wideybrook

Has anyone recently imported their impreza from Europe, where is the best place to buy and how much was saved.

I know there are many companies importing at present, but wondered what the saving was DIY.

And I already know about warranty issues etc..

Lee.

Superloop

I was not sure if i should get an Import or a UK model.

Cheapest imports are around £16500
Dealer offered £2000 off list for a UK model
So UK model cost £18495

You need a CAT 1 alarm fitting to the EU model at £299 plus locking wheel nuts £50

You also get three years servicing on UK model worth £800 so in reality the UK model costs
£18495 minus £1149 equals £17346

Three years 60000 mile warrently and one year on import so i went for the UK model

However these you may be able to haggle with the dealer on the import (based on the above calcs) i didn't as insurance was a pain on the import so..........

Fizz

iTrader: (1)

Also you can't get PPP fitted on Euro imports unless you got your own route in buying the ecu yourself or getting TEK..

Superloop

Yeah but we both forgot to mention you can get the "nutter" versions imported too but they are JDM cars and need more work when you get em. Fuel remap underseal (i think lot of the importers sort this for you though in the price)

GRIFF007

About £17k + vat for 2005 Sti with Euro Warranty - Malta

Say David S from Ult Des sent you

Apple

Not true - I've got PPP on my Belgian supplied bugeye and it was fitted by a UK dealer without any shady deals being done You don't get a Prodrive certificate but you do have an official invoice for the work carried out...

Apple

I'd check very carefully about warranty and "new entrants" to the EU, e.g. Malta, Cyprus etc as you need to have all the paperwork (Certificate of Conformity etc) to register it as a full UK Spec with Subaru UK - if it doesn't have all these bits then SUK can virtually disown you and then you've next to no warranty and will have a hard time getting it serviced at a main dealer

Things quite possibly will have changed on the EU stance since I imported mine but it's worth being forewarned...

Andy

GRIFF007

cert of con comes with car from the 'new entrants' so saving over £5k is tempting - personally I would rather offer a UK Dealer £1k over Euro price, however I feel their hands are tied somewhat....

Apple

I know 1K sounds a lot but if you can wrangle a few prices about with UK dealers then you might be able to get a better "justification."

I guess £299 is the price for installing a Sigma alarm as fitted to UK spec cars by IM - there are other alarm makes out there which could get you more protection / anti-hijack systems and are a bit more expensive - Clifford 600 is a popular unit which costs up to £700 incl. fitting with a few freebie bits thown in...

Also, are you budgeting for a tracking device? - might come as a nasty shock if the insurance co. insist on one and you haven't got the spare readies (granted, this can apply to a UK spec car as well although UK Spec STis are / used to be fitted with Trackstar AFAIR)

I would think the servicing schedules have been aligned now so you shouldn't be stuck on an old regime (eg 6 monthly / 7500 miles rather than 12 months / 10K miles).

Also, consider the Subaru Assist and how much it means to you (breakdown cover etc). I've got Mondial Assist through Belgium but I've heard it isn't worth the paper it's written on once outside Belgium but I haven't needed it to date - I'll have to look at RAC/AA etc sometime.

The first service for a import is charged at full whack (parts and labour) rather than UK supplied where you just pay for parts AFAIR but check the free servicing small print etc.

Any warranty work generally needs OK-ing by the supplying country before it's carried out which can be a pain for non-UK supplied cars as it adds in another "hurdle"

At first, my local dealer didn't go out of their way for anything and I don't expect them to but I think they've almost thawed a bit when they've realised I'm buying reasonable amounts of stuff from them -PPP, springs etc so they're making a bit of money back which they didn't make on the sale of the car (full £21K UK list price vs £16K EU price ).

A lad at work with a Forrester had clutch problems and mentioned it a few times at services - it was changed without him knowing at one service - they told him when he went to pick it up as it seems to be a standard "issue" that IM almost "expect." I wouldn't expect any favours like that happening but I'd love to be proved wrong if the time comes

One thing to consider for servicing and parts costs - unless you can haggle 10% off then look to joining SIDC and quite a few dealers now offer this discount to members - a 30K service can be £450 so 10% off will cover the £30 membership fee nicely

Andy

GRIFF007

cheers for helpful reply