pslewis

Louis Jones has had the decency to pm me and explain that the Sales Manager of March 2000 has moved on to pastures new.

I have held a grudge for a long time against this Dealer .... maybe they have changed and become more Customer Focused?

I will reserve judgement on whether they have improved - they certainly now care deeply about the negative press they get on ScoobyNet.

If they are making strides to become the Dealer of choice in the South then I congratulate them and wish them good luck.

The Sales 'Team' were really nice lads I have to say - it was the Sales Manager at that time that was a MAJOR problem for them.

Pete

louisjones

You will appreciate that I am not in a position to divulge information which relates to the whole Subaru network. I am however, happy to confirm that the margin is nothing like you would imagine it might be. (Well actually, 'happy' is not really the word I should use when describing our margins).

Our cars cost us considerably more than imported cars are advertised for sale at and it is a constant frustration to us that we have to deal with such competition. We are not against competition at Sparshatts and, in fact, we welcome additional profiling of the Subaru network. However, we carry nine demonstrators at considerable costs (consider the interest charges alone for say a £20,000 vehicle funded over the course of a year and multiply that by the number of demos we carry) and we also have to meet strict corporate identity standards. Subaru customers rightly expect a level of service and expertise and the Subaru network are very capable of giving that service but it does come at a cost.

Unfortunately this does come at a cost but outside pressures are driving margins down to a level which is now unsustainable. There have been a number of Subaru dealers close since the start of the year and that certainly would not have been the case if margins were anything like what imported vehicles would suggest. Unfortunately, this now means that there are less dealers to whom Subaru customers can call on. It could be argued by some that customer service and expertise are not important and that the purchase price is the be all and end all but I dont believe that is the real view of the majority of Subaru owners.

Believe me, as a Subaru dealer, I take no pleasure from seeing the imported vehicles being offered at prices I can't get even close to but I have to try and continue running this business all the same. I know it seems to our customers that we must be making huge margins based on the difference between official and unofficial imports but that couldnt be further from the truth. Our margins remain as they were many years ago before imports became an issue. The only difference between then and now is a huge reduction in retained profit.

If we could make our cars any cheaper and continue to run the business, we would do so happily.

I am perfectly happy to discuss the matter with any Subaru owner who wishes to do so. You are all very welcome to visit me at any time and I assure you, I will be as open as I possibly can.

Louis Jones
Managing Director
Sparshatts of Botley Ltd

louisjones

Thank you for that comment Peter. I appreciate your making it public.

pslewis

No problem

That discount you offerred me worked wonders ................ JOKE!!!

Pete

mickp

iTrader: (1)

Pete

You would make an interesting Sales Manager

Why not send in your C.V

Adrian F

Nice to see that a dealer can be bothered to reply!

Steve vRS

Is that why Subaru Dealers make servicing and warranty claims for imports such a nightmare and salesmen lie about the spec of UK spec cars?

Not Sparshatts but generally speaking (without prejudice).

Steve

HOWY

Louis thanks for taking the time to reply, perhaps the problem lies with Subaru and how they set the prices for each country. But there is no getting away from the problem that UK motorists are expected to pay a 5K premium for what is basically the same product as sold in the EU and one supposes the EU dealers still make a profit, though I recognise the increased costs that the dealer needs to bear. I suspect the whole dealer model will need to change just as it did in the retail computer market so hopefully dealers and customers can benefit from reduced prices.

bpm1588

ok then if louis can answer this,when getting a price for a ppp and a set of prodrive 18's why are they looking for 500 quid! more for the two items than any other dealer asked,im sure prodrive dont charge them any extra than the other dealer's!

Grahamwrx

I'm not sure the Eu v UK prices are so far apart. For the current StI EU price is 22K + Tracker, + alarm + deliv +plates = 23K.

I've Just traded an EU 2002 bugeye for only 1.5K more than my best quoted EU price so is it worth it for such a small difference ?

To be honest i'd had no problem with servicing my EU bugeye and also got a fair price from the UK dealer, but with the price difference reducing i decided to go the UK route this time.

I'll let you know how it works out !

Graham

louisjones

I'm very disappointed to read those comments BPM considering how open I have been on this site. For the record, we dont get charged any more or any less than the other dealers in the network so perhaps you ought to speak with "any other dealers" who are quoting you less than I did and ask them to confirm their figures in writing.

As you know, you and I had a telephone conversation during which I quoted £3300 for the items which retail at £3895. For your information, that leaves me with £200 profit out of which I have to fit the PPP pack and the wheels.
There are a number of ways I can get this price £500 cheaper than I offered and they are as follows:

a) Fit all the parts for free and make just a £300 loss
b) Fit the wheels but leave three tyres off or
c) Fail to appreciate that Subaru have now withdrawn the offer on 05 STi PPP packs and quote you an incorrect figure. In this case, I will have to ring you just before you take delivery and tell you that I have made a mistake and ask you to pay the difference.

Obviously none of the above are options that you or I would accept so i am affraid I will have to stick with my original, exremely favourable, price. (which, bear in mind, was offered as a gesture on the basis that you were intending, or so you said, to purchase one of our cars)

What concerns me with all this is that I thought, when speaking with you on the phone that we were having an open and honest discussion. Having access to my number and having already opened discussions with me, I would prefer that you had contacted me with your findings rather than post an incorrect, misleading thread in which you do nothing but try to perpetuate the suggestion that we are anything less than honest.

No doubt you will put right this claim when it becomes clear to you that you are wrong.

louisjones

Steve,

Many years ago, the network were told that we could not work on imported cars. That decision mirrored the decision made by Mitsubishi who were also suffering as we were but I know they changed their mind after a while and allowed dealers to work on them. I dont know if they charged inflated prices for those cars but some of them may have done. Subaru, however, continued to prevent us from working on them.

This is no longer the case and we are now able to work on EU imports. However, there are differences under the warranty which means that cerain things require clarification before authorisation and this means the customer having to pay for the work up front and then waiting for the refund from Subaru.

As far as telling lies is concerned, I certainly wouldnt condone anybody telling lies here but, to be honest, there is a lot of uncertainty as to what these cars do or dont have. Bear in mind that they come from various parts of the world and that some customers dont know whether or not their car is covered under EU warranties or not, they can be a bit of a mine field to deal with. Even those which are covered by EU warranties may have different levels of cover for instance, some of them used to have just one years warranty whilst others had three. I understand that has now changed but I still wouldnt like to confirm the exact cover on cars from different parts of the EU.

I would point out that, as we were unable to work on these cars and, as we have traditionally steered clear of them, the lies that you mention are probably no more than genuine misunderstandings. Now we are seeing more of them and, hence being in a position to maybe take them in part exchange, we are having to get a bit more clued up on them so, in time, hopefully, you wont feel as though we are treating import customers too badly.

From my perspective, I see drivers of import vehicles as potential future customers but I still see it as our job (as an official UK dealer) to point out any diferences between the two purchases.

tim's wrx

My 05MY WRX was sourced from Malta and comes with a standard 3 yr or 60,000 mile warranty and 12 yr anti perforation warranty with European cross border acceptance.

Subaru Europe confirmed to me that the Subaru manufacturer's warranty
will be valid (subject to its normal terms and conditions) provided that
I have a warranty booklet duly issued by an authorised Subaru dealer
in the European Economic Area.

What you say in your post about "differences under the warranty which means that certain things require clarification before authorisation and this means the customer having to pay for the work up front and then waiting for the refund from Subaru", clearly conflicts with the information given to me by Subaru Europe - normal terms and conditions of the Subaru warranty do not require the customer to pay up-front for any warranty work whatsoever; this is a matter for the dealer networks to sort out between themselves. So we are again seeing mixed messages coming from Subaru UK network.

Would you be able to provide the source of your information so that this can be checked with Subaru Europe ?

Also, I am interested to know if any Subaru UK dealers have thought about parting company with IM Group and joining up with Liaco Limited, Subaru Malta so that they are able to sell new cars as official Subaru authorised resellers - this would seem to be a win win solution ?

clivey

funny it has gone very quite........
last August i went into Sparshatts at 8.30 in the morning and asked for a test drive
AND I GOT ONE there and then
this is not the norm !!!!!!!!
after 45 mins of driving heaven
this was my first drive in a WRX
i bought the car
a WRX 300 with a saving of £2000 off the list price
i was going to buy a very low milage demo for £19995
but got offered a new one for the same money
i have had dealings with alot of garages through work and for myself
and would recomend Sparshatts as a good company
as i have plenty of experiances of Bad dealers
Every one has to make a living
What would you sell them for...............peanuts

louisjones

Tim,

I have asked a number of people within International Motors and got differing answers about the warranty situation but I believe I can now confirm the situation is as you said. It appears that all EU cars are now covered for 3 years or 60,000 miles but they must be registered on the IM system in order that they recognise the car as being in this country. To do this, customers need to produce the front sheet from their service books (this sheet must be issued by an official dealer from wthin the EU although we are not able to issue them as our own books are specific to UK cars only) and IM will then register the car.

I understand from IM that items such as clutch judder or brake judder or any other wearable item will not be covered under these warranties which, at this time, may not appear to be an issue but I can say from experience that these things do tend to be an issue and IM do make goodwill gestures on a regular basis.

One other point that should be considered is the fact that under Block Exemption Regulations and the selective distribution system chosen by Subaru in Japan, official dealers can sell cars only to other officially appointed dealers. Alternatively, they can supply to none official importers provided they produce a signed mandate from a specific customer requesting a specific model of car. In other words, unless a garage has a signed order form and supplies the customer with a car they can prove was ordered for that specific customer, the car falls outside of the European regulations and, as such, Subaru are not obliged to support the warranty. I am told this is a very real situation and it is categorically covered within the block exemption regulations.

To be on the safe side, I would suggest that anybody wishing to buy such a car ought to place an order and wait the time required for that car to be ordered from abroad and enter this country. If you buy a car from stock or alternatively one which is already on its way to the dealer, that car will potentially not be covered under the warranty.

Gazz300

Gents,

I must hold my hands up and admit it was me who brought this to their attention. As far as I can see this is a good thing and would like to thank Louis and Sparshatts for replying. In emailing Louis I thought it may be a good idea to try to move forward and look to improve the SN SIDC and Hants Subaru relationship.

To this end Louis has agreed to host an Owners night at Sparshatts for all the clubs to come together and voice our needs, concerns and listen to where they are falling short. This should be constructive and not all complaints. I think that this is a great opportunity and would like some help in getting this organised and getting to know more scoobie owners down South. Sparshatts have also expressed an interest in attending Alton 06 on the 10th September.

Threads are at:
http://www.hampshiresubaru.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2681
http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=501632.
The SIDC is TBA as I need to speak to the Regional organiser so as not to step on any toes. Watch this space.

So when do we want to do this and what do we want to see and hear on the night? Replies in the other post please. This is past now.

Gazz.

lordlucan

Fair play to Louis, if I was in the market I know were my money would go.

clivey

is this a happy ending...............

MattW

Fair play Louis, I must admit I bought my first Impreza from Sparshatts, never been back due to location, but I admire the ***** to come on here and defend yourself

I do hope you stick around, not just on this thread but maybe help on other threads.

ZippyLane

I must say it makes a refreshing change to have a Managing Director come on here and be so open.. let's hope others take a leaf from his book..

Peanuts

iTrader: (15)

Rubbish, they have to do more than come out of the woodwork when block exemption on servicing kicks in to get trade back up.

Terrible company with dreadful customer service.

Yeah fine when your buying a new car cos thats a fair wedge, try just popping in and buyin a £5 oil filter or an £80 MAF without announcing any affiliation to scoobynet or louis.

See if your happy with them then

MickWrx

Louis Jones

Hats off to you sir.

I would avoid getting involved in resolving individual issues, we all know this is not the place, (unless its to fight/defend your corner )

Genuinely find it commendable that the Managing Director of Sparshatts has come on an open Subaru enthusiast forum and made comments as you have.

Respect mate.

DBY

Dealt with them before never a problem bought wrx, ppp, prodrive wheels, springs and quick shift plus many more bits, Tony in parts dept is a top man.

John

mightyyid

Agree with others - good that an MD can take time to provide reasoned and informative arguments on this board that can help us all. Regardless of whether people agree, it is indeed a positive that a dealer can provide an objective commentary on the status of different positions and situations. I think he is to be applauded for standing up and being counted, and for people like pslewis to also be objective in their response. Makes for a nice world eh?

It still raises the question as to why, when you would imagine the RHD home market of Japan should be able to supply RHD cars at comparative prices to our LHD European cousins, but that is nowt to do with dealers and all to do with Subaru.

Good luck to you.

C2forWRX

Sounds like this louis guy is trying to sort out the mess someone else left behind. top work. if only more dealers were like this

bluto22b

Be careful Lewsh1t, these are libel comments

MadMark

Louis - Appreciate your honesty - it's refreshing!

I bought my 2003 WRX using the main dealer network (SGT Nr Maidenhead) and they have mirrored many of your views. Yes I squeezed them to get a deal by comparing prices with another dealer (Adams Brothers) - but got excellent fuss free service and the colour I wanted (Mica Black).

My only beef is that it looks like they use children to valet the cars as mine always goes in clean for it's service and comes out smeared - but they know this!

HOWY

Yes it would be good if someone from Subaru or IM came on to tell us why UK cars cost significantly more than cars sourced from Europe. We can all appreciate the overheads that an authorised dealer has but can we all agree to pay a £5K premium for the 'improved service?' that they offer. If an EU dealer can offer similar service and still export to the UK and make a profit something weird is going on. I gather it costs about 6K to make a car.
In the future perhaps dealers as we know them will change and we will end up with more car supermarket type dealers pile em high sell em cheap cut out the frills. Servicing will probably be done by specialist servicing outlets and you will pay for a test drive from someone who just stocks a car for test drives.

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Have passed on your comments to them Pete