VikingDJ

Well if you can swing a 4k loss trading a 2 year old WRX, that means they would have to give you way over trade in value. Naturally your WRX is in a different depreciation category, so it's not in same class as the STI. I lost 4k on value the moment I pulled my STI out of lot, and I will lose roughly 11-12k after 2 years. The STI will naturally depreciate more then a regular WRX, because the extra money you spend for performance, does not help in the value of the vehicle. In fact, it absolutely destroys it. The STI is only a different version of the Impreza line, so depreciation accounts for all the impreza versions and of course the STI is the worst of all the models. Subarus throughout the years have been in lower ranks for holding their value, but nothing below the normal suffering most cars endure. Maybe the new lineup of Subarus will change, and it will retain it's value better. Time will tell. It will be interesting to see which of my cars will be worth more in two years. So far the RX8 is slightly ahead. The RX8 is not going to hold it's value very well either, since it is an original car, and not an enhanced version of an economy car, it should hold more of it's value.

Ike

Out of curiosity I did some searching on autotrader to see how many of the various cars were for sale and what the asking price was... I didn't get very far with my research before I came across this. Could someone loan me 35k and some googone? It's 2 miles from my house, I may go look at it tomorrow if the guy seems willing to deal heavily. I realize this car was not available in North America and is somewhat rare, but now you can buy a new RS here. We'll see how the phonecall goes.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...lor=&cardist=2


Edit: Bah, financing on that car would be impossible, oh well...

VikingDJ

The prices on autotrader are a joke. I bought my 04 STI for $29500, and could have gotten an 05 for $30100 (800 below invoice). The prices on autotrader are full msrp or over on new cars, and full retail selling value on used cars. I guess they do that hoping some idiot will take it without haggling. if I were to trade in my STi right now, only being a month old with only 1500 mils on it, I'll get about 25k for it. I would have gotten about 26500 for my RX8 at the time I bought the STI. All those add ons I got for the RX8 were essentislly meaningless. People can buy a new STI for well below invoice, and the 04 RX8s, are selling for 1k-1500 below easily. Buyers of the regular impreza RS and the WRX don't have to suffer the damage like the STi owners must endure. The 7k more you roughyly pay for upgrades on STI compared to regular WRX unfortunately become virtually wiped out after 1-2 years of ownership. the same goes for EVO. If you want to retain a better depreciation value, you buy the WRX. The STI is a terrible investment for those who trade in cars every 4 years, and the RX8 is same way if you upgrade with all the packages.

Shiri

IMO, the STI and EVO is more "car" than the RX8 simply because of their all round durability and drivability. They of course, have prices to match so I wouldn't really put them in the same category as the RX8.

Moving on, between the STI and EVO, I would take the STI because its a more livable car than the EVO. The EVO seems to be the car for the extremists (ie. true enthusiasts who would actually utilitise its full abilities), just like what the S2000 is to a certain group of people. Out of the box, the EVO is a better track car by far, get it if you are a real track enthusiast.

Shiri

Mitsubishi is a good company with some bad luck in recent years.

The intense competition in Japan doesn't help at all. The EVO is argueably their best car and has been doing well in rallies. Me think that its only a matter of time before the EVO finally cater a better design to match its performance. Remember, you can soften hard lines and edges of a square car to make it look better, but you can't do so much to a roundish car.

VikingDJ

I respect your opinion, but it makes absolutely no sense. Mitsubishi has never built a durable, long lasting, turbo car, which is why their lineup or cars are not turbocharged anymore. The EVO has yet to prove anything as far as durability. As for drivability, the EVO is probably the most unfriendly, unforgiving, uncomfortable daily driver car you can buy. The STI was built to give you better drivability on daily basis, which is why it lacks in performance compared to EVO. Owning both RX8 and STI, I can tell you the STI is the least forgiving of the two to use on daily basis. You feel every single bump, and you bounce around like a go cart without suspension. They all say the EVO is even worse, so I can only imagine. There's a compromise between high performance and luxury, so it depends which one you care more or less about when deciding.

Shiri

Not sure if they make the EVO for the US market any different, but in case you've forgotten we're not talking about luxury cruisers here, these are real sports cars meant for a different application (semi to fully offroad driving).

I would say that the EVO appears more fragile than the STi because its fitted with more technology (it has a much smarter AWD system than the STi), thus, the car feels more planted to the road. I'm guessing that the AWD system in the EVO is heavier than that of the STi.
This is the 8th version of EVO already, and it is as reliable as it can be for the kind of car that it is.

Mitsubishi should really try to produce a 2 seater 2 door EVO instead of the usual 4 door EVO because having 4 doors/seats is no longer applicable in rally/track racing. It should save a lot of weight and maybe produce a much tighter car that's less reliant on the AWD system and more focused on the natural makeup of a racing car (ie. more realistic weight - lighter is better - ala Elise, better weight distribution).

Subaru has the Forrester, Impreza and Legacy, all 4 door 4-5 seater cars. Streamlining the Impreza into an AWD coupe would help create a market in demand.

I am in no way defending Mitsubishi, but they can build good quality and reliable cars (mostly 4 cylinder bangers). In terms of capturing a cliche market, they are doing much better with the EVO than say an S2000.

P.S. sorry for the blabbering.

PoorCollegeKid

The Evo over here doesn't have the electronic active differentials that the other Evos in the world get, unfortunately. When someone from the US says that the Evo appears more fragile, fancy drivetrain components aren't going to be a factor because the Evo doesn't have any. It has an open front diff, a viscous center diff, and a mechanical LSD in the rear. If anything, the STi has the more complex drivetrain, because it has LSDs all around and its DCCD. Usually, when people accuse the USDM Evo of fragility, they're referring to it's clutch (which does seem to be a bit weak) or its general build quality (shakes, rattles, etc.). IMO, complaining about build quality on a car like that is rather asinine if the only real defects are minor shakes and rattles that you could fix with a few hours and a wrench/ratchet/screw driver. The car is a bargain for the performance that it offers, but you can't have it all for only $30,000. A $30,000 car should be put together rather well, but when you have a car so completely focused on performance like the Evo it should come as no surprise that there are a few minor problems.