'99 Scooby - Anyone know much about them?

[gwatson]

Afternoon,

One of my mates, who now lives abroad, is selling his Subaru Impreza as he won't be coming back anytime soon. It's an estate or whatever Subaru call them.

He's owned it since new and fitted a Scooby Sport exhaust and short shift before it left the dealer, so also has the original unused parts which he'll include. Important details below.

So what do I need to know\check? Anyone want to suggest a value?

Subaru Impreza 2.0 Turbo, 5 Door , 4WD,
Registered 27 Oct 1999, Dark Blue
67,869 miles (one owner from new)
Taxed and MOTd
Taxed - Oct 14
MOT – 8 Nov 14

 

[RJS-Z4]

All I know is that I want it. :evil:

 

[gwatson]

Starting to think I do too, even as a small project car.

No idea what I'd do with it though :? :?

 

[bladeowner]

I had one from '98 to '00. Great car.

 

[ZedFourM]

My wife used to have one (saloon) - until the day she decided to try driving it on its roof rather than on its tyres :-( She had to be cut out by the fire brigade, but walked away with just a few bruises. When we went to collect some of her personal bits from the wreck, I was very impressed at how well the passenger cell had stood up to the accident.

My impression of the car was that it was quite tinny - even with leather and air con, the whole build quality was well below BMW standards. I've had some fast cars (Z4M, M5, 911, 928S4), but the Scooby probably felt like the fastest of them, especially in the "overtaking" (say 30mph to 70mph) zone - but it was a bit on a one trick pony in that respect.

 

[LeeZ4MR]

I have drove three of them a standard 1998 model also a 250bhp 1998 model and a 1995 STi import and I loved all three, the interior isn't much to right home about but the seats are always lovely to sit in and I always liked the noise they made.

I remember the first time I drove even the standard model I thought it was quick but admitted it was many years ago but I always liked them but I did prefer the Evo I had for 24hrs that was running 330bhp and I just thought it made you feel like the best driver in the world.

That Scooby should be snapped up very quickly!

 

[bladeowner]

6 years later I had another one a 2.5L estate version but although it had the prodrive power pack addon it was probably 200Kg heavier and didn't feel as quick as the earlier one.

 

[TonyP]

@ZedFourM, any reason why neither the SW or passenger dash airbags were not deployed?

Glad she got out of it relatively unscathed.

 

[ZedFourM]

Good question. It was a relatively slow speed accident (30mph zone, no other vehicle involved). As best I could understand it, she clipped the kerb and there was a set of railings at the edge of the pavement which then caused the car to overturn, but it didn't actually hit anything - other than a (very expensive!) traffic light - so the airbags didn't deploy.

I spend quite a bit of time afterwards at the scene trying to understand exactly what happened, and I never fully got my head around it :-(

But I was VERY impressed at how well the Subaru protected my wife. As I said, she walked away with just some minor bruises.

 

[Talksthetorque]

Had a 99 UK turbo for seven years, and took it from 60k to 120k.

Stuff that broke or nearly broke

wheel bearing (took hub with it)
cambelt tensioner ( weeping, replaced as a precaution )
running rough at the end, probably a split/kinked pipe near the wastegate/sensors.

Plugs every 30k
diff/gbox Fluids every 45k
1st gear when it got nicked and they used it over some football fields and practiced racing starts.
Rust above windscreen, probably caused by a cack handed screen fitter nicking the paint

Good things
It was red
240bhp
Solidly built
Great in the snow/wet/it was great in the sun tbh
Lovely noise
Easy to work on ( except changing the plugs - washer bottle and air box off)
Stuck to the road like s**t to a blanket. Think I broke traction once on the road, ever.
Good vision thanks to late 90s a pillars
Cheap tyres ( 15" or 16" wheels IIRC)
Frameless windows.
huggy seats with good shoulder support.

Bad Things
Compared to new stuff it was cramped in the drivers seat if you're tall.
A bit thirsty, 25mpg not nailing it anywhere.
cheapy interior
Bit of an image problem at the moment.
I had it seven years and loved it.
I would have another one tomorrow. As long as it was standard. And Red.
The 1999 MY was considered the bestyear of the original shape standard cars. Prior to this there were instances of cyl 3 running lean and munching the piston on high speed runs. After this they fitted six spoke wheels, which is a crime punishable by death. Think they altered the ECU again as well after 99,

 

[gwatson]

^ Thanks for the advice\review.

Still can't decide what I'm doing. Insurance is expensive since I'm using my NCB on other cars.

Any suggestions on the value?

 

[Paulwirral]

, it's not sought after but there can't be many around almost standard , if it was a saloon there would be a queue for it , register the details on we buy any car and go from there , good old cars though and surprisingly fast and practical , it should have Been a Japanese lancia integrale

 

[Gee]

Graeme, how much is your mate after for it? These things are only going to go up in value IMO and being a one owner, low mileage example it sounds like it could be a good one (assuming it's not knackered and rotten of course!). If it's cheap enough it's probably worth a punt...

 

[gwatson]

Hi Gee,

Mates rates would probably be around £1300 with brand new exhaust which was never used. Insurance is the killer though.

G

 

[Gee]

Hmm does he need a new friend? If you're not interested I possibly could be...!

I sold a battered old Sport Wagon last year for £500 with twice the miles so it sounds like a pretty reasonable deal to me.

 

[Talksthetorque]

Buy it.
Or if not I'll take it.*

In a kind of "I'd have to ask the missus first" way....

 

[lotus791]

Just make sure no rattles in the engine ,bottom end is fairly soft in them .... I welded one in the rear wheel arches not that long ago ..... £1300 is About right for the fast back model in std form .