DAVE-W

If you're reading this then thank you. I'm just after a bit of advice.

On Saturday I am going to see a 95 (M) WRX, 23000 miles, sounds like a nice car. It's in a garage in Nottingham and will have parts and labour warranty etc.

As the car is an import, obviously (?) a HPI check will show nothing. As it's had clocks converted to MPH how do I know if the mileage is genuine?

Can anyone give me advice on what to look for and check on the car etc. I know my cosworths but very little about scoobs (except that I want one !!!).

If I buy the car and my mate (who owns a bodyshop) sees it and reckons it had major panel damage etc. where do I stand?

Advice please, you know these cars better than I do.

Thanx very much

David

The Zohan

Before we start - all my own opinion and thoughts based on mky experiences so here goes
A few questions
Will you get the car RAC (alike) checked before you buy

Corrosion protection - a lot of Jap cars are not protected - you can get it done easliy enought though

All MOT'd im a sure - tyres, lights, clocks, etc. bear in mind the speedo/odo was in km not miles so difficult to prove this one


a few thoughts.
The car really does not have any history that you can rely on unless you know it's last owner in Japan or speak/read Japanese.
The car could have been written off or not - none of the paperwork will show this
Service history - he he might well be a full one but who is to know???
It is a high performance car so chances are it has had a hard life (stating the obvious maybe but what the hell only trying to help)
Check with you tame insurance brokers 'bout gery imports.

It may well be a good straight motor however spending large amounts of cash without a pukka inspection would worry the hell out of me.

I went through the same process recently trying to purchase a Mazda MX-5 (eunos) from car dealers, for my other half - ended up back @ a Mazda dealers after looking at about 10 cars - all rubbish most showing a lot less miles than they had done (in my humble opinion of course).
One claimed 24K miles/40k km worn pedals shiny steering wheel worn seats baulking between 2-3rd gear - 1 reocn on 80-90k easy

I am not saying that all imported cars out there are dogs but some (and i seem to have loked @ most of 'em) are. - get it checked out by a pro!!!

[This message has been edited by Paul Habgood (edited 07 August 2000).]

DAVE-W

Paul,

Thanks for the reply.

The car is coming from an "import specialist" (aren't they all) called Charlesworths in Nottingham. The car has a 12 months parts & labour warranty with loan car during service or repair.
They are a member of the British Independant Motor Trade Association (if this is of any use) and have offered me a good deal.

What do you think?

Any further comments welcomed.

Better still is there anyone here from Nottingham who knows their scoobys and has a few hours spare on Saturday morning? Please

David

johnfelstead

dave, as you are local to donington, why dont you pop down to donington friday as a few scoobie guys will be there, you can then have a chat and look around UK and import spec cars. It a track day running from 9am till 5pm.

cheers
john

edit >> oops, misread, you are hardly local are you! LOL

donington is just down the road from nots though.

[This message has been edited by johnfelstead (edited 07 August 2000).]

The Zohan

hello again and without any predudice!
Worth getting a copy of the warranty inclusions/exclusions before handing over the reddies. a lot of Warrantys are insurance policys that you claim on if you have a problem - this may mean that you pay out and claim back - or the dealer does. have a look first. there may also be a limit of £xxx on any one claim - if it is say £ 600.00 and your engine goes then guess who pays the other 2K+.

Really - get a pro to check it - you have some comeback/recompence if there is a problem later on. Please do not be fooled by a nice shiney smart lookin' one.


bitter and twisted about getting riped off in the past. Moi?, nononono!

I hope it is a good-un .
If you would like to talk further then e-mail me - paul@outlook.co.uk and i will reply with my numbers asap - it is a lot easier to talk about it one reason being my typing is slow and innaccurate

Paul

[This message has been edited by Paul Habgood (edited 07 August 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Paul Habgood (edited 07 August 2000).]

Stef

Charlesworths are a very reputable dealer, and certainly seem to know their stuff. They fitted my AP clutch for me.
If the car comes with a decent warranty, then that in itself is it's weight in gold. You will find it hard to trace the car's history with any great accuracy unless they have all the paperwork, but they are certainly no fly-by-night importers so I would expect the car to be in pretty good nick.
A second opinion certainly wouldn't hurt though.
How much are they asking?

Stef.

DAVE-W

John,

LOL-if I'm local to donno then you must be driving over from africa!!!
Seriously though, are any of the scooby lads staying over on the friday night. If so and they've a couple of hours to spare on Saturday i'd really appreciate it.

Paul,

I'll e-mail you soon and we'll have a chat about warranties etc. You seem to know your stuff mate.

Thanx all.

Anyone from the Nottingham area know of Charlesworths, or has anyone dealt with them?

David

DAVE-W

Stef,

Its a 95 M WRX, 23000 miles, 12 month mot 6 month road tax, air con, metallic blue, cd player, 12 month warranty, and my choice of wheels. Price - £15000, but they are giving me a reasonable part ex. price on my cossie.

What do you think?

Glad to hear they're a tidy dealer though.

David

PS Are you fairly local to Charlesworths. I would gladly pay your petrol for the opinion of someone who knows a thing or two about scoobys.

[This message has been edited by DAVE-W (edited 07 August 2000).]

wrx.co.uk

Dave-W

I agree with the other posts about getting the car checked out, but if you are buying from a dealer then he must comply with trading standards regulations. So you will have some come back if it has been bent.

I have a 95 wrx, my second one, my first was a 93 RA. Both were bought over the phone from a dealer in Japan, both were A1. I may be mad but my investigations have shown that Jap second hand cars are far better than the UK ones. For example lower mileage, crash accident damage normaly means a write off and the car scraped, all dealers are licenced, there is no 'private' dealing, almost no car thefts ie no joy riders hence much less accident damaged cars around.
As for warranties, if their's is not up to scratch, negotiate a lower price without one and then go to warranties direct. All part are covered up to £2000 at any VAT reg garage.

Hope this has been of help

wrx.co.uk

Me again.

Sorry just saw the price, check out autotrader.co.uk for prices first.

My last one cost me £10,600 95M wrx white excellent nick, this price included everything. But I took a big risk and this one sounds better.

I have seen a few around under £11500 in the UK, add on the cost of an RAC check and a private warranty and you could still save a few quid.

DavidG

Why not get your body-shop mate to have a look at it before you buy?

By the way, you've only got come-back against a dealer if he's still around when you need him.

Pay for an AA or RAC inspection.

DAVE-W

WRX-the attraction really is the fairly good part ex deal i'm being offered on my cossie-better than many others I've had. I want the easy option of part ex'ing as I haven't got the patience to sit on the cossie and wait ages to sell it.

I'm fairly good at spotting new panels etc. on cossies as I've judged and competed in concourse in the RSOC over the last few years, so as long as i've got a good warranty on engine etc. I think i should be ok ???? Hope

Stef reckons they're a reputable dealer and thats a bonus too. So hopefully come Saturday afternoon I'll be a scooby owner.

Any advice on common faults etc. to check on with imprezas or even wrx's in particular?

Thanx again,

David

firefox

Before you go...

Phone them in the morning...tell them not to run it...

you want to check it from cold... listen for any unusual knocking...noises

check for smoke... any whistly noises...

check the gearbox selection...syncros...

check for smoke out the back....

check the water coolant for any scum

just usual checks...

Its a bit much to check.. but find out if the ECU has been changed or chipped (requires physically looking at it)

Ask if they have changed all the fluids ? diffs too ?

check the alloys for any curbing.... check the clutch for slip....

J.

ps - The price is high...

NITO

Hi Dave,

That price sounds outrageously high to me, I'm not surprised they're offering you a good px! It sounds 4-5K over the odds. On the plus side, Charlesworths have been in business and advertising scoobs for a long time in Top Marques and certainly I haven't heard anything untoward about them. Seriously though, that is a seriously high price, it would be worth your while to pick up a copy of Top Marques, about 7 pages of scoobs in the current issue. One which particularly caught my eye was a '98MY R reg 5 door in red with 23,000 miles on the clock for £13,500 with a/con, which sounds far better value to me!

HTH,
Nito

DAVE-W

Nito,

Like I said before, I need to be able to p/ex my cossie. I've had a look through the private sales in top marques and if my car was sold and I had cash in my hand there are loads I could go and see.

I just want the easy part ex. option so I don't have to sit on the cossie.

Perhaps I'll see if i can get him to come down a bit and throw some more bits in for free-I'm already having my choice of wheels on the car

I'm gonna wave cash with my car so I'm sure he'll drop a little.

David

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Dave
If its come direct from Japan ask them for a look through all the paperwork, hopefully you'll see an auction sheet with its grade on. Not all imports come from auctions but most do. IIRC grade 4 or above is a good sign.
The best way of seeing if the service history is genuine is to look for little service stickers placed by the mechanic on the car. These can be found usually under the bonnet, inside the drivers door (on the pillar) or inside the petrol flap. Naturally these should look old and faded! Finding these stickers are a bonus and not essential.
I got my 95WRX direct from Japan because I could not afford one any other way. If I had 15k however I would not have bought a 95 model.
Like others have suggested the reason you're getting a good trade in price is because I feel they would sell it for 12k cash right now.
Hope this helps, good luck.

Justin

SWOLL

Might just be me, but for 15 grand I think I'd look at Uk spec. Just had a look on Autotrader and you can pick up a 97P UK car with 50K for about £12,500. Spend the other £2,500 grand with Mr Croney or someone like him and I'm sure you won't be dissapointed. And just think hpi and RAC check no problem, 95-97RON no problem, parts and servicing no problem and no niggles in the back of your mind about wether it's been wrapped round a tree in Japan somewhere. Anyway, I thought that the earlier WRX's weren't a patch on the new ones.

Flame suit on.

Markus

Just gonna add my 2 pennies worth.

I went for WRX because it had the bits I wanted, it was in the right price range (max 11 grand) and my local scooby dealer was not very friendly to me.

OK, so there are problems concerning it's history, but for a 6 year old car it's in pretty good nick. OK, there are the odd scratches and scrapes, but I don't think a 6 year old UK car would be in the same condition.

My main initial concern was servicing and parts, but I was told about a good local specialist who's looking after me very well indeed.

To be honest, if I was looking around now, I might go for the UK spec car, but probably not.

lordlucan

Dave W

I do understand your situation with the PX however I have a 3mth old UK spec car I paid £14,500 all in including OZ alloys from a dealer in Holland. (includes VAT etc etc)
I had to wait 4 mths for delivery, however this gave me time to sell my old car and buy a £200 runner and get the rest of the cash together.
Please consider this as 15g for a 5yr old car is alot of dosh. Arent good cossies sought after and increasing in value ??
Orders placed now in Holland will be getting the new Impreza, think of the resale values !
If i can answer any of your questions re importing from Holland, or you want the dealers email address (Gertjan) drop me a line.

Jason

Either way welcome to Impreza ownership, you wont regret it.

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

Dave,

all the usual checks have been listed above, so I won't add any more.

However, £15k for a M reg WRX is way too much! I doubt if you could sell the car for much more £10-11k privately.

As an example, my local Subaru dealer has a P reg UK spec car for about 12k, with a years warranty etc. £3k would buy you a nice set of wheels and tyres, air-con, and about another £1k to spend on tuning bits (e.g. brakes!!)

Craig H

Guy I work with has had 2 cars from Charlesworths. Can't fault the service and if something goes wrong they fix it. Think they provide the warranty themselves not some cr4p like Warranty Holdings.
They're pricey though. Spose better to get a decent car and pay over the top with good warranty etc than to pay market price for a dodgy one tho.

DAVE-W

Firstly, thank you all for your advice.

Jay - I have been told that the car will be a grade 4 or 5 and that I will be shown the paperwork to prove this (apparently Charlesworths won't buy any in below 3.5 - 4 on the scale.

Spoke to them today and quizzed them on some of the points you brought to my attention yesterday.

The warranty is all singing all dancing-i.e. if the engine goes they foot the entire bill, so that has to be a good thing.

The fact that it is a 4 or a 5 on the scale satisfies my worries about it being pranged etc.

It will be having wheels of my choice-another good thing cos I really don't like standard wrx wheels.

I am seeing the car on Saturday and I will take a good look for those stickers that were mentioned. I have been told that the car will not be ready for me to drive away on Saturday as they will have to fit an alarm, cd player, wheels etc, plus all uk conversion mods. (If I decide I want it).

Its nice to hear from many of you that they are a reputable dealer with good back up and I have to agree with craig that if I'm getting good service etc. it's worth a little more. I'll let you all know on Saturday night.

Thanks again

David