I have about 3 in mind,

1. 03 WRB sedan, rear wing (premium package i assume), 2 owners, all stock, 28k miles. 14k

2. 02 wrb wrx sedan, 1 owner, 21k miles, pe1820 turbo, and all the goodies that go along with it, 14k

3. 03 white wrx, no options besides boost gauge, vf30 turbo, all supporting mods, helix tmic, 23k miles, one owner, and i am assuming 14-15k..


which one would you rather buy? thank you.

 

#1

not a smart idea to buy a modded car... cause you know it was beat the crap out of

 

never know if the stock wasn't just partd out though... not sure man test drive them all

 

yea just test drive them and see whats up with them...

 

if you buy modded, gotta look more closer into it and ask more questions. make sure the guy knows what hes doing too. test drive is a must.

 

I'd test drive and check all them out, see who installed the mods also

 

what they said, either way the tranny will.... eventually go unless you are either a grandma or a perfect driver and dont beat on it too much. think of what you want to do with the car if you buy the stock one you have a clean slate but then you could buy the modded one and even if the upgrades that are on the car are ones you dont choose to go with sell them and get the ones you do want to go with... but yeah what they said^

 

oh and i dont think 03 had premium package ... at least not heated seats and sunroof like the 05s.

 

I would choose car # 1, get used to the feel and how to drive a car with some power.

Start with suspension mods: sway bars, end links, springs, wheels.
Then make sure you can stop the car: get some good pads, rotors, lines, fluid.
Then you can safely start with power mods: Uppipe, turbo back, custom cobb tune.

I personally would wrather keep the stock turbo and do what you can to make the car go fast without upgrading it much. I have driven my wrx for 53K miles, and have driven an STi a couple times, and a car with a VF34 turbo.

The VF34 car had pretty much the same mods as my car(minus the turbo and supporting mods), and the low RPM range lagged even more then my car, but once the boost kicked in around 4K RPM it really moves.

The STi is still my favorite. The 2.5L motor makes a huge difference, the low end lag is almost none existent, and pulls more evenly as the RPM increases.

If you can plan ahead for the future(you have plenty of time), my advice is start stock, and then modify as you get more comfortable with the car.
I hate to bring up age and sound like a parent, but you just turned 17 and IMHO don't need a car that is putting out a ridiculous amount of power. Blue Blurr and Resident smurf may have different feelings on this, but they are the only two I know of on the board that are your age. They both really love driving.

Anyways age aside, I would get car #1.
Or get car #2 and ask for the stock parts for when you have to get smogged in 2 years.

But drive them both, make sure you like what you are buying in all aspects.

 

neither...

 

buy #2 ... i believe that's joe's car.... that car has been taken care of

 

BIG JOE? Yeah his car is very well taken care of. Wow, low mileage too. Jump on it.

 

on car #1 id check the bolts on the turbo to see if they show signs of wrenching

and if it looks like it hasnt been messed with id go with that one...

but 1-3 are major risks bro... but thats with all used low priced performance cars

 

Looking at the difference beteween the 3, it seems like #1's price should be cheaper than the others. I know you don't get your money's worth in mods when you sell, but it has higher mileage than both of them, stock, and 2 owners.

Like mcdrama said, a stock WRX definately makes enough power for someone who is 17. Why do I say this? Because I myself got a used modded WRX (with a VF-35) producing over 240 awhp when I was 16 and I wish I could have gotten a stock one instead.

My recommendation, is get the car, learn how to drive better (through auto-x and other such events) and slowly start modding your car. If you're not into such events then I think the stock 227hp is enough as I've driven stock WRXs and they seem fine to me. I probably would be a better driver than I am now if I was able to get into a stock WRX and auto-x instead of having so much unused power.

 

thanks for all of the replies..yea, i agree, number 1 seems as if it should be cheaper, but a local autotrader check showed that the cheapest 03 wrx within 200 miles was around 18k, with 65k miles, so it doesnt seem like a bad deal.., as far as number 2, yea that is joes car, and it seems/looks really clean, but the 02 transmission worries me, seeing as he has all of the power stuff coverd, i guess i can switch to an sti ra tranmission set up, (that would solve the problem i believe?) and then do suspension/brakes. number 3 seems to have been modded a bit more, so i dont really know, or there is alwasy a 95/96 m3.... :-\