New here, found trademe bargain, too good to be true?

[Guest]

Hi all, as above, I am new here and would like some advice.

I have searched the forum for "wrx sti buyers guide buying" and have come up with little to nothing that I am after. What I would like to know is some of the things I can look for when inspecting a 96 WRX STI. Is there a sticky here somewhere detailing what to look out for when buying a used WRX?

I found this on trademe (as I am sure most of you have too) and was wondering what you people thought; anyone know the car? It seems too good to be true at that price, I don't mind having to do some work on a car, but would prefer to know what to expect before I jump in.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.asp?id=283366588

http://www.carjam.co.nz/car/?plate=YC3143

[Joker]

seems realistic - may have had dash swap at one stage and would not think its a real STI given odo history.. maybe a WRX with STI bits?

need VIN tag to be sure

[ODB]

its a turbo 4 banger of unknown history that has done almost 170kms.

Id give it a thorough check out before purchase.

Looks pretty cheap though. I sold my sedan for 8k like less than 1 year ago but it was a minter with all service history since imported from japan.

Look for the following: VIN matches car description(check its no fake ass STi), compression testing stands up, no major oil leaks, no excess smoke under boost, no major mods particularly dodgy home boost mods, ask to see proof of regular oil changes, hacked up interior around cage mounting points that would indicate its been caged and tracked excessively, um check turbo shaft for any play, check condition of clutch and gearbox.

Being majorly pedantic now will save you a lot of $$ further down the track.

NB-this appears to be a genuine STi from engine bay inspection.

[Guest]

I will contact the seller to see if I can get the VIN number; what am I looking for on it specifically?

My major issue at the moment is that the car is located on the outskirts of CHCH and I am in Wellington at the moment.

[MercuryFree]

 JoKer said:

seems realistic - may have had dash swap at one stage and would not think its a real STI given odo history.. maybe a WRX with STI bits?

need VIN tag to be sure

STi kit, grill, front strut brace, red manifold, wheels, seats, sti wrx sticker on the back (not one that is often if ever copied as it's the giant heinous one afaik)...if it's not a genuine one it's a very good copy!

[Guest]

What's the worst that could happen?

If I get the chance to inspect it I will look at what was suggested. If the clutch, gearbox and diffs *feel* good, and it is unmodified (by the looks of it the exhaust may be done, and no evidence of a BOV which is nice).

I am hoping it is bog standard; though I will not know until I look at it. $4500 seems really good for that much car.

How many k's should elapse between cam belt changes? Looks like it has been close to 50,000 k's.

[Guest]

Just paid for the carjam report...

VIN: 7A8GF090799022815

Reported stolen: No

Reliable odometer: Yes

Imported with structural damage: No

Water/fire damage: No information on the record of any flood and/or fire damage

Security interests

No security interests lodged against this vehicle.

[Guest]

 stiftw said:

What's the worst that could happen?

That I could need a rebuild very shorty

[Guest]

 STi-TypeR']

[quote name='stiftw said:

What's the worst that could happen?

/quote]

That I could need a rebuild very shorty

That will be fun ><

For a start, can anyone decode the VIN posted above and tell me whether it is indeed a genuine STI? Also, what is the service interval for the cambelt? 100k's like other Japanese cars?

[ODB]

yeah i did mine at like 90kms.

Did water, oil pump and all fluids @ same time.

[Guest]

Imagine an FTO with a Legnum engine (what I currently drive) no space; are WRX cambelts easier than that to change? Or does it require the engine to be removed?

[Guest]

There easy as, no need for removal of motor

[Guest]

Just been looking at pages on the net regarding VIN numbers; nothing actually marries up.

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/vin.html

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Vehicle_Identification_Numbers_(VIN_codes)/Subaru/VIN_Codes

Then I looked at the LTSA site and see that they give vehicles a different VIN than what the manufacturer does in some cases:

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicle/registration-licensing/registration/vin.html

Particularly:

A VIN issued by us looks like this:

A VIN issued by a vehicle manufacturer looks like this:

Looking at the VIN:

7A8GF090799022815

It would appear that this was issued by LTSA in 1999; how do I go about confirming the car is genuine? I was expecting to see the number in position 7 being a zero, that's what made me check to see if NZ issued replacement VIN's.

Is there another way to tell by using the NZ issued number?

[Guest]

Just had confirmation from Armstrong Subaru that that WRX isn't a genuine STI; they looked it up via the Chassis number as the VIN wouldn't work as above.

Next question, $4500 for a normal WRX with all the STI bits, is that overpriced? What other stuff do i need to look at being problematic now that I know it has had an engine swap?

Run away and hide now?

[funkytown]

so i was thinking this as soon as you posted it up and bit my tongue till now waiting to see if someone posted it...

v1/2 never had STI wagon AFAIK....

[dubbedup]

engine swap in these only take a few hours, so wouldnt worry too much about it.

imitation sti ftw

[Guest]

Feel free to unbite the tonques fellas

Just want to know what I am getting myself into, it's cheap. Got Bayswater Vehicles trying to identify whether the engine is an STI donk or if it has just been dressed up (as in just painted the intake manifold) as I write this; according to them there is no way shy of pulling the engine apart to see if it's got the forged pistons, solid lifters etc etc that the STI engine should have.

If it is an 'imitation' what else would it be lacking? Considering what I already drive, engine swaps don't bother me if done properly, though I know how much of a PITA it is when the swaps are done without the other supporting pieces. How different is the spec of suspension and braking components between them? Is there any way to tell an STI box over a standard Rex box? Like how many revs she sits at 100k at in a particular gear?

Any easy way to tell if those components were also changed at the time of the conversion? Like a specific diameter for brake rotors? Or single pot vs 2+ pot calipers? I read that all STI struts are black until MY04 (don't know if that is right), do standard WRX's have something else so I could identify that?

I talked to the owner; he brought the car to transplant the running gear into a kit car a month ago, but as it didn't have ABS he decided to sell it and buy a later model wreck... he sounds pretty genuine, though ownership papers will tell that story.

[dubbedup]

4 pot brakes - unsure if all stis got them, quick ratio steering, certian numbers on teh ecu cover. someone on here will be an sti expert...just not me

[Joker]

Looks STI but odo history is still a slight irregular....

still think its realistic, something that old may need rebuild very soon

[Guest]

Thanks for the help guys; I'll update this once I have had a mechanic check it out.

[Guest Dazza]

 dubbedup said:

4 pot brakes - unsure if all stis got them, quick ratio steering, certian numbers on teh ecu cover. someone on here will be an sti expert...just not me

4 pots only existed on V3 to V6 STI's as far as I know.

[GC8E2DD]

Subaru model code you are looking for on the passenger side strut tower is probably either GF8B58D or GF8C58D. Transmission, which generally has a sticker on the casing, is probably going to be TY752VB3CA or TY752VB3FA.

I think LTSA munges the VIN numbers and replaces useful parts with a big date stamp of when it was imported. So imported on 9th July 1999?

[EJ20T]

yeah forget the vin and work off the chassis no. and the applied model, to be fair id say this has had a sti parts swap, the 7k redline tach indicates that this was probably td04 packing. i wouldn't get all cought up over it not being a orig sti, as back then the difference isnt huge to be honest

[ydragu]

imo dressed up wrx's never quite go anywhere as well as a genuine sti and for the price i would shop around dude

[Guest]

 ydragu said:

imo dressed up wrx's never quite go anywhere as well as a genuine sti and for the price i would shop around dude

Yeah, as I am in no hurry, I think I will pass on the car; too many unknowns at this point to risk having to blow thousands that will get me close to a genuine one at any rate.

Question though; apart from the red intake, is there any external way to tell if the car has genuine running gear (gearbox notwithstanding), I am talking engine.

Also, what would I be looking for on the ECU to tell if it was genuine STI? (I guess if the ECU was from an STI then it would be a safe bet that the engine is too, am I on the right track? Or can they be put on a normal Rex engine as an upgrade (like early VR4/Evo engines)).