Cheap WRX, Worth the Risk?

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The sage advice from wise car gurus is always buy the best example you can afford. The costs involved in fixing up the cheapest example can often end up much more than you saved on the purchase price. The cheaper examples have usually had 20 owners, never been serviced and have more ugly mods than the accessories section of Supercheap. So could this 2008 manual Subaru WRX STI, with an auction estimate of $6000-$7000, be a punt worth taking? Read on...

The Pros: Good spec, very fast, looks mostly factory, only one NZ owner, 6 speed manual box, the best colour combo, reasonable mechanical report, WOF and Rego, could go cheap at the auction.

The Cons: high mileage (220,000kms), no sign of a cam belt change, mismatched tyres, maps of Australia stains on the rear seat, some paint damage, generally showing its age and a few unknowns and potential big bills around the corner.

There is no doubt that the purchase price will be just the start of your spending on this car (a cam belt service straight away for example), but you could argue that this will apply to any used high performance car. Even the very best one could detonate something expensive with little notice, it just come with the territory. One thing you definitely should do is get a full inspection on the car before bidding.

Some say that fortune favours the brave, other say a fool and their money are easily parted. Somewhere in between lies a safe spot with a car like this.

This Subaru WRX is being auctioned at Turners Hamilton on 14^th January. More details here.