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Buying WRX w/ STI Swap

8K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Ninjor 
#1 ·
So I am looking at buying a WRX and I found this one with a STI engine swap and I am wondering what info might be helpful and questions to ask the dealer when test driving it tomorrow. They say they have documentation on the engine swap and mileage. I have scheduled a pre purchase inspection at the nearby Subaru dealer also.

My biggest concern I guess is will this be a pain in the ass to upgrade down the road. As I understand when doing the engine swap to STI engine you can either have a tuned WRX ECM or put a STI ECM in it. Is it going to be crazy expensive to get a tune on this thing? They are asking 17k for it with 72k miles and NADA says similar WRX is 13.5k but in CO most I see for sale are 2k higher due to the high demand. They sell very fast here.



Thanks.
 
#3 ·
Will do. Hopefully signing papers Monday and taking her home.

OD 72k miles had an OE STI Short block put in 16k miles ago along with, VF52 turbo w/ blankets, Process West top mount intercooler, invidia downpipe, accessport w/ 3 tune maps, 750cc injectors, cob air intake/ filter, exedy stage 1 clutch kit, act flywheel, new water pump, fuel pump, timing belt, gaskets, tires.

Hopefully she doesn't blow up :)
 

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#4 ·
Hold on a minute....

"OE STI Short Block" does NOT make this an STI swap in any way shape or form.

The EJ255 and EJ257 blocks are pretty much identical with an exception of '12+ sti having a slightly stronger crank. The heads are what makes the STI a lower compression and more efficient motor. This includes the dual AVCS system on those heads.

What this really means, is the previous owner blew up the motor (my guess is ringland failure) and replaced it with an Sti short block.

STI swap means the whole STI engine. This car does not have that, it even has a stock WRX turbo, not an STI one (VF39).

Also I'm very confused as to why the car has upgraded injectors on a stock turbo. I do not believe it's possible to max out the stock injectors or pump on a stock turbo on our generation. I mean, possibly on a very rich tune with an excessive amount of boost, but the car makes less power when tuned like that.

Did you get it already? I would ask more questions.

Having said all of that, none of the above are particularly BAD things. They just do not qualify for the STI swap label. So if they're charging you up the ying-yang for the "feature" then they're throwing labels to charge you more than the car is worth. 17k for a rebuilt 09 WRX with 70+k miles is steep these days, I see them go for much less even in the PNW where Subies cost more than other locations.

You will love the car anyway and as long as the motor was built properly you will be fine, just tell them how it is and work a deal for what the car is worth.
 
#5 ·
never buy a car with a freshly re-built motor. this only means the owner drove it hard enough to blow up the motor so you could only image how mechanically stressed the rest of the drivetrain could be.

motors dont blow motors, people blow motors.
 
#6 ·
Not sure I agree with my Canadian mate @titter on this one.

I'd buy it with a fresh motor in a heartbeat. Just have an independent mechanic familiar with Subaru cars have a look at it, or a Subaru performance shop.

New motor is way better than an old motor, whether the original one failed from abuse or not. :)
 
#8 ·
thats ok bud, we can disagree. buying a new car is 99% opinions anyways lol. of course some are bound to be different :)

there could be bits of metal shavings all throughout the heads and turbo and oil lines if they were not replaced. replacing a short-block only is a quick fix to sell a car for a higher price than intended.

the fact that its just the short block tells me that no other work was done and its just a ticking time bomb waiting for oil starvation from clogged oill passages.

i guess you need to know how many miles have been placed on it since the rebuild? since its been running for 16k miles after the re-build then it would seem the motor is safe and there are no oil clogs. they would have revealed themselves by now. at least so you hope.

also, i personally, do not consider 16,000miles to be a "new" short block. i have seen whole long blocks fail with less than 15,000miles on them. mind you they were probably assembled wrong, but by no means at all is this a "new motor". alot of STI's dont even see 5000miles in a year. so this "new" motor could even be a year or two old. unless you have reciepts of when the work was done i would take that statement lightly.

then there is the labelling of it being an STI. this is the first sign that the seller will do and say whatever is needed to sell their car. also he is trying to get more money for a car that is worth car less because it has already had an engine failure.

i mean cmon... $17,000 USD for a narrow body wrx?? we could get two of those up here for that price lol.
 
#9 ·
also, i personally, do not consider 16,000miles to be a "new" short block. i have seen whole long blocks fail with less than 15,000miles on them. mind you they were probably assembled wrong, but by no means at all is this a "new motor". alot of STI's dont even see 5000miles in a year. so this "new" motor could even be a year or two old. unless you have reciepts of when the work was done i would take that statement lightly.

then there is the labeling of it being an STI. this is the first sign that the seller will do and say whatever is needed to sell their car. also he is trying to get more money for a car that is worth car less because it has already had an engine failure.
Take it from someone with personal experience being ripped off from these same statements. Guy told me it was rebuilt 2k miles ago with all new parts (proceeded to list said parts) then 2 days later it started knocking like a sob. Said seller disappeared from earth, never to be heard from again, even by the shop that knew him. (that sounded dark ha!) Took the car to a reputable subie shop and they weren't happy about the shit job he did, though they did confirm my suspicions of the #3 rod bearing going byebye.

Point is, if it isn't stock...be ready to drop 3-5k at any time for parts/labor. 99% of warranties are void when not using OEM parts especially if the receipts aren't provided when selling the car. Been there, done that.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Thanks for all the input, I ended up buying it for 13.5k

Have had her for about 6 months now and just got back from the race track with it, this car is a lot of fun! Planned on using it as a race car anyways.

It has bigger injectors because it has an E85 tune which I just got dynoed here in CO and is pushing 240 to the wheels. They told me there is a 20% HP loss at this elevation also. Car runs very good and haven't had any problems with it yet.

Guess I got lucky.... for now. I am sure ill blow it up at the race track one of these days lol.

Done some mods to her. And about to put a full racing suspension on next weekend.

 
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