Some newbie WRX purchasing Q's

[Tyfud]

Brand new to the forums, and also to the Suburu/WRX world.

I just got back from a race event with some friends of mine, where they were racing some Mazda Speed3's against a bunch of honda's (S2000, etc) vipers, and even some seriously modded STI's.

I got the opportunity to drive the Speed3 on the track against some of the other cars out there, and while I'm a new racer (I come from a motocross/superbike racing world), I seriously enjoyed the competitive car racing experience. I'm sold. But I live where snow/weather is a problem. I currently own a Rav4, and I love the AWD. So my first pre-req for buying into a car that can start performing on the track was that it was AWD.

My speed3 guys immediately recommended the WRX or the STI. Right now, I think the STI is a bit more than I really need, and I'd like the opportunity to work on a WRX and pump some cash into it for performance upgrades down the road when my skill level can start taking advantage of them.

Long story short, I was curious about the following from the helpful experts I've seen on these forums

1.) After driving a Speed3, what should I expect to feel different when I test drive the WRX and how does the WRX stack up to a Speed3 or other cars at that level?
2.) I think I found someone, a prominent used car dealership selling a 2005 WRX (black) with 16k miles, for $19k. Is that a solid price? That low miles, anything I should look for, or are chances that a Grandmother was driving that and decided to get rid of it?
3.) How well do Subaru's stack against Toyota's/Honda's in terms of maintainability costs and maintenance occurrences?

Thanks for the help!

[wrxtreme06]

1.) After driving a Speed3, what should I expect to feel different when I test drive the WRX and how does the WRX stack up to a Speed3 or other cars at that level?
2.) I think I found someone, a prominent used car dealership selling a 2005 WRX (black) with 16k miles, for $19k. Is that a solid price? That low miles, anything I should look for, or are chances that a Grandmother was driving that and decided to get rid of it?
3.) How well do Subaru's stack against Toyota's/Honda's in terms of maintainability costs and maintenance occurrences?

Thanks for the help!

1) you should expect to feel SAFE. i test drove the speed3 and i felt very unsafe due to the torque steer. i was barely getting on it and the car was all over the road. i think it has way too much hp/tq for being FWD.

2) 16k miles is GREAT however that price isnt. for 19k you can get a used 06/07... try to chew down the price. you should look for any modifications... the more stock it is, the better.

3) well, i've had 3 hondas previous to the wrx and i've found them to pretty much be the same. of course regular oil changes are a must... and for the wrx there are points that we have to have "major inspections" (30k miles... 45k miles... 60k miles... etc etc) which will probably cost a bit