^ yes

 

What are some good used car sites to look at? Ive tried eBay, Cars.com, Carmax, Autotrader.com, anything else?

 

craigslist

edit : and i-club's classifieds.

 

so then if you guys were to choose between an 04 or an 05 sti for more money, which would you go for?

 

i'm planning to get a scooby for christmas IMO its the best time to buy it. i'm going for the 05 sti with 10k on it

 

Personally (as if I had the money ), I would pony a little more and go for the '05. I was never a big fan of the '02-'03 Impreza interiors, and feel that the '05 is much more refined and comfortable for day-to-day use. Secondly, I would argue that the differece in rear suspension between the '04 and '05 (beefed up lateral links spacificly) does make a bit of a difference. I have all the STi rear components on my Forester (whose high suspension magnifys everything) and noticed a difference when I switched from the '04 lat. links (which I broke) and the '05 set.
My .02.
Cheers
-Jeff

 

if you are going to be paying for it, you might as well get a new car and mod it how you want. Do you really want to take a chance at getting someone who didnt know what they were doing and ran a boost controller or had a CAI or something.

just my .02. I have always been told, if you are going to pay for something, might as well be new. That way you know what you have and what problems that may come up are brand new, not preexisting.

 

Not to bicker, but I actually would have to argue the other way. From a financial standpoint, a used car always makes more sense. However, you must know the history of the car first (something that has bit me in the *** a few times). That is why I like buying cars off of well known forum members when they come up. You can then search through that member's posts and if you see a thread called "I bounced off the rev-limiter for 10min straight. Is my engine broken!??!?!?" you know not to buy. Also, with the internet there is such a mass of information out there that you can know what to expect. Sure, you may have unexpected and unique problems, but the majority of issues out there with these cars have been have already been discussed somewhere in internet-land.

Subarus do not have this, but a lot of car companies will also print out a full service history for you if you so desire. Audi comes to mind as I've been looking for a while to switch to the dark side and pick up a nice german piece of engineering. But if an automaker does offer this, it is a nice way to find out more about your car and make a smarter choice before you buy.
Cheers
-Jeff

 

05 is the best year for the STi in my opinion. The DCCD changes made from 04 to 05 make a big difference. I was told this by some one who owned both 04 and 05 STi's, the 04 however was in a GC shell, but that was the only thing GC about it!)

 

I've owned both an 04 and 05 STI and the 05 is nicer by far. It has a more refined interior, and it handles much nicer than the 04... I have never been inside an 06-07 STI so I have no opinion there, but I don't like the front end of them personally. I like 05 the best.