Subaru Lunacy - Any opinions?

damo605

Well I have a '95 Accord Aerodeck (Estate) and it's a great car - I like the look of it and it's utterly reliable, in immaculate condition, comfortable, reasonably fast and resonably economical, owes me nothing.... 2.0 Automatic, turned 100k miles today
Thing is, I have a company wagon so it's only used the odd evening and at weekends (To cart my dog around, max 150-200 miles per week) - Would something a tad less practical be in order?
What I am thinking is a Subaru Legacy Estate Twin Turbo (GT-B?) from about '95 or '96 in automatic which has 4wd and either 260 or 280BHP :cool:
I know fuel consumption would be brutal but this wouldn't bother me too much due to the low mileage (Which could be cut down a bit if it starts to hurt) but to get a good one will probably set me back up to 7.5k including VRT (minus whatever I can get for the Honda) and what worries me is: will it cost a bomb to keep going in maintenance & repairs?
AFAIK engine is more or less same as Imprezza....
Anyone with experience/opinions of these cars - I'd greatly appreciate your input.....
If anyone is wondering - here's a Twin Turbo Legacy Estate: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Subaru-Legacy-Twin-Turbo-aint-impreza-L3GY-T-plate_W0QQitemZ330033634522QQihZ014QQcategoryZ18277QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

mike65

4WD and twin turbos on a petrol engine? Nah you'll be fine!

You'd really want the whole FSH with such a vehicle.

Mike.

junkyard

You can't go far wrong with a Subaru, the one to go for is the B4 twin turbo estate with leather interior (for the dog:) ) I'd go for a Jap. import as they have all the extras, great car I'd buy one. I had a Leone 1.8 4x4 estate many years ago and it had every extra you could think of and it was a 1986 model, I'm sorry I ever sold it tbh.:(

damo605

mike65 wrote:

4WD and twin turbos on a petrol engine? Nah you'll be fine!

You'd really want the whole FSH with such a vehicle.

Mike.(

Yep, that's what I'm worried about - last thing I want to be facing is an expensive engine rebuilt or stuff like that

junkyard wrote:

You can't go far wrong with a Subaru, the one to go for is the B4 twin turbo estate with leather interior (for the dog:) ) I'd go for a Jap. import as they have all the extras, great car I'd buy one. I had a Leone 1.8 4x4 estate many years ago and it had every extra you could think of and it was a 1986 model, I'm sorry I ever sold it tbh.:(

Recommendation from Junkyard is very good sign I should say I asked a mechanic friend the other day and he gave it thumbs up aswell.... Even my fiancee is encouraging me to get one :eek:
Agree with the leather interior and Jap import too - Have looked at a few on UK websites that are Jap Imports and I'm wondering if I would be better off buying one that has been imported direct into Ireland (If I can find one).... If buying a fresh import from UK would I be be paying VRT on something that just had UK import duty payed on it, ie. paying tax on the double?

Thanks for the replies so far!

peasant

Just keep in mind that he poor dog in the back probably won't appreciate the 280 horses being unleashed at every possible and impossible opportunity

You'll end up driving twice as much as you planned for ...slowly and moderated with the hound in the back ...and full on on your own, just for fun

junkyard

There are a few nice ones on www.carzone.ie and www.cbg.ie. A lot of the ones in the U.K. have already been imported from Ireland so I'd say check out Ireland first and try and get one that hasn't been registered here already so it won't have been trashed here, don't forget aircon. for the dog too.

JHMEG

With any jap import you're extremely unlikely to get any service history for when it was in Japan (for obvious reasons).

A bit of lateral thinking here: How about a Civic VTI-S Aerodeck?



A fair few in autotrader.co.uk at the moment.

junkyard

Nothing wrong with Hondas but they're not as exciting as a Subaru B4 twin turbo.:)

damo605

Well my next step is to go and find one to test drive and make sure I like them!
I'll let you know how I get on....

Do-more

You could try this crowd...

http://www.japan-partner.com/Auto/2157/Subaru/Legacy+Wagon/car-for-sale.html

http://www.japan-partner.com/Auto/2440/Subaru/Legacy+Wagon/car-for-sale.html

Leather will be very hard to find on a JDM car.

Captain Slow IRL

if it's a jap import, check to see the ecu has been remapped
impreza's (not sure of legacy's) are programmed to run on a higher octane fuel - when you run it on irish fuel, it starts detonating - bye bye engine

AlanD

yeah the engine needs to be run on super unleaded high octane fuel. I've also read that the ECU remap isn't always successful, but perhaps that's down to who does the remap.

Keep us posted here of your progress with this. I was thinking of one of these myself recently for a second car run around. But I know I'd use it more than our family diesel then!

damo605

Yep - had been told about the Irish petrol Issue alright so I'll be factoring in the cost of the ECU remap if buying from the UK or Japan.