So after the HUGE fiasco that was the Skyline of rusty doom, I decided to stick to something local. I got something much better.
Yes, A Subaru WRX STI Type R of the MY99 vintage (V5 I think they call it). NZ New, over 230,000km on original engine, wait what? Yeah, lots of KM and no rebuild. Eeek. Anyway, it had the exhaust done but was otherwise pretty stock.
I kinda both miss and don’t miss this car. It was a great drive, fast as hell and with the modified exhaust it made the best noises, including endless pops, crackles and bangs on over run. Sadly the exhaust was just too loud so I swapped back to the standard STI one that was in the boot, and it killed the cool over run noises (but stopped waking the neighbours).
What I don’t miss is that it felt sloppy. It was obviously worn out, and just hanging on. The engine made all the right noises, but I just couldn’t trust it. The driver’s seat was badly worn and had slack in it, and the suspension needed a refresh.
I didn’t hold onto this long, for that reason. I couldn’t trust it. Sure enough, I saw a few months later that it was on Trademe, with a rebuilt engine. Bullet dodged.
Update 8/3/20 – Currently without Reg/WOF, but both have only just expired.