Got a friend who wants to buy a car, needs AWD, and a hatch.
First thing comes to mind : Subaru impreza wagon.
Do the EJ22 turbos have belts? What to look for @ 100K?
Autos suck ass?
the 2.2L is anemic, so I hear.
The DOHC 2.5L has mad issues vs the SOHC.
That’s all I know…
WRX is only available with an EJ20 (02-05) or EJ25 (06+). The EJ series has a timing belt, if that’s what you are asking. I bought mine with 90k on it, so I’d recommend doing the timing belt, oil pump, water pump, change ALL fluids (including the rear diff), spark plugs, filters.
The rest of the impreza line (1.8, 2.2, 2.5) are all NA and completely suck balls power wise. The EJ22 will run forever though. I’m pretty sure the DOHC 2.5s have a nasty head gasket issue.
In conclusion, wagons rule.
EJ22 Turbo only came in legacy’s. I rather enjoyed my automatic one, had 193k on it when I got rid of it. Valve cover gasket’s will leak, and just usual maintence. Not much beyond that.
Naturally aspirated, see above.
EJ20 Turbo, see above post. Solid choice, first turbo engine available in the US Impreza lineup.
if they can swing it the 2.5L wrx’s have much better low end… but thats 06+
I’d say go for the 02-03 WRX, if too expensive than go for I believe 98-01 Impreza wagons with the 2.2, or 02+ the base impreza hatches have 2.5L motors. Just personal preference and cash limiting their choices.
Though considering your suggestion, they could go for an eclipse gsx (those are hatchback right?) or celica gt-4 hatchback’s but those are rare as heck.
The 2.2L is indestructible, but very low on power. My Legacy Outback is a large car and has the 2.2L, although it is not fun to drive at all as it lacks “pep”, it is a great daily that gets good mileage for a large AWD car. I see 26 mpg with the majority of my driving occurring in the mountains.
My 1.8 is slow as bawlz, but in the snow, 50mph around turns is fast as hell 
AWD + snow tires = fun.
while an eclipse does have a hatch, i don’t think that it falls into the “hatchback” category that the guy would be looking for.
ie: room to put shit.
I have owned an impreza wagon and it rocked, but if I was to own another it would be a forrester.
I can attest to that, mine is about to roll over 210,000 and it has had the fuck beat out of it/no real maintinence for a LONG time (although it does leak oil from no joke 10+ places)
Do these turbos eat themselves after a while? Not like an Audi KKK03?
Nope, should last the life of the car in most cases.
Had 193k on the Legacy Turbo, and +120k on the WRX. Both functioned properly and didn’t burn a drop of oil.
lulzzzz
if maintained and not modded they will last… you mod it and skimp on maintenance, it’ll get shitty after 100k like any other car
Yeah, don’t do anything dumb and you can beat the piss out of them.
the turbos are solid, the transmissions suck, the timing belts need replacing, they rust easily. working on them is a pain and there is lots that can go wrong…
but overall if you find one that’s been taken care of and not modded it should be ok.
personally, I’d be looking at a saab version of this car.
Wat?
:bloated:
Idk, my impreza was perfectly reliable, and working on it was a breeze.
Btw I was kind of joking on the whole 90’s hatchbacks thing - I knew he was in it for the space. I second a 2.5L Forester.
bump, thinking about getting an 04-05 WRX sedan. how are these on gas mileage? do they respond to mods well, how easy are these to get into the 12’s? Ide like to be able to do some fairly minor mods and have a nice quick year round DD. (exhaust, intake, is there any benefit to moving the Intercooler from the top of the engine to a FMIC?) I’m Getting a little sick of only putting 5k miles on the Camaro a year and Ide like to have a quickish car I can enjoy all year.