Hey all

so last night i go to take a look at an sti for sale right down the road from me. good local dude who is a custyomer of mine. i check the car out, we take a test ride, and it feels like a great car.

the car
2004 sti w/63k $16000
perrin f&r sways and sway mounts
h&r co's w/ perrin top hats
2 sets of wheels, one for winter
stock boost guage
hawk pads
perrin cai

the good

besides the cai, the motor is STOCK. i like that
suspension is stiff but not too bad. habdling was excellent over very uneven road up here
feels very strong, even for altitude

the bad

i did a carfax, and although he said it is clean (he is second owner) ther is 1 reported accident/damage inspection on record. now i need to talk to him to find out if he knows about his or not. makes me instantly nervous.

th car needs lots of bodty tlc. sap dots on the roof, front spats are scratched from trailering it to the track once, hood has all sorts of dings from the sand we get up here, the rt rear bumper was backed up into a snow bank and cracked the rear bumper. there is duct tape on it now, he state it is about a 600 fix.

my take

i can handle the body work no problamo. it actaully fits into the big picture of swapping to an 2005 rear bumper and flares. and the sap and such is just elbow grease and a weekend of detailing. i also plan to possibly paint the whole car flat black.

soooo, i am curious what y'all think? the accident and the rear panal are the biggies that have me worried. he dropped the price to 15500 due to the bumper, but i almost want to low ball the hell outta him with the new accident report.

anyway, opinions are what i am looking for here....

josh

 

I think he's asking a reasonable price. Ive seen some ppl list their salvage STi for around the price. Usually when I hear the words "clean title" I just assume its not a salvage and that a little accident(as long as its fully fixed) isn't a huge deal.

Just my 2 cents. GL

 

If you think he's hiding the accident low ball the **** out of him. Get a friend to contact him and undercut his price to artificially devalue it.

If he doesn't know about the accident be more reasonable. You did say he was a stand up guy and a good customer. That relationship is probably important.

 

yes. and the car fax does clearly state no frame damage was reported from the collision facilty. so i sort of agree. possibly reoffer 15000 and be done with it....

josh

 

and yes again on the good guy stuff. at this point i think he might not know of it, and it might have been so minor the original owner didnt mention it.

heck, it could have been the front spats or something....

josh

 

I think u will be fine, my car had a hit in run at best buy, a truck backed itno it and just messed up the bumper and trunk. It cost $3,800 fix but it was nothing..

 

k. i thought i was over-reacting. i also need some more details....

j

 

definitely get the receipts for the accident. If the title is clean, drop the price substantially. If it's salvage, offer him 10k or walk.

accidents can do bad things to the subaru drivetrain, and the STI has high value so salvage accidents are pretty horrendous.

At the very least a full inspection would be good, because an STI w/63k for under 16k is a deal!

 

yeah. i think i will have it inspected anyway. and it has a clwean title as far as i know. it has a lein on it, which would lead me to believe the car CANNOT be salvage. no bank will loan on a salvaged/rebuilt title that i know of...

i will talk to him tnight about an inspection. i planned to do that for the motor anyway.

j

 

either way .. Congrats on the buy. If it's not this one im sure you'll find another one.
-J

 

banks suck

now ther bank is waffling on my loan. wtf. own big house with acrage, fall into the "excellent" catagory credit scorw wise, but trying to get 15k is lke pulling teeth.

i didnt get a warm fuzzy from my loan officer when i went by today....

josh

 

I'll tell you right now, to get the job done properly, it's more than a $600 job. Unless you've got a hookup on paint and body work somewhere. Make sure you get the rear reinforcement checked, and replace the impact absorber as well.

 

so he said he trailered it to the track once

 

yeah, and didnt like the track. hes got a HUGE trailer he uses for other stuff, and after putting on the co's decided to head to fernley. after tearing up a set of tires, he decided to not race anymore.

j

 

If I were you, I'd find a different STI.