Did I say something wrong? A few people have looked at this but none have replied.

Let me add something.

I am not saying that I won't pay the same for an import, I would be happy to if when I eventually come to sell it buyers don't start saying "oh an import, that'll be a grand less than the book price mate".

I have a feeling that the recent price drops are possibly due to imports anyway.

Come on then give me an answer - even if it is a flame.

 

Most people on here seem to think Euro imports are worth less. Earlier ones only had a one year warranty, although I believe newer cars have a 3 year warranty.

They do not come with an alarm fitted as standard, but they all have air con.

Once the Warranty has expired they should be the same price. A Subaru dealer will offer a warranty on a Euro import....well they offered it to me anyway.

 

Up to 3 years old, UK cars are worth a bit more as they're still under warranty (most imports only have 1 year).

After 3 years old, there won't be much difference. Sonic blue cars might even be worth slightly more as this colour wasn't available as standard in the UK (except special editions like the Terzo/P1 etc).

Of course a dealer will always try to knock the price down by attaching the 'import' tag.

 

Davyboy:
It's true that Euro imports don't have an alarm as standard but most people fit them in the UK I think.
Aircon was optional when I bought mine from Holland and cost another £1k IIRC.

 

Aha the mist clears - thanks both of you.

Davyboy - it's a late MY99 DBM, just in case you sell yours before Nathan has a chance to sell his to me.

 

The most important things you have to look out for is that the car has Full Subaru Service History.
UK cars will still be slightly higher if they are under warranty, if not then you may be best looking at either and in most cases Euro imports are going to have better standard security than their uk spec equivelants.
Either way, you will find dogs in both UK and Euro spec, if you find a car that you like (either UK or Euro) then buy it as either one can be mistreated or loved by its last owner

Tony

 

I've just sold my Euro import MY00 with 33k and FSSH for £11,500 (it was mint). If you work out the Euro cars costs approx £6k less then my 2 year old car should be worth about £2k less than a UK one.

In theory there should be no difference in value betwen a 3yr old UK and Euro car. UK cars can have their warranty extended beyond the 3 years which is worth a lot, you can't extend the warranty through Subaru on a Euro import - I tried and was turned down but you should be able to buy a 3rd party warranty.

Buying a Euro car for me meant I could afford to own a car that I couldn't otherwise and meant the guy that bought mine could get a mint MY00 rather than a ropey 98 or 99 UK car.

Richard

 

Thanks rjh

I can get a warranty for £145 a year which includes clutch, air con, all electrics so I do not see that as a prob.

Cheers,
TolTec

 

erm.......in the interests of me, erm............UK every time

 

Toltec they're shouldn't be much difference, certainly not 2k. a few hundred pounds at most. The only diff being what warranty its got, an IM or third party. I've got a third party warranty that my Subaru dealer sold me, and so far has been no different from the IM with respects to claims.


If you can find somebody silly enough to sell their eu import for thousands less than a UK car, good on you, but their should be no difference in price.

M

 

If there's only a couple of hundered pounds difference in value you could sell a Euro import car after a year for more than you paid for it. Don't think so somehow.

Maybe £2k a year is over the top but there's gotta be some difference in value even if it's just because of buyer perception and nothing else.

Given the choice again I'd import from Europe.

Richard

 

Sounds like something around

2.5K less than UK after 1 year
1.5K less than UK after 2 years
0.5K less than UK after 3 years
couple of hundred maybe thereafter

would be fair. After all most of the depreciation happens in the first three years. That would still make buying a new import good value - if I could afford it. I noticed jamjar is giving a two year warranty and 3 on http://www.4wdcars.co.uk/Pages/subaruimports.htm

 

They all fall to the roughly the same level after THREE years. The only way you will get your money back on a full UK supplied vehicle is to part ex against another Subaru from a Subaru dealer.

Any other garage outside the network isnt going to give UK value due to euro price. I can visualize the salemans from a nonSubari garage now :

Turn up with a UK car :
"Well, Sir it is UK spec but you know you can get a Euro import for 6K less"

Turn up with a Euro car :
"Well, Sir it is not full UK spec so I cant give you full book price as peopel are dubious of Euro imports and you do know that your Euro import was 6K less"

On a part ex they are gonna try and screw you, part of fun. Just make sure you know more than they do

This point that all UK supplied imprezas have the same alarm system where as you can fit an alarm of your choice to a Euro or Grey Import. To me having an aftermarket security fitted is a big plus as anyone trying to steal it has no knowledge of what you have fitted and how to get round it. If I brought a full UK I would fit additionally security purely because of this.

Cheers

ChrisP

 

If you can push to 15K you can but mine. July 2001 import from Belgium and only 15K on the clock.

 

I reckon there will be a big difference when I go to sell my MY00 import via Holland despite full UK spec. It would be stupid to expect the same valuation against a UK sourced car when mine only cost me 14.5K.
I have 29k on mine and reckon I would be lucky to get 11K in a private sale despite full Subaru SH.

 

Aircon is deffo an add-on as my Dutch MY00 doesnt have one. If its any help I paid £15k for mine. DBM MY00 Turbo X reg but it did have a full cobra cat 1 alarm and immobiliser fitted by Subaru when it came into this country (complete with cert). Subaru 2 year extended warranty (including Subary breakdown) to take it to 3 years in total. These are the two main points I'd look at.

Mine also had only 5k miles on the clock and was in immaculate condition inside and out. Also had Prodrive 7 spoke 17" Gold Alloys + tyres on it (about £1,400 on the subaru upgrade catalogue).

Simon.

 

Thanks all of you for your thoughts.

TolTec

 

I am after buying my first Impreza and I was wondering what everyone felt about euro import values. I have about £12K to spend which would seem to get me a '99 or a high mileage '00. At that sort of age, ignoring extras, how much less would you expect to pay for a euro import? The imports seem to be £4-5K less new does this translate into -£2K secondhand?

Appreciate your thoughts.

[Edited by TolTec - 8/9/2002 9:05:09 AM]