JonesyWRX

Hi Scooby enthusiats,

After a new car, have seen a couple of nice WRX's at Motorhouse in Cannock.
They're EU imports, but come with a 2 year warranty, other than that brand new (ie. I'd be 1st owner on V5) & require a Cat 1 alarm fitting (+ tracker I suppose) total OTR = £15800 inc.
Think these are MY05 models - have red brake calipers, anythink else I should look for?

This is the first plunge I've taken into Scooby ownership, so would really appreciate your advice. Should I do it, anyone experienced any probs/ issues with EU imports??

Have had a Civic Type R in past (which I enjoyed) - but is it worth going for an 05 model scoob now the new ones's out? Any comments re pleasures/pitfalls of ownership gladly received!!

Barney19

Welcome,

Have you checked what price dealers are selling them for at the moment,as they will be clearing MY05 stock for the MY06. Also do they still have the free PPP or 3 years servicing deal? Don't have an import myself so can't help much on that one but plenty of people on here do so no doubt they will help. From what I can see you will lose the third year warranty and need to fit a CAT 1 alarm to bring the car up to spec with a UK one. As far as new model is concerned it's the usual story - depends on what you want to spend, whether you want a MY06 and bear in mind that there is always a new/facelifted model around the corner!!!

Cheers Barney

Varboy

you wont have any probs with an EU Grey Import, Barney's points are valid though, personally if I was in your position I would wait

GaryCat

It's worth going for an 05 model if you want to pay a bit less. www.trade-sales.co.uk (Slough) have them for £15499 but as you say they need a cat1 alarm & locking wheel nuts to bring then to UK spec. Trackers are optional but some insurance compaies demand them.

Incidentally, I've just bought a cat1 alarm on Ebay for £42 and a pro fitter is going to install it for £100... bargain

My Scoob is an EU import - 2003 WRX - and I haven't had any problems at all. Dealers are fine servicing it but then again, I haven't had to claim on the warranty, which is where the only problem might happen.

GaryCat

To clarify - EU imports are parallel imports built for the European market.
Grey imports are JDM (Japanese Domestic Models) built for the Japanese market.

There is no such thing as an EU Grey Import.

JonesyWRX

Thanks for the replies so far, blimey this is a popular forum..... only real concerns with buying WRX are:

1. economy, ok I know it's a performance model but who realistically get's c30mpg? - do 20k (reimbursed @ 12p p.pm!!) miles p.a. how bad is it in the real world?
2. Reliability, I know is taken as good as it gets, but can't help but feel interior quality a bit low rent.
3. Will I get bored? - happened wth the civic, can modding keep me interested?

Dont want to sound like a wimp. but this is a big step up!

Cheers

Jonesy!

Barney19

1. Forget 30 mpg unless you are very light footed with them. If used as they were designed to be they drink the stuff!!!
2. AFAIK if maintained properly reliability isn't an issue and MY05 interior is a great improvement.
3. I doubt you'll get bored with one.
4. Buy one!!!!

Trap2Terrorist

iTrader: (3)

Can't comment on import issues as I have an MY01 UK Spec WRX.

1. economy, ok I know it's a performance model but who realistically get's c30mpg? - do 20k (reimbursed @ 12p p.pm!!) miles p.a. how bad is it in the real world?

Realistically you won't get anywhere near 30mpg, perhaps if you only do motorway miles and don't exceep 75mph (seriously). I get around 22mpg but my daily commute it 10 miles each way so is not very ecomonical. The minute you start taking it over 5k rpm's with your foot in the carpet you can almost watch the needle go down (GREAT fun though, it what scoob ownership is all about )

2. Reliability, I know is taken as good as it gets, but can't help but feel interior quality a bit low rent.

It's not up to the standard of a BMW or Audi but it's not too bad. Mine's developed an annoying rattle from the passenger door but apart from the it's built pretty solidly. You have to remember the car is built for performance and not really comfort so don't expect walnut trim and top-class switch gear!

3. Will I get bored? - happened wth the civic, can modding keep me interested?

Not bored but you will probably strive for more power, looks, features, etc. I kept mine standard for 2-3 months and have now gone a bit mad with it. The good thing about the scoob is that you can go for the expensive mods sometimes (ecutek, wheels, spoiler, etc) or subtle, cheaper mods another time (de-tango, windscreen tints, interior, colour-coded grill, etc).

I say go for it

powerman1

A word of warning once youv'e got one theres no going back to ordinary motoring..fantastic ask this man how it feels http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=467183

powerman

HOWY

In theory you won't have problems with EU import however at present there is an issue with IM (Subaru UK) not honouring the 3 year pan european warranties from some importers. Check out recent thread called 'Not good' I think for more details. Check with your supplier and get a gaurantee that the warranty will be honoured (It should be 3 years not 2)

Shades

lol Jonesy ..... You've asked the exact same question I was going to with my first post ..... you beat me to it .......

I'm looking at getting my first WRX and am probably looking at getting an import from Cyprus, UK spec MY05 ....... I really want to get it, but there's this stigma playing with me about imports ...... Can someone just confirm it's paranoia .... Is the extra hassle really worth it ......

Heard the same thing about Subaru UK not wanting to honour warranties ...... but I take it servicing isn't a problem?????

Also, I'm sure this has been discussed so many times already, but is there any issues with selling on a European import ..... the price for a new MY05 is pretty awesome at the moment (obviously because of the new MY06), but I'd imagine that would be taken away once I went to sell it .........

abbiesdad

... check around b4 you buy .. i bought a 11 month old wrx .. parallel import with 2 years warranty 7k miles for £12500 2 months ago... fantastic cars... big grins .. big fuel bills... worth every penny... search here .. autotrader.. ect

Mjb1957

I have just bought an import which came from Cyprus ( WRX saloon ) .
The problem is that if you want to MOD the car i.e put a Prodrive on it you will not be allowed , it will invalidate your warranty , unless you have found a sympathetic dealer who may be able to get round problem . The car itself I bought from Virgin cars (Sheffield) , Avoid this company as the website that advertises the car is not accurate .
The other things I have fitted are a Cat1 alarm, locking nuts, Road Angel , and had the car Guardex ( coating put on car to protect it from scratches etc) .
total price for car was £16850 .
If you buy an import from Holland or Belguim they are not so strict on the PP .
NowI know what the pitfuls are it will make buying an import easier.

DonnieDarko

you also need it undersealed- ive been quoted £85+VAT for this (prevents rust etc for our salted roads.)

oh and as far as fuel consumption goes i get around 25-28mpg (almost all motorways though). i by no means drive slow, but i would say 85% is M'W

i rev to around 4-5k usually and 7 when i'm in the mood (& the g'f isn't in the car).

glad i didn't wait for MY06 cos the official fuel use is worse by about 4mpg

gubby

UNDERSEALED, UNDERSEALED!!!

You telling me we bought a car without underseal ffs!!! .

Never thought to look at that.

Just when I thought bollox to the warranty and was starting to enjoy myself!!

JonesyWRX

Sorry to disagree, but this has to be wrong.. You're not trying to seriously tell me that the Jap's have a special production line that only underseals UK spec cars at the expense of all our European neighbours. The reality is that there is only 1 European specced Impreza that comes out of the land of the risiing sun, they are then brought up to UK spec when they arrive in the UK ie. Alarm fitted & locking wheel nuts put on. Other than that, there is absolutely no difference in spec/build to standard 'european' car - just another myth propogated by dealers me thinks!

Mike1609

iTrader: (1)

My advice would be to go for it (i did anyway). I had also previously owned a CTR and was after something with similar performance but with 5 doors and better practicality. I purchased a WRX from Motorhouse about 6 months ago and have had no problems to date.

My car was imported from Cyprus and the warranty was for 3 years (pan-european). Its worth noting though that the service schedule is every 6 months in the warranty book, as opposed to 12 months for UK spec.

As said you have to have an alarm fitted - the standard Subaru alarm is the Sigma M30 - and locking wheel nuts. Mine was already undersealed.

In comparison to a CTR the WRX drinks fuel (and most people only use optimax or similar). However the performance is every bit as good and you do not need to thrash a WRX to get the same response as 8000 revs in a CTR.

My only concerns are the current issues surrounding IM and european warranties (if i ever need to make a claim) and future re-sale values.

Overall - go and get one - i have not looked back since, but then be prepared to want an STi......

Mjb1957

Hi Mike ,

I have taken delivery of my first scooby( 1st Sept 2005) my car came from Cyprus and I have been told that I cannot fit a prodrive to the car .
So i have made up my mind and stuff the warranty I am going ahead anyway .
I will make sure the car gets it's regular service though.

I am paying £1300 for the PP from gatwick motors who have been very helpful.

wrxseeker

iTrader: (1)

I have posted exactly the same before.

Apparently they add "extra" underseal at the docks (& alarm and locking nuts) when the car comes into the UK, according to the anti EU import brigade.

All I can say is my '05 Cyprus WRX definately has underseal and it doesnt appear any different to a UK car.

HOWY

Anyway I thought that all th ecars come with a body gaurantee which involves you having it checked at a service so it could be said that if the car needed (extra) underseal the dealer should point that out.
My cyprus WRX has lots of sticky green sticky stuff over the engine components so assume this is some sort of protector too haven't looked underneath so not sure how you can tell if its undersealed anyway it has a 3 year pan european warranty so if there is a problem cyprus will have to pay to sort but serioulsly how many subarus are going to rust in 3 years underseal or not?

GaryCat

30mpg is easily achieved with the 03WRX cruising on the motorway, even with PPP fitted.

My 03 WRX has been totally reliable in 2 years of ownership and my previous 99 Turbo was also 100% reliable.

pete1976

Jonesy,

I bought one of said WRXs from Motorhouse Cannock a couple of weeks ago. Please PM me if you want any more info than what I'm putting here or copies of emails I've got from MH! I had the alarm fitted but not the tracker (I used Keith Michaels for insurance) and paid £15549.80. (Screen price was £14999 - I didn't pay for GAP insurance or owt.)

Warranty:
MH initally told me I'd get 2 years. I queried it and they said I'd get 3! The warranty problems have been well documented (see Motorpoint and Alliance threads) but seem to be sorted now. In any case get it in writing from MH that you'll have a 3 year Subaru warranty then you have cause to complain to them should there be any problem.

MY05 vs MY06 model:
I decided to get the MY05 because (a) it's cheaper; and (b) it uses less fuel.

Scooby vs other cars:
I had a classic scooby a few years ago (a '96 UK turbo) but sold it 'cause it was costing so much. I was heartbroken but promised myself I'd get a better job and get another one. Which I have! Shows you how much I enjoyed it. (I haven't driven a Civic Type R though.)

PPP:
I think those with Malta imports have now been told they can get this but still not sure on the Cyprus ones. I'd like to know that myself.

Locking wheel nuts:
Some say they aren't worth having anyway (thieves can get round them) but I picked up a set of McGard's from ebay for a little over a tenner so you might as well.

Underseal:
I'm still not sure on the state of the underseal of my car. If anyone can tell me how to tell if there's enough I'd appreciate it (I'm a bit of a numpty with this kind of thing). However, when I probed MH they said the 12 year anti-corrosion warranty would NOT be valid. At the end of the day if it needs doing it costs about £100 which is peanuts when you consider how much you're saving. But the anti-corrosion warranty still won't be valid.

Economy:
My first tank of fuel (Optimax) returned 28mpg which worked out at 14.6p per mile (the fuel was 89.9p a litre). Most of it was longish trips around town with 1 motorway journey. But........of course I was keeping it below 4000rpm for the running-in period so I would expect consumption to go up somewhat once I'm over 1000 miles and I put my foot down.

Reliability:
Too early to comment on this car (only 300 miles) but had no problems at all with my classic. Scoobs always do pretty well in the satisfaction surveys.


In summary............go for it!

mark172_wr1

Jonesy ,,


I live very local to motorhouse and my best friend bought a car from them..
In my experience this is a very poor dealer with very little aftersales support and they will even refuse to get your tax...

I strongly reccomend to avoid this dealer where possible. They might be cheap but theres a reason for this.

corradoboy

Serious question. Why are import buyers fitting the PPP when they have already been told that it invalidates their warranty ? There are much better options out there for possibly less money when the warranty isn't an issue. If my next Scoob was a brand new import with a questionable warranty I would mod the @r$e off it from the 1k service on.

pete1976

Have to say I've found Motorhouse OK and my dad's used them a couple of times with no problems. OK you don't get main dealer service but it certainly isn't bad enough to turn down a £4.5k saving IMO!

DonnieDarko

motorpoint have given me the option of a subaru malta warranty (9k serv intervals, no PPP) or their own 10-12k serv + PPP/ powerchip etc.

i will be going for PPP because it is a more insurance/ resale friendly mod...and if i can get it for around £1000 its not bad value either (offers have started flying around at various dealerships)

It seems i'd get a few hundred quid more for a PPP car than standard, whereas a lot of people wouldn't really want to buy a modded car (me included) so they are worth the same, or even a bit less than a standard car

scoobyboy1

iTrader: (16)

Hi mate

Ive got a Euro import WRX which I bought 2nd hand when it was 4 months old, The thing I didnt get with my car was a service schdule book, so I cant get it stamped when I have a service.

mikepaul

22mpg; must be hammering the throttle (and loving it and not using as a serious commuter but more a hobby car), but there is too much traffic on my journey to work to allow such open throttle fun, so in this senerio best to change up at 2500rpm and save fuel for later fun.

Fuel consumption varies, short runs I would expect 25mpg. But you can get 33-35mph on a motorway trip. I find mpg similar to the CTR, it you hammer a CTR you'll get low 20's, but get 35mpg is easier to achieve in the CTR.

To be honest I don't find a big difference in fuel consumption between the two cars, using the car day to day, I guess I average 28mpg+ and get between 320-370 miles on a tank of Optimax.

The handling is something special (also great 4-pot brakes), for this reason alone I don't think you'll get bored of a WRX and you can go PPP (which is not an option for Honda; well I looked at mods are they were seriously expensive to get even 10BHP gain).