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Price opinion from advertisements and recorded sales. Not an inspection or a certified valuation.
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Reference photograph of a Subaru Impreza WRX STI S203
Valuation · Subaru · GD (STI Japan) · 2005

Subaru Impreza WRX STI S203

2.0L turbo flat four (EJ20) · 242 kW / 422 Nm · 6sp manual · AWD
CONSIDERRated within the $30k to $100k band · 55 of 94 at this money
Model value
$40,000
Must gain each year to break even
+12.0%
The projection does not clear it, and nor does most of the library.
CarQuant score
52/100
Scored against the $30k to $100k band, not the whole library
Evidence grade
Measured
Four or more recorded Australian sales
$40,000
$27,300 lowhigh $58,996
Calibrated to recorded sales
Four Australian results between $33,771 and $52,500 - but three cars: one sold twice, at plus 2.2 per cent

Looking at an Impreza WRX STI for sale?

Put in the asking price and the odometer reading. You will see what this model should make at that reading.

Should make, typical example
$40,000
At about 100,000 km. Enter an asking price to compare.

Odometer only. Colour, options, history, condition and the photographs move it further, and that is what the report reads.

A person reads the advertisement and its photographs. Usually back within 48 hours. Read a real listing report

Price history

Today $40,000 · modelled median at five years $40,454
Solid line: the value this library has carriedDashed from 2026: modelled · even money $33,535 to $50,207
The green band is the even-money range and the one to plan on: half of outcomes land inside it. The pale band behind it bounds eight in ten ($27,300 to $58,996). The path is this model's own: it starts along the momentum of its recorded history and bends toward its projected median as the horizon lengthens, so no two cars share a future curve.

The verdict

A defensible case with reservations. Scores 52/100, ranking 55 of 94 in the $30k to $100k band. Scarcity is the strongest input, liquidity the weakest.
Running it costs about $5,350 a year (13.4% of value), which is what the economics score measures. All in, including the projected value change, it is $5,819 a year.
The model's five year median is $40,454, a +1.1% move, with the tenth percentile at $27,300.
Value calibrated to recorded sales.
Evidence
Measured4 recorded sales
Off its peak
-23%
Value band
wide
Multiple recorded transactions plus an aggregate source. Treat the level as reliable.
Scored against every recent Australian sale this library holds, half its values land within 11.2 per cent of the price paid and the rest miss by more, in either direction. Projections are therefore damped toward flat in proportion to how little is known, and the plausible band is never narrower than the error the model is known to make.
Short term (1-5 years)$5,819 a year all in, +1.1% median value move
Long term (10-15 years)Scarcity case already formed
Negotiate from$40,000

Recorded sales

Every recorded observation, and when
4 rows on record
$55k$43k$31k
2023202420252026
the value this record published, year by yearnow $40kwhat the model expects across 80k–129k kmsold
Every row, with its price and note (4) ↓
Library value against the sold record
4 sales · median $39,253
Value $40,000
$33,771$52,500
Sep 2025Collecting Cars$34,500Sold
SOLD. 2 Sep 2025, Beecroft NSW, 88,553km. NUMBER 440 OF 555, Crystal Grey Metallic, imported April 2022 on a Japanese auction grade of 4B. Ohlins DFV coilovers, Prova air-oil separator and blow-off valve, Defi boost gauge, Python security, retuned by Pulse Racing for 98-octane in November 2023; the original S203 suspension goes with the car. Timing belt at 80,444km in July 2023. SAME CAR AS THE JUNE 2023 CRANBOURNE WEST RESULT - 8,116km later and 2.2 per cent dearer
Jun 2024Collecting Cars$44,006Sold
SOLD. 12 Jun 2024, Greenacre NSW, 105,626km from new. Number 280 of 555, Crystal Grey, imported and first registered in Australia in June 2023. Carbon STi front splitter and roof spoiler, STi Genome boost gauge and controller, HKS Hipermax IV SP coilovers with camber plates, Flex.Co aluminium radiator. One service on file, June 2023 at 105,110km
Jun 2023Collecting Cars$33,771Sold
SOLD. 17 Jun 2023, Cranbourne West VIC, 80,437km. NUMBER 440 OF 555, Crystal Grey Metallic, imported April 2022 on a Japanese auction grade of 4B, two owners from new, unregistered and offered by the trade. Ohlins DFV coilovers, Prova air-oil separator and blow-off valve, Defi boost gauge, Python security. Rear spoiler freshly repainted. RESOLD at Beecroft in September 2025 at $34,500
Dec 2022Collecting Cars$52,500Sold
SOLD. 9 Dec 2022, Delacombe VIC, 129,020km. Number 214 of 555, Crystal Grey over grey cloth, on the correct forged BBS wheels with gold Brembo callipers. Blitz coilover suspension fitted. Cam belt believed replaced at about 100,000km, serviced at about 129,000km. The highest distance in the set and the highest price in it
4 completed Australian sales of 4 rows. Rows marked asking, no sale, or context are shown for honesty but do not count toward the evidence grade: an ask is not a transaction, a pass-in is a refusal, and a provenance or overseas result does not price the ordinary local car. The badge on every row is computed by the same rule as the grade, so the two cannot drift apart.

Score breakdown

Against the $30k to $100k band median
94 cars in band · ink tick marks the median
Ownership economics30% of total
46/100-9
Scarcity25% of total
94/100+41
Demand durability20% of total
60/100-6
Liquidity15% of total
2/100-50
Risk resilience10% of total
28/100-8
Sub-scores run 0-100 before weighting; the weighted total is 52/100. Medians are computed live from the 94 cars currently in the $30k to $100k band, so this picture moves when the library does.
The working behind each factor: baseline and drivers ↓
Ownership economics30% weight
46/100
Baseline80 pts
− 13.4% of value a year to run-34 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)46 pts
Scarcity25% weight
94/100
Baseline68 pts
+ 555 built, none delivered new to Australia+22 pts
+ Perhaps forty here, inferred rather than counted+4 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)94 pts
Demand durability20% weight
60/100
Baseline46 pts
+ The STI limited edition Australian buyers actually chase+14 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)60 pts
Liquidity15% weight
2/100
Baseline10 pts
− Four Australian sales in four years, 72 days on market-8 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)2 pts
Risk resilience10% weight
28/100
Baseline46 pts
− EJ20 robust in this state of tune but ring-land failure is the known mode-10 pts
− Cars advertised as S203 without the build plate-8 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)28 pts
Model output, not advice or a valuation. Verify independently before acting.

What it costs to own · about 4,762 km a year

Annual cost of access, excl. fuel
$5,350a year
Share of value per year
13.4%
Scheduled servicing$1,25023%
Tyres, annualised$90017%
Registration and CTP$80015%
Insurance$1,50028%
Sinking fund (failure table)$90017%
All-in annualised (a different number)
Purchase (model value plus duty)$41,600
Running costs × 5 years$26,750
Median exit, net of selling cost$39,254
All-in annualised over 5 years$5,819/yr
Share of value per year14.5%
Cost of access is what the car costs to run. All-in annualised adds depreciation, duty and selling costs across a five year hold. They answer different questions and are labelled separately for that reason.
Break-even appreciation, 5 year hold
12.0%a year, only to get the money back
This library projects
+0.2%a year
The projection falls 11.8 points a year short of the hurdle. On these assumptions this car is a cost, not an asset, which can be an entirely rational thing to buy but should be bought knowing it.
Purchase$40,000
Stamp duty$1,600
Running costs x 5 years$26,750
Selling cost at exit, 3.0% of the salescales with price
Sale price needed at +5 years$70,464
Storage
Bought at
No forecast is used to compute the hurdle. It is the purchase, the duty, any premium and 5 years of running cost, grossed up for the cost of selling and spread back over the hold. The projection it is measured against is the weakest number in this product and is drawn that way in the chart above. Transport, finance and any restoration spend sit outside it.

Specification

Engine2.0L turbo flat four (EJ20)
Power / torque242 kW / 422 Nm
0-100 km/h4.9 s
Transmission6sp manual
DriveAWD
Kerb weight1,470 kg
Built worldwide555
Delivered to AustraliaNone. Every car here is an import
Effective AU survivors40 (imported)
Australian sales / year4
Typical days on market72 days
Launch price$62,000

What moves the price on this model

Colour hierarchy
Crystal Grey Metallic+4%
World Rally Blue+2%
Options
Original S203 suspension retained or included+8%
Low build number documented+4%
Complete Japanese service booklet and export certificate+8%
Unmodified titanium exhaust+6%
Odometer sensitivity±1% per 10,000 km vs 100,000 km
Applied on top of these

Condition, history, originality, ownership, delivery and modification multipliers apply to every car in the library. They are applied automatically when an advertisement is analysed, and the schedule is set out once, on the analyser page.

Projected value in five years

Projected value at five years
$40,454
+1.1% on today
The model's figure. Today it is $40,000.
Even odds it lands between $33,535 and $50,207.
$27,300 lowhigh $58,996
The shaded range is even money and 50% wide; the outer figures bound eight outcomes in ten. Band width follows the evidence - a model with a tight measured record carries a tight band.
A weaker five year outlook than 60% of the library.
-26.6% weakest projected move in the librarystrongest +73.1%
Five-year cost of ownership
Value change alone: +$454 across five years.
Running costs over the same period: $26,750.
Duty and expected selling costs: $2,800.
Net cost of five years of ownership: $29,095, or $5,819 a year.
The projected value rise offsets part of the running cost. It does not make the car free to own.

The case for and against

The case for

A 555-car factory limited edition with a balanced engine, a titanium exhaust and carbon-backed Recaros, none of which came here new. The one chassis this record can track went up 2.2 per cent over twenty-six months while being driven, which is more than most of this library can say.

The case against

Four Australian sales in four years on a car whose price is set by build number and paperwork rather than anything measurable - price correlates with distance at plus 0.99, which is to say the sample is too small and too varied to fit at all. Every car is a Japanese import, and an S203 claim without the build plate should be assumed to be an ordinary STI.

Known faults and risks

Risk 1Cars presented as S203 without a documented build number
Risk 2EJ20 ring-land failure on tuned examples
Risk 3Import odometers not warranted
EJ20 rebuild$12,000
Clutch replacement$2,600
Ohlins damper service$1,800

Similar cars, and what they cost to run

Evidence behind this valueMeasured · 4 recorded sales
Carried value
$40,000
Historical price
2016 · $34,0002026 · $40,000
Measured
Multiple recorded transactions plus an aggregate source. Treat the level as reliable.
This record exists because four JDM limited editions were being priced as ordinary Australian cars

The GD STI entry already set the S204 and the Spec C Type RA aside as different variants; the S203 results were not marked and were being counted as ordinary comparables. STI Japan built 555 of them, none came here new, and every Australian car is an import. The four results are $33,771, $34,500, $44,006 and $52,500.

Read the rest of the evidence notes (6 more)
An eighth repeat sale, and it was hiding inside the old record

Build number 440 of 555, Crystal Grey Metallic, imported in April 2022 on a Japanese auction grade of 4B, sold at Cranbourne West on 17 June 2023 showing 80,437 kilometres for $33,771, and again at Beecroft on 2 September 2025 showing 88,553 kilometres for $34,500. Both lots state the build number. Both carry the same Ohlins DFV coilovers, the same Prova air-oil separator and blow-off valve, the same Defi boost gauge and the same Python security system, and both note the original S203 suspension accompanying the car.

Plus 2.2 per cent over twenty-six and a half months,

On 8,116 kilometres actually driven - the only repeat sale in this library where the car was used rather than stored. It is the third in a row to come back up, after the 944 Turbo at plus 2.3 and the AP2 S2000 at plus 13.1.

The cross-section and the repeat sale disagree, and the repeat sale wins

Fitted across the four lots, price against date implies about minus $4,100 a year. But those four lots are three different cars at three different build numbers on three different suspension setups, and the one car that can be tracked went up. A four-point cross-section cannot separate the market from which particular car happened to sell; a repeat sale does not have to. The direction is taken from the chassis and the level from the two most recent results.

Distance runs the wrong way, emphatically

Price correlates with the odometer at PLUS 0.991 across the four results: the 129,020-kilometre car made $52,500 and the 80,437-kilometre car made $33,771. Nobody should read that as distance adding value. What it says is that on a 555-car limited edition, build number, originality of the suspension and the completeness of the Japanese paperwork swamp the odometer entirely. The penalty is set at 1.0 per cent and is nominal; fitting the observed sign would be arithmetic, not valuation.

What the S203 actually is

A larger turbocharger, a titanium exhaust, a retuned ECU, precision-balanced internals, adjustable dampers, reinforced springs, thicker anti-roll bars, front and rear strut braces, bigger brakes, carbon-backed Recaros and a 260km/h speedometer. It is not a trim level.

The survivor estimate of 40 is the weakest number on this page

And is an inference from four Australian sales of a 555-car run, not a count. SOURCING: auction lot pages read in full, one to one against each result.

This page prices the model.
The report prices the car in the advertisement.

Send the link. A person reads the advertisement and its photographs and sends back what that Subaru Impreza WRX STI S203 is worth, what to offer and when to walk away, with five years of costs at the distance you drive.

Read a real listing report

Backed by 4 recorded Australian sales of this model. Read a complete one on a real car first. Seventeen sections, no account, nothing to pay.

This model, today$40,000
Half of sales are further out than$4,472
The report$249
18×
the price of the report: what half of real sales of this model sit further from this page's number than, on this car
Watch this model
Told when the next one is called.

One line of email when this desk publishes a call on a Subaru Impreza WRX STI S203, or records a new Australian sale of one. Nothing else, no schedule, and on a quiet model you may hear nothing for months, which is itself worth knowing about a car you are chasing.

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