It is probably not that a good a proposition as far a reliable motoring I expect. But a quick scan shows it to be one of the cheaper WRXs on trademe at the moment and it is also a manual. If you're in the market for a WRX this one might be OK.
nick91111,
May 5, 10:04pm
Yes that's what I thought. It has been on here for a while, seems cheapish and it hasn't sold yet. Not sure if that's a good sign or not!
jason18,
May 5, 10:05pm
Nothing wrong with EJ20s, I would check for turbo whine. Make sure oil is clean and she runsd nice. Maybe get a pre purchase check done at a reliable mechanic. You might get some good motoring and at 4k not to bad buying for a performance car.
aragorn2003,
May 5, 10:07pm
Guarantee you hes not firm on 4gz if its been up for so long .
And a reliable pre-purchase inspection would show you if there's anything to worry about
And also , being so cheap if you decided to sell it later on , its depreciationwould be minimal
bellky,
May 5, 10:08pm
My mate has a 98 or 99 with over 200k and it's ok - been looked after. Synchro is gone on 5th gear and the engine is noisy but that's about it.
a.woodrow,
May 5, 10:10pm
x1
I'm going to troll a bit here and say it must be a good one, reason being that the only reason you see them with low km's is because they are in the garage getting fixed more often than they are on the road driving - so a high km's example probably hasn't broken down as often
a.woodrow,
May 5, 10:17pm
Either one you pick, you'll get a lot of go for your money. Personally I would get the cheaper one and put the couple of gand saved aside for the inevitable g/box, turbo or motor rebuild. At the end of the day, they are all 15 years oldish performance cars that have been thrashed most of their life, so bank on a few repairs and enjoy them while they are going. As a mechanic I just used to tell people to make sure they had another vehicle for when the subaru was off the road
phillip.weston,
May 5, 11:50pm
having owned a 200,000+ kms WRX of that shape before along with a near 400,000kms EJ22 Legacy, I can say that the engine itself would be fine (so long as it hasn't been thrashed!) but things like the gearbox and CV joints will be a bit worn. I found the interior of my WRX didn't hold up too well - the tops of the door cards at the front were coming apart but that could have been from neglect from the previous owner.
bellky,
May 6, 12:02am
Try and get a NZ New one if you can - then you know how many ks its done. I don't trust import odos, plus NZ cars are better.
hijacka,
May 6, 12:07am
Wouldn't touch it, The early wrx engines or any other ej20T or TT with writting and lines on the cam covers(pre96) are very weak in standard form. they use HLA heads and the casting on the pistons are a weak point and proned to cracking ring landings if pushed to far. The second subaru for 6500 is well and truely over priced, although the engines of that time are stronger especially the sti v3/v4 seeing it has high reving shim under bucket heads and factory forged piston it has yet to be proven. alot of people try and pass off a standard engine for a sti by painting the rocker cover red. This should be (wrinkle red) as per factory, Only way to tell if its sti is by removing the rocker cover and checking the shims are under the buckets. Also vaults are a ugly rim and there is nothing great about a standard wrx tune or that car. Buy either car if you want to lose money. Fact is they both suck and thats coming from someone that lives and breaths Subaru.
nzfatie,
May 6, 12:07am
High mileage cars can be okay, depends how well they've been looked after. Regular oil changes from new are a must to achieve trouble free high mileage. Unfortunately many imports weren't serviced regularly in Japan, so even if they get regular oil changes after coming to NZ, their motors are still stuffed, as you can't undo damage just by changing the oil. Neglected Subby's will be knocking and clattering like old VW Beetle's, so avoid those ones.lol
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