It feels like just yesterday that the Subaru WRX STI was a semi-affordable gateway to the world of rally-bred performance, offering all the tools you’d need to get sideways on your local dirt road while looking like Ken Block or Travis Pastrana on a closed stage. But the truth is, that hasn’t been reality for a while now.
The STI has been dead since 2021, forcing buyers to look elsewhere, in the form of cars like the Toyota GR Corolla, or shop used. With Subaru continuously teasing STI concepts without production intent or releasing low-production specials for the Japanese market only, it feels more and more likely that the car world may never see a proper STI again.
Collectors are starting to realize this, which means the prices of used, low-mileage, unmodified STIs are beginning to skyrocket. This latest auction from Cars & Bids, where a totally normal, not-at-all-special WRX STI just sold for an eye-watering $107,000, is proof.
If Any STI Is Going Over Six Figures, It’s This One
The thing about STIs, like most of the Japanese performance car segment, is that people love to put their own personal touches on their cars. Whether that’s a body kit, new wheels, a cold-air intake, a tune, new suspension, or just a badge delete, it’s actually pretty tough to find a used WRX STI on Facebook Marketplace that hasn’t been modified in at least some small way.
Inversely, when people go to buy cars like this, they’re more often than not seeking out a totally stock example, because they’d like to be the ones making their own modifications. A clean slate from which to begin your project is always better than picking up where someone else left off. This drives the demand for stock vehicles higher. And since supply is lower, people are willing to pay more for the opportunity, especially since they can’t be found new at dealerships anymore.
Things get even more extreme in the collector realm. Finding an STI that, in addition to never having been modified, has barely even been driven is doubly tough. Because these cars are practical four-door sedans with five seats, all-wheel drive, and a real trunk, many of them pull double-duty as daily drivers and weekend warriors. Even the cleanest, unmodified cars you see for sale regularly online are bound to have some miles on the clock.
The STI you see here, though, is different. The car is a 2004 model, known in the Subaru community as the “Blobeye,” with a scant 880 miles on the odometer. If the mileage wasn’t enough, it’s also the ideal spec, painted in iconic World Rally Blue with gold BBS wheels. It is, of course, totally unmodified and presents without flaw. The CarFax is unsurprisingly free of issues, with one owner from 2003 to 2025.
The paint is in perfect shape, the light clusters are free of hazing, there’s no fart cannon exhaust sticking out of the bumper, and no tinted windows. It even still has that airbag tag thing sticking out of the passenger side of the dashboard. As far as collector-grade STIs go, this one is undoubtedly one of the best in existence. So it’s no surprise it went for big money. But even in the world of big-money STIs, this one stands out.
Just How Expensive Are These Things Going To Get?
Let’s put some context into that $107,000 sale price. For $107,000, you could go out and buy two very well-equipped GR Corollas or three new MX-5 Miatas. For just a couple thousand dollars more, you can buy a shiny new Lotus Emira.
Going by sales data from Cars & Bids and Bring a Trailer, this STI is the most expensive normal, standard-production WRX STI ever to sell on either of those platforms. The only versions that sold for more were 22Bs, which are Japanese-only, limited-production, rally homologation specials built in exceedingly small numbers in the late 1990s.
Amazingly, this STI actually beat out one of the 22Bs sold on Bring a Trailer; the one above sold in 2024 and went for just $106,000. Sure, it had some modifications and 44,000 miles on the clock, but still, for a normal, American-market STI to outsell a real 22B is pretty nutty. It just goes to show how valuable a truly factory-fresh piece of equipment can be.
The only other STIs that come close to this 2004 model are S209s. This was another limited-production model based on the 2019 STI that got specific bodywork, gold BBS wheels, a bigger turbocharger, Brembo brakes, and stiffer Bilstein dampers. Subaru’s 2022 announcement that it wouldn’t be making a new STI set off a flurry of high-dollar sales for this model on BaT that year, with most selling between $80,000 and $100,000. Only one, this white example, was able to match this 2004 model, selling for the same $107,000. But that car had just 10 miles on the clock, and it was limited to just 209 examples.
I don’t think this is the top, either.
All you have to do is look at the sale of a certain Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution that took place back in 2024 to understand where the used WRX STI market is going. The Evo, the STI’s eternal rival, went out of production in 2015, and like the STI, low-mileage, unmodified examples are getting extremely tough to find. And the clean, bone-stock examples that do exist are going for big money. This one, a totally stock IX MR with 461 miles on the odometer, sold for $161,000 on Bring a Trailer. Like the blue STI, this wasn’t some ultra-limited-production model. It was just totally stock and basically hadn’t been driven for nearly 20 years.
If Subaru continues not to offer a new STI, I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time before normal, collector-grade cars get this expensive. Thankfully, for every six-figure, ultra-clean STI out there, there are about one hundred well-used, modified cars out there for us normies to enjoy.
Top graphic image: Cars & Bids
Having owned many Subarus and having ridden in some Rally cars, all I see here is a machine that has not yet fulfilled its potential. Such a shame that no owners will even get to feel what a nice AWD car can truly do on snow, ice and dirt at full chat. Feed it the onions and let it dance. They just “saved it for the next owner’.
On a similar note, I was sure when I was younger that a second generations CRX Si would be attainable. Nope…big time. Good ones are $35 to $50K.
This is “the most expensive XXXX car ever” always feels more like financial news about an asset that’s loosely related to cars.
I posted above, but it’s worth repeating. This was an under performing asset.
$31,959 in 2004 invested into an S&P index fund, would now be $273,263.
Headline: Someone figures out how to underperform the market!
News at 11!!
Every time I see these cars advertised with such low mileage I can only think that it’s a damn shame no one was enjoying them.
Even worse, the person that left it practically un-driven, has been rewarded with $100000
Why is it surprising? The kids that wanted them 20 years ago are now in their 40’s settled in life and have the money to spend.
It’s like once every 20 years people realize that the cars kids were into 20 years ago are now desirable. The collector car market is extremely predictable.
It’s also not surprising that the US-spec cars are out-selling a lot of the JDM stuff. LHD is a massive selling point for a lot of collectors.
Back in 2013 I paid $25,000 for a very clean, silver ’07 STi with low miles (borrowed a family member’s Luscombe 8A to fly to a small town in North Carolina to pick it up). I was happy with it the whole time I had it, but no way in hell would it be worth six figures. This is crack pipe and yet another example of the absurdity of cars as investments.
The very nicest one brings all of the money. This isn’t absurd, this is how weak the United States Dollar is in 2026. Cars are a safer place (in a global investment sense) to park money for a while. No different than real estate.
I agree, but it’s nothing new or unusual. Most of the cars worth big money were never expected to exist for decades and become expensive collectibles. Even exotics weren’t usually very well made, though they have rarity and other desirable traits, but muscle/performance cars based on ordinary family cars made to a cheap budget in 6- or even 7- figure production numbers? The thing is that it’s not a market based on logic, it’s based on memories, imagination, satisfying past desires, and a bit of Big Game Hunter competitive energy in finding and buying the best of something many of your peers also want. With that, the high value of more common cars start to make some sense (as much as any of it “makes sense”)—while they weren’t terribly uncommon, they were based on even more common versions that a lot of people have memories of, many of whom dreamed about the rarer version along with some of the friends and family around them who didn’t own one at all, but could still have good memories/associations. As many of these kinds of vehicles are performance cars, add a higher than usual attrition rate to the toll several decades can take on the numbers and demand far exceeds supply.
So that means my 200,000 mile rusty blob eye 2.5RS with rust, suspension issues and an oil leak was worth at least $10k? Wish I hadn’t have sold that.
I know what I have. No tire kickers. Price is firm.
(looks at first gen Tacoma prices)
This might not be as crazy as you think…
Full disclosure on my comment: I OWN a first gen Tacoma and there’s no way in hell I’d pay what they go for…
I’ve owned 3 first gen Tacos. I want another but refuse to pay 5 figures.
That’s why I’m keeping mine until one of us dies. With just shy of 1&0k on the clock and weekly use I think I have a good long time left
My last one with a 2.4L had 290,000 with perfect compression, no leaks and no burning oil. Rust killed it on all the front suspension and frame components. Too much to repair a second time.
Unfortunately, sometimes the tinworm just eats too much to bring them back. Mine’s a 3.4 so it’s not quite as bulletproof as one if the I4’s, but the frame’s pretty clean with nothing more than minor surface rust. If I were to bet, it’s probably more likely to be totaled in a crash (surrounded by impressively bad drivers, sometimes defensive driving only does so much) than suffer a mechanical death.
Looking at this like an investment, this is just under an inflation-adjusted return in the S&P500 over the same time. Not counting storage, maintenance, insurance, and the frustration of having a cool car and not being able to drive it.
$162k with dividend reinvestment or $109k without. Cars are a hobby, not an investment.
I started with $31,959 in 2004 calculated for an S&P index fund, dividends reinvested, and got $273,263.
But either way, this was an odd way for the owner to decide to lose money.
Inflation adjusted vs non-inflation adjusted.
“. For $107,000, you could go out and buy two very well-equipped GR Corollas”
Speaking of which, I believe the current GR Corollas will also appreciate in value at some point after they go out of production.
With the rumored 4-cylinder 2nd gen, I wonder how the market will view the first gen. Cool/unique because I3, or antiquated because the I4 is much better. The I3 seems to be a fairly robust engine, I haven’t heard of any major issues.
A stock SRT4 has got to be worth $250k since they are rarer than affordable healthcare in America.
I had a new 2003 WRX wagon, it was a great car. Would have loved the STI, and given that most of the WRX and STI were driven hard to high miles and some questionable mods, not surprised a pristine one sold for so much.
For that price, it should include a truck and trailer to tow it. Haha, but seriously, these cars are awesome. It was my favorite for a long time as a kid, until the newer ones lost the magic for me.
I always look when I see one, if it’s an STI, not just a WRX. I’m sure I’m not alone.
I mean back when I was looking for a WRX , even modified STis were going for 5 figures, that was in 2011.. So this unicorn isn’t shocking at all.
Its a 2005. The rear taillights are easy, but 114.3 rims cant be faked.
05 has tons of small improvements over the 04.
Listing says 2004, those are 2004+ tail lights.
2004 doesn’t have the extra circle in the tail light. 2004 and 05 are different in rear bodywork. My guess is its been hit, as I was wrong about the rims, the 114.3 of 05 looks wierd as 100×5 is centered in the rim pattern. Haven’t looked closely in a decade or so.
Had a white 04 sti.
Oh yah you want a 05 since I recall the 04 has a nasty habit of not locating the steering rack so only buy an 04 if you want to experience multiple turn-in every corner.
04 and 05 tails are identical. 06 and 07 got the clear lenses, with 07’s having the smoked chrome interior color behind the lens.
It’s a 2004, they still have the window sticker: https://media.carsandbids.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=2080,quality=80/e97164ee86c3a6ee5aaab17d395d231e5ea329d3/photos/r47AyOqV-mEKiQ-QNfG/edit/9DoDb.jpg?t=177143709060
Sorry, but you’re incorrect. In the US 2002-2003 were Bugeyes, without the circle “drop” on the tail light. 2004 was the first year of the Blobeye, and that included the tail light change. Sounds like your 2004 was the one that was hit, or it really wasn’t a 2004.
It’s an 04. The 05’s had a small plastic flare above the rear wheels. As a former 04 owner, I would argue the 05 is a superior car with the 114.3 hubs and stronger wheel bearings, but the above pictured car is an 04.
Every bit of this is correct.
Not to be that much of a Subaru snob, but the 04 and 05 STi BBS wheels looked virtually identical. Only difference was the bolt pattern change from 5×100 to 5×114.3, and they were a half inch wider.
For that price, it better include new head gaskets LOL
If you used a head gasket, you wouldn’t get an STI.
LOL
Dammit Doug, look what you did.
This isn’t all that shocking, the people who would’ve lusted after these in their teens and 20s when they were new and the tuner scene was booming are now in their peak earning years. That timeline isn’t so far off from when late 60s cars started to skyrocket in value. I’d expect the trend to continue for a bit.
Money laundering.
You just need a car that can be marginally justified, and a few push the market to ridiculous levels and keep it there. Then they trade them around to clean some drug/embargo/embezzlement gains.
See also art, empty mansions and crypto.
This x1000
Some people have too much money and need to be taxed a bit more. If you have an opportunity to see the cars in-person, leave your resume in the glovebox LOL
Keep dreaming. Guys that are laundering money don’t waste their time with $100K cars, they are doing this with multiples of millions per car. This is simply a collector purchase to store value. Despite how we feel, $100K USD in 2026 is NOT VERY MUCH MONEY.
I owned the exact car in the top shot circa 2011. A 2004 World Rally Blue WRX STi, and I can say that I TOTALLY get it!
If I had the money to buy one of those pristine six-figure examples, I would without hesitation. I am a complete idiot for selling that car. They are a riot to drive, and I miss mine dearly.
Bummed this means I will likely not get a shot at owning another one anytime soon. Oh well.
STI has been dead since 2015?
Is that real news, or just commentary of the STI branded model of the Impreza in the US?
AFAIK STI is still around. https://www.sti.jp/en/
And Subaru has continued doing things to devalue the brand – like having STI styled cars with little-to-no performance around the world (e.g. there ever was a 2025 Forester STI in Australia with little more than styling and claimed suspension tweaks – still CVT/base2.5)
The article says 2021, and it’s referring to the USDM STI, the car, not the organization.
Thx. I could have sworn it said 2015 when I first looked at it.
The S210 is dead to me anyway with it’s “subaru performance transmission” (not that it’s sold here anyway)
Hard agree. . . I haven’t found Subaru’s interesting in at least 15 years. Was into them for a decade or so.
It appears my answer to yesterday’s “Whats the next collector car” has come sooner than I guessed in my response. But hot damn I was right.
Collector grade car sells for collector grade price, site complains, rinse and repeat.
I agree. Predictable. I think they know the fallacy of this, but it drives clicks and comment board discussions.
I wish just once they’d approach this from the opposite tack:
“Hey STI owners, your cars are appreciating in value, look how well you might do!”
There’s two sides to every transaction, and one buyer’s expensive purchase is another seller’s windfall. But somehow we only ever get the one perspective.
Like I said towards the end of this post, the average STI is not really appreciating—you can get high-mileage versions of the latest generation for under $15k now
I have no insight into the market so I don’t know if that’s “cheap” or not, but I was mostly referring to this statement:
My gripe is calling it “regular-ass”. I followed this auction and watched the Demuro review. This is a “regular ass” stone cold unicorn museum piece. Basically it has delivery miles, sales documentation and stickers/tags, AND zero modifications. Finding a WRX STI with no modifications is insane. I mean this is a car that literally came with no stereo because they knew their audience and they were all gonna upgrade to aftermarket units/subs/ground effects/etc. (yes, presumably it was to save weight too).
This car still has the clean blank space with no aftermarket unit. Insane.
The rich really like to ruin everything, don’t they?
We could tax them with no effect on them, while massively improving regular people’s lives, but that would be “un-american” 🙂
Please show me on this doll where the rich person hurt you.
900 miles on a 22yr old car actually scares me away more than say 90k miles. It hasn’t even been broken in, let alone hoses, fluids, probably tires…
I owned a 2002 WRX twice (sold it in ’20 to help pay for an expensive home repair and rallycross was on indefinite hold, time to be an adult, but then bought it back a few years ago). My friend added an STI wing while he owned it & being WRB it just needed gold Sparco wheels.
I sold it again when it kept nickel and diming me to death, but still consider that generation Subbie once in awhile.
Valid concern if one was looking to turn this into a frequent driver. At $107,000, I’m going to guess this was purchased with FU money from someone with lots of FU money and it will continue to sit largely undriven so it can retain its polish and wow factor. Anyone buying a collectors car like this is going to understand the value loss in putting the next thousand miles on it.
Exactly! This car’s never getting driven, just rubbed with a diaper…
*if you need an extra kick in the pills (and get the movie reference); the 2004 STi is getting real close to as old as the 1961 250GT California was in 1986…
Well, the character 1961 250GT California, portrayed by a decent actor car.
I know it was a very well done replica. The main point was that it was 25 years old at the time of release while the STi (from the auction) is 22; and that if you remember that movie being new, you’re old…
This all reminds me that my Tacoma is 28…
Guilty of being old. I think I saw the fist run, and I was tipped to stay until the end of the credits.
Subaru has completely lost the plot. From the fun and quirky STIs and WRXs to the utter beigemobiles they’re cranking out now, kinda sad.
Let’s not let Mitsubishi off the hook either.
You can still buy some really fun (and quirky) turbo Subarus from before the all-CVT era for lower prices.
The 3rd gen Forester XT is pretty much completely slept on. You can find clean examples in the $10k range, and usually they haven’t been modified.
It’s an EJ255-powered WRX drivetrain with lots of potential and more cargo space.
Agreed! I owned a STi exactly like the top image one, and it was one of my favorite cars I’ve ever owned. I bought my wife a 2010 FXT two years ago as her new daily. I LOVE that car, and honestly the 4-speed auto is still tons of fun with the EJ255!
My favorite mod is plug and play – I got the paddle shifters from Subaru of Japan (the SH Forester didn’t come with paddles in the US, but it did in Japan!).
It’s about $300 or so, but I use them constantly.
Ugh, great. Now I have another stupid thing I want to do to that car haha! I just bought a sport grille for it that I need to get around to painting newport blue to match her car.
They really are fun cars. And there are LOTS of parts that swap over from WRX/STi (look for people upgrading from stock STi’s). Other than suspension stuff, my go-to is quality of life improvements (like ceramic tint, paddle shifters, upgraded stereo stuff).
Good luck – the addiction is real!
Oh it sure is! I’ve modded the crap out of pretty much every car I’ve ever owned, and this one is no different. Even if it isn’t mine haha!
She doesn’t want me to lower it, because she said that makes it look like a van… (I disagree) But I did put my stock Crosstrek Sport wheels on it, put in a carplay headunit w/ a an oem backup camera out of a newer Subaru, homelink mirror out of a newer Outback, STi spoiler, and a projector retrofit with morimoto minis. I’m excited to get the sport grille on there too!
Like you said, it’s all about the little things that make improve the quality of life while driving the thing! Plus, I genuinely have fun modding my cars, so improving her car brings me joy.
Bilstein B6 shocks + Swift Sport springs.
It’ll only drop about 3cm, not really enough to notice unless you’re very familiar with the SH Forester… and it helps in the corners.
STi rear sway bar is pretty much a must-have as well (I ended up going with a more aggressive Whiteline set eventually, but the OEM STi rear one can still be found for <$100, and should have been on the car from the factory.
And then, and then… HAHAHAHA
I dunno, the new Outback is oddly aggro. I hate it, but it’s not beige anymore.
I’m with you. The incoming Outback Wilderness is a good looking truck-wagon.
As a former WRX owner and still a fan, it’s sad the TRD Camry is more aggressive and sporty looking than the newer WRX.