Firstly, hi everyone.
Potential first time scooby owner here but there is one thing I'm not sure on.
I've always had old straight 6 beemers, e36, 46 and 39s but now at the ripe old age of 48, I fancy a 4 banger turbo. It needs to be big enough for the family, dog, camping gear etc but still retain some turbo fun hence I'm looking at the Exiga gt. Upon research, these have or seem to have a solid reputation for reliability but I'm concerned about availability of service parts, brakes, engine parts etc. Are they readily available in the UK, or Norfolk to be more precise or is it an import the parts from Japan kind of scenario?. Do they share engines, running gear, brakes or anything with imprezas, legacys, outbacks, foresters etc or are they completely separate?. In other words, if I'm travelling through Scotland for example and something brakes, would a garage be able to rustle up the parts pronto from their usual supplier or would it take weeks ?.
Also, having never had a Japanese import before, is insurance a pain in the **** ?.
Thanks in advance folks.

 

in basic terms they are a Gen4 Legacy with a 7seater body.........
engine is slightly downgraded spec wise in comparison to the JDM Gen4 Legacy Turbo but like most Subaru EJ series engines the basic parts are broadly similar and have been since 1989......

things like body panels / trim will be a JDM source but pretty much everything else is very straight forward and have sorted for 20+ years

 

just to add bear in mind that JDM cars are not homologated for Towing so beware if that was your plan as you'd be better off with a UK Forester / Legacy / etc.......

 

That’s interesting, I was only thinking yesterday that I was considering buying a car with a tow bar and completely forgot that remit when I bought the Legacy. Didn’t know that about jap imports, and my father in law had a couple of Pajeros he regularly towed with.

I’ve just done a bit of Googling and basically what I can find is that towing wasn’t allowed in Japan, but think that might have changed.
For this reason the vin plate isn’t stamped with towing weights. However, if the vehicle is also sold in the domestic market where you are, the towing weights are generally considered the same for the jap import (although this case the Exiga is not sold here)
I did come across a response from the police on the matter which stated as a Japanese import is not subject to the EU 1998 regulations they would not try to apply them. Rules that don’t exist can’t be applied but the trailer weight should be the same or preferably less than that of the tow vehicle and the tow bar should be fit for purpose.

 

not sure its as simple as that from my research as the specific vehicle needs to be homologated AND plated
if its so easy why does the UK spec Prodrive P1 specifically carry a plate stating NO TOWING........

things like Turbo engined Gen4 SpecB Legacy's were never sold in the UK / EU albeit the sort of similar 3.0 H6 versions were, wouldn't like to be trying to argue my case with the Insurance when they won't pay out and then the subsequent court case / costs involved if your wrong........

 

I don’t know Alyn, the P1 being the 2 door shell and never marketed by Subaru outside Japan as you say won’t have been homologised for any market so covering their *****. Or maybe there were never any strengthened tow bar mounting points on those shells?

Yeh the insurance would be the main concern, but I have read about people contacting their insurer prior to fitting a tow bar to a jap import and have been told it would be fine to do so.

 

2door shell and 4door shell from a pure chassis point of view are identical ........

one thing I have recalled is that on a UK Gen4 Legacy all of the mounting points and apertures already exist - this is NOT the case for a JDM shell...

 

Hi.
If you need any help with insurance for an imported vehicle then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.