How reliable are things like Evo's and Scooby's?

Gaygle

Gaygle

Gaygle

Soldato
Joined
7 Nov 2004
Posts
15,741
Location
East of England
Just looking around the internet and finding things like Evo 7's and blob eye STI's for around 10k - which is mental for what you get!

However, how much does it cost to maintain cars of this calibre (lets say 40,000 Evo 7)? I've always wondered but never known anyone with one.

P.s. this is for knowledge only, i have neither 10 grand nor the age to get one of these, so leave the "omg you wouldn't ever get insured at 20!!211!" comments at home :)
 
Evos are notoriously tempremental when it comes to servicing, because they have a 4500 mile service interval.

Subarus are more normal at 12,000 mile intervals. However most come with 18" wheels for which tyres will be £100 a corner. Brakes will be used heavily and again will be £100 per disc plus pads

They prefer fully synthetic oil, and are insurance group 20 for the top end models. So insurance isnt cheap.

Not the cheapest of cars to run, but the evo is more expensive due to its lower service intervals.
 
Actually scoobs at 10k miles for new-eye (bugeye onwards) and 9k for classics (pre- bugeye). If you're running higher power then lots of people do half-way oil changes, like me. Get the services done by an independent: minor should be about £150, mid about £300 and 50k killer (cambelt) about £400. Might even be a little lower, but I'm usually getting other things done at the same time as the service.

Just remember to factor in an economy of 22-24mpg if you drive like a granddad.

Classics which have been thrashed has a habit of melting piston number 3 do to oil circ problems, but classics appear to be as reliable as anything else Japanese. Not quite up there with Mazda, but far ahead of most other companies. Max mileage should be at least 150k for a newage - I've heard of a couple hitting 180k miles but that's about tops.


M
 
I consider them to be pretty reliable. I believe Drexel was running 100+bhp over stock at well over 100k miles on the clock, so says it all really.
 
Booner! said:
Scooby>Evo (from what I have researched)
Click to expand...

horses for courses

the Evo is possibly the faster point to point machine, but then again the subaru in normal STI guise, is probably the more mellow of the 2 cars

Depends what sort of car you perfer, the Evo is heavy on the electronics with Active yaw control etc.. on the UK models. Some find this trickery amazing, others find it interefering.
 
Last edited:
If you get a good one from the start and service it properly and look after it, your unlikely to have a problem.

As mentioned, its down to choice. I'd plump for a Subaru because I've had one. I have every intention of buying a 2 door classic of some sort in the future.

I've looked at EVOs of all version and although I do like them I'll stick to what I know.
 
If you are looking for the best servicing and reliability then I would go with Subaru. Longer service intervals, cheaper (not by much) parts and are generally very strong.
 
ScoobyDoo69 said:
I consider them to be pretty reliable. I believe Drexel was running 100+bhp over stock at well over 100k miles on the clock, so says it all really.
Click to expand...

^^^^ what he said :)

Drove like I stole on a daily basis too, and it saw a fair bit of track action. It even survived 1.72bar of boost when a boost solenoid pipe came off during some track action :eek:
 
Last edited:
Previously owned an Evo II for 2 years. It was on 45k miles at the time and I done around 10k miles in it. Cost me around £2.5k to maintain IIRC. But I had a new clutch, cambelt within that time along with the usual brakes, tyres etc!

Have had an STi Scooby (newage) for around 4 months now and so far have spent £660 on a service and new front pads. Tyres are on they way out too which will be around £360 for a set.

Petrol wise, both are about the same. A tenner of V Power will get you 30-35 miles. (Scooby is standard JDM and my Evo was running 1.2bar boost ~300BHP)

Expensive toys but good fun!
 
VTR said:
Have had an STi Scooby (newage) for around 4 months now and so far have spent £660 on a service and new front pads.
Click to expand...

How was your service so expensive? I've looked on ebay and you can get brake pads for £50 and i read the Evo long term test in which they got their service for £179?

Was your service a 50,000mile/5 year one?
 
Anyone that think Scoob parts are cheaper should see how much my friends Type R front disc's cost :D


Edit : although my manifold to turbo bolts cost me £10 each from mitsi lol


Both cars cost a lot to run :( Look on scoobynet most change there oil around 5k anyways so running cost to most are not much differant :)
 
depends on the buyer, to the initiated, an evo owner saying he saved on the servicing costs by doing the oil change services himself wont seem too much a problem

but if your selling privately you can bet there will be some buyers put off by the whole home servicing thing

wheras on a subaru, changing it every 5k miles is just an option thing done yourself, and doesnt infringe on the service history.
 
Gaygle said:
How was your service so expensive? I've looked on ebay and you can get brake pads for £50 and i read the Evo long term test in which they got their service for £179?
Click to expand...



Out of interest, which pads? Because ones I'd actually trust come a lot more expensive than that - about three times as much in fact. You don't slap any old tat on a Scoob or Evo unless you want to know if there's life after death.


M
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom