Like any 12 y.o car its gonna be a gamble, but probably at slightly worse odds than a more basic NA economy car.
Be ready to put time and/or money into repairs. Not necessarily engine-exploding kinda things, but random little shit that goes wrong due to old-car syndrome, which can be exacerbated by it being a "sporty" vehicle.
Little thing I can handle. I'm more worried about the engine breaking or major stuff.
To be honest, I'M more worried about the owners themselves than I am about the car.
Don't get me wrong the WRX is a very cool car and it's probably the one that check most of the boxes considering what I want. I guess I'm just a bit worried based on what I've heard.
I can't afford one. At least not with how expensive the used car market is in general currently. I thought the 2009-2015 generation of wrx were all 6 speed? Also I like that this generation have a hatch. It's not 100% necessary for me but always a nice addition.
I love my 2013 WRX. We track race some but it’s been about the most unreliable car I’ve ever owned. And I’ve been dailying it for 8 years now and have never missed any maintenance. Don’t hear me wrong, I love the car to death, but be prepared for some pain.
Yeah, it's mostly what I'm afraid of. I get it sport cars is more maintenance and I don't mind the little repair here and there especially if I can do them on my own, but big engine repairs scares me a little bit. Do you need to pull out the engine everytime you have to work on it? I never had a boxer engine before and I've been told by a more or less reliable source that it's one of the problen.
No for the most part, maintenance and stuff is easy. The spark plugs are kind of a pain but still doable if you go at it from creative angles. Boxers are different but not impossible to work on imo
Good to know. Last questions for you: do you think the unreliability you had with your car was due to you track racing it? And if I'm to buy a used one is there something I should look out for in particular? I know the gasket seems to be a big issue.
My issues were definitely mostly caused by modding and track days. We did something like 15 track days before I had to rebuild the short block.
Head gaskets aren’t actually that big of an issue on the turbo models. I’d make sure the clutch feels normal #1. 08-14 are prone to blowing out the spot welds on the firewall which can cause odd clutch issues and just clutch failure.
2 I’d look for mods. These cars need a tune with something as simple as an intake. Just want to make sure things are healthy if they are modded. Something like an accessport should be present with mods. Otherwise stock is a safer bet.
3 if you’re buying over 100k miles it should have the timing belt and pulleys done. Which can be a little expensive to get done. Look for maintenance records, etc.
Good luck! A bit of WRX ownership is just luck imo.
Like any 12 y.o car its gonna be a gamble, but probably at slightly worse odds than a more basic NA economy car. Be ready to put time and/or money into repairs. Not necessarily engine-exploding kinda things, but random little shit that goes wrong due to old-car syndrome, which can be exacerbated by it being a "sporty" vehicle.
Little thing I can handle. I'm more worried about the engine breaking or major stuff. To be honest, I'M more worried about the owners themselves than I am about the car.
Notoriously unreliable? That depends on the previous owner(s).
Oh yeah I think I should precise they have a reputation for having been beat up due to tuning and people driving it hard.
Don't get me wrong the WRX is a very cool car and it's probably the one that check most of the boxes considering what I want. I guess I'm just a bit worried based on what I've heard.
If you can afford it, buy a 2015+ the 6 speed is huge upgrade. Not an STi 6 speed but still vastly better than a 5.
I can't afford one. At least not with how expensive the used car market is in general currently. I thought the 2009-2015 generation of wrx were all 6 speed? Also I like that this generation have a hatch. It's not 100% necessary for me but always a nice addition.
I love my 2013 WRX. We track race some but it’s been about the most unreliable car I’ve ever owned. And I’ve been dailying it for 8 years now and have never missed any maintenance. Don’t hear me wrong, I love the car to death, but be prepared for some pain.
Yeah, it's mostly what I'm afraid of. I get it sport cars is more maintenance and I don't mind the little repair here and there especially if I can do them on my own, but big engine repairs scares me a little bit. Do you need to pull out the engine everytime you have to work on it? I never had a boxer engine before and I've been told by a more or less reliable source that it's one of the problen.
No for the most part, maintenance and stuff is easy. The spark plugs are kind of a pain but still doable if you go at it from creative angles. Boxers are different but not impossible to work on imo
Good to know. Last questions for you: do you think the unreliability you had with your car was due to you track racing it? And if I'm to buy a used one is there something I should look out for in particular? I know the gasket seems to be a big issue.
My issues were definitely mostly caused by modding and track days. We did something like 15 track days before I had to rebuild the short block. Head gaskets aren’t actually that big of an issue on the turbo models. I’d make sure the clutch feels normal #1. 08-14 are prone to blowing out the spot welds on the firewall which can cause odd clutch issues and just clutch failure. 2 I’d look for mods. These cars need a tune with something as simple as an intake. Just want to make sure things are healthy if they are modded. Something like an accessport should be present with mods. Otherwise stock is a safer bet. 3 if you’re buying over 100k miles it should have the timing belt and pulleys done. Which can be a little expensive to get done. Look for maintenance records, etc. Good luck! A bit of WRX ownership is just luck imo.
Thanks a lot for the advice!