Tidgy

welcome 🙂 get some pics up

as above not many in green about. also steering wheel is on the wrong side? hahahaha

bubbling (water flowing sound behind the dash) in the heater matrix prob nothing to do with headgasket. Mines does it, did it before the rebuild, after the rebuild and has done for 2 years i've had the car, my old wrx did it as well. If it's not using fluid, overheating etc etc then i suspect your worrying about nothing 🙂 By all means sniff test it but i suspect its fine.

wow, the hidden rot will alot worse, may find suspension tops have gone as well. Nice to see them get reserected so good luck and get photos up as you go along 😄

Sounds like you need an alarm specialist to come out and sort it, if theres all sort of patched in systems and no fobs etc will prob be more hassel than just getting it orted once and for all.

https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-recall although you may need to ring subaru as im not sure how accurate the website actually is.

Welcome. can only reiterate whats been said, with an NA subaru just not worth the cost vs gains. it will work out alot cheaper just to buy a turbo factory model

yeh alwasy a punt, if it is sensor related then happy days, fingers crossed.

sounds about right, turbo will pretty much be the limit of waht it does. where you having it mapped?

F10 or F90 m5 will be my next car, simply cos decat and map and its 700bhp haha

check the recall list, not sure exactly which models were affected by i know some suspension parts were part of one. might save you some money.

What is on the vin plate? i;ve never heard of dvla taking owners club info as gospel, they have always said must come from the manufacturer in the past :S

Subaru uk seem to be doing everything in their power to make the subaru brand on the uk fail, only offering auto's, poor deals, only selling from stock rather than what folks order etc etc tis rather sad 😞

Need to get a leak down test done that will tell you if you have valve issues.

o other thing is they just seem to make it up at times,,, hahaha

manufacture date should be on the vin plate even on a jap import.

Just a slight correction, they are Vmaxx, no Kmaxx. https://www.v-maxx.com/en/products/big-brake-kits found out when i went looking at brake upgrade options haha

Insurance prices seem to vary massivley depending on history, location etc etc etc Best bet ring round a few places that specialise and see what you get, I've used Keith Michaels for a number of years now as they always come out pretty much the cheapest and i've had good service from them.

hate to say it but never buy a car with a check engine light on, especially a performance car. Just because they says its because of decat it might well be something alot more serious. As said you need to get it to a specialist to find out whats going on.

My dads needed a new wheel bearing alot sooner than expected circa 18 months/2 years so worth getting that checked out. See what the dealer finds and go from there 🙂

very familiar car to me i think?, bought it from a mate of mine ben?

welcome 🙂

Prob cos of who mapped it,,,,, sorry tongue in cheek joke, i wouldn't trust the clown to map my toaster, but reality is it could be nothing to do with that. Second hand engines are just that, you don't know how it was treated before you got it. I would always a have a fully rebuilt engine so its a know thing. But that said could be any number of reason from human error during assembly or just mechanical failure. what ever happens it's worth stripping it to fully and assess whats gone, could be more than just headgasket, if it is as its had a hard life could find the bearings are worn etc.

bummer, sorry to hear. know what milage is on the engine? might be worth a full refresh while its appart.

waaaay strong money given its on the stock 2.5