STi General

This one's pretty heavily modified. Nothing engine, though. Is that bad?

It's got Cobb parts - intake, exhaust, accessport, and probably a tune. I don't think they know the details, and they definitely won't let me take it to a mechanic - they barely even let me drive it. This is starting to sound bad, right?

compression and leakdown test

Not letting you drive it much or allowing you to take it to a mechanic is pretty suspicious. Almost seems like they are hiding something.

They let me drive it pretty hard on the street test, and I didn't notice any problems. The dealer doesn't usually sell modified cars, so they didn't want people to break something, I guess.

>they definitely won't let me take it to a mechanic - they barely even let me drive it

do NOT buy jesus

>they definitely won't let me take it to a mechanic - they barely even let me drive it

a flag could not get redder than this

how do you know dealer won't let you take to a mechanic did you ask? make it clear it's a reputable shop

>Anything I should know first?
What dress goes best with the car

They're getting a lot of calls on the car, so they don't really need to put up with any BS like that

har har har

That sounds like something I'd say to close the deal faster.

that makes no sense, you're dumping money into a car you don't own for inspection. You ARE a serious buyer in that case. Did you ask?

They're slow unless you launch them like a motherfucker. In a roll from 10 a GTI is faster

I'll check, but they're treating this car like it's a bomb. They mentioned the mods a few times and how the don't like to deal with modded cars or let people joyride in them, etc.

I'm OK with this.

got link to the car?

DO NOT BUY A NIGGER RIGGED CAR
DO NOT BUY A NIGGER RIGGED CAR
DO NOT BUY A NIGGER RIGGED CAR

Theyre bullshitting you trying to place pressure on you to make a sale quick. Just bail man, its not worth it at all.

Larger wheel hubs and 5x114.3 bolt pattern

Easier to just find one with a rebuilt motor.

Don't waste your time or buy a Evo.

Yeah, how many of them are serious? Next to none, they'll sit on the car for at least months while they deal with every other 17-20 year old retard who wants to finance a $20,000 15 y/o sports car on a retail salary.

Oldest trick in the fucking book.

"Getting a lot of calls"

It's not you're fucking problem they're getting calls, don't put up with that kind of bullshit. This person is trying to hide something and sell it fast.

Your choice. I just found it funny I beat an 15 STi in a 04 GTI. STi is a good car all the way around but the one you're looking at sounds sketch

I already told them I'd sleep on it and walked away.

I'd rather have an STi than an Evo, even though the Evo is better.

That's what I'm worried about.

It's 73k miles, looks good, drives good, clean carfax, and they're asking $15k. I can't find another deal like that in the country.

man, if i had the monies
>platinum-motorcars.com/detail-2004-subaru-impreza_wrx_sti-used-16585192.html

Attached: 1453288171513.png (374x319, 180K)

>It's 73k miles, looks good, drives good, clean carfax, and they're asking $15k. I can't find another deal like that in the country.

Why can't you?

philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/d/2007-subaru-wrx-sti/6484255786.html

This has a motor built by one of the best Subaru specialists in the country (Rallispec in West Berlin, NJ) and makes 352whp.

allentown.craigslist.org/cto/d/2005-subaru-sti-crystal-grey/6495771065.html

This one has a freshly built motor and looks brand new underneath

cnj.craigslist.org/cto/d/2006-subaru-wrx-sti/6527313070.html

newyork.craigslist.org/fct/cto/d/2007-subaru-sti/6481844503.html

They're not super rare cars. They still make them. EJ25s are turds anyways, I'd look for one with a rebuilt motor. I don't get people's aversion to modded cars. These cars blow up whether bone stock brand new or modded. At least with a decent "Stage 2" package (Cobb Tune/Dyno Tuned + Full Turboback Exhaust) I'm saving money on something I'm already gonna do to the car within a few months.

If it's too good to be true, it usually is.

>I don't get people's aversion to modded cars

There's more to a car than the engine. A modded car implies it's been driven hard, and all the components suffer.

>Buying a used STi/Evo that hasn't been driven hard

Like dividing by zero. Unless you personally knew the owners who've had it since new and their driving habits its safer to assume they all were driven hard. Its not like you're buying a M3 or a Corvette where there's a good chance it was some boomer's weekend car.

At this point I'd be more concerned at other issues (rust/rot, past accidents/paintwork, mechanical issues, etc).

>newyork.craigslist.org/fct/cto/d/2007-subaru-sti/6481844503.html
But... it's not blue

None of these are $15,000

I know, I know. I keep thinking it's because they want to get rid of it. It's been on the lot for over a month.

No rust, no accidents or noticeable paintwork, everything seemed to work OK.

If I wanted to get the car checked out by a mechanic, how would that work logistically? I just ask them to drive it to shop, wait there for an hour, and then I pay the bill?

Yes

...and car salesman actually agree to this??

it's up to the manager and yes, they usually do

Hm, alright. I'll give it a shot. If they agree to it, and it comes back OK, I'll buy it. If they don't agree to it, I'll walk.

Hopefully I'll be able to find another blue '04 with under 75,000 miles in the future

Why not? If your taking it to a mechanic and paying them to look at it, it's understood your serious about buying. An hour or so of their time? Worth it if it's been on the lot that long.

And expect to change the head gasket at 100k - 110k miles

it's timing belt and water pump, not head gasket

Insurance gonna hit you with that STi tax

Similar situation to OP, I like the 04-05 generation

My choices in the market are

- WRX
- WRX STI
- RS

Does anyone know of a breakdown of the differences between the 3? There’s fuck all information about old Imprezas

FYI, in my market the WRX/STI is limited to 2l for emissions, the RS is 2.5

More like STD

I’ve never believed more in drift tax after seeing the WRX listings

>Non of these are 15,000
>Not haggling the owner down
Are you autistic or something?

OP update here

I talked to the salesman today. They ran a compression test and it failed on all cylinders (he said "around 75 on all 4"). So, how much is a head gasket replacement on this thing?

I also asked him about getting a third party mechanic to look it over, and I'd foot the bill. He told me no one's ever asked him that before, so he'd have to check with his manager.

Also, insurance is cheap for me - I already checked with the VIN. So that's a non-issue.

Attached: I eat head gaskets.jpg (1280x720, 110K)

Get the biggest engine you can afford. No one ever buys a car and says "man, I wish I had less horsepower!"

EJs are very simple to fix the replace.

Failing on all four is odd. Did they even perform the test correctly? Or is he bullshitting you?

Get a proper mechanic to check it out. Cylinder number 3 typically fails first IIRC.

Even if the RS has the biggest engine, Isn’t the STI way more tuned for performance? Also the terrrbo would make up for the engine size loss quite a bit wouldn’t it

He could've been like "we tested it, all good senpai", but he told the truth. I'd imagine their mechanics are about average. Previous owner could've run it until the head gasket was dust, who knows.

Found out it's got an aftermarket header too, so it might be that.

TIL this board changes f_a_m to senpai

>Til
>Le ejbin twitterspeak
>>>/reddit/

There's two separate heads, user. For all four cylinders to be down tells me something wasn't done right. The only thing that makes sense is the mechanic and salesmen failed to communicate correctly. Maybe if it was on a cold engine with the throttle closed 75 would occur on all 4. Doubtful, but whatever.

Seeing as you claim you drove the car hard, any problems there would've occurred. Overheating or white smoke. I'm under the impression you checked fluids before driving it.

If it was literally down over 50% you would've known. Thing probably wouldn't have idled worth a shit at that point.

>Aftermarket header
>Might be that
What. Just buy the car and suffer from your ignorance.

It's practically impossible for all of yourcylindersto fail in exactly the same way at exactly the same time to yield identical compression results, while all being bad.

Except the WRX and STI could have come with the smaller motors and had more pwoer you fucking idiot.

RS almost always had the 2.5 liter n/a motor while the WRX had the 2 liter turbo and the STI could have had the 2.0 liter turbo or 2.5 liter turbo depending on market. There is a vast power discrepancy there.

An STI could have had the smallest motor and had the most power depending on which market it is.

He said there different psi numbers for all 4 cylinders, dick. All of them were "around 75".

I'm not a mechanic, I don't know mechanic shit. The guy who did the test could've had the compression tester up his ass for all I know. All I can say is it seemed to run fine on the test drive. It warmed up, I hit redline a couple times, it idled OK, nothing fell off.

you don't know what you're talking about,do ya there lil' dog

Japanese STI's came with the EJ20, American STI's came with the EJ25, American and Japanese WRX's came with the EJ20. RS's came with the EJ25.

Bigger motor does not equate to more power moron.

I've often had gtis try racing my 2015 STi, I'm not confident with my launches and I don't want to mess up my transmission so I don't even bother. I'm positive they think they've 'won' when I deliberately only accelerate to 3k revs and shift one gear at a time.

OP here again

The more I researched it, the more I found two possible scenarios:
1. The tester was a dipshit and the engine's OK
2. The engine is fucked beyond belief

Since there's quite a range there, I'll probably end up passing on it just to be on the safe side. Unless they call me with a much better offer or they take it to a mechanic who is definitely not a dipshit.

Am I making the right call, or am I passing on a smokin deal that needed a little TLC?

Attached: womp womp.jpg (4000x2666, 2.77M)

05s have 5x114.3 as well

Not OP

Is the STI worth the upgrade from the WRX

Probably not. I've only ever driven an sti so I don't really know the differences. You only gain around 40hp though, with a slightly stiffer chassis and suspension.

>I'm not a mechanic, I don't know mechanic shit.
Then don't buy a fucking modded sti that just failed a leakdown you dipshit.

Fucking christ. If you have to ask these questions, you're going to get fucked by this car so hard.
Please keep updating us while you toss parts at an engine you don't understand, though. it's amusing.

>I passing on a smokin deal that needed a little TLC

If you have to pay a shop to fix it, it's not a smoking deal. "deals" happen when you can fix shit yourself you mong

If you're talking about new, the STI has a lot of other features that are trivial, really. Aside from differential control. I have a WRX and there's a lot I wish I could have(afford) and a lot I didn't care about.

Basically every STi in existence has been beat up, so don't buy one unless it's been 'baby'ed' or well maintained.

How do you tell if it’s been baby’d

If it's brand new

I didn't say they did a leakdown test, retard. I also said I wasn't going to buy the car, double retard.

Price - repair cost = deal price. Use your brain.
Even if I spent $1500 getting shit repaired, the car would still be a good deal (per KBB). I just don't want the hassle of constant repairs because it was "tuned" by someone like you.

>I just don't want the hassle of constant repairs
Don't buy a performance vehicle.

I already own two, broseph

This experience has taught me that STi owners tend to have no idea about the right way to do things, half ass the mods, and fuck the car up. Honestly, I'd buy the hell out of a working, unmodded STi and never touch a damn thing on it.

This dude has the best advice I've gotten so far: