subaru impreza wrx sti need some info

[Accord_tunerx]

i am looking to trade in my suv for an sti, i would like to know if all those sti owners have alot of problems with the sti?
i am pretty much gonna stick to stock.
the sti i am looking is a 2004 sti 118 XXXkms, i believe no warranty left.

[kolumbo69]

You could Try going to iwsti.com, nasioc.com(north american impreza owners club) or westernsubaruclub.com. Iwsti is really good as you can read peoples blog's on there cars and such, wheel pattern changed in 05 so wheels can be little hard to come, rear strut problems.

[boarderfatty]

I had an 04 for 2 years and never ran into any real difficulties, I did find that I had the rear suspension went pretty early in the 04 model which was fixed in the 05+, realize that the 04 is a unique model and many thing from STI's in following years are not compatible when it comes to wheels, suspension, and brakes.

Also the 04 doesn't have a chipped key, and is one of the most stolen cars in Canada, so a decent antitheft system and good storage. My STI was stolen from infront of my house, though if the thief is motivated they can use a reflashed ECU to bypass this anyways..

All in all I was quite happy with this car

[Accord_tunerx]

hmmm, interesting.

[jdmXSI]

Yeah find a 05'. The 05 has a heated passenger seat, aluminum front sub frame, chipped key and a few other goodies the 04' didn't have... The differnce in the wheels Boarderfatty is talking about is in 04' they had a 5x100 and in 05' Subaru moved to a 5x114.3 which are much easier to find.

[JordanAndrew]

Originally posted by Accord_tunerx
hmmm, interesting.

If you want to go on a cheaper anti-theft, just buys a club. Most thieves will be turned off by this unless they really want your car, then you're fucked even if you had security or not.

[Accord_tunerx]

i was planning to install a compustar 2way alarm.

and the wheels. oh wow didnt know that but hey who needs wheels lol i got stock stis
but the one found may be to good a deal to pass up!

[boarderfatty]

I didn't find that 5x100 wheels are any harder to find when you are buying new, buying used, yes 5x114 is easier to find. Also getting a decent aftermarket strut will fix the rear suspension problem. As far as I know you could get heated seats in the 04 as well as the 05? the 05 has a few things that are nice features like the chipped key, but I prefer the dash and center console of the 04 to the 05.

Another question to ask is whether this is an american or canadian car, american does not get the back seat pass through or heated seats, but it does get factory HID's which are nice

[boarderfatty]

Originally posted by JordanAndrew


If you want to go on a cheaper anti-theft, just buys a club. Most thieves will be turned off by this unless they really want your car, then you're fucked even if you had security or not.

Clubs are only useful in easy to steal shit boxes. when it comes to desirable cars clubs don't do shit. If you talk to any half respectable car thief you will always learn that they carry a hack saw in their kit to cut the steering wheel and slide the club out. Takes all of and extra 20 seconds

[Accord_tunerx]

its canadian, no stock hids? for the 2004?

rear struts? i am getting coilovers first item of buy.

anyting else i should look out for?

[bignerd]

Have owned two, no complaints although they were both 2007's and new.

If you buy winter rims you have to actually buy rims, steelies won't clear the brembo brakes. Just something to keep in mind as it makes dedicated winter tires a little more expensive.

[Accord_tunerx]

thats fine, i can live with some cheapo rims for winters

[boarderfatty]

Originally posted by Accord_tunerx
its canadian, no stock hids? for the 2004?

rear struts? i am getting coilovers first item of buy.

anyting else i should look out for?

HID's came to canada in the 06 remodel with cat eye front end neither the CDM 04's or 05's had HID's, though if I remember the USDM headlight swap was popular for an OEM HID. getting Coilovers should fix everything. I got a decent set of Tein Coilovers as soon as I bought the car and never had the problem.

I ended up using the factory rims for winter and got summer wheels. Another nice thing with the 04 is that you can use standard WRX wheels for winter. so you can find someone getting rid of their 03 WRX wheels cheap and use them for winters.

[Accord_tunerx]

wrx wheels yeah thats a good idea!
hmmm would an aftermarket hids kit melt the cover of headlight or is it pretty safe to do.

[boarderfatty]

an A/M HID kit is alright if it is done properly, I am just a stickler for OEM goodness, esp when used together with the balast adjusting switch in the car, where you can change the level the HID's project at.

[Accord_tunerx]

ohhhhh, i see okay well let me see if the car checks out and if i get it. i hope she checks out okay

[kevie88]

Standard 16" wrx wheels won't clear brembos.

Everything else in this thread is pretty good info.

[boarderfatty]

Originally posted by kevie88
Standard 16" wrx wheels won't clear brembos.

Everything else in this thread is pretty good info.

You might be right, they may have been the newer 06+wrx wheels or the Ver 7 sti wheels. But i swear I have seen a couple STI's driving around with OEM 16's. It may also be that they were WRX's with an STI spoiler and bumper

[Accord_tunerx]

oh one more thing...

for coilovers is this to much for calgary roads


11kg front and 10kg rear spring rate?

[Accord_tunerx]

okay well checked out the sti well body is in good shape same with the engine tranny..
a down fall is....well accidents...i dont know what to say i dont like that and it has been way to many problems with car fax it was bought from edmonton.

[TE4MFaint]

wouldnt buy, not a fan of purchasing vehicles that have been in an accident, just a personal preference.
there are enough wrx's for sale out there you can find something with a clean title and no accidents.

[ArjayAquino]

yeah I agree, I would wait to see what other ones are out there. check wsc as someone mentioned before, you should find some cars for sale that might not be on Kijiji.

[Accord_tunerx]

yeah ill wait and find the perfect sti lol i drove it yeah it was in good shape but damn so many accidents i was like wth!

[boarderfatty]

WHat is the accident history like? I don't mind having a car that has an accident history that I know the history on and has records of being fixed properly. Many vehicles have accident histories that just aren't reported.

For Example my porsche has a accident history, 1 before I bought it one after I bought it. the first one was just the front end being resprayed and new headlights do to stone chips. I called the body shop to confirm the history and they provided me with photos of the repair. then the day I bought the car a deer ran into me. it smashed 2 windows and broke a mirror. the mirror and glass were replaced with porsche factory parts. both repairs were over $6000 but were both fixed properly and there was no real damage. I wouldn't let an accident history like that affect my purchase of a car, as long as there is no structural damage, no evidence of repair, and is rust free I wouldn't let it affect my decision.


just my 2 cents though

[Accord_tunerx]

i dont know what the damages are.
but in my opinion one accident claim is okay to me but four is was to much.

[JZS_147]

be prepared to spend $4K+ when you crack a ringland.

[benyl]

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&postid=1992176#post1992176

[Accord_tunerx]

ah thanks benyl! good read...ill looking for an 05 and up now.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally posted by Accord_tunerx
and it has been way to many problems with car fax it was bought from edmonton.

Just some friendly advice, use carproof.com instead of carfax if it is a Canadian vehicle. Carproof is much more reliable in Canada while Carfax well often be missing a lot of key information. In fact, Carproof might give you an idea of what kind of claim/damage the accident resulted in.