Nigel H

Anybody out there with a Euro Import managed a claim on Subaru Benelux or Holland after the first year?

Mine's just going into the second year now, so fingers crossed no problems.

I tried this post a year ago but didn't get much response, hopefully 'cos nobody's needed to claim. I seem to remember Mike Wood from Prodrive saying that if you need to use it, you pay and then claim it back.

Nigel H

Nobody?!

Are they sooooooooooo reliable?

BTW Are Subaru Benlux checking on track use? If not then this could be another reason for buying a Euro

PeteT

As far as I am aware the warranty on imports from Holland is for one year only. If anything goes wrong after the year you're on your own. I saved £6000 buying from Europe and didn't bother trying to extend the warranty (most aftermarket warranties don't seem to be worth the paper they're printed on).
Mine's two and a bit years old now and hasn't had a single problem (I'm touching wood as I type!!)

PeteT

That's tree wood by the way, not Mike Wood !!

NewWrX

Mine has a 3 year warranty which is now standard on all cars from Belgium at least

Nigel H

But has anybody actually used these warranties. I'm interested in the 2nd and 3rd year ones, a bit like IM's one over here. Major bits only

Orwella

2nd and 3rd year warrenties will be covered (under law) although you can expect a less sympathetic ear for common clutch, brake and gearbox claims. Any major claims will be subject to a full inspection/evaluation begore repair work will be authorised. Remember, official EU importers have a far smaller margin to play with than IM so they will naturally be far nore picky at payout time.

Still, a £5k saving on a new WRX will pay for a lot of unauthorised "wear and tear" replacement parts. And the chances are you will not make a claim anyway.

Boss Hogg

Nigel - i spoke to IM warranty dept about this (WRX 02 belgium car) they said once you have registered the car with them for warranty purposes (send copy of CofC, original supplying dealer invoice and V5) then any warranty work is carried out by your UK delaer as it would be for a UK car.

I had warranty work carried out on my dutch import Toyota Celica to replace corroded alloys - this was done by my local Toyota dealer with no fuss and i had to pay nothing - so I hope the same applies to Subaru.

Nigel H

Boss,

What you say is correct in my case for year 1, and in your case for years 1 and 2.

After that you're into the major mechanical parts type only. IIRC this is run in my case by Suraru Benelux, and IM won't touch this.

I don't think you'll find Subaru (IM) as helpful wrt to warranty claims as Toyota were, although I have no experience - I've not needed to make any claim under year one. People who use this board have got lots of stories to tell about euro warranty claims and the problems they have getting them sorted.

Bottom line is that IM don't like imports and they won't help you with claims. I don't have a problem with, I knew what I was doing when I bought the car

JFB

Nigel,

I made a claim for a new clutch in year one and UK dealer id the work and claim on my behalf which was eventually covered by the Dutch Warranty people.

I then had worn bearings and crown wheel problems which despite being declared during the warranty period were not actually diagnosed until a few weeks outside the warranty period - on 15000 mile though! UK dealer suggested gearbox replacement and I had to pay a surcharge to retain the original gearbox to support my claim. All in >£3500. Yep, I had to buy my own gearbox back plus VAT! That was a year ago and the best offer I've had since then was circa Euro 400 to cover the defective parts only and that payout is a "gesture of goodwill" but subject to examination of said gearbox in Holland. How much is a courier to Holland?

This will probably end up in litigation.

Any European Consumer Law experts out there?

So be careful out there and my experience in the past with secondary warranties has been very similar.

Cheers

Jerome