[backes07]

Hello WRX owners..

I am new to the Subaru World and am looking to get into a WRX or STI...

I currently own a Dodge Charger SRT and switching over to a Subaru is going to be a huge difference for me..

Right now I am currently looking at a few WRX's here in Colorado all with around 20k miles and within the 15/16 model year..

I am also looking at an 11 STI with about 56k miles.

I know the WRX has the 2.0L engine and STI The 2.5..

Now my biggest question is, what is the reliability of these motors? Especially the 2.5? Since I am coming from driving a 6.1L V8 these motors are very unfamiliar to me and am just curious what the perks are and what the downfalls are?

My last main question is, what's the better deal here... A 2015 WRX Premium or a fully loaded 11 STI...

Thanks everyone!

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[WRX John]

The STi is a great car. As you asked however, buying a four year newer WRX with less than 40% of the miles of the STI, to me, I would buy a 15 WRX hands down.

 

[Firefighterjake]

I guess I also would like to know the price of these two options . . . and then compare it against a brand new WRX or STI -- namely because with financing AND the fact that there is a Subaru dealer in Colorado (and right here on our site) that reportedly offers very, very good deals on new WRXs . . . there is a good chance you might do better with a brand new, know-how-it-was-broke-in-from-Day-1 WRX or STI.

 

[WRX John]

Heuberger Motors in Colorado Spirngs (I saved $2,000+ by getting my 2017 there (and I live n the Pacific Northwest)). If that option works within your budget, make sure you only deal with their internet director, submit a quote, as per this thread -- for that will save you many hundreds as opposed to their regular salespersons), as in this post# 1 of this thread:

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/heube...42-heuberger-motors-quote-request-thread.html

 

[backes07]

The STi is a great car. As you asked however, buying a four year newer WRX with less than 40% of the miles of the STI, to me, I would buy a 15 WRX hands down.

I can agree with that completely.

I think what I'm stuck on is the STI having a bit more power than the WRX... Now I'm not sure what aftermarket can do to these cars as like I said before this is a whole new realm for me but I definitely can agree with going newer WRX..

How reliable is the WRX 2.0L? What's maintenance like (oil change etc?) Currently my charger takes about 7 quarts of 0w 40 which runs about $110 so I'm just curious what the costs are..

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[backes07]

I guess I also would like to know the price of these two options . . . and then compare it against a brand new WRX or STI -- namely because with financing AND the fact that there is a Subaru dealer in Colorado (and right here on our site) that reportedly offers very, very good deals on new WRXs . . . there is a good chance you might do better with a brand new, know-how-it-was-broke-in-from-Day-1 WRX or STI.

From the cars I've come across online the 15/16 WRXs I've looked at are running from about 23k to 24k with around 20k miles..

The 11 STI I came across has 56k miles and is up for sale at 25k.

I figured I could try to talk them down a couple thousand on either of the options.

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[backes07]

Heuberger Motors in Colorado Spirngs (I saved $2,000+ by getting my 2017 there (and I live n the Pacific Northwest)). If that option works within your budget, make sure you only deal with their internet director, submit a quote, as per this thread -- for that will save you many hundreds as opposed to their regular salespersons), as in this post# 1 of this thread:

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/heube...42-heuberger-motors-quote-request-thread.html

I will definitely give that a look...

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[XJman]

I can agree with that completely.

I think what I'm stuck on is the STI having a bit more power than the WRX... Now I'm not sure what aftermarket can do to these cars as like I said before this is a whole new realm for me but I definitely can agree with going newer WRX..

How reliable is the WRX 2.0L? What's maintenance like (oil change etc?) Currently my charger takes about 7 quarts of 0w 40 which runs about $110 so I'm just curious what the costs are..

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Reliability is all down to the owner. There are plenty of examples of both the ej257 and the fa20 dead before 100k. These cars tend to get beaten to death and owned by people more interested in taking shortcuts on modifications than spending the money to do it right.

The ej engines take about just over 4 quarts, I personally use rotella t6 5w40 and do 3k oil changes. The oil is roughly 25 a gallon. Filters are like 6 bucks, so you can do the math from there. It's not insane to maintain, but lack of maintenance on a turbo engine can cause issues really fast. The biggest pain are the plugs and coils. They are not expensive, but they are a giant pain in the rectum to deal with. Most other things are pretty simple to do yourself.

Having gone down the use WRX path myself, I don't know that I would do it again, there are too many unknowns when purchasing a used car, combined with the beating the small turbo 4 cars get you can find yourself in a hole really fast.

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[backes07]

Reliability is all down to the owner. There are plenty of examples of both the ej257 and the fa20 dead before 100k. These cars tend to get beaten to death and owned by people more interested in taking shortcuts on modifications than spending the money to do it right.

The ej engines take about just over 4 quarts, I personally use rotella t6 5w40 and do 3k oil changes. The oil is roughly 25 a gallon. Filters are like 6 bucks, so you can do the math from there. It's not insane to maintain, but lack of maintenance on a turbo engine can cause issues really fast. The biggest pain are the plugs and coils. They are not expensive, but they are a giant pain in the rectum to deal with. Most other things are pretty simple to do yourself.

Having gone down the use WRX path myself, I don't know that I would do it again, there are too many unknowns when purchasing a used car, combined with the beating the small turbo 4 cars get you can find yourself in a hole really fast.

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Understandable and like you said I'm sure there are plenty of ways to kill a car doing things wrong vs the right way... I see it all the time in the Mopar world especially when people begin mod the motors (add boost, came etc).. Mopars tend to blow things rather quickly whether that be a tranny, motor, drive shaft.. etc.

Since I'm looking at a used STI with 56k miles.. is there anything to look for specifically or when driving to feel out?

Sounds to me like the safest bet is to go with a WRX that's pretty low miles...

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[XJman]

I would ask specifically about modifications. What is modified, how was the vehicle remapped for the tunes. I would work it out where the seller will pay for a prepurchase inspection from a reputable shop and if it passes you reimburse them. If they are confident in what they are selling they will go for it.

I would have compression, leak down, boost, and vacuum leak tests done at minimum. Anything comes back with a fail I would consider moving on. I would also avoid anything with cheap coilovers. They tend to be short lived and perform poorly compared to the stock setup.

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[HeubergerMotors]

Heuberger Motors in Colorado Spirngs (I saved $2,000+ by getting my 2017 there (and I live n the Pacific Northwest)). If that option works within your budget, make sure you only deal with their internet director, submit a quote, as per this thread -- for that will save you many hundreds as opposed to their regular salespersons), as in this post# 1 of this thread:

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/heube...42-heuberger-motors-quote-request-thread.html

Thanks for the recommendation!! and you are correct, send me an email (if you haven't already, ill get you all the numbers to see whats best for you)

 

[Firefighterjake]

From the cars I've come across online the 15/16 WRXs I've looked at are running from about 23k to 24k with around 20k miles..

The 11 STI I came across has 56k miles and is up for sale at 25k.

I figured I could try to talk them down a couple thousand on either of the options.

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At those numbers I would try Heuberger to see what they can do for you . . . when you price in the interest rates on new cars and the POM (peace of mind) that comes with knowing exactly how a car was maintained from Day 1 for me personally it would be a no brainer to go with a new car.

 

[EJ257]

Thanks for the recommendation!! and you are correct, send me an email (if you haven't already, ill get you all the numbers to see whats best for you)

Quotes like this (from another thread):

When you decide, give me a holler! I'll price you out so you know what to pay for the car, ask your dealer to match my deal with shipping included. If they wont, my numbers wont change and I'd love to earn your business! (Either way, I'll help you get the best deal!)

-Kenzie

You're going to continue to get good recommendations. There's something to be said about a vendor who looks out for the members on the site, even if it doesn't lead up to a sale. That is something I preach from my vendor account :thumbup:

 

[BananaSammiches]

What it really comes down to is what your long-term goals are for the car. Are you planning on heavily modifying it for big power? Are you just looking to do some simple bolt-on upgrades? Are you looking to keep it stock? First off, understand that whether you go with the STI with the EJ257, or the 15+ WRX with the FA20DIT, both of these engines will require extensive modifications in order to support a lot of power. Secondly, as a WRX owner, I would tell you to get the STI. The reason behind this is simple: the drivetrain. The transmissions in the STI are much stronger than the ones found in the WRXs, which gives you the option to eventually push a lot of power out of the STI without having to upgrade your transmission, except for the clutch. I am eventually planning on swapping an STI drivetrain into my car for the simple fact that my current transmission cannot support the power goals I have for this car. Or, maybe you just plan on throwing on exhaust on it and having it tuned, and that's fine, too. However, you might decide that once you get a taste of modifying your car, you'll probably want to do more, and that's where the weaknesses of the WRX drivetrain will really start to become apparent. It's all about what YOU want to do with the car. I bought my 2006 WRX back in 2013 and it had 39.5k miles on it at the time (I got really lucky), and even though it's a much older model I have had no serious issues with it whatsoever, even after putting quite a few mods on it. Newer doesn't always mean better. One of the most highly sought-after models of the STI is the 2005 model. Just food for thought.

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[HeubergerMotors]

Quotes like this (from another thread):


You're going to continue to get good recommendations. There's something to be said about a vendor who looks out for the members on the site, even if it doesn't lead up to a sale. That is something I preach from my vendor account :thumbup:

Thanks Man!

I've grown up in the automotive world, we are a good group of people who share the same taste. I was appointed this job because I am one of you! I dont want to see anyone get tricked by dealers. I'm %100 against that.

 

[backes07]

Thanks for the recommendation!! and you are correct, send me an email (if you haven't already, ill get you all the numbers to see whats best for you)

I will be sending an email shortly... Looking forward to seeing what's available..

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[backes07]

At those numbers I would try Heuberger to see what they can do for you . . . when you price in the interest rates on new cars and the POM (peace of mind) that comes with knowing exactly how a car was maintained from Day 1 for me personally it would be a no brainer to go with a new car.

And I definitely agree with that... Something I wish I had with my Charger lol... Had some issues that wouldn't have been there if I had been able to take care of it from the start..

I will be contacting them to see what's possible from their end.

Thanks for the help man

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[backes07]

What it really comes down to is what your long-term goals are for the car. Are you planning on heavily modifying it for big power? Are you just looking to do some simple bolt-on upgrades? First off, understand that whether you go with the STI with the EJ257, or the 15+ WRX with the FA20DIT, both of these engines will require extensive modifications in order to support a lot of power. Secondly, as a WRX owner, I would tell you to get the STI. The reason behind this is simple: the drivetrain. The transmissions in the STI are much stronger than the ones found in the WRXs, which gives you the option to eventually push a lot of power out of the STI without having to upgrade your transmission, except for the clutch. I am eventually planning on swapping an STI drivetrain into my car for the simple fact that my current transmission cannot support the power goals I have for this car. Or, maybe you just plan on throwing on exhaust on it and having it tuned, and that's fine, too. However, you might decide that once you get a taste of modifying your car, you'll probably want to do more, and that's where the weaknesses of the WRX drivetrain will really start to become apparent. It's all about what YOU want to do with the car. I bought a 2006 WRX back in 2013 that had 39.5k miles on it at the time (I got really lucky), and even though it's a much older model I have had no serious issues with it whatsoever, even after putting quite a few mods on it. Newer doesn't always mean better. One of the most highly sought-after models of the STI is the 2005 model. Just food for thought.

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Thanks for the advice.. and the run down on the difference between drive train on both cars...

As you said the STI for me seems like the better option... Coming from a Charger with 475 horsepower I feel I may want to push the power limits a little bit down the road..

I am a huge fan and always have been of modding and I know I'm going to want to do something to the car whatever one I get. Just a matter of the extent I am going to want to take it.

The biggest thing I'm nervous about is not knowing the service history of a 56k mile car..(STI) where with the WRX I feel relatively comfortable buying one with around 19-20k miles..

Thanks again for the help!

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[BananaSammiches]

Thanks for the advice.. and the run down on the difference between drive train on both cars...

As you said the STI for me seems like the better option... Coming from a Charger with 475 horsepower I feel I may want to push the power limits a little bit down the road..

I am a huge fan and always have been of modding and I know I'm going to want to do something to the car whatever one I get. Just a matter of the extent I am going to want to take it.

The biggest thing I'm nervous about is not knowing the service history of a 56k mile car..(STI) where with the WRX I feel relatively comfortable buying one with around 19-20k miles..

Thanks again for the help!

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No problem! Always happy to help. I can tell you right now, Subaru motors are... finicky, lol. They're great cars and they're a lot of fun, but you definitely have to stay on top of your maintenance, and some things that would be easy on most cars are a PITA on Subarus, i.e. spark plugs. That being said, unless that STI was put together with a bunch of wonky eBay mods, a ****ty tune, and the oil changes were only done every 10k+ miles, the fact that it has 56k miles on it is no big deal. In fact, considering that the average mileage gain for the average driver is about 12k miles a year, that STI actually has about 16k miles less than it should have, which is a good sign. If you're the kind of guy who likes building up your car--and it sounds like you are--the STI is the better choice because you have that peace of mind with the stronger drivetrain. You don't HAVE to build a 500+whp car out of it, but it's nice to know that you can and the transmission will support it. Of course, abusing any transmission will eventually cause it to fail, but the STI trannys are leagues better than the WRX. There are guys out there putting down 700-800whp with 600+wtq on stock 6-speeds. The only reason I bought the car that I did is because I wanted that specific generation (Hawkeye) and in the wagon body style, and I wanted something unique to me that I could build into what I wanted. Good luck!

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