My first step into japanese ownership was approximately 20 years ago when I treated myself to a 2000 model year Subaru Impreza Turbo. Also my first and last purchase from a car supermarket business! The car was approximately three years old, one company car owner/driver with full main dealer history. It came in silver which I thought looked classy for this model. I opted and paid extra for the car supermarket’s ‘gold’ warranty unaware of how good the cover was as described in its supplied narrative. I took it out for peace of mind even though the car had a good full main dealer service history.
Back around 2004, the street versions of rally cars driven by the likes of Colin McRae such as the Subaru Impreza Turbo STi 22B and Tommi Makinen driving a Mitsubishi (Lancer) Evo IV became popular in ownership. The later street cars were nimble, quick and practical too with 4 or 5 seats. At the time, the insurance was reasonable too.
I took the scooby (slang used at the time – Scooby-Doo (Subaru)) for a test drive and like most test drives, if you had your sights set on a particular model and you drove it, it was a likely sale. This was true for my test drive. It was also the first turbo car I had owned and enjoyed the car’s lateral acceleration with its all wheel drive system keeping me safely on the road. In a straight line, the noticeable kick when the turbo kicked in kept me grinning. Every drive became a fun drive and keeping to the speed limits was definitely a challenge.
Having owned German made cars prior, I noticed the scooby’s interior was slightly inferior and the quality of cloth on the very firm sports seats could have been better. The manual 6 speed gear shift was precise and a light clutch was apparent. The car’s lighter weight notably aided its acceleration and ease of control.
In the eighteen months I owned her, it was as you would imagine, a car that could not be run on a budget. A comprehensively priced main dealer service, two sets of brakes and discs – my driving style at the time may have contributed to that! Then one morning on a leisurely drive, an unexpected engine failure occurred on a dual carriageway.
The car went to the Subaru main dealership for inspection and a report was duly drafted by them and sent to the company who issued my Gold warranty. Weeks passed which turned into months. This did not help the final quotation for remedial action as the storage charges at Subaru progressively increased. Eventually, I received a letter from Acme Gold Warranties Inc. advising that the damage to the engine was that the big ends had worn out due to premature wear in its first years probably caused by low oil levels in-between the service periods. After an tennis exchange of telephone, letter and e-mail correspondence, it was obvious that Acme would not pay out. I was therefore left with the bill.
A bottom end engine replacement was required. I had no choice as the car was a dead duck otherwise and the storage charges were accruing. Unfortunately I didn’t have the funds required to make it well again, so had to resort to calling in my not so friendly to dolphins, flexible friend – the credit card. An interim payment was made to Subaru and work swiftly commenced. A couple of weeks later I picked her up and she was as good as new. I had the assurance of the main dealer doing the work, parts used and the Subaru warranty on their efforts.
However, whilst the scooby had done bird for over three months, and this toy was missing from my toy box, I had somehow managed to purchase a 2000 model year Cadillac Seville STS. I now had two pets to manage but it would be more sensible going forward to pick one. I therefore reluctantly put the scooby up for sale. After a couple of sniffs from potential buyers on the phone, the first gentleman that came and viewed liked its full history and engine rebuild by the house of Subaru. He said it was the best example he had seen to date. I know at the time, many of the scooby’s were either abused and driven like they were stolen (and some were) or modified by their owners. Buying a modified example was a bit off putting as any tweaking to its number of horses could add stress to these tuneable engines. Engine wear is generally not obvious or visible. Then you have the complications of insurance declarations for adequate cover.
All in all, I’m glad I owned one. My brother subsequently purchased one in the Colin McRae blue and in later years my son purchased a similar model to this one. Cars of an era!
