Philip Attaway

I was told today that my euro STi will not be delivered until March as well

The only plus for me is I only have half the cash at the moment, unlike you, so I can keep saving and get a smaller loan in March

I have had a crappy corsa since August! God I miss my scoob

Phil

You could probably buy an old shed..run it for 5 months and sell it for what you paid for it

[Edited by Philip Attaway - 11/7/2002 6:59:09 PM]

MrShades

I'm a bit fed up.......

Having ordered a Euro import MY03 STi at the start of October, I sold my present Mitsi FTO (for a song!) a few weeks ago in readiness for a late Dec / early Jan delivery.

I currently have the mother-in-laws Peugeot on loan until the end of Nov, and was planning to rent a car (EasyRentaAclass, or something) for a few weeks until the STi arrived.

NOW...

The importer has now just told me that, although they may have the cars delivered to them in Jan, they probably won't be allowed to deliver to me before IM have their first UK customer shipments (March). Surely the scrapping of block exemption would make this restriction difficult for IM to enforce?

It now looks like I may well have 4 months to wait before any sign of a car - and can't see the situation being different with any other importer or dealer - so what do I do?????

Buy an MY02 STi? (If I can find one at a sensible 'pre depreciated' price... then kick myself hard in four months time when I want an 03), rent a car for 4 months (crazy cost!), buy a crate for 4 months (could I really take it?), or just say "stuff it" and buy an S4 or Evo VII or M3 or something.

Any helpful advice or comments would be appreciated - as I'm a bit shell-shocked and can't really think straight ATM.

Fed up..... with 25K sat in the bank and seemingly nothing to do with it.

Shades

Markus

i might sound silly, but why won't the importer release the car? Are we talking about a european MY03 or a JDM one?

If it's JDM then I can't see why the importer would have to comply with anything IM says.

sillysi

The block excemption is a tricky one as it does not fully end until 2005. There is a regional clause still going to run that allows IM to be the sole official importer to the UK until then. I am not sure if/why this would affect your situation though. Could you not go over to Europe and pick the car up yourself?

MrShades

By the sounds of things, a true euro sourced car won't be available on import, or anywhere else, until March. This is a euro spec STi, with Euro cert of conformity, though shipped direct from Japan, AFAIK.

I don't care whether it's a Euro sourced car, or a Euro anything else car, as long as it's a UK spec and therefore not subject to massive insurance premiums for being 'grey'...

... as for the IM involvement - I guess they have big heavy hands and can pursuade various powers-that-be that unfair competitive advantages shouldn't be given. Dunno really, like I said, Block Exemption may have made this the case, but fail to see it working now it's scrapped....

Still cooling down, and if it wasn't for the silly fuel consumption and daft servicing requirements those Evo VIs/VIIs would look pretty attractive right now...

Dr Hu

I would be surprised if this was anything to do with IM.....sounds like the dealer pulling a fast one to me.........was'nt it on Top Gear last week about importers advertising cars they don't have.....asking a deposit.....telling you its going to delayed.....then delayed some more.......OK can get it now....but just an extra coupla K.....you don't want to miss it for a coupla grand do you.....etc etc etc.

MrShades

SillySi - yes, agreed. I need to ascertain the position in dealing directly with Dutch or Belgian Subaru dealers, though by the looks of things the only way to get one in Europe period, prior to March, (whether or not it can be delivered to customers) is to get a direct export from Japan.

Focus RS and hope it never rains, and all roads are like billiard tables???

Nimbus

MrS,

You only need to ask yourself "which car do I want". If it's the MY03 STi, then surely a few months delay is better than buying something now to "make do" and then regretting it when the car you do want is available?

marty_t3

I'd tell the dealer that you cant wait for the car and are willing to go for another car from another dealer who wont **** you about.
See if he's willing to cut some kind of deal. I assume your deposit is returnable if he doesn't deliver on time?

Anyway, if you have to wait for a few extra months (i reckon it's worth the wait) then as you suggested, buy a cheap shed to do you for a few months. I had to suffer a pug 106 for 4 months... just makes you appreciate your car more when you get it.

MrShades

Nimbus

I'm starting to think that you're right... On reflection, I don't think anything else will do - unless I AM willing to up the stakes and pay the best part of 30 grand for a new Evo VII/VIII, and then take the servicing and fuel hit as well...

I guess I'd better start looking in the cheap section of the Auto-trader for something to fill the gap.

Just wish I hadn't sold my FTO so quickly now (or read the Japanese MY03 STi review posted this morning... I DO want it... NOW!)

MJW

I was in a similar position - my old (lease) car had to go back, so I just bought an old sh1tter (F-reg Sierra 1800, ffs !) to put me on till the Scoob arrived. Certainly made me appreciate it more !!

Nimbus

You know it makes sense

Regarding selling the FTO. It's money in the bag. What if it came to sale time when the new car was ready and you could not find a buyer, or had to drop the price? Sounds like you got a good price for it anyway, so it will earn interest in the bank rather than loose value on the car*

* Please note I have no idea what prices for FTOs are like or how easy/hard it is to sell them





[Edited by Nimbus - 11/8/2002 10:14:14 AM]

mkyboy

I've got an 96 WRX Import you can have now for 25K!

cashbuyer555

Sorry to hear of the disapointing news chaps.I did hear that fishing is a good way to pass the time. I Hope it all works out for you in the end.
Cashmere

rshort2210

MY02 sti uk for sale, black 2000 miles 6 mnths old....24k

Danny B

I wish I had your problems.

It's a tough life aint it

MrShades

For the record, I'm completely happy that my importer is not trying to pull any sort of fast one, or rip me off. The situation, as explained to me, is undoubtedly the same for all importers and european dealers in general.

I've started scanning the clasifieds for a crate, and it looks like I'm sitting this one out for a while. Driving a 'heap' for a few months will make the Scoob seem that much better, and certainly quicker.

Thanks for all advice and relaying experiences.


= And believe me, getting the 25K in the bank has been a hard and lengthy process, over many years, and NOT as simple as perhaps I made it seem =

cashbuyer555

So who did you chaps order your cars from then? as I have mailed a few importers asking them about this post on scoobynet.
Cashmere

MrShades

The question of who I and others have ordered from, cashbuyer555, is largely irrelevant as far as I'm concerned - as they'll all be in the same boat.

Order from a UK Subaru dealer and see what you're told

Gez

Thats just a load of rubish. Get your deposit back and go elsewhere. As its a personal import and it has to go through ESVA, you dont havr to wait till UK cars come out. Sounds like he is trying to make more interest out of your deposit.

Cheers

Gez

chiark

Gez, wrong

These are EU spec, and come with a CoC. If you want a JDM you'll need the ESVA, otherwise that magic bit of paper means that you don't. Plus it lowers your insurance bill. And probably the power output

Run a shed. I had a morris minor whilst I was waiting for my MY00 from Gertjan. Incidentally, who did u order from? Direct in Holland or a broker?

Ta,
Nick.

EmperorImports

Thanks Cashmere for directing me to this thread.

I am afraid that I cannot speak for other importers or pass comment on their reason's given for delays to customers who have placed orders with them. It would be totally unprofessional for me to do so and I hope that no one else would try to draw anyone into such a debate.

http://www.emperorimports.co.uk/newcar_sti.asp?v=6

If you look at the above URL I have always when dealing with customers enquirys maintained that the price of the car may go up as well as down, but only if it was increased by the supplying dealer/manufactuer or due to currency fluctuations beyond my controll.
In fact if people so wished I would be able to arrange for the euro to be fixed at the prevailing rate, so that they may be safe in the knowledge that this would not have an effect on the price of the car.

I would never present to a customer a price increase on a personnal whim. Also I would not take a deposit or payment for a car and quote my customer a false or misleading delivery time, as it would not be in Emperor Imports best interest to do so. As you can see from the following url

http://www.emperorimports.co.uk/terms.htm


If anyone has anymore questions they would like to ask about the service I offer, please feel free to mail me

ian@emperorimports.co.uk

but please no more questions about other importers as it is not my place to comment or pass judgment on them. You would be best speaking directly with them and not relying on rumours and speculation you have gained from other sources, and then asked me to pass comment on.

Regards Ian

Blue

If your that unhappy, get your deposit back - speak to Gertjan in Holland, or Ludwig at Subaru Vilvoorde in Belgium. Both are well known main dealers on the continent, will supply you with a full UK spec car, will order it when they say they will, and will give you an accurate idea of the time to delivery - above all they're reliable and don't give you any bull. In addition, you cut out the middle man, and get a nice weekend away to collect it

PS. don't have their phone nos with me, but someone on here will (chiark??)

chiark

Gertjan van der Velde supplied by MY00 and did a perfect job: +31 186 661556, or email gj_velde@wish.net . He's a dealer in Holland, near-ish to Rotterdam. I've used him and would recommend him.

If you don't fancy doing it yourself, Emperor as above have a banner ad with Scoobynet, and so does Litchfield Imports.

AJbaseBloke

And Iain will have some JDM uber STis in January according to one of his other posts C'mon, you know that's the one to go for