Is The Last Proper Subaru WRX STI A Bargain Yet?

So, the Subaru WRX STI is back. In a sense. The new S210 is the first proper STI-fettled version of the new WRX, which isn’t sold here in Europe, and we can’t help but be a bit disappointed. Other than the fact that it’s limited to 500 units, all of which are going to Japan, the S210 doesn’t get any more power than the old STI, and it does get… a CVT gearbox. Oh dear.

Naturally, that’s got us feeling a bit wistful about what we can only describe as the last ‘proper’ WRX STI, which we happily did get in Britain, where it was sold between 2014 and 2017.

No, it wasn’t called an Impreza any more, but it did carry on the recipe of the original car that kicked off a love affair for an entire generation nearly 30 years ago (gosh, we’re old): a powerful turbo flat-four – in this case, the 2.5-litre EJ25 with 296bhp – a clever four-wheel drive system, and a manual gearbox, all wrapped in a compact saloon body topped off with a great big spoiler.

Arriving at a time when cars like the VW Golf R, Audi RS3 and Mercedes A45 had taken a similar mechanical package and rolled it into much more refined, plush packages, the last WRX STI – the VA, for you chassis code fans – was always going to be a bit of a compromise, but it also felt like the very last gasp of a certain era of Japanese performance car that, for some, remains unparalleled in its appeal.

Perhaps that’s why values have held reasonably strong. We’ve been scouring the classifieds, and picked out this car from early in the VA’s run, from 2014. It’s covered just over 92,000 miles, suggesting it’s been pretty much daily driven from new, but that’s all been with a single owner, who seems to have looked after it.

While the plates are unfortunately hidden in the ad so we can’t check its MOT history, it’s apparently been serviced with reassuring regularity, and had an all-important cambelt change around 16,000 miles ago, meaning there should be plenty of life in the new one. The paint, interior and wheels all look superficially spot on, too.

The EJ25 doesn’t have a totally spotless reputation, but at least seems to have shaken off the head gasket woes of its predecessors. The fact that this one seems to be totally unmodified is likely good news from a durability standpoint, and gives a new owner a blank canvas for any changes they might want to make.

The asking price for this one is £15,645, which Auto Trader reckons is on the higher side, but possibly accounts for the seemingly meticulous care lavished on it. You can find Mk7 Golf Rs of a similar mileage and condition for a few grand less, and objectively, they’ll be better all-rounders, but for some, they can’t compete with the rally hero charisma and flat-four burble of the Scoobie, which already feels like much more of a modern classic.

So for that price, and with the disappointing return of the STI, does the last one represent a bargain yet? Honestly, we’re not sure, especially considering how many earlier, more iconic Imprezas can still be picked up for less. But then we’re probably never going to get another car like the WRX STI again, so maybe in a few years’ time, £15,645 will seem like very good value indeed.