[sti_will]

ok so i searched, didn't come up with much of anything at all.

story- i test drove an STi today and it was everything i expected. such a sick car.

but heres my dilemma-- which is extremely frustrating to say the very least.

i'm living at home, commuting to school and turning 21 in the end of august.

i would be working 3 days a week (school 2 days-full time), saving up plenty of money to pay for the car payments, and also splitting the insurance.

dilemma= mom. she was a bit taken back by the STi (test drove it today)- saying its not a great idea to get a "rally race car". which i completely understand, because the STi is. but i mean come on i'm an adult and would be taking sole responsibility for the car payments.

anyways, my mom is skeptical on the maintenance for the STi. instead she is telling me to check out some older (2002 ish) 3 series bimmers. and i told her that maintaining a bmw would be a lot more expensive. but i'll be honest i really have no idea how much an STi would cost to maintain as a DD. can somebody help me out? any horror stories like rotors needing replaced after 5k miles? or tires having to be replaced after 3k miles or whatever. is the sti really going to be a burden on the maintenance or if i respect the car, would it "respect" me back?


what really has me heated is that i got quoted for an sti, had a loan all set up and then my mom just shoots me down after we check out the car. thought i was actually going to finally have an STi! now from the looks of it, my chances are slim to none until i can get the hell out of my house and be off on my own with my own place/job


by the way I'm looking to get a 2004 or 2005 sti. -thanks.

[Igetitpoppin]

Tires will wear faster than other vehicles. Insurance is expensive. Mods are expensive. If I were in your position working only three days a week on average I would hold off. My general maintenance consists of break pads and oil changes mostly. And of course frequent details. Also if you plan on modding your STi you NEED money saved up incase something breaks. These cars are reliable if your mature and not doing 5k clutch drops.

[infected07]

STI's are reliable if your maintenance is up to date and driven properly. With car payment,gas, 1/2 insurance and regular maintenance your 3 day a week paycheque will all be put towards your STI.

[FORCFED]

As long as routine maintnance is kept up with and the car is not driven like its stolen it will treat you good. Taking care of a BMW will cost more money IMO. The stock RE070 will wear fairly quick and are not made for a Pittsburgh winter so be prepaired to get some snow tires or drive another car in the winter. As far as money, do you have any left after making your car loan and insurance payments. What about cell phone and other bills like that, or even spending money?

[Mykl]

It's not that bad... it's more than a Civic of course. The big thing is tires and brakes. The tires mostly depend on how sticky you go and how you drive them. If you go with reasonable, not extreme performance tires they'll last quite a long time. With brakes, it can be difficult to find a reasonably priced rotor, but at this point NAPA has a few on hand for a fair price, and when combined with a pad like the Axxis Ultimate you can get away with a less than ridiculous price for a brake job.

Otherwise it's about the same as every other car, although it's wise to change the gearbox fluid about every 30k miles, but that doesn't cost all that much.

One place where you'll save money is the clutch. It can take a lot of abuse before it throws in the towel. I'm almost convinced that it would last forever under normal driving conditions where you don't autocross or drag race.

[white04sti]

i spend 275-350$ on gas per month tires will go about every year or so if you buy summer tires. i just had to do a complete brake job rotors, lines, fluid, pads that was 800$ just in parts. the question is if you have to ask you cant afford this car. i did a clutch job about 2 years ago and it was about 1500 in parts and labor.

[HarlanPepper]

I think I've only spent about $700 on parts in the last 6 years (1 set of replacement tires & a couple sets of brake pads). Depending on how you drive it can be a very cheap car to maintain... insurance will likely be a much bigger expense.

[sti_will]

Well, I will be keeping the car stock. I wouldnt be drag racing or doing autocross. I don't plan on driving like an asshat, althought it is an STi so i definitely plan on having my fun. Ill be making around 900 a month working 3 days a week. Car payments would be around 350-400, splitting insurance would be 90 or so bucks a month. All in all if i don't have to do any ridiculous maintenance I believe that this is more than feasible, for I am not making any other payments on anything. I'll just have to continue trying to convince my damn mom. Like i said, she was very taken back by the car, and thinks its extremely exotic and will be a fortune to maintain. She just doesnt listen sometimes

[mxmatt15]

just like any car. its funny how people think that just cause its a rally car and what not it needs some special maintenance. and use the search button you will find lots of posts on maintenance

[Mykl]

Originally Posted by mxmatt15

just like any car. its funny how people think that just cause its a rally car and what not it needs some special maintenance. and use the search button you will find lots of posts on maintenance

Yeah, but for a while before reasonably priced brake rotors were released, that was actually something you really needed to consider before purchasing the car. If you let the dealership do your brakes it'll cost as much as a new shortblock from Subaru.... and that's assuming they don't decide that there's something wrong with one of your brake calipers.