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Are Imported Subarus OK?

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Old 10 February 2005, 07:01 PM
  #31  
scooby L
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Originally Posted by Vipa
And yet the 3 year pan european warranty via IM is transferable so that's B****x

Paul
indeed....but when he has to put it on a forecourt next to a UK car, that has full UK Subaru warranty, and then have to explain the your's only has a 3rd party warranty, and that Subaru UK will not cover any warranty work on it without clearance from this 3rd party company 1st, you can see where they are coming from. They have to reduce the market value.
Old 10 February 2005, 07:07 PM
  #32  
andy1505
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Confused over the warranty issue, the form I got with mine and the letter from Subaru UK says that I have a 3 year Subaru warranty is this a different Subaru? Subaru UK have told me they need to get permission from Subaru to carry out warranty work, but I think it is the same company.
Old 10 February 2005, 07:16 PM
  #33  
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Subaru UK are not Subaru japan.

UK cars are covered by Subaru UK warranty.
Old 10 February 2005, 07:23 PM
  #34  
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UK buyer's/supporters who used to say that the warranty/servicing/insurance problems etc... would cost you equal to or even more than the money saved have now changed thier argument to resale values. Do you really think, with the way the second hand car market is (rock bottom) that in three years time the difference detween a UK and EU car is going to be anywhere near the £3500 saved at the time of purchace..?

Yes it will be lower, but only by 10% tops. If the cars has been looked after and got a full history it will probably be significantly less than that..!

I recently sold (no trade in) my EU 172 clio (which was 2 yrs old and without any warranty) to a main Renault dealer and got top book and yes they knew it was an import. They said it was so mint that they were willing to pay, however if it had been a uk car they would have given me £500 more than top book..!

Time are changing, most people are sick of paying over the odds in this country and fully accept EU/UK specced cars as a genuine bargain. Those that still think otherwise have more money than sense..!

Jason
Old 10 February 2005, 07:26 PM
  #35  
pugoetru
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THEY ARE ALL IMPORTS ANYWAY
Old 10 February 2005, 07:27 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by scooby L
Subaru UK are not Subaru japan.

UK cars are covered by Subaru UK warranty.
Don't kid yourself that the Subaru UK warranty is any better than any other countries warranties. Does the standard Subaru UK warranty cover the transmission for 5 years..? Mine does..!
Old 10 February 2005, 07:36 PM
  #37  
scooby L
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I'm not kidding myself of anything, just relaying the reasons why my trade in price againt my new Subaru was slashed by 2k.

Renault have accepted euro imports for a number of years now.... with my friend getting a 7k discount on a new UK Leguna, just by printing an import price list. But Subaru show no signs of changing their policy, with my nearest Dealer not even agreeing to LOOK at my old Eu STI when I had a fault code CEL.
Old 10 February 2005, 07:40 PM
  #38  
andy1505
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Thought I had bought a Subaru, looks like I bought a Subaru!! Must be more alert. This country needs lerts.
Old 10 February 2005, 07:50 PM
  #39  
AndyC_772
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Originally Posted by scooby L
with my nearest Dealer not even agreeing to LOOK at my old Eu STI when I had a fault code CEL.
Find another dealer, then! At the end of the day dealers either want the work or they don't, and there are plenty that do. If you find one that's snooty about working on an import, just go to another. There are about 85 franchised Subaru dealerships in the UK.
Old 10 February 2005, 07:57 PM
  #40  
donutman
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i would not consider 15.5k for a 2003 eu sti a bad price. These cars you can get for 21-22k so you did not loose to much compared to what a uk would of done,and i don't think a dealer would offer 17.5k for a 2003 sti (non ppp) when you can get them from our for sale section for less (unless you are buying something quite a bit more expensive which the dealer fudges the figures with)
Old 10 February 2005, 08:03 PM
  #41  
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15.5k was not a bad price (he started at 12K) that's why I accepted his offer

But he did have a 02 Bug eye, non ppp, with more miles (but UK) on his forecourt for 19k, and he "said" he could not put mine up at the same value.

I must take a trip down there and have a look....
Old 10 February 2005, 08:12 PM
  #42  
andy1505
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When I bought a mini the dealer said everyone wants these so they are pricey, when I sold one they said no one wants these so we can't offer you much. When I bought an MPV the dealer said everyone wants these so they are pricey, when I sold it they said people don't want these so we can't offer you much. I get the feeling that business men are only in it to make money. Problem is I always believe them. Got to stop spending money on cars.
Old 10 February 2005, 08:16 PM
  #43  
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but that would be boring...
Old 10 February 2005, 08:17 PM
  #44  
donutman
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i test drove a 03sti ppp from a dealer he wanted £18995 b4 i haggled. i find it hard to belive that anyone would part with 19k for a bugeye when there are so many bargins to be had (even at some uk dealers).

in the end i bought a 04 jdm sti for less than the year older uk car.
Old 10 February 2005, 08:32 PM
  #45  
Vipa
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Originally Posted by scooby L
indeed....but when he has to put it on a forecourt next to a UK car, that has full UK Subaru warranty, and then have to explain the your's only has a 3rd party warranty, and that Subaru UK will not cover any warranty work on it without clearance from this 3rd party company 1st, you can see where they are coming from. They have to reduce the market value.
Don't understand this.... my car has a FULL 3 year Subaru warranty via IM which is exactly the same as a UK sourced car, via IM.. so I fail to see the difference? (i don't dispute your logic though) What I'm saying is if a dealer says that the trade in price difference is due to the warranty then he is feeding you BS as the warranty on both the UK and EU vehicle is identical.

Paul
Old 10 February 2005, 08:36 PM
  #46  
scooby L
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I think the problem was (with mine)

it was a grey Cyprus car, not an Eu parallel import, so the pan european warranty has nothing to do with Subaru or IM. It was just a 3 year warranty.
Old 10 February 2005, 08:41 PM
  #47  
andy1505
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Ahh now I understand. So every import is different, with no common warranty. Maybe that is why people are suspicious of the large savings on offer?
Old 10 February 2005, 08:46 PM
  #48  
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An Import is worth less than a UK car because EVERYONE knows it was bought cheap!

Waste of time and effort sourcing a EU car these days .... plenty of good UK deals at the moment - FREE 3 year Servicing on UKs !! Worth having!

Pete
Old 10 February 2005, 08:48 PM
  #49  
Vipa
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Originally Posted by scooby L
I think the problem was (with mine)

it was a grey Cyprus car, not an Eu parallel import, so the pan european warranty has nothing to do with Subaru or IM. It was just a 3 year warranty.
This could go on... and... on.... Cyprus is part of the EU... my 05 WRX originated in Cyprus.... I have a 3 year UK Subaru Warranty (and a 5 year Cypriat transmission warranty ) So...... the SALESMAN....... well..... er...... did his job to the best of his ability to make a bigger cut (I'm a salesman so I can say things like this and remain totally self righteous (thank god for spell checks))

I do not dispute the fact that 2 identical cars side by side UK and EU would fetch different prices all I'm saying is that the reason he gave you for the lower trade in val was utter BS.... now if he'd said that he wouldn't be able to sell it for as much as the majority of the UK car buying public have spent too long stuck on an island, don't seem to think that we are actually part of Europe and are..... considering we are part of Europe..... really **** about anything that comes from Europe (unless of course it comes from the part of Europe that is called Britain!) Reminds me of a joke.........

I say I say...... When's a European country not a European country?????

When it's Britain....

I thank you!!!

Paul
Old 10 February 2005, 08:58 PM
  #50  
Vipa
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Originally Posted by pslewis
An Import is worth less than a UK car because EVERYONE knows it was bought cheap!

Waste of time and effort sourcing a EU car these days .... plenty of good UK deals at the moment - FREE 3 year Servicing on UKs !! Worth having!

Pete
Hmmmm....

So... I Paid £16,300 for my 05 Metalic WRX and spent £350 getting her to UK spec (i.e. Alarm and wheel nuts) so £16,650 (oh.. that included 1 years road tax and top dollar PX for my old wheels)

Even with the free servicing I would be AMAZED to see how a UK sourced car could come even close.... I tried to haggle with a couple of UK dealers, who, were quite happy to do a deal (still not brilliant) on an MY04 but on an 05 wouldn't budge very far at all.... and they offerd me an insulting PX allowance on my old car!

Now I intend to keep this car until at least the warranty has expired, so... 3 years... Now I will have done 75k miles by that point...... Are you really triyng to tell me that a 3 year old UK WRX with 75k, out of warranty would be worth more than the saving I have made on my equivalent EU import.... I think not.... 1k in it at the most!!!! probably more like 500 quid at that point.

Don't get me wrong Pete... If budget hadn't been an issue I PROBABLY would have gotten all **** and gone UK but in retrospect I'll probably do the same again...... Budget permitting or not.... £3.5k buys lots of toys or lots of Optimax!

Paul
Old 10 February 2005, 09:00 PM
  #51  
Vipa
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Originally Posted by pslewis

Waste of time and effort sourcing a EU car these days ....
Pete
The only time and effort I expended was in the drive to Accrington, Lancs to collect my car..... 60 miles!
Old 10 February 2005, 09:52 PM
  #52  
pslewis
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Originally Posted by Vipa
The only time and effort I expended was in the drive to Accrington, Lancs to collect my car..... 60 miles!
And for the 'imagined' savings of a few pounds?

Pete
Old 10 February 2005, 10:31 PM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by Jay_bee
Darbo...

What do you drive? Im from Lancaster



J
ive pm'd you


reguarding the thread how much is the thread starter planning to spend on a subaru???
Old 11 February 2005, 09:57 AM
  #54  
DazW
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Its probably just a Subaru thing ...a work colleague bought a Dutch S3 for £20K all in (about £3K saving) after 12 months the local Audi dealer took it for £18K & promptly put it on the forecourt for £20K ...exactly the same price as the same mileage, age & spec UK one, that it was sat next to
Old 11 February 2005, 10:03 AM
  #55  
teknobod
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Originally Posted by pslewis
And for the 'imagined' savings of a few pounds?

Pete
I must have 'imagined' the second car I bought for my wife with the money I saved on the import I bought!!

Old 11 February 2005, 12:19 PM
  #56  
HOWY
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Originally Posted by Darbo_wrx
ive pm'd you


reguarding the thread how much is the thread starter planning to spend on a subaru???
Originally I was considering purchasing a UK one on a PCP scheme but the finance rates were high so considered an import circa £15,500 again with PCP but just recently saw an ad in What Car? for a new imported WRX (EU I think)at the normal uk retail price but with 5 years interest free credit (HP not PCP)no deposit and £1500 cash back when you get the car. THis sounds like a good deal from the point of view of the monthly payments but did raise the issue of overall costs particularly with regard to a trade in say in 3 years time (probably 25 thousand miles) The company was interest4free4cars.com

I'm getting more confused re the warranties surely if they are subaru 3 year warranties that are pan european UK garages have to honour them????
Old 11 February 2005, 12:55 PM
  #57  
Darren 01
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Intresting stuff guys... I am looking at EU imports myself

You can also get the bucket seats on imports! the 05WRX sport seats are really crap. I would not buy a new UK WRX! they are that bad...

The Import I am looking at is £16,999 OTR with cat1 alarm & bucket type seats... Oh and 3 year subaru warranty. I will add a tracker and PPP. £19K all in! thats alot of car for for the money....

or do you buy a second hand STI with PPP ???
Old 11 February 2005, 02:03 PM
  #58  
HOWY
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I thought if they were all UK standard they would have the same (Bucket?) seats. Where are you thinking of getting it from and do they do good finance deals?
Old 11 February 2005, 03:22 PM
  #59  
Darren 01
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Originally Posted by HOWY
I thought if they were all UK standard they would have the same (Bucket?) seats. Where are you thinking of getting it from and do they do good finance deals?
www.litimports.co.uk

Didn't ask about finance!

The sport seats come as standard on a UK 05wrx. These are crap!
When I test drove one the dealer said they changed the seats to get the price down!!!

Litchfield order them with the Bucket seat as everyone asks for them!
Old 11 February 2005, 04:21 PM
  #60  
Vipa
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Originally Posted by Darren 01
www.litimports.co.uk

Didn't ask about finance!

The sport seats come as standard on a UK 05wrx. These are crap!
When I test drove one the dealer said they changed the seats to get the price down!!!

Litchfield order them with the Bucket seat as everyone asks for them!
The bucket seats are standard on all UK & EU cars... It is only the SL (Sunroof & Leather) which comes with sports seats...

Darren... don't know where you get your info from but you have been mis-informed..

Paul


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