pslewis

Quite right .... strange how some people think a troll is a poster who has opinions which differ from their own - it shows a rather low IQ !!

Pete

bluto22b

Precisely

Edward

As others have posted I would make sure you get accurate information from the Subaru dealer who are repairing the fault. It's quite possible someone has bumped your car and they want a few days to repair it.

bluto22b

Good point Ted, this happened to me when I collected my first Forester in '97, the dealer made the excuse the car had a ABS fault at PDI. It later transpired that they had scratched the back wing and took the car off to have the panel resprayed I cancelled the order called them all liars and took my business to my next nearest Subaru dealer 55 miles away

KiwiGTI

The car is at the Subaru dealer now but they haven't had a chance to look at it apparently. If it's the same situation by the end of Monday I'll cancel it.

What is the tool that 2nd hand car dealers use to check if a car has had a respray?

KiwiGTI

I thought going to a proper Subaru dealer protected you from that sort of stuff.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

There are indeed lessons here

1) If you want a cheaper scooby and good buying experience, go to someone like Litchfield imports.

2) This is not a good start, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was something very simple (like them forgetting how to turn the immobilizer off!)

2) No one likes it when people say "I told you so" :P

Ns04

KiwiGTI

It could have happened to a Litchfield car too, they all come from exactly the same source (Japan). It was just bad luck for me that they only found out hours before I was due to pick up.

How do you turn immobilisers off - I always assumed it was automatic with the proper key.

bluto22b

I am talking about the late 90's. That dealer has since closed, probably due to a poor reputation, nowadays Subaru dealers tend to be fault free. The point I made was at least you have a comeback with a UK supplied car and you can get it serviced properly. A supermarket is not the place to go with £20k in your back pocket. Stick to the main dealers.

Blutes

bluto22b

As PS Lewis quite rightly stated it will be at the back of the queue because it's an import

The best tool for checking for a respray is a pair of well trained human eyes

donutman

So tell that to the engine that failed after 20 miles and had to be replaced

rossi_classicwrx

Sorry but the argument that the car will go to the back of the que just because its an import and not a uk car is crap. Theres such things as unfair competition laws and the such to protect consumers against things like that. Personally i think you've been unlucky with whatevers happened to your car but it could just as easily happened to a UK car from a dealership. Well in for saving yourself some money and maybe if more people do the same it might make the UK dealerships stop taking the **** with car prices over here!
Hope the car turns out to be fine and im sure you'll be more than happy with it!

stewby2202

probably been ran on empty due to so many test pilots

KiwiGTI

You can't test drive new supermarket cars.

bluto22b

Excuse me, he hasn't saved ANYTHING if you assess the purchase over 3 or more years. Like I said in an earlier post depreciation will be comparable if not not worse than a UK car. The only saving is the initial purchase price but if you weigh in the negatives it is not such a good buy afterall

scooby_matt

Are you talking about the same dealers who took 9 weeks and 7 attempts at ordering a paint stick for me before I ended up with the right colour, despite being given all the information they need and being allowed full access to my car on numerous occasions?

If you can't trust them with £6.99, how can you trust them with £20k+?

All the best with the purchase and don't let the scare mongering on here put you off.
You'll laugh about it when it's sorted and you've got some spare cash left over.

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

it seems to me that as soon as anyone says anything bad or agree with you you bite at them, if anyone says supermarkets are bad, you bite at them, so, why post, like it or lump it,simple.
if u can afford a my06 u can afford the days lose in wages, probably £150 thats all

KiwiGTI

Don't see your point. I think my stance has been pretty consistent, I've stuck up for buying at a supermarket which I still believe is the correct course of action, rather than listen to some of the nonsense about Type UK cars being better value and better quality.

bluto22b

No one said anything about UK cars being better quality. Lets face it, compared to VAG brand cars Subaru are poor. As far as value for money is concerned how many more times do I have to spell it out ot you THE DEPRECIATION IS THE SAME IF NOT WORSE THAN A UK SUPPLIED CAR

Do the sums:

Billy buys a pushbike for £100
Tony buys the same bike for £85

They both sell them 3 years later:

Billy makes £40
Tony makes £25

Billy has £40 to spend towards a new Bike. Tony only has £25 so it looks like he will have to spend his money on a secondhand skateboard.

Do you get my drift

Billy has

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

I believe Litchfield provide their own three year warrranty - they also do Euro imports- no need to deal with stealers. With Powerstation next door, I'm sure the problem could have been rectified there and then too.

Ns04

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Billy is smug about the issue of depreciation, untill he has to deal with a stealer AFTER he has paid for the bike.

Billy takes his push bike in for a simple service, not one mile down the road after service, the pedals and seat fall off. The vendor says to Billy, "Sorry mate, they sometimes do that, nothing to do with our service and its covered via your warranty, unless you've put fancy spokes on the wheels of course!! ". Billy then has to sell a push bike that has had a seat and pedal rebuild, and makes only £15. Billy wishes, he gone to a specialist importer from the outset!

Silly Billy!!

Ns04

KiwiGTI

No, because the sums are wrong.

End of Year 1
Billys depreciation at 20% will be £20
Tonys at 20% will be £17.00

Billys car value is £80
Tonys car value is £68

End of Year 2
Billys depreciation at 20% will be £16
Tonys at 20% will be £13.60

Billys car value is £64
Tonys car value is £54.40

End of Year 3
Billys depreciation at 20% will be £12.80
Tonys at 20% will be £10.88

Billys car value is £51.20
Tonys car value is £43.52

So he pays £20 extra when new, but it is only worth £7.68 more when it comes time to sell.

This is obviously an example, but all anecdotal evidence with Scoobs is that the value between an import and a UK model is not much (as in £500 on a £10,000 car)

Note : The above calculations have been simplified by using straight line depreciation for the example. Actual depreciation in the first year is usually more than the subsequent years and hence a reducing balance method of depreciation would be more accurate.

HEAZILLE

Ha, i have Bought 3 Imports now (including the first MY06 registered in Europe) and have been really pleased.

There is NO WAY i would by a Scooby any other way now

Ta Ta

Richard
Scooby Island

HOWY

Here we go again with misinformation. Where is the evidence that EU cars are worth less. Maybe with main dealers but if you bought from an importer or supermarket you will probably trade in with them again or do a private sale. Even if you get a bit less for it surely yuo will still have saved. Anyway if you are really worried buy on a PCP and get a GFV (approx half new EU car price)

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

he said the crap engine was replaced with one that ran for years, thats why i said it should run for years

KiwiGTI

They have come back and said it is a faulty ABS pump, can't fix at the moment as they need the immobilise codes from the original dealer who is closed due to Orthodox Easter.

Anyone know how serious this is or what could cause it?

Edward

The alarm / immobiliser isn't connected in any way to the ABS system - sounds like bull to me. Can you contact the relevant Subaru dealer directly?

KiwiGTI

She said something about the ABS pump being faulty, which made a whirring noise, and then flattened the battery (Quick Google reveals other cases, non-Subaru, of cars batterys being made flat by faulty ABS pumps)

So although ABS has nothing to do with the immobiliser, could the fact that the battery has been made flat mean that the immobiliser needs to be reset?

Diablo

Their eyes.

Should be easy to spot if you know where to look.

KiwiGTI

Which, come to think of it, sounds a load of bollox because you would still be able to start the engine with jumper leads, and given that the engine was turning over it means that the battery wasn't flat.