PilotDan05

Hi,

has anyone out there imported a LHD Imreza to the UK before. I am currently working abroad and have recently bought a 2004 WRX STI with the 2.5 litre engine, which I will be looking to bring back to the UK with me in about 6 months time. I know LHD is a pain, but theres no way I could afford a RHD one in the UK.

It seems the same as a UK car but has daytime running lights and no rear fog light and the temp gauge is in F not C....

Has anyone ever done this before? Anyone know of any problems getting the 2.5 litre engine serviced etc. Warranties will also be a slight issue I realise, but the cars are very cheap here, so there is a trade off....

Also anyone know of the output on 97 octane fuel? We have a maximum of 93 octane here and it produces 300bhp and 300lbs.... but this should jump a bit on the strong stuff. Not modified in anyway either.

Any help appreciated, particulalry with cheap insurance companies....

Dan.

marky1

privilige will insure LHD cars I think.

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

Dan,
I'm uncertain on the legalities but you may need to have it SVA'd which is checked that it complies with british road laws/regs if you do a search on SVA may give you some help.

There are a qite a few garaged here that would service/repair your car . it would depend on the part of the contry your in Not sure but may/should be able to keep/use the 12month Subaru warranty.

Litchfield imports have brought over a STi2.5USDM had a sit in it they have a web page/email address also a nice guy may give you some pionter in right direction

Roger Clarke motorsport, TSL motorsport and Scoobyclinic are also Highly recomended

Tony

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Getting insured won't be your problem, though you may baulk at the cost. Similarly, servicing and maintenance will be easy enough - there are numerous very capable independent specialists who will do it for you. (Subaru dealers, however, are unlikely to be your best bet, and your warranty will be worthless).

What will be a problem is getting the car registered in the UK in the first place. You'll need to find a model report - and I'm not sure one exists for the US car. Then you need to have the car prepared for an SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) test, which involves fitting a fog lamp, fuel neck restrictor and possibly other changes (probably UK-spec headlights in your case). Once it's passed SVA, then you can register with DVLA and away you go.

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

Andy,

Thanks you put it much better than me It will be the Model report that will be the most expensive part, if one is not out. That's why I suggested Ian Litchfield at http://www.litchfieldimports.co.uk/ he had a Lefthander US 2.5 at TRAX2004 IIRC

Tony

PilotDan05

I have found that I can bring it in on a kind of 'visitors' permit for 3 months, after which it needs to be insured with a UK firm, not a US firm and re registered.
SVA shouldnt be a problem, not sure on the daytime running lights (sidelights on all the time), but the other adjustments can be done quickly and cheaply.

We are bringing back our other car too but that will go to the local VW dealer to get an 'EU certificate of conformity'.... I have added a rear fog light to it already and changed the light switch to an EU model so the lights can be turned off and the rear fog on......(parts are so much cheaper over here).

I will call up Litchfield Imports and see if they can help, but Subaru dealers in the UK are being very unhelpful at the moment......

Any ideas of the power the Litchfield 2.5 STI produced? Will I have to have anything doen to the electrics or ECU???

Thanks

D.

wrrjones

it will need sva..

but you are lucky as with it being LHD it is exempt from the need of a model report just fit a fog light and ypou should be ok

chris

PilotDan05

Also, whats the fuel filler difference? are they smaller in the UK?

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I take it you're wanting to import the car permanently, then.

Iain's certainly worth a call - it's the model report that's the real issue. If one doesn't already exist then you're stuffed. If you have a model report then getting through SVA is straightforward; I don't believe that daytime running lights are any problem, though you will definitely need UK-spec headlamps anyway - at least for the duration of the test!

Quite how you'd get a European C of C for a US car I don't know - unless VW manage to make the same car both EU and DoT compliant. If you can get one, then I think you can just register the car straight away. Without one, you need the same model report, SVA and hassle as on the Subaru.

Don't even bother calling Subaru dealers - some will try and service imports, but many remain disinterested and none will help you actually import a car. There are very few US-spec STIs in the UK because most people don't want LHD and so prefer Japanese or UK/Euro-spec cars, despite the fact that only the US car comes with the 2.5 litre engine.

The UK and US measure (or quote) octane ratings differently - you can't directly compare numbers. I'm led to believe that super unleaded fuel isn't that different between the two, so your car will still produce around 300bhp. If it turns out to be necessary, you can have your ECU remapped for about £650 to run on whatever fuel you like.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

You sure about that? That would make life much easier

For SVA you'll still need a fuel neck restrictor, fog lamp, left-pointing non-HID headlights and possibly changes to the number plate surround. All pretty standard stuff that any number of SVA preparation companies can sort for you. Most imports need their speedo converting to mph too, but as it's a US car you're already OK there.

PilotDan05

Thanks Andy,

I will find out about the 'model report' when I call Litchfield... but
WRRJONES says it doesnt need one if its LHD.... anyone else think this?

VW build their vehicles in Germany then change a couple of 'bits', and ship them to the US, thats why its supposed to be easy to get a C of C, and therefore just register with the DVLA as a LHD car, very easy. Jap cars are a little harder......

I dont know why folk dont look at LHD vehicles from the US. We bought my car two months ago with 15 miles on the clock from a Subaru dealer who wanted to get rid of the 2004 stock etc before year end. It was knocked down to $28k from $33k, and he then knocked off $2k after a very short conversation. Thats $26 or £14,000. for a 2.5 STI, I even had a choice of 3 colours (albeit one was white). WRX's were going for $18k, thats about £10k.

If I could have done a finance deal it would have been even less with dealer kickback from the finance company.

I will let you know how it all goes when I speak with Litchfield....

D.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

*sob*