Newbie, Considering getting a wrx, or sti

[mbfinatic]

Hi, I am considering getting a subaru wrx or sti. I am not familiar with these cars that well and do not know what to look for exactly. I have been a mercedes guy for quite some time. I just drove a friends sti and loved it. He is looking to sell it but some things are worrying me about purchasing the car.. It has a lot of mods on it and it has a very rough idle, not to mention the price..

Here is my current vehicle.

[SD_GR]

Welcome. If you want a Subaru, I'd recommend the newest one within your budget that has been maintained using only authentic Subaru parts. See:

Complete USED WRX Buying Checklist

and

How to Buy a Used WRX or STI

and

Online Purchasing Resources

and

Purchasing Tips

[mbfinatic]

Thank you for the info!

[Mike193]

chances are any wrx or sti with low mileage has been used thoroughly, ive owned mine for 3 or 4 weeks, and i could tell you i would not like to buy it used from myself, lmao granted its not smashed or beaten to ****, but i know ive dropped the clutch out a couple times and i have rallyed with it once or twice

[teflon_jones]

I'd stay away from your friend's car.

Whether you go for the WRX or STI depends on several things, including your budget and your driving style. There's a million threads on here about this so do a search.

[mbfinatic]

Yeah , they had a trusted inspector check out the vehicle. It is a 2007 with 36k on it. It apperantly had a new ecu system but has a bad idle. The last thing I want is to buy it and I get a lot of problems..

[teflon_jones]

Yeah walk away from that car...

[mbfinatic]

Im thinking about going for a stock sti but is it worth the extra over the regular wrx? Is the performance really that different?

[Tom-Wrx]

Welcome to the forum and subaru world . The Stock sti has 300 hp compared to 227 hp 02-05 wrx , 230 hp 2006-current,The sti also has a 6 speed tranny compared to 5 speed wrx. The features that come with the sti are well worth it. i would of bought one myself but i decided i wanted a wrx first, i hoped this helped.

[mbfinatic]

Yes it did help a lot. I think the car will be very fun and just about as fast as my current car..

[KHP]

Welcome to the forum and subaru world . The Stock sti has 300 hp compared to 227 hp 02-05 wrx , 230 hp 2006-current,The sti also has a 6 speed tranny compared to 5 speed wrx. The features that come with the sti are well worth it. i would of bought one myself but i decided i wanted a wrx first, i hoped this helped.

Just so you know 2009+ WRX's have 265hp engines.

[BigDaddyRex]

I'll start off by saying that I love my WRX, and am glad I went that route. That said, if you drove your friends STI and that was what convinced you ... then you need to buy an STI and not a WRX. They do have differences in performance and handling, and I'm guessing you would be disappointed if you got a car that did not seem to be up to the experience you already had. Either way, its a good choice - though the interior will be a step down from MB.

[mbfinatic]

Great info! I like the styling of the 06-07 a lot. How is the reliability?

[wrxtreme06]

welcome. any car is reliable if you take care of it, and if the previous owner took care of it.

i bought my 06 brand new and havent had any issues at all with it.

[BigDaddyRex]

Great info! I like the styling of the 06-07 a lot. How is the reliability?

The key is who owned it and what they did with it. Many of these have been modded, some modded and returned to stock. Be sure to have a tech look it over that you trust and who knows Subies - a good tech can tell you what has been changed, even what has been returned to stock. Properly cared for these are reliable cars that can easily be taken to high mileage totals while still maintaining performance.