Dont forget the 03 Scoob is a stop gap model in an attempt to save the flagging bug eye sales so when the so called all new Scoob comes out which I think is end of 04/early 05, if its any good the residuals for the 03 will suffer like the bug eyes so buying an 03 may be an even more costly exercise.

As for costs, Everything on a Scoob costs a small fortune, OK I enjoyed mine while I had it but I can honestly say that I dont miss it & I will probably never buy another. When you look at the cost of owning & tweaking a Scoob it makes a lot more cars affordable & without the boy racer image the Scoob is fast aquiring

A very good point Stuart - which most Scoobynetters will have forgotten in their rush to buy the first decent looking 'new' generation Impreza (ie how it should have looked from Nov 2000 on).

On balance I think I sold the Impreza (99MY) at the right time as values are dropping from month to month and I think that Skoda as a brand is now not the residual pit that the trade thought it was - simply because word of mouth and reliability surveys are all extremely positive .... in fact exactly how Subaru started the ball rolling.

Day Tripper

Current spec VR-4 Galants are all Tiptronic autos arent they , i have yet to see a manual in the current shape , and most of the ones i do see are Legnums not Galants (ie galant estate).