2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
The STI version of Subaru’s Impreza WRX was first released for the US market in 2004. It has restyled (slightly) in 2006 and then got a major restyle in 2008. The new “jelly bean” styled STI was just as much of a dirt shredding maniac as the previous versions and it was only available as a 5-door wagon/hatch thing until the next restyle in 2011. Values for STI examples have been strangely flat for the last few years, not going up much and not going down much…which isn’t a bad way to go with your late model daily driver — own it and drive for 3-4 years and sell for the same price. Your friend who always buys new cars will end up paying a LOT more in the short term and long term, and you will drive an STI while he drives a base model Impreza. Find this 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI offered for $12,000 in Oakland, CA via craigslist.
From the seller:
2009 subaru wrx sti
condition: excellent
cryptocurrency ok
cylinders: 4 cylinders
drive: 4wd
fuel: gas
odometer: 130000
paint color: black
title status: clean
transmission: manual
type: wagon
I am selling a 2009 WRX STi. Everything is stock, except the 18in Motegi rims I put on it. I still have the original stock Rims with Pirelli Sotozero Performance snow tires (one tire needs to be replaced). Small block was rebuilt at 95k so the car drives like new.
See a better way to drive a fast wagon? tips@dailyturismo.com
1. Weirdly I just ran across this as well this morning this while doing my morning Craigslist sweep. I start in Dallas where I’m sitting, venture down to Austin and Houston, then over to Phoenix and LA, before ending in the crown jewel of Craigslist: sfbay craigslist. Bar none the highest quality used car classifieds in this country of ours.
2. Anyway, observation: Every single STI on Craigslist has a rebuilt engine, it’s truly spectacular. You like to see that this one has been rebuilt and has some mileage on it, but a failure after 35k miles is not exactly unheard of on these and there’s just a nagging wonder in the back of my head if he hasn’t exhausted the utility of the rebuild already. At the very least compression and leakdown tests are a must, although they won’t necessarily alert you if the seller is ditching this thing after seeing sparkles during a recent oil change if it’s early on in the process.
Still, at $12k this looks to be a really good deal and probably worth the squeeze.
40Jarhre996 — Item 1) 100% agree with you on Sfbay craigslist being the best of the best. I spent 4 years up there studying in the late 90s and I do remember seeing street parked Alfas, Porsches, Saabs, and Volvos galore, but the number of well preserved classics (and late models) is just staggering. And prices are good. I think you could make a legitimate business out of wholesale purchasing used cars from the sfbay craigslist and exporting them to Omaha or Boston.
On item 2) — Yup, i owned and daily drove an 04Sti for 7 years (from 67k miles to 95k iirc) and it was a fabulous car…but I sold it because I was worried about that impending POP! However, there are a few things you can do to mitigate a spun cam bearing or seized turbo– first is you need to remove the stupid mesh oil filter screens that sit in the oil passage to the cams/turbos (who puts a non-serviceable filter in the oil passage in high performance engine..that is almost as dumb as putting a non-serviceable roller bearing in engine oil) and the second is you need to run the proper 5W30 full synthetic (never Mobile1, i ran Castrol Syntec) oil and change it religiously at 3k miles.
I know earlier versions of STIs, WRX and XT Foresters seemed to have head gasket issues early on in life; has that trend continued? In college I used to see a lot of cool awd subaru wagons for sale, almost always with ‘new’ cv boots. Without a place to work on cars and a few calls to local shops for repair costs turned me away. Heck now a days replacing/rebuilding cv’s due to excessive lifts or ‘butthead momentum’ off road is commonplace. :)
My understanding is that the head gaskets are not tremendous on these, but they’re not the primary issue. The primary issue on this generation of STI is piston ring failure, to the extent that I think there was a TSB on it; a friend’s 2012 WRX suffered an engine failure in 2019 (many years out of warranty!) and Subaru wound up covering about half the cost of it.