Uk car vs Euro Import
 

What would people on hear suggest I go for. I am looking at a Euro import but wanted to hear what people think. How does it effect insurance, warranty, servicing etc.
What do people think of Graham Walker in Chester? Auto Trader Dealer Pages - Graham Walker Ltd
They have euro imports at a very good price, but is it to good to be true.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Nothing wrong with euro's, just watch out for the greece imports

Nothing wrong with euro imports but be aware that the money you save on the initial purchase will be deminished when you come to sell it.

and whats wrong with cars from Greece Jacey?

Gary

I think they be from Cyprus, but maybe Greece, whats wrong with Greece.

Nothing at all, the only difference is it may not come with underseal I dont know whether it does or doesn't to be honest, Malta cars are probably the same too.

edited to add the malta car comment

Sorry yes Cyprus, and they had no underseal as said below:)

This will show my poor knowledge of cars, so I'm sorry, I 'm trying to learn from this site. No underseal, what does this mean? I take it this is a bad thing.

Euro cars don't have alarms fitted from new. Subaru UK fit them once they land in the UK, no locking wheelnuts, UK dealers can be unhelpful if you go to them for warranty work (I found one in particular). Warranty work has to be OK'd by Subaru in country of origin before it can go ahead rather than UK dealer contacting IM for OK which is quicker.

I bought Dutch import in May 2003 cos it was cheaper than UK car. I couldn't afford new car at UK prices at the time. Had decent alarm fitted in UK, locking wheelnuts only a few quid extra from dealer. I went over and collected my car and drove it back. I had common problem with duff battery and UK dealer wanted me to drive 60 mile round trip to test it, then they would need OK from Subaru Benelux, another trip to get it fitted. In the end I decided it was cheaper in fuel and time to buy my own battey locally and fit it myself. This is the second car I've bought from Holland and not had a problem with resale if you plan to keep it more than 3 years. Insurance no different at all.

Means the underbody isnt protected from our crap weather, so it could rust as our climate is alot wetter than there's:(

I did phone a local subaru dealer to see about servicing and they said they would not touch a euro import and there would be no warranty. Really the import is all I could afford, so I may have to wait (save up for a UK car).

Dont think they can refuse to not give a warranty, its your right if the car was from the EEC:luxhello:

I live by the sea as well. Salty air could speed up the process of rust. Could I get it sealed or would it be too costly or just not practical.

Don't be put off. I bought a euro import back in 2003 when the Blob eye came out. Bought it from David hendry in Malmesbury. Got a 3 year warranty on it, along with alarm tracker and all the rest of the gear. No idea if it had the underseal or not and frankly I didnt care, I wasnt going to keep it till it rusted anyway :D

Your local dealer is putting the scare on you, if you turned up with cash in your hand I bet he would want to service it. At the moment he is trying to sell you a UK car I would imagine.

The ONLY issue with non UK cars is the resell value and that is only an issue if you sell within the first 3 years or to a main dealer who may try to knock you down in price. After that they are all exactly the same car, baring wheel nuts and a bit of wax oil.....

Gary

Yes you can ........ and no it wouldnt be

How much would you be looking at.

No idea, first link on google was this one. Probably looking at a couple of hundred quid at an uneducated guess

Rustmaster- Pricing

Cheers, I will have a look round.

No problem, just don't be put of at the first hurdle. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a euro import car as long as you understand what you get, what you dont and that if you sell in the first 3 years you may not get as much for it as a UK car.



Gary

I would be probably keeping it for about three years maybe a touch more.

mine came from Malta via Motorpoint and with underseal !

That sounds good tim. i will look into it.

I had mine undersealed when it came in from japan, got it done at eurospec2000 (FTO/GTO specialist but Mark really knows his jap cars - dad his Impreza in pieces all over the floor when I was there, a real engine enthusiast) cost me £60 on top of the service/clutch I had done there.

Cheers borat for £60 its worth doing if it isnt sealed. Just for the piece of mind.

Let's give you the correct info from somebody who actually has a Euro import as opposed to those who have simply listened to the Bullsh*t that comes out of some UK dealers.

I purchased an 06 Sti from Motorpoint in April this year. The car had a price of £20999 in the window. The car had come from Malta and as such didn't have locking wheel nuts, an alarm or a tracker. It did have underseal and a 3 year Eu wide warranty - but more of that in a minute.

By the time I'd added a tracker, a cat 1 alarm, locking wheel nuts plus the road tax etc the total bill was about £21750. This compared well to the £27K that the Subaru dealer in Rochdale wanted for a UK car at the time.

I have had absolutely no problems whatsoever with insurance, or in getting it serviced by the Subaru dealer in Kendal, indeed they have gone out of their way to be helpful. Knowing I have to travel 80 miles to them they book the car in at a particular time and do the work while I wait - they are unhappy with Subaru UK for charging them too much for the cars, not me for buying a car cheaper than they can !!

Recently due to a change of circumstances I have tried to sell it for something a bit more suitable for high mileage commuting. The depreciation on a 6 month old car has been horrific and the local Skoda dealer informs me that my car would be worth more if it was a UK sourced car - £1K more to be precise - not bad when I saved £5K on the initial purchase. If anbody out there managed to buy a new UK 06 Sti in April for under £22750 including a part ex, then they have done better than me - anybody?

Problems - The only problem I have had has been with the waranty as Subaru UK took nearly 5 weeks to process the warrany registration paperwork from Motorpoint and I had a minor problem with the car that Subaru UK wouldn't authorise a repair of until they had processed the initial paperwork. The dealer was again fantastic and pre ordered the parts so they were waiting the day the warranty work was authorised. Fortunately it wasn't a major problem and the car was still driveable but I did wonder what would have happened if the engine or gearbox had failed.

I'd certainly do it again and I find it amusing all the people on here who go on about why you must have a UK car. They are all made in the same factory, by the same staff using the same parts and whilst UK car buyers continue to believe the nonsense about EU sourced cars being inferior, the UK car industry will continue to charge £000's more for the same vehicle. The people who believe the rumours of EU cars having thinner metal, different sound proofing, poorer quality components, no warranty etc are creating the environment that actually allows the UK retail car industry to charge more.

Thanks for that. It makes me feel alot better after reading your post.

Nothing wrong with Euro imports - What badgersport has said is very true, I'm on my 2ns Euro import - all correctly registered with IM (its a MY05 ) so warrenty work no problems for me !!
Depending on your location I've fond this place to be excellent Alliance Car Imports and New Car Supermarket, importing from Europe to UK ( 2nd car from them - in fact !)

Richard

Cheers for the link to Alliance Car imports rsarjantson. I live on the wirral so its not far away. I wondered if anyone had any experiences of Graham Walker in chester as they come in at £14,992 for a WRX a thousand cheaper than Alliance I need to look at both to see if it is really cheaper when everything is added up.

I agree with all of badgers post (i am also a euro owner), except that i have had absolutely no problem with warranty work what-so-ever. No delays, refusal or anything.

I called the garage, 2/3 days later is was booked in for the work. To date it has been in 3 times for warranty work (struts (x4), battery, brakes, dash rattle), not a single problem, excellent service, cleaned the car too. :thumb:

You can make a killing on the price with an EU car and every other point has already been mentioned. tracker/alarm/mats/wheelnuts.

Nobody mentioned that certain parts (transmission i believe) on an EU car has a longer warranty period than a UK car.

EU cars ie Cyprus/Malta etc do have underseal.

JDM cars (Japanese models) sometimes do not depending on the model.

Badgersport & GazTheHat have it spot on.

(From another EU owner - Car from Alliance)

I hope your not referring to me?

Gary