A trader (who will remain nameless) has just offered me £8500 for my scoob that I paid shed loads for a few months ago. Its got a better spec now. And is a cracking example.
Low mileage, M.O.T until Jan next year, Tax.

Is the fact that I am 20, was looking to exchage for a better motor giving them an excuse to attempt to roger me with a pole?

Thoughts.....Ideas on who to speak to to shift my baby on a post card
Cheers
Ron

What's the specification of the car??

If you want top dollar, sell it privately - you can also try and get cash of your new motor - a dealer is unlikely to give you a good deal on both your old car and your new one.

P-Reg WRX. 25K (Miles)
Alpine Stereo throughout. Amps, sub and MB Quart speakers.
Silver
280 bhp. HKS super drager exhaust. Clifford concept 300 with turbo timer.

Immaculate inside and out. V.Quick, and sadly a great example. Getting disheartened by these traders who wont help me!

what're you trading it in for?

Tried to flog privately. No bugger rang up!
I think I am jinxed.The cars really nice.
A few on this site have seen it.
Well looked after, serviced every 3000 miles.
Does'nt deserve to go to a dealer.

I need a sensible car for a while (need some points to come off my licence) and I wanted something that can take slogs up and down to Manchester every weekend when the footy season starts again. Was looking at a 1.8T A3.
The petrol gets a little painfull on the scoob http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/frown.gif

Wow - £8500 sounds pretty nasty - Lockyear motors (Horsham) sold a T reg WRX with about 20k on it for £19500.

It was standard, except for a larger rear wing, and immobiliser. I was after one at the time, and they had had a reasonable amount of interest - maybe worth a call.

Have you advertised it in the 'Private' section on this site? other thoughts - Put a large sign in the drivers side rear window/rear screen of the car - do not put too much detail just the usual - model(obvious i know), year, miles, service history and phone number, do not put a price, alarm spec or your address. This has worked for me in the past. Maybe one of the performance car mags - Evo or such like.
Autot trader might be worth a go as a last resort although everyone who buys it is after the bargain of a lifetime or a trader or one of the bloody compaines offering to sell it for you.

Good luck and i will pass on your details to anyone i may come across

I give in.
When he offered me £8500.00 I nearly whacked him one. He said in a straight face...Sorry thats all its worth. This is a reputable dealership for new cars in the surrey area. What he does'nt know is I have e-mailed the dealer principle to explain just how his no.1 salesman (he claimed he was the best when he said he would help out) threw away a deal for a brand new car with loads of options.

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/frown.gif

What a p**s taker! All I can say is - he's having a laugh - do dealers really think people are that stupid.

We just traded in our N reg Impreza for an RB5 and got around £14k for it.

Can't believe he kept a straight face!

Its o.k.
He won't keep a straight face when I tip up in whatever I buy once the scoobs gone.

Sad man. Obviously thought I was a mug.

I assume as it is a WRX then it is a 'grey' import???

The wide boy importers caught the scooby excitement and made a killing - I suspect that you paid too much when you bought it - sadly.

Most of the 'greys' have had their day and are not wanted especially as most have no history, no underseal, no warranty, wild insurance premiums and the horror story of the lady with a WRX who cannot get a simple ignition part - she has been waiting for 6 months with her car off the road, hardly helps - the Subaru dealers wont help her of course.

The public have woken up and will not pay top dollar for a 'grey' anymore - and the dealers know it - they are not daft!! I have seen loads of WRX's stuck at these importers for 6 months or more .. unloved & unsold.

If you want top PX price you need an unmolested genuine UK model with sensible mileage in the right colour. I certainly would not buy a 'grey' with no/little history - or, indeed, a grey at all.

Peter

pslewis,

You're havin' a laugh! £8,500 is a joke - it doesn't mean that too much was paid in the first place. Many importers will take a modest cut, and owners will get a more powerfull, better handling, better equiped car, at a lower cost than a standard uk turbo. And no less reliable.

You don't need a subaru dealer - you get a warranty that doesn't require servicing to be done by an official dealer - instead, you can you use a garrage that used to be official (like Lockyear motors) with the same mechanics and knowledge.

I do not think many people are having to wait long for grey impreza parts, simple or otherwise.

So grey, or modified uk isn't your choice - but you are missing out on the entertainment that so many on this bb have found with their scoobies.

Oh dear, a spot of grey-itis creeping in again. Que the long standing Import Vs UK argument again!
Did

ooops put my foot in it!!

Didnt say £8500 was good or bad

Just that a clean UK car has more buyers queuing up than a dubious 'grey'- hence the greys low price.

Also I am sure that you love your 'greys' and thats good - just dont expect the public and dealers to be banging your door down come re-sale time.

Put a one owner, unraced, unmodified,UK spec Scooby up for sale and watch the money fall towards it. Would you buy a thrashed car of dubious history?? you did?? ooo I see :-)

JOKE !!! Regards Pete

If anyone's been waiting 6 months for a part she's talking to the wrong people. I've heard horror stories as well, strangley all from UK dealers. MMMMMMM. Odd.

I've never had any trouble getting any part for my MY96 STi.

If this person is known to you tell her to send me an email, and I'll put her in touch with at least 3 people who can sort out her problem. But I have a feeling that this person does not exist.

Think it's a sad fact now with imports. I see more greys around than UK cars and the values of some of the rubbish drives them all down.
UK dealers will hardly entertain px's on a European import, let alone a jap, sadly.
Think anyone who's got an import has to face the facts that they'll lose shedloads - unless they're very lucky. Know I've lost a packet on my STi. Ho hum!

What a stupid statement :-

"Most of the 'greys' have had their day and are not wanted especially as most have no history"

Gime me the exact figures and statistics that puts you in a position to say this. Too many people put bullsh*t statements on this BBS without hard facts.

I have been offered the same price for MY97 WRX as I payed for it 14 months ago....and as for parts 99% of them are the same as the UK car. The other 1% are off the shelf.

Gethin.

Dunno about the old grey vs UK argument. I think this is more the old "don't buy a car for re-sale value" chestnut. I believe that if you buy a car like an Impreza thinking you'll be able to get back a fair amount of your investment then you're fooling yourself (BTW, this isn't directed at anyone personally).

pslewis does have a point in that people don't like buying modified cars generally as it shows that the owner wants more performance and will probably have driven it hard.

And any person with common sense checks out the history of a car....being grey or UK..before buying it.

What makes people think that UK cars are clean and greys are dubious......??????

If you look at Autotrader you can see the market is totally flooded (mostly WRXs). This sounds like a good example but I am sure there are a large number of dogs creeping around. These then get dogged-up/abused further and bring the prices down even more.

I just sold a low-miler uk car at a price I wouldn't have comprehended 6 months ago. The problem is that buyers want the spec of an import (air-con, better performance etc) with the benefits of a UK car (95 fuel etc).

Having been caught out twice now (MX5 plus Subaru) I am only really sore at the manufacturers and dealers, who ensure that the UK models have awful equipment levels compared to the Japanese versions.

On reflection, prices are probably about right now for cars with a few years/miles under their belts. It is just a Japanese tin box after all!

Ron H,

Don't worry, you are not alone. All dealers spin the bull to suit themsleves. "There's not much call for it blah blah", when they are buying. "The extra cost reflects the rarity and extra's yap yap" when they are selling it on.

In March I thought about trading my Scoob for a EV0 V1 Tommi Makinen. Then the comment of the decade was shot acroos my bows;

" Oh, it's a red one. No-one likes these so they usually fetch a couple of grand less than the other colours"

The worst thing about this comment is that the person stating this wisdom had judged me as so stupid as to not be totally offended by a vain attempt to rip me off for a couple of grand.

Glad I stayed with the Scoob anyway.


blubs


ps. Who as the P1 doing 2 laps of Market Bosworth yesterday afternoon. Anyone on here?

What surprised me was not the price offered by Subaru dealers. The fact was they didn't want my wife's car at all! (uk 96, low miles, standard, immac, FSH)

Other dealers were keener, but not for more than £10K (outright purchase, not a trade-in).

If you ever get a good p/x price, then he is surely taking it back in the new car!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Gethin:
[B]
What a stupid statement :-

"Most of the 'greys' have had their day and are not wanted especially as most have no history"

Gime me the exact figures and statistics that puts you in a position to say this. Too many people put bullsh*t statements on this BBS without hard facts.
---------------------------------------------
OOO Gethin - are these all your toys you have thrown out of the pram?? tut tut :-)

My brother buys and sells about 100 cars a week and knows the market very well - he leases out the cars then sells them after 2/3 years in the retail market. He meets with the trade daily and has his finger on the pulse - the fact is that while the UK scoobies had a long waiting list the 'greys' were the only way to get into Scooby ownership quickly ...... now that a UK scooby can be had in 3 weeks the market for 'greys' has dropped away - I am sad but its true!!

As for bull**it - well maybe you think all opinions which dont match yours are bull**it - thats your problem NOT this BB or the problem of the genuine people who reply.

As for the 'stupid statement' comment - well I will treat that with the disrespect it deserves http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/tongue.gif

Pete

Where has that saucer of milk gone!!! http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/smile.gif!!!

Not all dealers are tossers!

I bought my 94 wrx for £10,000 in Feb. Junction 28 gave me £8500.00 in p/ex, which is'nt bad. He has now advertised it for £10,000. By the time he has paid VAT on the sale, he wont be making mega bucks!

But then again, I didnt pay silly money for it in the first place (low mileage, immaculate & with FULL JAP HISTORY!!!!!!)

But it does seem the value of Scoobys has dropped dramatically over the past 12 months. There is just too many around now, people know it's a buyers market!

Shaun.

pslewis,
I haven't heard from the mysterious female who's been waiting 6 months for her part????????????????

Can I take it that she does not exist? Is this another made up horror story from a UK dealer?

I don't mind where people get their Scoobies , as they say "some of my best friends drive UK Imprezas" http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif but chucking around baseless comments on the availability of parts for "greys" lowers the value of my car.

Please be aware of what you write, it can have unintended consequeces

Paul "never had to wait more than 48hrs for a part" Wilson

STi2

pslewis

I am still waiting for hard facts.

If your brother is selling 100 cars a week he must be loaded. Can you prove this? If you can then I apologise and take back my comment.

"As for bull**it - well maybe you think all opinions which dont match yours are bull**it - thats your problem NOT this BB or the problem of the genuine people who reply."

Wrong. I respect other peoples views, but don't like sweeping statements without HARD FACTS to back them up.

Gethin.

Gethin,

Whilst I can't speak for the industry and don't have have hard facts, don't shoot me down in flames.

All I'd say is - look at the MX-5/Eunos market. Different cars, but the same sort of market - being sold to young people with a fair amount of disposable income, who didn't want to pay full price for the lower-spec UK cars.

The market has dropped out of MX-5's, and although they used to be depreciation-proof, the huge influx of cars has dropped the prices across the board, official import or not. And once the price of the official cars has dropped sufficiently, buyers (who can now pick and choose) tend to give the grey imports the cold shoulder.

Stands to reason that exactly the same will happen to Imprezas, whether you like it or not. This will be more marked when the Scooby is no longer flavour of the month, and the next new trend comes along.

Supply and demand are the key - pent-up demand led to the imports, but now there's oversupply, and a lot of the Japanese-market rubbish that's turning up now is only going to devalue the market more.

As I say, I don't have any proof of this happening with Imprezas yet, but it's happened in the bike market, it's happened with other imported cars ..... why should the Impreza be any different?


Nick