Help me out guys -- 2008 SpecB 6MT

[EricMcN]

Folks,

I have a big problem here, my Subaru -- bear with me.

I have this car for 8 years - almost 8 years - It is simply amazing, and it has become part of my life it seems - over the last year or so I have had a very hard time in thinking of what to replace it with - I quickly ruled out S402s and other similar cars as there was no noticeable improvement to be had - so the next route was a V8 and because I am 50 this year and full blown mid-life crisis mode I honed in on a car that is as unique as this Subaru - a limited edition XKRS.

I decided probably last summer that yes, that is what I will get - finding one is a different story but last December everything changed when I saw one for sale - in January a deal fell through and the car was available again - there was only every going to be one outcome here - so now I have two cars - a Jaguar and a Subaru. I never intened to have 2 cars in January but it just happened.

These SpecB cars are not very popular in England, mainly due to road tax and running costs - many people import Autos for Japan - thus 'saving' £300 odd pound’s a year but in doing so denying themselves the opportunity to drive the best transmission Subaru ever made.

I have had my fun with this Subaru, my car is in remarkable condition and I am sure it will last another 8 years easily. I am well aware these cars are rare, which I why I replaced it with that special Jaguar - it had to be a unique car to replace that Subaru.

Around 17 of these facelift models were only sold in the UK – drivers-oriented cars like this do not exist anymore. The Jaguar, 5 units registered as of a few years ago.

Prior to this Subaru I had a Supercharged CL55 AMG Merc – it was not good and I had it returned after a month, then I saw the Subaru and remember driving it in back roads around London for less than 5 minutes and quickly arranged a deal, with a big grin like it was Christmas day – the crazy thing is you get that feeling every time you drive it.

I am a bit troubled by the entire episode as it were - my wife has no interest in cars - she just wants the Subaru gone. 

I do not have the time / space / resources to look after two cars. A last resort is take this to Ireland in May and leave it parked up at my old house and cover it up - that will be a very sad occasion should that happen

Is there interest in North America for these cars - even with the steering wheel on the 'wrong side'?

And yes, that H6 engine does sound amazing

Mods to this car - 2008 3.0 SpecB 144K Mi

Powerflow SS Cat Back Exhaust

HEL Braided Lines

Brembo pads all round

ECU Map for 99RON Fuel

Polybushes all round - front with anti lift

Samco Air Intake / Pipercross panel filter

Billetworkz rerverse lockout - uprated shifter bushes for that floppy movement fix.

OEM STI rear spoiler

 

 

Edited February 3 by EricMcN

[KZJonny]

I think that most people who are willing to deal with the inconvenience of a RHD car are far more likely to just import something from Japan... Unless you're willing to really cut your own throat on the cost and take hit on shipping.

Might be wrong, and there remain some for whom the Spec B has cache, but these cars seems to hover in the neverland of not being worth anywhere near as much as an equivalent year STi, and while their values can hold, I don't think there would be enough interest in North America for a one-off H6 powered Spec B. Wagons are also far and away more prized here than sedans.

I do hope for your sake, you can get a good price on it, but it could be worth looking at Bring A Trailer, or Cars & Bids to see what cars of a similar condition are selling for over here... subtract the cost of shipping and ask yourself if you are willing to sell it for whatever that remainder is. EJ255/7s here get all the aftermarket support, where the EZ30 has not so much, and has no off the shelf tuning options etc... I imagine there is a buyer for that car, even here, but I suspect you'll be looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Edited February 5 by KZJonny

[EricMcN]

38 minutes ago, KZJonny said:

I think that most people who are willing to deal with the inconvenience of a RHD car are far more likely to just import something from Japan... Unless you're willing to really cut your own throat on the cost and take hit on shipping.

Might be wrong, and there remain some for whom the Spec B has cache, but these cars seems to hover in the neverland of not being worth anywhere near as much as an equivalent year STi, and while their values can hold, I don't think there would be enough interest in North America for a one-off H6 powered Spec B. Wagons are also far and away more prized here than sedans.

I do hope for your sake, you can get a good price on it, but it could be worth looking at Bring A Trailer, or Cars & Bids to see what cars of a similar condition are selling for over here... subtract the cost of shipping and ask yourself if you are willing to sell it for whatever that remainder is. EJ255/7s here get all the aftermarket support, where the EZ30 has not so much, and has no off the shelf tuning options etc... I imagine there is a buyer for that car, even here, but I suspect you'll be looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Wll I wont be asking for JDM money - plus you dont know the history of such cars  - I think a similar SpecB 6MT Sedan is going to cost at least $17k+ to ship to the USA inc fees and shipping costs

I ended up with a supercharged V8 as a step up from this, there was no point getting a S402 or such as the performance upgrade over this car Vs The additional cost made no sense to me.

[KZJonny]

25 minutes ago, EricMcN said:

I think a similar SpecB 6MT Sedan is going to cost at least $17k+ to ship to the USA inc fees and shipping costs

Like $17K USD? I assume that this is the total asked, for the car + shipping, that isn't clear.

And I have no skin in this game, but you were asking, and that's just my 2 cents.

Right now I can get an '06 Legacy GT 2.0T Wagon, landed, taxes  and customs included, w/ ~100k miles for ~$10.5 CAD.... so like $7K USD. This is from a reputable Canadian Importer, and the cars they select are clean. Generally much better than any North American car you are going to find that didn't see only 3 season use and live in a garage, etc...

I don't personally care all that much about known history, some do, and it adds value if it matters to you. The $10K USD or $13-14 CAD difference between what you are proposing, and what I can get right now in Canada is a lot of money. For a car that has more support, fewer miles, and is a wagon, that is a LOT less money. I can throw in a full 6MT swap and still be ahead by $10K CAD. This means I can get a JDM GT wagon + a used Miata + pay my mortage for half the year. That is a lot to leave on the table to have an H6 sedan.

US market will probably be similar, since they have even more and bigger importers, which drives prices even harder there. I would be tempted to get a JDM car from the US and do a LHD conversion, but the costs to ship and get it across the border eliminate most of the savings.

 

Again, I am sure there is a buyer for your car, but they're not halo cars. I've been looking at clean(ish) 2.5T Spec Bs, and they can be had in the $8-10K CAD range. I only want one for the driveline, and the guy/sell the rest as parts. They're just common enough that unless they are fairly pristine, nobody currently cares all that much.

[KZJonny]

All that said, someone did pay $13K for an '02 LLBean with the the 3.0R and VDC on Bring a Trailer recently...

Granted it only had 55k miles on it (and it is a LHD wagon of course) but that does put the price of an older H6 reasonably close to what you'd want...

 

I don't know if BaT does auctions outside of the US tho, evenhere in Canada. Never looked that hard into it.

Edited February 5 by KZJonny

[EricMcN]

I am talking about cars just like mine - so in JDM it will be a B4 3.0 SpecB - they certainly are not cheap and getting increasingly difficult to source - I only am in this situation as that grail Jag I was looking out for a year or more appeared for sale in December and that changed everything and left me with two vehicles now - ideally I would keep the Subaru but dont have space for both.

 

 

Edited February 5 by EricMcN

[EricMcN]

41 minutes ago, KZJonny said:

Like $17K USD? I assume that this is the total asked, for the car + shipping, that isn't clear.

And I have no skin in this game, but you were asking, and that's just my 2 cents.

Right now I can get an '06 Legacy GT 2.0T Wagon, landed, taxes  and customs included, w/ ~100k miles for ~$10.5 CAD.... so like $7K USD. This is from a reputable Canadian Importer, and the cars they select are clean. Generally much better than any North American car you are going to find that didn't see only 3 season use and live in a garage, etc...

I don't personally care all that much about known history, some do, and it adds value if it matters to you. The $10K USD or $13-14 CAD difference between what you are proposing, and what I can get right now in Canada is a lot of money. For a car that has more support, fewer miles, and is a wagon, that is a LOT less money. I can throw in a full 6MT swap and still be ahead by $10K CAD. This means I can get a JDM GT wagon + a used Miata + pay my mortage for half the year. That is a lot to leave on the table to have an H6 sedan.

US market will probably be similar, since they have even more and bigger importers, which drives prices even harder there. I would be tempted to get a JDM car from the US and do a LHD conversion, but the costs to ship and get it across the border eliminate most of the savings.

 

Again, I am sure there is a buyer for your car, but they're not halo cars. I've been looking at clean(ish) 2.5T Spec Bs, and they can be had in the $8-10K CAD range. I only want one for the driveline, and the guy/sell the rest as parts. They're just common enough that unless they are fairly pristine, nobody currently cares all that much.

Mine is pretty good I think - considering its 16 years old - this was my daily drive for 8 years, a beast of a car.

These SpecBs were only sold in small volumes - the UK got around 17 07-09 SpecB sedans - so basically nothing - the USA got a thousand or so 2.5 GT Spec B sedans I think