teknopete

wot is it with every 1,

(Wait a sec till i get my asbestos suit out)
ok now Im suited up
soon as this comes up the "thou art holier than thou" shines through from the uk owners.

1 question for u all, where in the uk was u r car built? Yeah no where, we all have imports but the smart money cut out the middle man an got the best deal straight from Japan

Oh yeah an warranty, most 3rd party co.s r only 2 happy to take u r money for mechanical warranties around £300 covers it

Ive said it b4 an im gonna keep sayin it
"I didnt know subaru did the impreza in grey"

Pete

GeeDee

iTrader: (2)

Definitely a lot of grey bias out there.

Probably jealousy

Doubtful history, unproven mileages - what about new imports?
No underseal - mine has!
Warranty - 3 years unlimited mileage!
Same money as UK car - mine was substantially cheaper and i don't need to spend money uprating engine to 270 ish or install air con or have a sun roof fitted - Almost a P1, but better, as it does not attract attention!


The only problem, if you can call it that, is the lack of support from dealers. Their loss rather than ours as there are plenty of others willing to supply parts/service.

Graham (WRX - a proper one!)

PS One thing I don't have is the bright button or should that be dim?

Col

Thats the only reason I bought my UK car, the big BRIGHT button!

Butty

iTrader: (2)

So buying a UK car with paperwork and no history means it is A1?
I bought my old Audi S2 form Universal Salvage, knowing it was a stolen & recovered. I saw the repair sheet to show what the damage was and what had been done as a repair. I was told that its nasty history would not be recorded.
When I came to sell it, The buyer did an HPI and it came up clean.
One nice car with FSH and all records - the "perfect " car that everyone wants.

The Audi was replaced, on purpose with a grey Forester stb. I made sure that it came with as much paperwork - but I don't know if it is genuine. At least it comes with a warranty (which has actually worked).
Looking for a grey, I came across many warehouses with loads of cars with no paperwork and scruffy - "they've just come off the boat and not been cleaned yet".
Hmm... I just turned and walked away.

With a car its pot luck and paperwork can still hide a can of worms. Probably the best thing I did was to get the car inspected and then bought on finance.
The inspection proves the car is mechanically sound and points out obvious damage, whilst paying on finance means it is owned by someone else and you can walk away if it is found to be dodgy.

subverbal

All this banter about 2nd hand values amazes me. If you thought your car would retain a large proportion of its value (no matter what the media says) then it's cloud cuckoo time. You're even more naive if you bought your car FROM NEW - all that extra premium for the latest reg. Doesn't matter how desirable or rare you think your car is, one thing's for sure it's gonna cost you bigtime.

I bought a UK MY96 last April. Sky high insurance so no chance on insuring an import. I also didn't know how easy it would be to get spares for greys until finding this board and all the helpful people here. I paid top dollar from a dealer to get a low mileage warranted car. I've already lost thousands on it but WHO CARES. It's fun.

Complaining about depreciation is a bit like moving to Finland and finding it a tad cold.

Neil.

John Stevenson

Topical thread !!!! I work for the Mirror so 'No comment'. UK MY97 He He

SCOTTY

I bought an MY00 from Holland which is for the most part - EXACTLY the same as any car from a UK dealer!

But I only get a 1 year warranty for the same car I could have bought a few miles away over the channel.

It's the same car from the same place!! What a bloody rip off!!!!!

Scotty.

PS: My feelings are very strong on this so it's best I say no more

Deep Singh

I c'ant believe this whole thread has turned into a bickering contest,but just to prove I'm just as stupid as the rest of you here's my two pence worth.If you do your research and know what you are looking for a grey is no problem.I owned two UK's before I traded in for an STi and have never regretted it.I bought mine from a reputable dealer who supplied and serviced it from new and put me in touch with the previous owner.At the time I was considering a P1,by opting for the STi I saved 10k(which is now wisely invested and will one day buy me an even faster car)and I think I have the better of the two cars.
If the UK boys think they are protected from poor residuals look at the classifieds 99MY are selling for 15K!
Cars are often compared to women so I shall draw on the same analagy;(snobbish)UK car owners are the kind of guys who would spend there entire life sleepng with ugly boring women because they d'ont have the ***** to ask out the gorgeous powerful woman(who they then fantasise about when with their ugly one).No offence meant to anyone

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Oooh I like these self-justification posts, so heres mine.

I imported my WRX direct from Japan, bought a 2nd hand one from an auction and shipped it over using a broker based in Japan. The sole reason for doing this was pure economics - I couldn't afford one any other way.

It cost £9500 otr when at the time the equivlalent spec WRX's on UK importers forecourts were £12000. At the time £9500 was the lowest price UK cars were selling at, i.e. the ones you want to avoid.

I took a fair risk buying a car that I hadn't seen, but this bbs was invaluable when I was researching.

As it happened I got a minter, so

Justin

John Stevenson

Neil Mate, ever beem to Finland ?? I've only ever found it warm....inside anyway, if you see what I mean !!

Minna puhu paska ---J---

JasonHook

I remember reading somewhere on here that two ex-prodrive STI V's were available from a main dealer with a warranty of some sort.
They were the P1 development cars I think.

IM is clearly not going to support 'grey' imported cars while ever they have a dealer network supplying their 'imported' cars.

I think the real debate now is: What car to have after the Impreza. And not grey vs domestic. The new shape means the choice is less straightforward (for me anyway).

Jason

UK 99 Turbo main dealer supplied.
Would I buy a new car again? Probably not.

spudgun

jason
good point! i dont give a toss how good the new sti will be. it still looks cack, and thats important to me. headlight conversions, better/bigger rear spoilers, lower suspension( coz it looks too high) etc etc. all this on a brand new car!!
i bought a my00 uk car coz i just dont like the look of the new wrx. with hindsight,ive learned a lot in 6 months, i would have bought a grey. i had a look at one in clacton a few weeks ago, and although only a quick once over, it seemed better built than mine, and i know it has moore oomph than mine. ive spent a fortune on dealer upgrades to make my car go quicker ( not like the wrx which you spend money on to make it look better!), frankly id have saved a fortune buying a new sti.
still, ive had my car 6 months and i genuinely love it, but i wont buy another.
firstly, as people have said before, ive been there, done it now. i hate the interior, i hate the headlights, which are nigh on dangerous in their uselessness!
i will buy an x type, or 330 ci. maybe skyline, but next time i want quality im afraid.