Hello, I'm considering buying a used wrx wagon but could go for a sedan or a new model of either.

I'm wondering if there are significant differences between the two models? I see that the track is a bit narrower on the wagon but I doubt this will mean much.

This car will do lots of track duty, as well as being my only car (so daily duty as well) for some time, possibly 10+months. I think that with the STi coming out soon, resale will drop further on the older WRXs. Since I'll likely upgrade some things that void the warranty I don't see a reason to go new?

I would appreciate any input on this.
Thanks
Ahmet

 

Am I asking this in the wrong place?

Anybody care to help me look for this information?
Thanks
Ahmet

 

Well if your happy with the way the older bug eye model looks, there really seem to be few other differences between them and the new ones. Options on the new one include a "cold weather" package (heated seat's/mirrors/wipers) and a sun-roof. Other things may have changed as well but the full spec's and pricing haven't been released as of yet......But with the MY04 coming out, you will be able to pick up an MY03 new for a really good price, the one thing to remember with doing this, or buying used, is you may have trouble finding one in the color you want and with all the options you want, where if you buy a new MY04 you will get exactly what you want.
As for if you should go with a wagon or sedan, they both have positives and negatives to them so I think that's really up to you and your personal tastes. Good luck with what ever you decide and have fun with it! (Mod's or no Mod's!)

 

To be honest I don't mind the looks of either, and I think the 02 Wagon looks less tacky. When I was checking out the car at a dealership today, I saw a few people in modified hondas show up (you know huge rear wing, z3 fender grill, neons, etc.) whom proceeded to checkout the sedan. I'd like to not be associated with the ricer image, as the car will likely be modified. Anyway, from what I can tell the 04s will not have too many revisions. I would've really liked a sunroof but it looks like there's several 02s going for around $16k. That's about a full $8k off the price of a new one for a roughly one year old car. I would like to avoid taking a hit. Owning a brand new car I'm sure would be nice, but I don't know if it's $8k nice on a sub 30k car. There's the question of the STi, but I don't think I want to wait that far and pay that much, although it seems like quite the car from the info available now. On top of that I presume the resale of the older WRX's will drop further when the STi is released.

A secondary concern I have is if the wagon suspension can be modified with the same pieces as the sedan, or if they need to be specific to the wagon.

Anyway, thanks for the input.
Ahmet

 

Ahmet -

I have the wagon and the convenience factor was an important decision since it was my only car. It's more a lifestyle question and one of weighing what else you do. In my case, it was ice hockey, snowboarding and scuba diving, so the sedan wasn't really an option.

Something to consider is the clutch issues on the 02's that SOA quietly fixed on the 03's. While some dealers are changing the 02 clutches to 03 clutches under warrenty, it's not uniform.

-Eric

 

noWRX -

The transmission section of the forums has several discussions about the problems and SOA's responses.

See Ban SUV's response:
https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...5&pagenumber=4

03impreza2.5rs:
https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...&threadid=6771

Various:
https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...&threadid=3243

There may be a few others as well.

-Eric