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Old 15 May 2002, 04:13 PM
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Miniman
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Looking for a little advice please.

I'm seriously thinking about buying WRX on import. I'm looking at buying it from Jamjar.com. They've said to me this is the UK spec car, and I've seen someone else say that they brought an Impreza from JamJar.com, he mentioned that they come through Europe so are treated as European models.

So if anyone has some useful advice about Jamjar.com and insuring it I'd be grateful. Also about the servicing from Subaru UK (or Subaru Europe), I'd be pleased to hear that too. Particularly as these are effectively UK models. What should I look out for, what needs to be addressed before I buy one etc.

As an aside I brought a Honda Prelude VTEC (4th Gen) a few years ago on import and the Jap versions are different to UK versions (power, some interior and mechanicals, and bodywork) so I had to insure it and service it differently from a UK Prelude.

So I'm used to imports and what happens, just not about Imprezas in particular.

Thanks in advance

[Edited by Miniman - 5/15/2002 4:16:00 PM]
Old 15 May 2002, 04:29 PM
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Miniman
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Looks like its been addressed in another thread I missed

http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/thread.asp?threadid=95967
Old 15 May 2002, 04:42 PM
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Jay m A
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Don't I know you?

Try signing up with the importingimprezas list on yahoo egroups, theres a lot of good advice and info on there, you can get advice on going directly through Dutch/Belgium dealers which by all accounts is just as simple as going through a broker.

Welcome to the board, it took you a while mind considering I've been banging on about this bbs for years now!

Justin
Old 15 May 2002, 05:16 PM
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AudiMan
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Check keyringcars.co.uk, they are the cheapest for imports that I've seen, only a small firm and only deal with Subaru's I think.
Old 15 May 2002, 05:49 PM
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speedking
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keyring
Old 15 May 2002, 05:49 PM
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ADP
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keyring are very close to my home in Winchester.

They seem very friendly and helpful and prices are good. They occassionally stock cars too - I think I would use them if had time to wait.

I need mine in 3 weeks though.

AP
Old 15 May 2002, 05:51 PM
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speedking
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ADP,

Keyring sometimes have short order cars, a bit more expensive and fixed spec, but much cheaper than UK prices Good luck.
Old 15 May 2002, 05:52 PM
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ADP
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Yeah, I just missed one, grr

wanted a blue un really, then only had silver
Old 15 May 2002, 06:04 PM
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TIM WRX
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Try www.burbankholdings.com they're cheaper.
Old 15 May 2002, 06:45 PM
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DaveR
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Hiya,

I'm probably who you saw mentioning Jamjar - I got my WR Blue MY02 WRX delivered a couple of weeks ago. Overall I was quite pleased with the service (mostly becasue the car itself is so good), but having done a little more research and I can't say I would recommend them over some of the other importers.

Reasons are:
- they were 3 months late with the delivery - they quote 5 months on the site. They don't tell you this means 5 months from the date the dutch dealership has actually placed the order. However they didn't even meet 5 months from that date!! Also, they don't warn you but as soon as the car is delivered to the continental dealership they require the balance of payment, which has to have cleared in their account - THEY WON'T SHIP THE CAR TO THE UK UNTIL THEN - so you have to sort out your finances pretty quickly.

- they don't offer m(any) extras apart from the bucket seats

- they change the price! (my car cost £75 more than the order, and I notice that the actual whole car price has gone down by around a grand since when I placed my order - you can benefit from this at least)

- as a company they don't keep you well informed of progress

Generally I found it difficult to get insurance - despite being 26 and with a clean license, only about 50% of insurers would consider it a non-import car.

The alarm Jamjar install is good but adds another large keyfob to your keyring which already has the monster-sized ignition key on it.

You will have to pay for labour at the first service.

Aside from that - I reckon an import is good value if you have the time to wait. You won't lose too much on resale if you plan to keep it a while first.
Old 15 May 2002, 10:41 PM
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albob
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one question you should ask is this:-

" o.k. you say it's U.k. spec, is it sourced from the E.u."

If the car is from outside the e.u. (cyprus/malta etc) you are likely to run into problems.

cheers alan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/importingimprezas

you have to apply to join

[Edited by albob - 5/15/2002 10:57:21 PM]
Old 15 May 2002, 11:21 PM
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tonybooth
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Talking

miniman

Save yourself the hassle and ......

Buy Mine Here!

TONY
Old 16 May 2002, 01:38 PM
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Jim_B
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I bought mine [ in stock ] from www.alliancecarimports.co.uk, it was a bit more expensive than if I had ordered it & waited, but as they had stopped making the 00 model then I had no choice !! The car came from Belgium so no problems there..

I have seen cheaper places...but think alliance quotes less than 17K for a built to order one.....
Old 16 May 2002, 03:36 PM
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Miniman
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Thanks for replying anyway guys.

I'm quite used to imports, so I'm not bothered about some of the small niggles of UK vs Import, just the Prelude was *so* different to the UK version, whereas the Impreza UK spec car is effectively the same as the Japanese spec.

DaveR not sure what it was like when you brought yours from Jamjar, but now they do state things like the no options (not a problem if you only want to the dealer fit stuff which I do I guess). They also state that they want to money when it gets to the European dealer. So it looks like they have cleaned their act a bit, but the delivery worries me a bit.

PS Jay is my mate - who's been banging on about his Impreza since he got it, so much so he's managed to persuade me to get one, I'm surprised that you got the first post after mine tho:-)
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