Yesterday I went with my roomate to CarMax... they have a pretty sick selection of some decently dope automobiles. At any rate, he is looking at a new car and watned me to drive a couple of his choices. So we went there, and got with what was very obviously a salesman that either didn't give a shit or hadn't actually sold a car yet in his life. He offered no information, wasn't very personable at all, didn't ask any questions or anything like that. The most he asked of me was my phone number. He sucks at life. Anyway, we drove 2 cars. The WRX STi and teh SRT-4. I know, huge price gap.. but my roomate was deciding between trading his modded Si or keeping it so that's how that came about. Impressions: WRX STi: This car is pretty amazing. The power is like whoa... it's always there, except in 6th where it's blunted pretty severely by the tall gearing. Why so tall? The handling, hmm. There is a shit-ton of impact harshness. I didn't get a chance to check the pressures, obviously, so this might've had something to do with it.. but it was severe. When you would hit an expansion joint or something it would thump really hard and you'd feel it all over. Conversely, it rolled too much in turns to have that kind of impact harshness. The grip was immense, but it just rolled and set. I didn't like it, not like my BMW at all. Otherwise, the interior was standard-fare WRX/Impreza. The seats were ok, comfy but not terribly supportive. The shifter felt alright, shorter throws than mine but not as positive. The salesdouche got all pissed off when I got on the gas a *little* and said we were there for a joyride. When I went over the list of my credentials and cars I owned/had owned.. he shut up. He was a douche. Then, the SRT-4. My roomate drove this car first, I noted it was loud. Then we drove a bit, I wasn't impressed. It wasn't that fast, at least not after the STi. The interior was omg complete ass. It was nasty! The dials and switches, holy shit.. people actually accept this SHIT in the name of "performance"?!?! It was disgusting! You could feel the LSD binding up when you took sharp turns, other manufacturers have a better solution. The shifter not only looked and felt about as cheap as the rest of the car, but when you tried for 2nd or 3rd you were met with much resistance. I made a u-turn about 50 feet from the dealership and told the salesman "I'm sorry, but I really don't want to drive this." I think that sent the proper message to my roomate as well, lofl. The dealer said "It's ok, honestly it's not the first time." Apparently I'm not the only one that expects a bit of quality with performance! Conclusion: SvA on CSi are a bunch of flaming fucking RETARDS!
CarMax was pretty cool for that. I dind't feel bad about 'wasting time' of the salesman 'cause my roomate is actually going to buy one of those cars and he wanted my opinion, but otherwise I still wouldn't because that place is kinda creepy. They have a massive selection, though.
eek.. how can you think of an STI and a SRT-4 in the same "i'm going to buy a new car..." sentance. difference between your BMW and the STI? STI is WRC bred.. not meant to be plush like yours
When I posted this, I knew someone would ask that... so I already answered that in the original post. The STi is too plush to be considered rally-bred. It's too... I dunno, I guess... unpolished to be taken seriously in that segment I think. It's the handling that I have a problem with.
If I had the cash to buy an STI I wouldnt even look at the neon ya there quick and it has a Turbo.But the STI has more HP and AWD lower it and I am sure it will handle really well.I do know what you mean tho if your going to spend 50k you shouldnt have to lower it to get it to handle.
so how much does your friend have to spend on this car he may buy? im assuming this car max place is for used cars. i have no idea what a used STi goes for.
Carmax makes it very easy for you to drive lightly-used examples of cars the dealerships might not let you drive brand-new. Get it? OJ Pimpson: See the first paragraph of my post.
about $45,000 for a one year old, winter stored, low KM STi which is about $10,000 off the price when it was new
when the guy bought it the sticker that would have gone on the window would have been around 47,000 after he finished getting rapped with taxes and fees the car cost about 55 thousand... and is now being re-sold for 45
FYI you still have to pay tax on used cars.. so it would still only be $3000 less than a brand new one. Personally I'd be getting a 2005 for the extra 3 grand.
The 2005's come with the stereo and a few other improvements, thus raising the price over what the 04 was... thus making the difference between a new 05 and a slightly-used 04 much larger than $3K. Not to mention the 05s go for sticker instead of a discount due to the fact that they got a mild redesign and are still 'rare.' Apples compare to Apples, ya know...
The Canadian 05's are (aside from the restyled interior) exactly the same as the 04's. Our STi came with a stereo, heated seats, heated mirrors and no HIDs in the 2004 model. The canadian MSRP is almost exactly the same for both years. I don't know what SOA was thinking when they decided to sell a car without even a cheap ass stereo. And I still think that's on the high side of market value for a used STi. That's $34,820 USD for a used STi (US msrp is $32,195 for a new 2005 with HID's and no heated seats or mirrors) 45,000 + (45,000 x .10 GST = 4500) + (49,500 x .07 PST = 3465) = $52,965 CDN for a used STi. (yes the government taxes the tax here and yes it sucks) Don't get me wrong, I have a WRX and I've driven the STi before, it's a weapon for sure, I'm just of the opinion that if I'm going to get skinned by the tax man, I'm going to get a new car with a full warranty and better book value. Also the 2004 STi has an ecu bug that causes some of them to experience mild detonation on our 91 octane gas. This is supposed to be resolved in the 2005s.
Well, the used one I was referring to was $28,600... and I'd get the new one as well. Then again, I'd not own one in the first place but I do think they are good cars.
Ah, I was talking about the one dave had mentioned. They are definatly a car you have to be preparred to live with, not exactly BMW interior or ride comfort, but scary fun to drive. Did you play with the DCCD at all? My WRX in it's current state puts out about the same peak horsepower as an STi but the STi's power curve is a lot better due to the extra .5 liters and the AVCS valve timing. I'm thinking about getting soft and going for the new Legacy GT turbo, not the same kidney squishing acceloration but also a much more comfortable ride. Then again, I'm not sure if I'll buy a new car again, depreciation is a bitch.
I like the Legacy GT a whole lot, very nice cars and a very classy look this year! The interior could use a little work in the material department, but the design is good. As far as the DCCD, I messed with it a little but it wasn't something that I could really bugger with a whole lot without scaring the crap out of someone or getting reported (we're pretty urban here and this place is off the highway... lol Texas isn't all farmland!) so I just switched it up and went through a few turns at the extremes (Auto, Lock, all the way back). You could tell the difference, but I think surface-changes would make it even more noticable.
