Buying my first Turbo Subaru (Sti)

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, THUNDA said:

Trust me when you get a proper ecu and professional tune - that's the first thing you'd put on the "modz" list .

So if it isn't there it's probably running factory ecu

boost taps are a bad bet imo, everyone with a boost tap who likes broom broom is turning the boost up to the max at least once 

 

 

Stock ecu is reflashable so could be tuned. 

[THUNDA]

This looks pretty tight.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/1308076768

[Subru]

Just now, THUNDA said:

This looks pretty tight.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/1308076768

I been looking at that, I love those.

what are v4's like?

[THUNDA]

Just now, evowrx said:

 

Stock ecu is reflashable so could be tuned. 

 

Yea but what I'm saying is if you get a car tuned you'd mention it, pretty important 

[Guest]

More importantly who built the engine since the cars based in wellies...

[THUNDA]

2 minutes ago, Subru said:

I been looking at that, I love those.

what are v4's like?

 

They are great I reckon, will have all the improvements the v1/v2 lacked, single scroll (iirc) so nice suby rumble. Heads are good - I'm trying to source a set myself

[Subru]

4 minutes ago, THUNDA said:

 

They are great I reckon, will have all the improvements the v1/v2 lacked, single scroll (iirc) so nice suby rumble. Heads are good - I'm trying to source a set myself

Great, I REALLY love the look of those V4's, maybe I gotta get me one  

[Marky]

But st the same time... 12000 for a 20 year old car with 150kms?

 

Shop smarter New Zealand 

 

Just buy like this

 

https://www.trademe.co.nz/1306268758

 

Or similar

 

cheap, looks the part, post 2000 so yearly wofs and reflashable ecu

 

facelift it to v8 spec if you can't stand the butterface effect

 

done 

[Subru]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/subaru/auction-1314990007.htm

[Marky]

For arguments sake - almost double the cost, to get a few less kms and different wheels? 

 

 

[THUNDA]

Lower the kms the better, that v4 is mint! You get what you pay for though, but it all comes down to the aa check, my Rs was 3500 , it was a piece of S***, and it's still a piece of S***, it's just a lot faster now  

 

 

[boon]

16 hours ago, Subru said:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/subaru/auction-1314990007.htm

 

I paid less for essentially the same car with less KMs. Except I did it uhhhhhh 7 years ago.

Unless I'm very very much mistaken, V7 STIs are still depreciating, not going up in value.

[Dairusire]

14 hours ago, THUNDA said:

Lower the kms the better, that v4 is mint! You get what you pay for though, but it all comes down to the aa check, my Rs was 3500 , it was a piece of S***, and it's still a piece of S***, it's just a lot faster now  

 

 

 

To be fair, thats a bit of an incorrect statement. 

 

Just because a car has low KM's, doesn't mean it's in better condition, nor is it indicative of it's mechanical status.

 

Take @Kiwi_Fozze's cars. Has 300km on the clock, interior is in fantastic condition, factory motor, goes really well and yes it did have it's issues but were mostly minor... He picked it up for around 4k....

 

The take away here, if you're buying a car, you're better off buying the one that looks tidy, has mechanical history and service history and possibly know someone who knows the owner or previous one at that. It makes the difference between a good car and a lemon like mine  

[THUNDA]

1 hour ago, Dairusire said:

 

To be fair, thats a bit of an incorrect statement. 

 

Just because a car has low KM's, doesn't mean it's in better condition, nor is it indicative of it's mechanical status.

 

Take @Kiwi_Fozze's cars. Has 300km on the clock, interior is in fantastic condition, factory motor, goes really well and yes it did have it's issues but were mostly minor... He picked it up for around 4k....

 

The take away here, if you're buying a car, you're better off buying the one that looks tidy, has mechanical history and service history and possibly know someone who knows the owner or previous one at that. It makes the difference between a good car and a lemon like mine  

 

I'm sure there a situations where high km cars are in good nick, however lower kms means the car has traveled less, less travel means less wear and tear all around the car, not just the engine, everything has had less wear and tear, right down to the smallest rubber bush, but your right! in some cases a low km car could be F***ed! which is why you should always get an AA check when parting with your hard earn money, iirc Subru is a young guy, and hes about to part way with some serious $$, assuming he wants to buy a car that he doesnt need to do maintenance on right away / repairs for while, if it was me in the same situation; id go for least wear and tear with good record of work over anything modified for a first turbo car

[Marky]

Or look at it this way

 

8k is enough difference that he can replace every single moving part on the car with nice bits, and have something improved in every way other than what the odo shows 

 

Just look for the bargain, bushes are cheap, struts are cheap, and it's a Subaru so the motor could assplode at any given moment anyway. It might look like a low km minter however it might have done 50 thou city kms rowing the gears as opposed to 150 thou of country roads in 6th 

 

Put it this way - when I'm buying a car for the mrs, or the mum in law, we shop for low kms as that's what their mindset is, and overall how mint is it as they dont want to touch a thing. When I'm shopping for me, I buy with the intent that I'm replacing anything I don't like and parts that are perfectly functional anyway, I look at it as something to build on not a static showpiece which won't change. The mrs wants the opposite and hence we buy cars with warranty etc for her - I legitimately enjoy working on stuff so buy the fixer upper on purpose... then invariably sell it for profit 

 

Youll do what you do. My dad always sold cars at 99km because he hated that mental leap to 3 figures. Some folks will ignore the moving parts entirely and only care about a small shopping ding as an indicator of a cars condition - everyone has their eye on something different and everyone's standards vary 

[THUNDA]

6 minutes ago, Marky said:

I legitimately enjoy working on stuff so buy the fixer upper on purpose... then invariably sell it for profit 

 

im the same, i always go for the diamond in the rough, then spend way too much on it - inevitably making a huge loss LOL, hobbies ¬

[swamp]

If I didn't have a v1 WRX, I'd probably have a 1st gen Legacy or a gravel express wrx for the lols

 

I've never had the kind of money for a 300+ bhp Subie or any car for that matter so it's best I stick to the cheap cars and mess about with them.