Cool cars for sale that ain't yours!

[ScottyB]

what else should a prospective buyer look out for with these first gen STI's?

leakdown test - 05's suffer this less than later cars, but the infamous shitty stock tune likes to break ringlands and this will also confirm any headgasket issues (HG's are unlikely on turbo cars though)
oil pressure test - this era of EJ25 turbos can suffer broken oil pickup tubes or beat up rod bearings from the aforementioned garbage tune
stock rad is dicey by 100k+ miles on a turbo, see if its still stock or has been replaced
look for timely oil changes with a quality 30wt synthetic or preferrably a 40wt

as Justin says, vc gasket leaks are common and smoke on startup could be valve guides or turbo going out. make sure its started stone cold as he said...these engines are noisy but keep an ear out for knocking or heavy piston slap

the noisy coilovers are due to his strut tophat bearings being shot. annoying but its not going to hurt anything short term.

05 is the best year of the GD chassis STi. you get the safer early model year tune, the most aggressive stock suspension alignment without the caster loss the 06/07's have, but the benefit of the 5x114.3 hubs over the '04's.

Justin will call me a scandalous cretin but they are genuinely tough cars outside of the EJ's idiotic, but fixable baked-in problems. the chassis is tough as nails, the 6-speed is granite and the suspension is unsophisticated but stout. they're built to a price for sure, but Subaru has figured out a reliable formula for most of their parts over the decades.