[TheRealMrRow]

Those of you who may have read my first handful of posts on here will have seen that a pre-facelift was the target, but after much deliberation I have decided to go for this one; it comes with some nice little extras added by its Japanese owner(s) - strut braces, cold feed air intake pipe, factory option wind deflectors and Genome boost gauge amongst others.

All in all - it added up to a lot of car for the money. So I took the plunge.

Due to arrive on UK soil in January, estimated pick up date of early March - which means its first real outing will probably be the get-together at Prodrive.

As are the rules for this sort of thing, photos attached to prove it has happened.

L

 

[batou]

Nice! Torque GT was selling something very similar to that with reasonable mileage which I was very, very tempted by, in white too. I did hold out for a pre-facelift in the end, with a few more miles than I may have wanted but it had the spec and there just isn't enough of them going, especially in blue to be picky about it.

Looks like the centre panel has been done in carbon, they seem to have an issue with that plastic panel I think, a lot of them have been re-finished, mine is painted black as well as the seatbelt buttons are faded red from the sun, Japan can be very hot in the summer from my experience so I think they melt a bit. Any idea what exhaust is on it as it looks a little bigger?

Hope the process goes smoothly mate.

 

[Lockheed]

sexy !

 

[TheRealMrRow]

I did hold out for a pre-facelift in the end, with a few more miles than I may have wanted but it had the spec and there just isn't enough of them going, especially in blue to be picky about it.

Any idea what exhaust is on it as it looks a little bigger?

I had exactly the same issue - not enough decent pre-facelifts about, all those that TGT did look at in Japan were either rusty, had poor bodywork or high odo readings - huge no-no if you're buying a car unseen by your own eyes. Combine that with the deal TGT offered me on this one, and it was a bit of a no-brainer, all things considered.

The exhaust was merely described as "aftermarket" - I'll probably end up swapping it out sooner rather than later (unless it sounds REALLY good), as I don't think angled tailpipes suit a Forester.

 

[batou]

Yup, I was looking for a good 4-5 months and I got fairly lucky after I passed on one up for private sale. Underneath mine is just perfect, I was able to view (and test drive) it before it was prepped/under-sealed (I have some good before/after pictures too) which helped. I could compromise a little on mileage (it was 75K) as an engine can always be rebuilt and we only do a max of 5k a year so should get at least 5 years out of it, I'm putting money aside "just in case" though.

Rust is a much bigger problem so the bodywork on this has none at all and is generally in really good nick, it was marked down from a 4B to a 4C because the front bumper and bonnet scoop needed some fresh paint (Not from damage or anything, the guy I took it too for tuning saw no signs of any accident damage so all good) but what this meant is the price was a little cheaper as a result.

So I presume your going to be sourcing a front lip for that too? >

 

[TheRealMrRow]

First up will be to future proof the car: LED bulbs, seat covers, floor mats, new head unit, that sort of thing; maybe even a new set of HIDs - just to freshen it up and breathe a bit more life into its appearance. I did this with my MY00 Impreza a few years ago and collectively those little things made a noticeable positive difference.

Front lip is on the list of things to do, however - no doubt, as time marches on, the list will grow longer. Doesn't it always?
Her indoors has already declared that she doesn't like the standard FSTi wheels and a new set of alloys are required.

 

[batou]

*cough* I'll just leave this here...

I don't mind the OEM wheels but the Volk bronze CE28N's all day long for me on a white facelift :icon_cool:

 

[Muzza80]

Lovely car OP, I nearly bought a white facelift from TGT, ended up hanging on and got this little cracker instead.

49k, grade 4.5b, braces, coilovers, exhaust, modern head unit and a few other bits.

Love the CE28N too but slightly prefer the Prodrive GC-010E so imported a set and fitted them last week, also fitted a double din dash pod and some gauges and bits.

Love the car, I'm sure you will love yours when it comes, going to feel like a long wait I bet!


:grin2:

 

[batou]

That looks absolutely proper! 49k too, did you have this imported? Can't have been cheap that one :surprise:

Yeah I wouldn't have been upset by those prodrive wheels, don't seen many about. Not seen a preface with a lip fitted either, any idea where to get these?

 

[TheRealMrRow]

Thanks all - bit strange that I can't get excited about it yet, but I think it's because it's just a series of pictures of a car that's halfway around the world - it's not as if I've walked into a dealership forecourt and reached a deal with a salesman after seeing a car there and then. Once it has landed in England, I'm sure the anticipation levels will rise.

It turns out the aftermarket exhaust is in fact an STi Genome backbox. I've heard conflicting opinions on these in this very forum in the last few weeks, so I'll have to find out for myself how it sounds.

I'm also partial to Prodrive alloys, in particular the GT1 that came as standard on the Impreza GB270, however in 5x100 PCD they do not clear Brembos.

 

[Muzza80]

That looks absolutely proper! 49k too, did you have this imported? Can't have been cheap that one :surprise:

Yeah I wouldn't have been upset by those prodrive wheels, don't seen many about. Not seen a preface with a lip fitted either, any idea where to get these?

Cheers!

Actually no, it was imported May 2015 on 42k miles by the previous owner, auction grade 4.5b, they'd only covered 7000 miles in 3 & 1/2 years of ownership and looking at the car they must have garaged it and only used it in dry weather as it was completely mint underneath before TGT dinotrol under sealed it for me.

The previous owner traded it in to TGT against a Legacy Tuned BY STI they imported for him and I had been looking at a white facelift that they had listed but missed it by a day to another buyer, at that point Darren mentioned this one they had coming in. Got it for £10k in the end!

The splitter is a fiberglass one and it's a bit of an odd fit, not quite long enough at the ends as you can see form the pics. It will be coming off to be honest and I'll be modding a hawkeye v-ltd one to fit better.

:thumbsup:

 

[Lockheed]

Lovely car OP, I nearly bought a white facelift from TGT, ended up hanging on and got this little cracker instead.

49k, grade 4.5b, braces, coilovers, exhaust, modern head unit and a few other bits.

Love the CE28N too but slightly prefer the Prodrive GC-010E so imported a set and fitted them last week, also fitted a double din dash pod and some gauges and bits.

Love the car, I'm sure you will love yours when it comes, going to feel like a long wait I bet!


:grin2:

hi bud you must have caught this photo just right as all the pod gauges are sweeping to the right and the revs / speedo are reading 0 are they defi gauges ?

 

[rossyboy]

Thanks all - bit strange that I can't get excited about it yet, but I think it's because it's just a series of pictures of a car that's halfway around the world - it's not as if I've walked into a dealership forecourt and reached a deal with a salesman after seeing a car there and then. Once it has landed in England, I'm sure the anticipation levels will rise.

It’s torture. I know the boat mine is on and I keep checking it’s progress. It’ll be at the Suez Canal on Friday <frustrated smiley>

 

[Inactive_55959]

Nice! White facelift is clearly the way to go

 

[TheRealMrRow]

Actually no, it was imported May 2015 on 42k miles by the previous owner, auction grade 4.5b, they'd only covered 7000 miles in 3 & 1/2 years of ownership and looking at the car they must have garaged it and only used it in dry weather as it was completely mint underneath before TGT dinotrol under sealed it for me. Got it for £10k in the end!

Pre-facelifts are hard to come by, and decent examples even more so. You've done really well to have secured that example for that price.

I don't mind the OEM wheels but the Volk bronze CE28N's all day long for me on a white facelift

Well that hasn't helped one bit; they weren't on the list of options - now they are!

It’s torture. I know the boat mine is on and I keep checking it’s progress. It’ll be at the Suez Canal on Friday <frustrated smiley>

TGT had offered to send the link for the marine tracking, which was, I thought at first, was a brilliant idea. Now I realise it probably wasn't, as the freighter containing my car is still off the Japanese coast, no doubt loading at other ports before sailing for Southampton.

Seeing it at a different Japanese port every day, instead of chugging in a westerly direction, is a little deflating. I know it isn't leaving Japanese waters for a while yet, but it doesn't stop me naively checking the tracker.

 

[batou]

If your going to get some Japanese wheels like CE28Ns speak to TGT to see if they could get them sent over with their next import, do some searching on yahoo auctions

 

[TheRealMrRow]

One step at a time - I'd quite like to get my mitts on the car first!

 

[TheRealMrRow]

Some more pictures. I'm particularly pleased with the underside, looks in great nick for a 13 year old car. And the optional load cover is neatly stored away under the boot carpet, which was a pleasant surprise.

Still no closer to UK shores, however.

 

[rossyboy]

TGT had offered to send the link for the marine tracking, which was, I thought at first, was a brilliant idea. Now I realise it probably wasn't, as the freighter containing my car is still off the Japanese coast, no doubt loading at other ports before sailing for Southampton.

Seeing it at a different Japanese port every day, instead of chugging in a westerly direction, is a little deflating. I know it isn't leaving Japanese waters for a while yet, but it doesn't stop me naively checking the tracker.

You’re lucky. My ship was sitting in Brisbane, Australia when I started following it. It’s taken 2 months from auction purchase to reach the Suez. Seems to take longer to get a boat that you want to dock at Newcastle.

Those underneath pics are standard condition for *** imports by the way. If it didn’t look as good as that, there’d be no point importing.

 

[Muzza80]

Car looks mint mate!
Will be well worth the wait!

👍