dialled in a post code search on Pistonheads on an opportunist basis Am I right in thinking that the gear ratios will be short but not AS short as those of an RA's ?

He also stated it was only imported 3 months ago which explains the zero rust and is standard right down to the original OEM exhaust Anything else I can look at to see if its genuine ? He also said he pulled the yellow 555 sticker off the back as he reckoned it was potentially attracting unwanted attention CGS

Thanks folks - he was advertising his name as Adam with nor surname which I thought was a bit strange..........I asked his surname (Khan) and then did some Googleling http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q...yUK%7CcountryGB http://www.petrolheads.co.uk/sales/609965.htm He said he was selling it on behlaf of his brother but judging from the above he may be some sort of breaker etc etc Claimed he had an Evo and sent it to Owen Developments for tweaking recently and the RA was along on the journey so SEEMS genuine Just don;'t wabt to go along with cash if these guys are potentially shady ! I am meeting him at his address ( if I decided to view and confirm with him) He says the car had no DCCD when I quizzed him - I thought all RA's had this ? Thanks again guys Cal

Folks, Any thoughts on this ?? http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/657418.htm I am at a conference down in Stratford upon Avon and this car is nearby. Does it seem legit ? I already called the guy and he seems genuine enough. It seems very clean from the pictures ( engine bay especially) I intend to view tomorrow but would appreciate the advice of Squiggle and other knowledgeable classic owners tonight if possible ! Thanks Cal

I have no idea whether this is true or not but they only have a handful of used Subarus on their forecourt and I'd say the other 75% were trade-in's

Get rid of the centre section matey ! The PPP burble is quite nice after that - OR if you want the full monty get a decat...... Ninja backbox, Scoobysport or TSL Group N would also do the trick CGS

Cheers folks - I guess having never had an STi before that any rapid classic will do................however, this time I want something with 320bhp+ and as a "raw as botulism". My budget is circa £3000 - £3500 so I am torn whether to import one myself or buy one that's already in the UK. Cannot belive the prices that the likes of Dicksons charge. An absolute joke if you ask me ! There are so many "dogs" out there it's untrue ! Guess I'll need help in sourcing one ( likely via Wuz) Insurance wise I am looking to pay less than £300 otherwise it's a pretty expensive "toy" to run. Quite fancy Pedals chariot though but cannot buy just yet ( we'll actually I can but there's this thing called a wife getting in the way !) Superstar - got your PM : cheers. Can you ount me so more details ?

Folks, I am getting baffled by all of the classics specs....... Which classics have DCCD ? Some STi's ??? but not all ?? .......and every RA presumably has DCCD ( which the exception of some WRX RA's ( i.e non-STi) Also, those of you with imports running them as second cars. What kinda insurance are you paying and is it on limited mileage ? Thanks Cal

40 miles more per tank ! If it gave me 40 mpg more I'd be ecstatic ! Contact Andy Dunn - pretty sure he could remp yours and he is based in Yoker

tis indeed...........he's got the petrolhead bug worse than me and is currently doing a lot of head scratching contemplating how to shoe-horn a Yamaha R1 engine into his tax exempt Mini may I ask you are mon amigo ?

Specifically ask for Andy Dunn and tell him Cal Shand told you to give him a call.........

Got me DERV remap last Friday and wholly sheeeet ! Got the same amount of torque as my old 2.5L PPP'd hawkeye now...................traction control needed in the wet as it was even spinning the wheels when engaging 4th gear. Getting circa 40 miles more to a tank too which is a nice bonus. Boost pressure is up by 0.6 bar now. also found out today I'll get my bonus in January and not April as I first thought so fear not I'll be getting back in a Scooby sooner rather than later ............it was murder watching those McCrae videos with all the burbling going on !!! Fai - work it up ye son ! Whoever ws asking about remaps for Beemer should contact A4Audi as I think they can do Beemer remapping too. They are also opening B4BMW in the units next door CGS