My car (MY00 from Autobedrijf van der Velde in Holland) has been serviced with a smile by KT Green in Otley. The sales guys are friendly to me, despite knowing all about the car. The owner even asked me how much I saved. His words were something like, "we'll smile as we're taking your money sir."

Seems to be a sensible attitude given that servicing is quite lucrative...

Had some warranty work done at the weekend too - my boot was leaking. All done with a smile, though admittedly this was a small job.

Car is going back there next month for 7,5k service. I'm happy. They're being paid, so they're happy. Everyone is happy.

Sorry to hear of others having troubles. Some dealers must be suffering more than others, maybe?

Nick.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by GaryC:
<B>We will Phil - and we'll keep benefiting from doing so.

...and I suggest you stop whinging!

I'm not whinging about not getting 'your' price - you ARE whinging about not getting 'my' service - Who's the unhappy one? Who's losing?

You paid your money - you took your choice![/quote]

What utter rubbish! If I bought a car at dealer A, and then took to dealer B for a service, dealer B would happily service it, instead of whingeing that you bought it 5 miles down the road. What's the difference for an EU car? Also, IM set the high UK price, so it is they who are losing the dealers business, not us. I am not in a position to pay £22k for a car, but I am in a position to pay £15k. Therefore, the dealer has not lost any business, as I could not have bought one from him at that price. I suspect many people who import are in a similar position.

Any business that I put his way in the form of servicing etc., is therefore extra money for him that he would not have got from me anyway.

If the gov really manages to knock dwon prices by up to 30%, then these dealers will have shot themselves in the foot, as the people who they have pissed off will not only take their business elsewhere, but they will spread the word about that particular dealer. In a fairly small sector like Subaru, reputation goes a long way. I live by blubs, and will probably go to the same dealer he uses, as the one 3 miles away from me doesn't have a good reputation.

I can understand the dealers frustrations, but it isn't our fault, and they are cutting their nose off to spite their own face.

 

And the quote is 'utter rubish' because.....?

 

Oops, quoted wrong reply!!!!

It should have been your previous one. Oh well, never mind, the sentiment is still there

 

Geezer is totally correct. So I buy my car in Cornwall and move up north to work but the dealer in Manchester or wherever is entitled to have a bad attitude because I didn't buy the car from him? Yeah right.

IM have got a stinky attitude and maybe if they changed their short sighted policies about EU and grey imports, people would be happier to buy UK cars in the first place. The fact that they may be missing out on punters cash is no-one's fault but their own.

 

Thanks to Sickboy I'm collecting a new car in September from Belgium.

Perhaps this makes me a cheapskate or is it just good business sense.

As far as resale value goes,if you loose say £5000 in two years which car is easier to sell, one at £17,000 or one at £10,000?

Servicing is not a problem if you know where to go and no amount of frebbies or sweeteners can account for the £7000 which you've saved.


[This message has been edited by phill .m. (edited 26-04-2000).]

 

just interested to know why you EU import folks seem compelled to use IM Subaru dealers for servicing? - this is NOT a requirement of your warranty (in fact that would be illegal to enforce under EU legislation) - thus why not save a packet and an 'attitude problem' and go to a good independent specialist?

Do make sure that the oil you use matches the manufacturer's specifications - ie semi-synth and no less than 10W at the lower end

and make sure you use all genuine subaru parts - then you are covered.(In fact again you are not forced to use subaru parts - just parts that are of equivalent quality)

Jap import owners like myself have been doing this for years - in my case at £29/ hour for labour not IM 'exhorbitant' rates . Parts are easy to source and reasonably cheap....provided you arrange in advance for less routine bits.

Good independents that specialise in Imprezas will have all the workshop equipment and select monitor etc. - I know mine does...

also, once your 1 year free warranty is up, you will presumably be buying a warranty from the likes of Motor Warranty Direct (about £300/year) - then you can use any dealer you like for servicing - ahhh, freedom at last!


so vote with your feet guys and exercise your right to choose where you have your car serviced!

cheers,

Paul W

 

Richard you are missing the point - we were talking EU imported cars, not just from other areas in the UK.

Phill - £7000 saving? the saving has increased £2000 in the 5 days this post has been running!!

As I keep saying - you pay your money, you take your choices. I am perectly happy with my choice, and the value I got. You, and all the others who have imported from within the EU should be too - arn't you?? The complaining suggests not

 

Interesting thread, particularly since I may well be looking to source an import later this year.

I agree with everyone saying they should expect decent service wherever the car was sourced from. There's obviously decent profit to be made in servicing, and to throw good business away makes little short term sense, and even less long term sense. In fact the only sense it makes is a few seconds satisfaction for a petty-minded individual.

KevinS and GaryC's comments are laughable, though I dare say if they post "I AM getting value for money with the £6K over the odds I paid" a few more times, together with some more (I REALLY REALLY am happy with my choice smilies), they may even start believing it themselves

[This message has been edited by GCollier (edited 26-04-2000).]

 

I'm not complaining! I am deliriously happy

I'm paying £15,077 inc vat. I'm not sure what the UK prices are for definite cos I never even bothered to look, but it's near enough £22k!

I apologise if I'm a few quid out

 

Standard UK price - £20950, before discounts. Most dealers will offer at least £500 discount if pushed - I got £750 (with the possible exception of DBM cars).

GCollier - VFM is a matter of opinion. I said I was happy with the value for money I got. At the time I got mine EU imports were over £16k, I paid just over £20k before extras.

I could easily afford the extra £4k and valued my time and the advantage of buying from 'up the road' rather than from a different country worth the 'extra'. In addition, the £4k bought me a *proper* three year warranty, a waiting time of 7 days rather than 6-9 months (this alone was reason enough for me to spend £4k extra), total lack of hassle in purchase and eventual sale, dealer relationship/improved customer service (itself potentially worth £1000s - see above), small number of physical extras on UK sourced cars, more attractive finance deals, better re-sale, the list goes on...

I am not criticising those who buy from abroad - I can see the short term attraction of doing so, but getting back to original point - don't complain about not getting the same level of service as I, and others, get from main dealers.

 

I can easily afford to withdraw 6K in cash if I want to, and set it on fire.

Doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to do it though, or am going to crow about the "advantages" of doing so

Definitely once-bitten, twice-shy with the so called advantages of UK cars now.

[This message has been edited by GCollier (edited 27-04-2000).]

 

GaryC,
Why shouldn't we complain? The dealers are just being bloody minded. It's not our fault that UK consumers are ripped off. I bet your average dealer wouldn't pay you over the odds for your car when you wish to trade it in, so why should we? I accept that he has to make a living, and therefore won't give you best price, but so do I, and that means sourcing a car for the best price.

My business in the form of servicing, parts, etc. is revenue for him and they should accept that gracefully, not like three year olds .

It would be interesting to hear the views of Subaru themselves on this, as ultimately this reflects on them. As long as they sell their cars, they're happy, but I can't imagine they would be very approving of the attitude of the dealers. The whole experience of owning a car consists of the car itself and the service you get from the dealer. If the dealers **** people off, they won't buy a Subaru again, so it is in the interests of the manufacturer/importer to make sure the dealers tow the line.

PS Yes, the cost of a Holland car is dropping as we speak! A standard turbo incl. of UK VAT is £13887 pounds. Add on, say £1000, to get it back and registered, quite a reduction.

[This message has been edited by Geezer (edited 27-04-2000).]

 

Interesting debate this. I can see it from both sides. I purchased a uk spec for full book, plus extras coming in at 23k.
I am happy with my purchase and can honestly say that the dealer relationship has been superb. I feel that I have invested in this with my purchase. Compared to other makes dealers they are just superb. Plus at the time of ordering I didnt have the deposit available for an import.

I didnt recognise the import benefits until too late, but decided to go with the dealer anyway once I had realised I could buy cheaper from abroad.

I can symphasise with the dealers who are pissed off about people sourcing abroad cos they are limited to what they can sell, if they were allowed to sell more I am sure they would reduce prices a bit. Dont forget they need to revenue generated from new car sales to support the whole business. If everyone purchases new cars from outside the dealer network then your local garages are going to look a lot more like back street garages than glitzy main road dealers. So we will all loose out, you want highly trained staff working on your expensive motors that have some comeback to the manufacturer, not a back street garage with probably sod all training, and no comeback on anyone unless you are prepared to take legal action.

The EU are pushing for a change to the tax rules that means that the VAT (or equiv) will be paid in the country of purchase. So the big tax break that you get for importing a scoob will disapear. Did you know that one of the EU countries (Belgium I think) charges upto 180% tax on some luxury models!

robski

 

Been away for a few days so I thought I might try and close this thread, since there's little else to contribute to this interesting debate other than 'You pays your money and takes your choice'.

I'm not sure if its been read by any of the dealers but I visited 'my' dealer again today with my very bent three week old motor (some WANXER has driven at speed into my rear end whilst I was stationary) and the response from the dealer was impeccable.

So in the end it appears that 'my' dealer is going to benefit significantly from my EU import either by sourcing me a new UK replacement via my insurers or through a BIG repair bill. Me, I'm just P1ssed off that my lovely new motor is now significantly bent before I had time to enjoy it.

Thanks to all for contributing.

Phil

 

What a bummer!
Hope everything goes well with getting a replacement Phil.

Maybe the dealers do look at what is said on this and other boards. If it has had a positive effect on a 'bad' dealer, then all the arguing was worth it.

Long live consumer power!!