Yes you can find a great donor for under $4,000

I am proof that donor deals exist. I just picked up this 2003 WRX salvage title from craigslist in Pennsylvania. It only had 75,000 miles. Damage is side impact only so shouldn't (hopefully) be damage to any of the parts I need. Best part is that the owner already had a lot of aftermarket parts - Cobb stage 2 system. He currently has it tuned to about 290 HP and it runs like a champ! Cant wait to order my kit. I'm off to Carlisle this weekend to check out the car in real life. Plan to order shortly after. Hope the weather holds!

Pics of the donor:

Attachment 29129

Attachment 29130

And the engine pic:

Attachment 29131

Oh, I pais $3,500 for this puppy. Could probably have paid less, but i was happy with how great it ran and looked. Aftermarket parts are worth $2k+ alone..

Looks like you have a winner. Have fun at Carlisle this weekend.
Doug

Wow. Nice and clean. You might get most of your money back in parts.
Mike

Thanks! Definitely hoping to sell most of the parts.

That is a great find! I also want to tell people that the right car is out there. I was getting discouraged, when I would finally find a car I deemed a suitable donor I'd get outbid at auction time so fast my head would spin. And I was stopping at $5,000. Then I found my 2006 WRX with 142,500 miles and a bad rear-end collision for sale as a "Buy It Now" for $2,750. The car was 1,100 miles away so inspecting it myself was out, and the low price scared me. But I figured at that entry price I could afford to fix whatever I needed to. So imagine my surprise when the shipper met me a mile from my house (low oak trees in my neighborhood) and fired it right up and drove it off his truck. We ended up driving it home!! It's in much better shape than expected. The funny thing is, I swear I saw it sell on Copart a week earlier. Anyway, the point is, be patient and diligent! Your perfect donor is out there.Attachment 29158Attachment 29159

sounds great! I'll be interested to follow your build.

-Eric