Yes. but I'd be under no illusion as to weather or not the motor would need a build . great motor when sorted by someone good on the tools . torque is second to none and i would say they are the best looking new age car in standard form .
same for any of the new 2.5 cars from 06 onwards . buy a hawk hatch etc for decent money . sort out what subaru overlooked ie head studs hg and pistons and you have a great performance car which for the money will be hard to beat .
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@KENC: Yes, if I was in the market and a 1 or 2 owner Hawk STI came up with small mileage and good history for that money, I would go for it. You might even be able to get another little bit off the asking price... and put that into a cookie jar (see Tommy's valid point).
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Been lucky with mine I guess...
Tommy is right though... budget for the work so you won't be caught out - but I put about 20k miles on to mine (now on 43k I think) and never missed a beat. I might be able to put another 100k on her... or she could go within a week (of putting her back on the road). Just the way it is with the EJ257. I don't abuse the car though, let it warm before pressuring her and if I do have a nice run always give her a few miles of very easy driving to bring temps back before switching off. Good servicing helps too to some extend. Of course all the above is far from a guarantee against the EJ257 woes... but everything helps minimise the likelihood to some extend.
Personally I love the Hawk shape too... after the classic it is my favourite looking Scooby. Folks give out about the 1043 tax, but hey, if she was a 2008 it would be more than double that. I really do not understand the total panic about the tax on the pre-2008 2.5s -- it is only 300 more than the 2.0 version - so it is hardly going to be a reason not to buy a car.
If you can afford to buy an STI, and keep petrol in her, the 300 per year difference in tax between an EJ207 vs EJ257 is hardly going to be an issue!
The JDM cars might be 2.0 and lower on tax; however the insurance will typically be even harder got on a Jap import and dearer to boot -- so between tax and insurance combined there is probably going to be very little in it between a JDM or Euro spec Hawk STI.
So then it comes down to: do you want the out of the box reliability of the EJ207... or spend a little to sort the EJ257 and enjoy the bucket-loads of torque to off set the heavier new age chassis (when compared to the classic power/weight). If you negotiate smart you might even get a sizeable chuck of the EJ257 built budget saved off the purchase price...
My 2 cents (based on having owned both 2.0 and 2.5 Scoobies).