mcscoobydoo

COULD DO WITH SOME ADVICE ON IMPORTS FROM CYPRUS. MOTORPOINT OF BURNLEY ARE SELLING THEM FOR UNDER £17K. NOT SURE ABOUT UK WARRANTIES / CORROSION PROTECTION ETC. ANYONE HAD ANY DEALINGS?

Harry_Boy

In a word..... Avoid!

NXG

Last time I looked at this they didn't come with underseal or some other sealing boot things (fairly important in this country).

Do motorpoint fit the alarms now? I think the warranty is with motorpoint as well, not Subaru.

Steve.

millband

I've just bought a 2 year old WRX which came from Motorpoint originally. Looks fine to me, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it! If you can wait, email me in a couple of weeks when I've had a chance to do some miles in it and have had it serviced - I'll let you know if any nasties have turned up.

As far as alarm, underseal etc is concerned - Cat 1 alarms are about £350, and professionally applied underseal is what, £150? Not a big deal to get done yourself if Motorpoint won't. The rest of the spec looks like a UK car to me.

Had no problems getting insurance, cost the same as my old MY97 more or less, and the local main dealer seems happy enough to take my service booking.

Remember the risks are no more than a lot of guys are taking getting Jap imports, the only major worry if buying new is warranty IMHO. I had cause to use the Subaru warranty on my last car at 42000 miles for piston slap - this time I've taken the view that the savings outweigh the risk, and treated the purchase like any other second hand car that's out of warranty. I may live to regret that, but I've got a smaller debt in the meantime...

Cheers,

Steve

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

From other threads i have read the answer is..........

NO.... but i am sure there will be a few comments on this one.

Simon

[Edited by Silver Scooby Sport - 10/28/2003 9:56:53 PM]

millband

Oh... one other thing to remember though is that main dealers might be prepared to do deals which get closer to Motorpoints price, and with an import you won't get top price when you come to sell it. Mine will be 5 years old with at least 70k on the clock when I sell it, so the difference in price will be less.

millband

Why "no no no"? I've read some of those threads and there is a lot of "I've heard...", but not so many first hand experiences. Underseal etc is an issue on JDM imports too, but people don't seem to mind that.

Is it just hearsay? Or is someone about to make a posting which makes me seriously worry about my purchase?!

Steve

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

Mostly warranty worries if my memory is working, there has been lots of talk on this, but i think that was more for the second hand trade rather than new..... got ride of some of those no's when i read it back it looked a little harsh... i am sure as new there should be no problems.
Enjoy it !!
Simon

If you do a search you may be able to list some of the earlier threads.

chrisp

The reason why most grey imports were brought from Japan was because they were higher spec and more powerful than the UK turbos (except 22b and p1) and made good VFM. Sio as JDM spec imports werent available here there is no direct equivalent.

They do seem VFM but you have to remember that they will need all the bits as previously said (underseal, alarm, warranty (if you want one)) and you may suffer at little when it comes to part ex it.

I think the point people were making was that when you add the bits on to get it to UK spec the price difference wasnt that big and a UK dealer make come down a bit to bridge the price gap. You will then have a uk car with Subaru warranty.



[Edited by chrisp - 10/28/2003 10:20:29 PM]

millband

Fair points. For me, it makes sense as a second-hand car as warranty is not such an issue, and the first owner has already paid to have the extras added

I've read the Motorpoint warranty booklet through (as it has a year left to run for me), and I don't think it's much use. Claim limit is £1000 and the car must be serviced within 28 days/500 miles of each interval otherwise its void. The Subaru UK warranty seems to have much more leeway and no upper limit on claims.

Question of risk versus cost really, and that's down to individual choice.

Steve

stevem2k

With respect, I hope nothing major goes wrong. A grand doesn't go too far on a scoob.

Steve

millband

I know, they were rated most expensive (although not most frequent...) for warranty claims in a recent survey!

All the same though, it's still a valid choice to go for a cheaper car if you are prepared accept the saving might be offset by a repair bill. Plenty of people buy 3 year old cars 2nd hand with no warranty and don't worry about it. When my original MY97 came out, Subaru were pretty much the ONLY manufacturer to offer a warranty longer than 12 months, but people were still quite happy to buy Fords etc.

If the guy wants a cheap import, he just needs to go in with his eyes open (and not whinge if it blows up!)

Steve

stiler83

I would not deal with Motorpoint for all the Tea in China.
See my post... http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/thread.asp?ThreadID=202472

r32

I know some one who priced up a new Whatsthepoint car, by the time they added a Cat i alarm, 700 pounds(MP's numbers), warranty another 700 notes plus some other hidden costs it was only a small saving over a UK Dealer supplied car. Have you looked at the What Car price promise thing? They are UK cars.
STEVE..............

compshack

I have got a new STI 8 from motorpoint. It does have underseal. The warranty says you can claim upto £1000.00 at one time but doesn't say how many times you can claim. The way I see it is that if for example the engine does blow, you just cliam on individual parts of the build. Dealing with Motorpoint is not the most freindly experiance, but you take that into account when you purchase the car. I saved about £2k on a car from a dealers and yes I did shop around. That does include a cat 1 alarm, trakker, and locking wheel nuts. Oh and taking all those sh1te Motorpoint stickers off!

compshack

Oh and another thing, where is my nearest Subaru dealer??? Widnes or Macclesfield. AJ Whites in Blackburn are no longer dealers.

compshack

Hey MSSCOOBYDOO, If you look at Motorpoint recently they had a Wr Blue WRX 03 done 5000miles for £15999.00 Now with it being secondhand maybe the alarm and trakker have already been fitted!

topboss

Other thing to consider is whether you want to fit PPP later on.....as UK dealers will not do this to a non-uk supplied car. Me personally......I'd rather pay a little extra and not have any worries.....but each to their own.

AR

The warranty issue would worry me - you can't claim for a blown engine piecemeal, the claim would just be refused or limited to £1k.

WRX wise the spec @ Motorpoint has 2 airbags rather than 4 so it is pretty easy for people to spot this when you sell it on even if you wait until it is >3 yrs old to get round the warranty shortfall.

mcscoobydoo

quite a mixed view !
I need to do some shoppin around the dealers etc
keep the views cumin in.

thanks

scoobyslut

There is "NO" warranty support outside of "cyprus" on these cars, as the piece of paper supplied with the car pertaining to additional cover is not worth wiping "elswhere".
Please, save yourself a lot of money later, get a proper one.

Luke

why??

there are so many bargains to be had with scoobs for sale here etc... Why take a chance???

rotty

Really cant see how they can impose a £1k limit during the 1st year , I would think that thay would be on very shaky ground legally

[Edited by rotty - 10/29/2003 1:06:32 PM]

millband

Dodgy legal ground? Not really, as it's just insurance against parts breaking rather than a real warranty.

Seeing the points above, I wouldn't buy a new WRX from them. I'm happy my 2 year old matches UK spec (I've got brochures and and looked at cars in dealers when the bug-eye was new) but it sounds like the blob-eye version does not - airbags being a major issue I think.

It might be different kettle of fish for the STI version as this is a more limited edition anyway, and probably varies less in spec between different markets.

Steve.

rotty

Maybe the "warranty" is just insurance but if at 6 months old the motor self destructs then the supplier would have a legal obligation to fix it regardless of any terms of warranty

Dick Dastardly

HELP!!! Have just read the above comments and am now very concerned about a purchase I am in the process of making.

Ordered my very first impreza ever on Monday from Motorpoint (Cyprus import). Have spoken to a friend who services alot of Imprezas and he didn't seem to think there would be too much to worry about... BUT having read all above am wondering if big mistake.

Spoke to Motorpoint re equipment spec and have been advised that if import spec is not close to UK spec they will allow me to cancel order. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Urgent replies would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

mcscoobydoo

DD, I'm the other guy who ahas ordwered as well. they have two on order. Mine was ordered on 7/10/03. I aint happy as they have changed the delivery date a few times !
I am chewing over what to do ! I will keep you informed as the news breaks.
My concern is UK subaru reckon cost of service is higher than UK spec and parts may take longer to get (up to 3 months !) Thats only a view they didnt give proof of that !
There is also limit on mods to car as previous posts, you cant fit PPP.
By the way, Motorpoint say these ones come from MALTA and ARE undersealed. But they wont put that on paper I bet !

MCSCOOBYDOO

CustomScoobyIOM

Its simular to the Jap Spec thing isnt it. You got to make your own mind up.

Bearing in mind PPP aint the only upgrade out there. Pete @ Scoobysport can sort you out with a ECUTEK remap and a nice zorst which will be cheaper than PPP. G Force can still tune it upto a nice 330bhp for £5000 for you!

Its all down to personal choice. I use a specialist to service my car anyway.

scooby L

I've got an EU car from DH cars in Malmesbury, it was originally from Cyprus.

A few calming words for mcscooby:-

1) Servicing is no different to UK spec STI,mines been in twice now with one day turnaround.
2)The warranty is not a Subaru UK jobbie but it seems quite adequate, I think DH cars organised this one themselves.
3)2nd hand trade in values: I have taken out a 3 year 65,000 mile PCP with DH, with a quarenteed trade in value of £14,000, with a more likely value to be nearer £16,000. I didn't think that was bad at all.
The only drawback I have found is the PPP issue, but it seems a number of UK dealers are willing to "turn a blind eye" to EU cars who want this mod,(it's all about money at the end of the day) so it just involves a bit of phoning around.
Or you could just go down the induction/exhaust route which will give 280-300bhp (in the right temp!)for half the price.

Dick Dastardly

Thanks to everyone for comments.

Have been in touch with Motorpoint this morning. Said car was def manufactured in EU but imported via Cyprus. 1 year warranty was def supported by Subaru dealers in UK.

Have since spoken to local Subaru dealer who assured me 100% that cos car had come via Cyprus was NOT covered by 1 year Subaru warranty and that they wouldn't touch it. Also confirmed that PPP couldn't be fitted.

Have since been back to Motorpoint and cancelled order and deposit refunded (can't refuse this under trades descriptions act). Whilst discussing merits of imports with dealer, got offered new WR Mica Blue WRX for £18,995 on road. This only works out 1k dearer than Motorpoint and with no hassles.

Thanx again for help.

Gaz