Hey all, I’m new here and hopefully soon new to the world of Subaru. I am currently in the market for a Subaru Forester STI 2.5 import from Japan. If anyone has anything just let me know and hopefully I can soon join the world of Subaru ownership!

 I bought a 2005 Facelift model in 2013 for £9K with 80K miles. It suffered HG failure within 5K of ownership but they are such great little motors I got a professional forged engine rebuild and kept for another 18 months before a house move had it moving on in 2015. I sold her with 98K miles for £10K

Looking recently 70-80k mile machines seem to be going for £10-12K and many of these are advertised with none OE alloys and original JDM head units which will need replacing.  Make sure in addition to import docs the speedo has been converted, it has been mapped for 97-99 Ron fuel and you will almost certainly have to under seal it. 

Although a great package on paper with Milltek 3" straight through SS exhaust, STI body kits and decent (for the time) Head units stay clear of the Litchfield imports as high milers do seem to suffer more HG issues than most.  Consensus from owners is the mapping was the culprit

Try as many out as possible as many have been ruined by crap mapping, cheap coilovers and tacky interior mods

hi Chris,  You might like to check out my recent post....