blackout

This is actually very sound advice. I'd be terrified of buying any sort of "enthusiast" used car anywhere near Virginia Beach.

In all seriousness I'd suggest looking for one that's been seriously tracked. Might sound crazy, but the odds that a car that is tracked regularly has been exquisitely cared for is far greater than the typical bromobile that might have a clean carfax but has been redline-clutch-dumped one time shy of a full drivetrain replacement.

Bugeye

i second this, as someone who has owned his fair share of janky scoobs...stay away from buying from dudebros. as with buying any car...look for quality mods. and stay away from cars with intake/exhaust etc with no tune. i see this quite a bit, and subarus dont handle it well...

Yardjass

I looked at a scoob with my bro once, some Navy douche. It had a light on, on the dash and I wanted to know what it was. Went to autozone, scanned it, the scanner didnt say. Then the faggle cleared it. "Oh look, it's gone." Popped the hood and it looked like there was an albatross nest in the engine bay. And that was the end of that.

grinner

nasioc.com is your best source. You'll love it. AWD with some power is a lil different at first but ask Ken Block what he prefers.
that said, I will always be a RWD kinda guy. When I drive, that's what Im doing... driving, not just going some place.

Yardjass

But beware. Nasioc is fagets.

HypeRHatch

Well I recommend getting any record of transmissions, rear diff services because they are quite expensive to replace. On the other hand its also good to have a compression check done on the motor to make sure the health is tip top. Listen for clunks or inconsistancy in the gear changes during accel or decel for a CLEAR indication of abuse in the trans or front diff. Also the 04 STI shocks tend to be blown or blowout so check for those being worn out. Good luck with the search, I enjoyed every bit of STi. Very fun to own and its also nice to get a thumbs up from everyone in a subaru or a wave.

YaNpER

I owned an 04 STI about a year and a half ago. Loved the car, one of my favorite cars I have owned and Ive had a shit ton of cars. If i were to get another one, I would get the 05-07 solely because of the 5x114 lug pattern compared to the 04 STI 5x100 which is gay. Also, th 05s have nicer interiors , not much but a little nicer. They arent bad cars, I would stay away from one's that have been beat and abused which is mostly all of them. Also, keep in mind, at about 100-105k miles it is recommended that you change the timing belt on those cars, which if you arent mechanically inclined, it will cost you over 1k most likely after parts labor. And the clutch is a pain in the ass to change if you have to replace it. Not to mention any kind of maintenance is a pain in the ass like changing plugs etc. All in all, very nice car. Quick, 4 door and sporty. Gas mileage you could compare it to a V8.

hope that gibberish helps

Rich

I doubt you will find more than 20% that are in very good to excellent condition. You will find even less of those that are tracked. If you find something, I know people that can look it over to see if it is worth your time/money. I have countless hours in research on quality parts and tuning. I feel confident in saying that my son has a reliable and fairly quick daily driver.

Yardjass

What's up with all the vinyls, Rich? Is he getting sponsored?

Rich

Yes......by dad.
We have to have the number 19 for tracking, otherwise he's 15 years old, he likes stickers.
He said he wanted to take them off before he starts driving it to school next year.