hi, questions about sti

[ejmonkey3]

ive always been a fan of the sti and have ridden in a few and always wanted one but now im very serious in buying one. i have a few questions that hopefully you guys here can help me out.

first off all ive never been into buying used cars, especially an sti, just seems like a car that everyone would beat and, i know i would. anyways its alot cheaper to buy a used one so thats why im considering it, my question is though is should i trust to buy a used one or should i get a new one?

what kind of issues do sti's usually have? every car has ther own faults and issues, im just wondering what the sti's is. any recalls? im looking at an 04, is this a good year or should i go up one because that was its first year?

is it really good in the winter? just because a car has AWD doesnt mean that it goes through good in the winter, after all the sti doesnt have much ground clearence. but does it perform well in the winter, any experience that if you didnt have AWD, you would of crashed for sure? is it really AWD, or is a 3 wheel wonder?

whats ther average gas mileage you guys get?

Does the sti have a Timing chain or Belt?

what are some of the first modifications should i do? , please dont say CAI, what do they offer, any subaru upgrades on parts like turbos, or any other performance shop that has some good stuff for sti's?

i know its alot of questions but i would appreciate anyones help. thanks in advance!

[Sasquatch]

Greetings and welcome to the club!

Buying a used anything could be risky, especially high performance cars as they are more like to get beat on. I would have any car checked over by a good auto technician before buying.

There have been issues with the struts failing on the 2004 - I know there are threads devoted to this subject. Many never have problems.

AWD is only as good as the tires and the driver. The OEM tires would be awful in the snow. At the very least all season tires will be needed - dedicated winter only tires are best.

Mileage varies quite a bit but I think I am safe to say from 17 - 22 mpg.

Have a look here: http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/car-purchasing-forum/ for more info. Happy hunting.

[TheJ]

Welcome to the club!

[ejmonkey3]

thanks guys, i now recall hearing about the strut issues.

[302@12psi]

It's always an obvious risk when buying used. If you MUST buy used I'd avoid anything with mods, high miles, and beyond a doubt have it checked out by a good shop before buying it.



The one thing that comes to mind is the strut issue that was brought up earlier. Early 04's had some ECU issues but they were for the most part fixed with a reflash. Other then that there isnt alot of "common" failures. Even the 04's with 100K miles arent reporting to many issues. Doesnt mean that the one you picked out wont take a dump a week after you take it off the lot.



STI's with proper tires and a common sense approach is a blast in the snow. As long as you dont get into anything to deep for the ride height the car will do just about anything you want it to. I locked my DCCD once last year to get up a very steep and icy incline. The STI didnt miss a beat. I didnt even feel ANY tire slipping at all. The STI isnt a 3 wheel wonder.

I average around 25 mpg will my high's being 29 and lows around 22. Mine are on the high side of life through...I'd expect low 20's unless you are beating on it alot.

STI's have timing belts.

As for first mods they are pretty basic. If you are looking for some power add some sort of engine management and a turbo back exhaust. Suspension then look into some sway bars and endlinks along with an alignment.