School me a little on STIs

SilverELEX

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So the time has come for my girlfriend to buy a new car and im tryin to get her into an sti. I wouldnt mind drivin it now and then too.:rolling: She likes em and found one that were going to look at on saturday. Its a stock 05 and has 75k on it. Im just wondering how these things hold up with higher milage and problem areas to look at. Ill probably post this at a Subie forum but wanted to get a somewhat unbiased opinion.
 

kameleongt

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try searchin on some sti forums or subaru im sure they will be more helpful I was planning on getting a evo for my g/f and the first thing I did was go to the forums and ask questions or look through a bunch of post. :) GL
 

KevanoWS6

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im sure if it was well maintained, it should be in good condition. the only problem with buying a car like that with 75k or even if it had 15k is who the previous ower was. if it was some punk ass high school kid, they probably beat the piss out of it. my advice would be to find a trustowrthy mechanic and have them check it for you. the 05's are nice, my friend had one and it was a great car. good luck with everything. take pics!
 

Venom1320

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They're nice cars, and mostly reliable, but IF it breaks, it's a royal whore to work on. My buddy does Subaru work and even he said they're a major PITA to work on. I wanted one bad until then. He converted his friend's wagon to an STI by adding everything afterwards(turbo kit, etc), and said the engine bay was tighter than a bulls ass.

If it's well maintained you should be ok though. We work on just about everything where I work and the few times we get scooby's it's always dumb simple shit that goes wrong, or worst case an axle boot. Other than that they're pretty decent.

And FYI, not that it'll really matter to you since you probably won't do squat to it, but the 5sp's are like paper mache when you put like 350+hp through them.

I'm not an expert but this is my experience with them. Get some info on the subaru forums too. Good luck!
 

DriftwoodSVT

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Subaru is very well known for their reliability, and they make one of the best AWD systems on the market. Don't let haters fool you. The repair costs are fairly high but they are reliable. Myself, I'd avoid an 05 with 75k miles. That's really high for a 3 year old car.

Read up on www.nasioc.com and www.iwsti.com if you want real info on STIs.

One thing to consider is insurance on an STI is very expensive.
 
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Juruense

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Why don't you give your girlfriend REAL car buying advice instead of trying to trick her into buying something that you want?

High mileage STi will be nothing but problems IMHO.

Tell her to get a Focus, Tercel, or a Civic.
 

07TorchRedGT

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I would look for the signs of the original owner reverting it back to stock.
If it was modded there are definitely right and wrong ways of doing it.
The main thing I would wory about would be the routine maintenance you would be getting into, if it hasnt been done. 75k miles you maybe looking at doing a clutch. Clutches are not cheap. Then, the flywheel may not be serviceable. The brakes being brembos wont be cheap to replace. Tires arent cheap. then you got all that basic stuff like your fluids in the 3 diffs, engine and tranny oil.
Im not trying to disway you, But it is a performance car and I dont know to many people who wouldn't have used it for what it has.

They are reliable, just remember the maintenance costs.
 

Venom1320

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Don't let haters fool you.

Where are they? :shrug:

Seemed like everyone was pretty much FOR the idea, just gave him good advice. My friend has worked on enough of them that he knows his stuff, and they ARE a problem child to work on. And you even said it, repairs may be few and far between but they'll take your first born to fix.
 

Mika

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Aside from spark plugs, how are they a problem child to work on? They're relatively easy to work on, as long as you got the right tools.

True to the tires, brakes being expensive. Clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing and a flywheel can be had under $1k, and most of that would be the flywheel. You can put the clutch in yourself, as the tranny is behind the motor and not beside it.

All US STi's came with a 6 speed tranny, which is stout. That shouldn't be much of an issue. As far as an '05 with 75k on it, it's more likely than not been on the highway a lot. If you look around, you can find an '05 STi with less than 30k on it for around $22-24k.




Mika
 

Venom1320

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I have no idea personally what makes them difficult to work on, but I know my friend knows them inside out and backwards and he said they're a bitch. He pretty much rebuilt his friend's STI from the ground up and it's a sick car! Maybe he doesn't have the right tools? I dunno. :shrug: never said they were bad cars though, I like them. :rockon:
 

SilverELEX

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Why don't you give your girlfriend REAL car buying advice instead of trying to trick her into buying something that you want?

High mileage STi will be nothing but problems IMHO.

Tell her to get a Focus, Tercel, or a Civic.

Thanks for your non advice and go kill yourself BTW. It was something I suggested to her and she liked the idea. No one is forcing her to buy the car and is one of a few DIFFERENT cars we will be looking at tomorrow. She is driving an 01 Grand Prix and wants something fun to drive. Is that enough reason for you that I suggested it? I swear, some people and their ignorant, uneducated comments. You should consider giving a follow up to reasons why you wouldnt buy a higher mileage STi. I doubt you have any experience with them at all.
 

grinner

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sti... perky, cabale and over-priced.
srt4... still a neon.
evo... same thing. Ya cant drink a fat girl skinny.
 

terrible one

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i was origanally going to buy a full size truck but now with gas prices im thinking im just gonna keep the ranger and get an EVO or STi..... just dont know what, but its not for another year or so.
 

L8APEX

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The only bad thing about the Evo is that up untill the Evo X, they had no cruise control. I like having it, especially for trips and driving in towns where there are alot of LEO's running radar, it allows you to keep your eye on the road and not worry about "Am I speeding?"
That being said I still like the Evo VIII +. It is the only Mitsu I'd ever consider buying. My cousin has 4 3000gt's (three Vr4's one SL) and his soon to be wife has an Evo X and a 2nd gen Eclipse GSX. I have worked on his favorite VR4 alone more than I have on my own truck. Of course whenever I work on the truck it's always just for maintenance and mods, never crap breaking. :D
 
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