Jamie Whitfield

When the old job issues sort themselves out, I am hoping to be in the position to buy an imported WRX for around £16K.

My main concerns are that although it is so cheap to buy, what will the resale values be? I am sick of buying cars and loosing 5-7K on them in the first year.

WOuld you suggest the WRX as still being a good car to buy in this respect, or would I be better buying a car which has lost as much value as it is going to, such as a used Boxster, 968 CS, Elise etc etc?

Also my cars have to put up with a fair ammount of mileage, would a WRX be ok?

Any other serious suggestions would be great!

Nigel H

I've gone down the import route. The savings were too big to ignore.

Residuals - well you won't be able to flog it to a Scoob dealer,
cos they don't like imports. I took the view that with the saving I'd be able to flog the car on without a loss, since the Scoob community know their onions.

I had previously imported a Focus myself and didn't have any problems when it came to getting rid after 18 months. As long as you have the full spec and the paperwork, then why should it? It's the same car.

Don't have any views in your alternatives - I'm a family man, so I needed the doors and boot.

Z75

The less you pay for it in the first place the less you stand to lose.

However, having said that if you change your car every year you would probably be better off buying in the UK (unless you buy LHD but that's a different story). Cars that have not arrived in the UK through official channels are still stigmatized by dealers for the pure reason that they stand to lose profits. So they do not always look kindly on imported trade-ins.

Jamie Whitfield

I think the reason I would go for one is because I am into Mountain biking in a big way so I do need the space, so on reflection I would be silly to go for an Elise or anything like that, the Puma I currently drive is too small most of the time!

Regarding prices, how much lower would an improted car be compared to the exact same UK car at resale?

Ian E

iTrader: (1)

Whilst the UK car is in warranty, it should fetch a premium of £1000 - £2000 over an EU Import car. After three years there shouldn't be any difference - the cars are exactly the same spec - its just the boat dropped 'em off in a different place A mate has just bought a year old MY00 EU Import privately for £13800 - i.e. minimal depreciation - I paid about £15500 new for mine 18 months ago. I emailed the Importing Imprezas list and some people were wanting around £15k for 20000 milers.

Go the import route, you'll not regret it.

A lot of people recommend Gertjan - http://www.subaruvdvelde.nl/ Top bloke - never dealt with a UK Car dealer as good as him.

Cheers,

Ian.



[Edited by Ian E - 11/28/2001 7:16:30 PM]

Dazzler

I'll back you up on that Ian, Gertjan is a good fella and true to his word. Had no problems at all when ordering my MY00 through him.