Is this a good choice for a Subaru Impreza?

[DidierAubin87]

Hello,

I want to get a small car sedan for my girlfriend, but there are so many choices and I cannot make a decision. My budget is not high, so I chose a used car from abroad. I found out Subaru Impreza 2011 for sale at a Japanese platform (https://carfromjapan.com/cheap-used-...-sale-year2011) , cheap price is from USD 5,300. I researched this car and they said that it is good looking, well performance in the snow condition. Does anyone drive a Subaru Impreza? Is it worth it to buy it?

[seetohey]

Are you buying the car from Japan? Or buying local? You should go drive it and see. That's not a bad price though and I can tell you from my experience that Imprezas are good cars and parts are plenty.

[DidierAubin87]

I could not find any good price for this car in local, so I decided to buy used car from Japan.
There are many promotion and discount in this time, I also see that Subaru Impreza 2011 for sale with good price. But I would like to know if this car is worth to buy?

Originally Posted by seetohey

Are you buying the car from Japan? Or buying local? You should go drive it and see. That's not a bad price though and I can tell you from my experience that Imprezas are good cars and parts are plenty.

[xQx]

Can't tell you if the price is good, but I can tell you the Subaru Impreza is a wonderful car. If you can afford it, do yourself a favor and get the WRX model.

BUT, buyer beware buying used cars from Japan.

Get the service history.

Japan has laws which make it very expensive to own cars more than 5 years old; as a result, people in Japan treat their cars as if they have a 5 year lifespan.... ie. they don't waste money changing the oil and stuff.

It's *very common* to see 5 year old used cars come out of japan that literally have only ever been driven and filled with gas since they were purchased new. (ie. Never inspected, never serviced, never maintained).

[romemmy]

Heh, I have a 2011 Impreza WRX right now as one of my cars.. as a car it performs well. I’ve had it up in the mountains in over 12” of snow and it had no issues, really only got stopped when the snow reached about 18”, and that was just because the car is low (so it was ploughing the snow) and because I was using Conti DWS tires - which are rated for snow, but nowhere near as good as the Blizzak snow tires, which I had ordered but the tire shop screwed up, and they didn’t turn up.

Anyway, it’s safe, reliable, awesome in poor weather (with the right tires), and has proper symmetrical AWD.

However, even my WRX has an uninspiring interior, not much in the way of luxury. You know you’re driving a regular non-luxury Japanese car. Plasticky, basic audio, etc. Mine doesn’t have the upgraded interior though so maybe that would be better with leather, etc.

If you get the manual I am not impressed with the gears either, though not terrible, nowhere near as good as my Evo. Saying that though the M3 gear shift feel kinda sucks too, so can’t complain too much.

Overall better than most. I can’t comment on the non-WRX, especially if it’s an auto. As for Japanese imports, very popular in the UK (where I grew up) and I never had any issues with the ones I got. If you are in the US, you are willing to get a right hand drive vehicle?? They are not easy to drive when the roads are setup for LHD.

Thanks!

S.

[DidierAubin87]

Thanks for your advances. I asked the Seller and they said that the car will be inspected, no accident record. But I still need to be careful with old year issue of the car

Originally Posted by xQx

Can't tell you if the price is good, but I can tell you the Subaru Impreza is a wonderful car. If you can afford it, do yourself a favor and get the WRX model.

BUT, buyer beware buying used cars from Japan.

Get the service history.

Japan has laws which make it very expensive to own cars more than 5 years old; as a result, people in Japan treat their cars as if they have a 5 year lifespan.... ie. they don't waste money changing the oil and stuff.

It's *very common* to see 5 year old used cars come out of japan that literally have only ever been driven and filled with gas since they were purchased new. (ie. Never inspected, never serviced, never maintained).

[DidierAubin87]

Thank you for your advances. As your experiences, Subaru Impreza is very great and worthy to drive. It performs well in snow condition and poor weather. And it is even safe, reliable .

I can not request a luxury interior in this car because of the low price, because the price is one of my big problems.

Actually, my UK friend said the right-hand drive is not hard as imaged, he recommended me an option that buying used cars from Japan. I found some sites and this site carfromjapan.com gave me a great deal with this Subaru Impreza 2011 for sale. I'm not similar to the manual transmission, so I guess I still must choose an automatic car.

Originally Posted by romemmy

Heh, I have a 2011 Impreza WRX right now as one of my cars.. as a car it performs well. I’ve had it up in the mountains in over 12” of snow and it had no issues, really only got stopped when the snow reached about 18”, and that was just because the car is low (so it was ploughing the snow) and because I was using Conti DWS tires - which are rated for snow, but nowhere near as good as the Blizzak snow tires, which I had ordered but the tire shop screwed up, and they didn’t turn up.

Anyway, it’s safe, reliable, awesome in poor weather (with the right tires), and has proper symmetrical AWD.

However, even my WRX has an uninspiring interior, not much in the way of luxury. You know you’re driving a regular non-luxury Japanese car. Plasticky, basic audio, etc. Mine doesn’t have the upgraded interior though so maybe that would be better with leather, etc.

If you get the manual I am not impressed with the gears either, though not terrible, nowhere near as good as my Evo. Saying that though the M3 gear shift feel kinda sucks too, so can’t complain too much.

Overall better than most. I can’t comment on the non-WRX, especially if it’s an auto. As for Japanese imports, very popular in the UK (where I grew up) and I never had any issues with the ones I got. If you are in the US, you are willing to get a right hand drive vehicle?? They are not easy to drive when the roads are setup for LHD.

Thanks!

S.

[romemmy]

Originally Posted by DidierAubin87

Thank you for your advances. As your experiences, Subaru Impreza is very great and worthy to drive. It performs well in snow condition and poor weather. And it is even safe, reliable .

I can not request a luxury interior in this car because of the low price, because the price is one of my big problems.

Actually, my UK friend said the right-hand drive is not hard as imaged, he recommended me an option that buying used cars from Japan. I found some sites and this site carfromjapan.com gave me a great deal with this Subaru Impreza 2011 for sale. I'm not similar to the manual transmission, so I guess I still must choose an automatic car.

Having grown up in England, and now living in the US, with family in France, I've dealt with RHD in England, LHD in the US, RHD in France and LHD in England.. Normal driving is not an issue, but where it gets difficult is visibility. Roads designed for LHD are designed to let the driver see traffic ahead. The biggest issue day to day is usually overtaking - trying to look past cars on the left from the RHD position can be annoying at best, or dangerous at worse.

Basically it just means you need to concentrate more, be more aware, and get used to leaning over your passenger to see past cars. Also, if you go out, having anyone else drive your car is a bit of a challenge as they either don't want to, or they do it, but have difficulties with car positioning, visibility, etc.

Also, when stopping at automated ticket systems (car parks, road tolls, etc), the machines are always on the drivers side - so it means either getting your passenger to do it, undoing your belt and climbing over, or even getting out the car.

Just not sure if your girlfriend really wants to deal with all these day to day issues

Thanks!

S.

[Meeni]

Consider shipping in your decision. Shipping a $5k car from japan is bound to cost a significant portion of the price and take a month. Also beware of scams.

[Taylor90]

Some of my friends bought Japanese used cars and they are still in good condition. I was just wondering why purchasing cars from Japan is so cheap like that?

[DidierAubin87]

Originally Posted by Taylor90

Some of my friends bought Japanese used cars and they are still in good condition. I was just wondering why purchasing cars from Japan is so cheap like that?

My friends suggested me too. I'm not sure about it, but when I see FOB price, I was shocked . Maybe Japanese manufacturers produce too many cars?

[Taylor90]

Yeah, Japan is one of the leading countries in automobile industry for a century. They have been produced good cars with great features. Some Japanese friends told me that since cars are popular in their country, they tend to change their vehicle to new one regularly. They have one option to sell their old car for car dealers at cheap price otherwise they have to pay for parking. This expense is not cheap at all in Japan. Buy collecting a lot of old cars at cheap prices, Japanese car exporters have price advantage when exporting these used cars to other countries. With good condition and god quality, Japanese cars are widely preferred by global buyers.

[eluded]

You know what they say about people that own Subarus?

[DidierAubin87]

Originally Posted by eluded

You know what they say about people that own Subarus?

What do they say?

[DidierAubin87]

Originally Posted by Taylor90

Yeah, Japan is one of the leading countries in automobile industry for a century. They have been produced good cars with great features. Some Japanese friends told me that since cars are popular in their country, they tend to change their vehicle to new one regularly. They have one option to sell their old car for car dealers at cheap price otherwise they have to pay for parking. This expense is not cheap at all in Japan. Buy collecting a lot of old cars at cheap prices, Japanese car exporters have price advantage when exporting these used cars to other countries. With good condition and god quality, Japanese cars are widely preferred by global buyers.

Yeah, I think used car exporting industry in Japanese develop very well, Japanese are trusted with good service attitude , I heard that buying used car via online platform without touching is like shopping items via amazon

[Ultimateone]

Originally Posted by eluded

You know what they say about people that own Subarus?

Can't be worse than what people say about BMW owners