Background:
I’m a 40 years old VW lover, I have driven and/or owned so many of them since I was 16 ( I still have 1984 Rabbit GTI and it’s in pretty good condition–under 85,000 miles) and will always be but I had to try something new.

Don’t care that the WRX isn’t aesthetically pleasing to my eyes (car is plain on the inside as well, music is wack) or others but the car is no-joke, even stock. For the price, you get a beast: not an adult beast, but not a baby beast either.
I purchased mine with 1729 miles from a dealer in NY on Halloween 2009. The dealer sucks but the price was at just over 25.600 for the SAT/GPS version and 6-year warranty included in the deal, so I purchased it. It was being used in Illinois by a “Subaru-suit” and the dealer in NY got their hands on it in July 2009. Carfax showed that it had 3 oil changes between July and October 31st.

I used my car for everything from Oct 31st 2009 to December 2010, so I put on about 33,000 miles since I bought it. I am now using it sparingly. I did all maintenance as suggested in the manual except the brake fluid flush and one oil change–the dealer did this because there was just too much snow this winter.

I don’t care about voiding my warranty so I bought a Cobb stage 1 map around April 2010 and I just put on an AMR Performance turbo back exhaust (stealth black), intake, and Stage 2 map (Feb 2011). Holy smokes, Batman! Car is no joke. When I was running it stock (curious to see what awaits in the future) I have kept up with some serious V8s on the NY highways and freeways, blew away posers, and saved my gas on those in the “PULEEZE” category.
The AMR stuff was close to $2200, but if you can swing it, it’s worth the money. So for under $3000 dollars you can have a real nice upgrade and still be under the price of a 2009 STI (I wanted a 2009 STI but did not want any more hatchbacks). I’m happy with my choice before and after the upgrades. I definitely think my car will be an adult beast whenever I have to change the turbo and intercooler.

So, if anyone is skeptical about WRXs, I hope this long post will have you leaning more on the positive side.
So contrary to being bought on Halloween, there are no horror stories to tell as of the date of this writing. If there ever is, I will remember to inform you all. Peace.