2001 Subaru Impreza GX Sport review from UK and Ireland

Hardly anything at all considering the miles, drive/power steering belt snapped on the M25 due to wear/incorrect adjustment.

Very unfortunate with the left rear tire. It got two consecutive punctures and on the last repair the tire blistered so it had to be replaced.

Obviously not the cars fault, just poor winter conditions on English country roads.

Apart from general wear for a car with these miles on the clock, it's in very good condition.

The Subaru Impreza GX Sport is a very undervalued car, it's easily overshadowed by the WRX/STI turbo models, but you can't think about it in those terms. It's more like a mid range BMW 3 series or something along those lines.

Despite the miles mines done, it's rapid, not fast, but once up to speed it cruises very easily, and is very good for motorway speeds and long journeys.

The 2.0L 16v boxer engine is a joy to behold, nothing in this bracket sounds as good in my opinion.

The pleasing thing about this car is the handling, its set-up is comfortable, but because of the 4x4 its very grippy in the dry, and understeers in the wet, although this might be a tire selection issue its controllable and drifts through corners which is a pleasant experience and I've kept up much faster cars, even a Lotus Elise driven fast, which was fun!!

Exterior styling was controversial at the launch with the 'bug eyed' lights etc, but there are plenty of things that offset that, for example the flared arches, and frameless doors look very cool.

Interior styling is very much to my taste, it's very simple with no clutter on the dash, and all the switchgear within easy reach and easy to use.

Materials have improved vastly since the 'classic' impreza models, but they don't come anywhere near the quality you could expect to find in a base level BMW for example. Having said that, the colours are subtle blue on black with silver accents. Also considering the miles it's held together very well.