Hello,
I have owned a Forester XT for the last two years and its a great car. However being a man, I now feel I need something quicker and have been looking into the imported STI version. Quite a jump in price. I tested one last weekend and the acceleration was epic and a great drive, but there was the beginnings of rust around the rear wheel arches, which my XT had and then got worse as time went on. For a 10K car I didnt want to worry about a growing rust issue.
I have a couple of questions for those lucky people who own a STI if they would be so kind to chip in and talk about their experiences
1. Is it better to buy one that already has had a UK owner than one thats been freshly imported? Yes there maybe more miles but they would have sorted out any niggles like Japanese radio etc? I noticed on a thread one person was the 1st owner of an import and he had about 7 niggles with it.
2. Seen a couple of posts about 2.5 engine being problematic. Is this true? Or as long as is serviced regularly its ok.
3. Are any parts difficult to get hold of because its imported?
4. Is there any particular year or version that is more sort after? I see the words SG9 and facelift quite often when Im looking.
5. Don't want to be boring and talk about MPG. But Im presuming if driven reasonably on motorways as it has 6 gears its not much more terrible than my 2.0XT. I do 2 trips to work a week, each round trip is 140 miles.
6. Is there anything I should know/ be looking for when viewing them? I heard about JEVIC Certificate, which proves the Japanese mileage. Im presuming underseal or something similiar should be done too. Im aiming for the standard version as think it will be easier to resell when the time comes, plus got a great deal on insurance for one.
Thanks again for any advice you may have,
George
