Legacy B4 (2001, Dec 2017 Import) £6000

[Henry M]

(Copied from the same post on the UK Legacy forums)

Just testing out the water with this one, the car is booked in for diagnostics next week due to an oil leak under certain WOT conditions so if that ends up being minor I will fix, or if it is the primary turbo which I suspect I will of course reconsider the price.

Here is my 2001 Dec 2017 Import Legacy B4, I've owned it since December being the first person in this country to own it and have the first registration documents to evidence this, as well as the export sheet from Japan documenting when it was exported into the UK and what the mileage (In KM) was at. I bought it off a man who ran a small business in Manchester importing cars from Japan and selling them over here (DriveAwayCars). When it came over it also had the speedo converted into miles (successfully) as well as the odometer (unsuccessfully, more on this in a mo) .

Since being in my possession it has had the following work done:

(ICP = ImportCarParts.com)

Oil (STI) & Air Filter change (Ordered from ICP)
iridium Spark Plugs (Ordered from ICP)
Oil service with Millers 5w40 oil 
Coolant FLUSH 
Phase 2 OEM Cambelt 
OEM Idler and tensioner pulleys
AIr con pulley OEM
Fan belt OEM
Gearbox and rear Differential oil replaced with OEM specified oils (75w90)
brake pads front and back (Ordered from ICP) 
Bridgestone 215/45/17 tyres at a cost of £110 a pop
I also found a set of 17x7 ET48 OZ Superleggera's which I had re powder coated as they had come off a 94 Impreza, no curbing though! Seven and a half kg a wheel without the tyre. 
ALWAYS run on Tesco Momentum 99RON 
The radiator was also replaced when the car was brought over

In terms of modifications all I've done is the wheels, the previous Japanese owner did however install a manual boost controller, front strut tower sway bar, dump valve, aftermarket coolant and boost gauges and some coilovers which are not to my taste as the ride is somewhat harsh around the utterly horrid roads where I live. However, is what it is. It's not low enough to rub, otherwise they would have been the first things to go. There are no eBay intakes or trademark exhibitionist Subaru big bore exhausts to be found here, aside from what I have mentioned the car is stock.

Bad points:

Being an 18 year old car, the paint isn't fantastic. There's no scrapes or dents or flaking anywhere, just the occasional mark here and there mainly reserved to the front bumper. Its also had the fog light covers replaced with aftermarket steel ones which are not watertight and as a result I suspect water pools a little behind the covers so there's a hint of discoloration around the rim of the cover. There's no metal for it to make contact with behind there so it wasn't on the top of my to do list. 
Any service history from its life in Japan was lost in transit, so I can only evidence the work that I have had done. The belts we pulled off were aftermarket however and the oil that came in the car when I picked it up was no older than 5000 miles, but that's all I can attest to. 
The mileage when I picked up the car read 55,975 (the first registration documents also evidence this), as I was told it had been converted to miles. I then happened upon the export sheet in the glove box which states as of December 2017 the mileage was 105,000km, which roughly translates to 65k miles. He told me it must have been a mistake, I suspect he tried rolling the clocks a bit back for a better sale. The speedo however reads accurately in MPH as I have tested it alongside my GPS. The car does still record its mileage in KM, and now reads 58,897 which when translated from KM to miles is 1815 miles. Thats 1800 miles AFTER all the aformentioned servicing. So the cars sitting at approx 67k miles give or take a handful. 
In the cold winter months on cold starts a wiff of petrol occasionally finds its way into the cabin - I've also asked that the shop attempt to locate the source of this. I haven't smelt anything since around late March when it got a bit warmer.
Its extremely minor but the passenger front caliper is missing a spring retainer for the pad so occasionally over bumps you'll hear a bit of noise from it. I've been told it doesn't effect braking and isn't a MOT issue. 
As I stated above the car is booked in next weeks for diagnostics, I will of course update this as I know more. 
It's not a fault of the car but the fuel economy is worth noting, but any of you who have owned a Subaru will be no stranger to this. Expect mid 20's motorway and reliably less than 20mpg urban.

I'm sure you're all aware of the features of these cars so I'll just list out the basics. EJ208 2.0L Boxer 4 w/ Sequential twin turbos, 550cc STI Injectors (Factory standard) 276HP and 254lb ft standard, twin pot front brakes, 5 speed manual transmission, symmetrical 4WD. This car is COMPLETELY free of rust. It's lived its life in Japan, its never been treated underneath, the sills are perfect.

I bought this car with the intentions of keeping it and driving it as far as a possibly could, but the rose tinted goggles have come off and I've put more into the car than I can reasonably justify to myself. Not being a true enthusiast or handy with a wrench, I've decided its best to part ways. I'd love to see the car go to a proper nut who can wrench on it and drive it properly so I'm posting it here first.

The car has always been warmed up keeping the revs below 3k and throttle less than 25% until temp has been reached for 5-10 minutes. It's also always been cooled down with 5-10 minutes of calm driving keeping the revs just below 2k to provide plenty of oil flow to the turbos. I've never ragged the car, ever. It wasn't bought to rag on. I've also religiously checked the oil 2-3 times a week. The car doesn't smoke or make weird noises. The clutch also has plenty of life left in it, I always do my best to flat upshift and rev match on downshifts, I'm no racing driver but I usually get it to within 100-200rpms. I drive for a living so spend plenty of time around manuals. I have a company car though, this has never been used for work.

Come and have a look around it, bring anyone you like and a flashlight. Test drives are available, but I will be driving. We will start the car cold, warm it up and drive it down some quiet roads where we can open it up.

Any more information I haven't given please feel free to ask, I will take more photos in and around the car if desired.

Thanks for making it this far.

Cheers,

Henry

[Henry M]

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FarFu5m3anvHSNJG10olq4u7kr9xBwwz?usp=sharing Much more detailed photos in and around the car for anyone interested. The car has been in for diagnostics and found oil in the intercooler, which was cleaned out by Cotton Competition, who have also done most of the work on this car. The cause of this is suspected wear on the primary turbo, I have only noticed the car use oil on two occasions, and the conditions in which it manifested were 30-45 mins of driving, with just over half a dozen WOT pulls from around 3krpm - 4.5krpm (with everything well up to temp of course). Under normal driving conditions and all throttle inputs I have not found the car to use any oil, and I check it multiple times a week. The petrol smell is most likely originating from a rubber hose on one of the fuel lines which I hear is a common issue on the Impreza's as well, it's hard to track down as since the weathers got warmer the smells disappeared completely. There's no visual signs in the engine bay of a tangible leak, and believe me they looked. Price reconsidered to £4000 as I do have more pressing matters to attend to. I can't stress enough the minor nature of these issues, the car otherwise wants for nothing. All of the work has been freshly done by Subaru professionals, and it drives like a dream. If anything I have outlined has LED you to believe the car is in any kind of rough condition, take a look at the link above. 

[Henry M]

£3000