TimboMY03

I realise this may have been answered time & time again here but could anyone tell me the disadvantages of buying a new European UK Spec WRX?

I am told that this is a type import that in not subject to SVA but comes with a certificate of conformity which I understand to be the case for all cars imported into the country, even cars imported by IM & Subaru UK..?

Is there anything I should be aware of i.e. should I care which country it's imported from and will I be able to PPP it?

Answers most welcome.

Regards

Tim

Dr Nick

Hi Everybody!

I imported my MY00 turbo in 2000 so some things may have changed since then.

Some folks may criticize you for doing this but don't listen to anybody who has not actually done it themselves.

Your comment about documentation is correct. You will need the CofC document along with several others at the time of registration. And it is possible that despite not needing a SVA you may have your vehicle inspected. Although, of all the importers I knew at the time, nobody had theirs inspected.

Things to watch out for are the little differences in spec between an import and the pukka UK version. These can be minor eg no locking wheel nuts, or bigger eg no alarm. Factor in the prices for these differences.

The next thing to check out is warranty. When I bought mine it was 3 years for a pukka UK, one year for Dutch. This is important if you want the reassurance of an extra two years peace of mind.

Then you need to check out fully the costs involved. VAT is the biggest extra cost not listed in your price quote. It will be 17.5% because you pay the VAT rate for the country where the car will "live". But how much will it cost you to get there and back, how much is a bit of European driving insurance cover? etc...

Then there is resale value. There certainly used to be a lower resale value for Euro sourced cars despite the limited differences. That's market forces for you. However, the longer you keep the car, the smaller this difference will be. I'd recommend keeping it at least three years then a one year warranty (if you go down that route) is not an issue any longer. And don't think you can hide the fact its an import at the time of sale. There are ways to find out. The fact that mine is sonic blue and manufactured in 2000 is kind of a give away, but there are more subtle indicators.

At the end of the day I saved 6000 pounds on mine, after all the little extras. List was just under 21k and I paid 15K and some pennies, on the road. Today the difference is much less mainly for two reasons. Firstly the price difference between Europe and UK is less and secondly the exchange rate was well in my favour at the time (now it is not).

I enjoyed the trip over and would do it again but you have to ask yourself if its worth the hassle. Please tell us the saving you are looking at? Frankly even I wouldn't bother for less than a grand.

Hope this helps some

Now maybe you could do me a favour! How much would an STI be from the EU? do you know - List price without vat? Can you even get one?

Cheers

GaryCat

An EU model will not need and SVA but it must come with a Certificate of Conformity if you want UK dealers to service it and to do any warranty work.

If you want PPP fitted it needs to be done in the country that provides the warranty.

Most EU imports cars come from Holland or Belgium, many of the dealers there are used to exporting to the UK, speak good English etc.

Gary

Boss Hogg

what are the differences? Minimal, no alarm as standard (as this is retro fitted by the 'official' importer), bucket seats only and no locking wheelnuts.

You need Cerfificate of Conformity, and when you register the car with IM for warranty purposes you also need to supply a copy of the original supplying dealers invoice. Call IM warranty dept who will help (for once).

Warranty is 3 year on all EU Subaru cars after '01 (and under EU law manufacturers ahve to give a 2 year warranty as standard on any car imported from EU.)

I don't think UK spec EU cars are subject to any inspections, SVA or otherwise - why would they be?

The difference in resale prices is also minimal -look at autotrader or on here - the price differential is about £1K on bugeyes, as Impreza 2nd hand prices have fallen so fast. Factor that against the owners £5k saving by going down the EU route.

Having said that, the £/EUR exchange rate is now fairly poor with EU cars no longer proving as cheap as 3/4 years ago - so why not haggle with a UK dealer instead?

Hope that helps. I've imported 3 cars from EU - made minor warranty claims against 2 ('02 WRX and '00 Celica) with no probs, and never had a problem with servicing, dealers, insurance companies or whoever.

As above - belgian or dutch dealers used to dealing with UK personal importers, and will sort everything (bar you paying the VAT!) - in fact one of the upsides is that dealing with EU dealers is a pleasant uplifting experience....

salsa-king

£ being so poor you find that these Euro Imports are coming in from out side the EU countries.. Lik eCyprus and Malta.
These cars can be found for sale at MotorPoint etc etc!!
these will not get the 3 yr IM Subaru Warranty.. and having been to MotorPoint last week to look... the sales man even tells you a Subaru dealer will do any warranty work and bill them etc!
But then go to the Subaru Delaer dwn the road.. he will tell you a UK Spec Car out side the EU.. even though its UK spec. will still be diiferenent to a Proper EU UK Spec car!!!

something to do with pluggin them in when you come to do system checks.. and parts have different part numbers!!

I don't wat to touch a Non EU car .. even tho UK spec!



food for thought...
Motor Point Malta UK spec car.. £16599 + Alarm etc = about £17k

Full UK car from dealer... dealer offered me BRAND new car £18300!! (full IM 3 year warranty!)

JITSU579

Bought my MYO3WRX in March 2003 for 17k from Gibsons of brock,including cat 1 alarm,locking wheel nuts and mats,downfalls took 5 months to arrive but being one of the first to drive one in the town ,good feeling.No problem got certificate of conformity and have had it serviced at Brock by experienced and knowledgeable Subaru mechanics.Registered it with IM who were a bit snotty but acknowledged my request of registration with them.
Recommend importing from Holland and Subaru Benelux exactly same spec as uk model.

shackman

I have a STI 03 from Motorpoint (Burnley). Last year I had Pat at Scoobysport Re map the ecu. When he plugged the laptop in to the data port it read "STI Type UK" on the screen. I think that the only differance between EU Type UK cars and Pukka UK Cars is the Type uk badge on the back!

AndyMoody

iTrader: (2)

If you are looking for a good Dutch supplier please contact Gertjan van der Velde @ gertjan@autovdvelde.nl who speaks excellent English and has helped many UK users. I bought my WRX03 from him.

Andy.

Fizz_daz

Got MY01 September 2001 from belgium for 16K

As said above, no alarm or wheel nuts BUT I got a fire extinguisher, warning triangle and a first aid kit

MJW

I imported my MY02 wagon from Belgium and yes they are more or less exactly the same spec, except for the absence of a CAT 1 alarm system and locking wheelnuts. The 3 year warranty is now pan-european meaning you can get warranty claims sorted in the UK. The fire extinguisher is now in my kitchen as I'm probably more likely to start a fire cooking chips while pi$$ed than by dropping a tab end on me mats !

I also had PPP fitted by a UK dealer who only asked to see my V5 and Certificate of Conformity : contrary to the myth that seems to be perpetuated on SN that it has to be done in the country of origin.

It was good value when I bought it, but I think with the exchange rates as they are now, the difference in price is minimal between EU and UK cars.

TimboMY03

Hi guys,

Thanks for the advice.

My question is based on the fact that I am considering to buy a car from http://www.dhcars.co.uk/ and wanted to know the points to watch out for.

I called my local dealer and they said they would be happy to fit a PPP and service the car should I buy one. I have to say that the one advantage is that the European WRX comes with the true bucket seats!

Kind reagards

Tim

PS. Anyone intrested in a registered 1st March '03, MY03 mint condition (i.e. not stone chips) silver, standard WRX for £16,495?

Boss Hogg

This whole Malta/Cyprus thing used to be simple - as they weren't members of the EU until Jan, then the term 'EU cars' and all the goodies that implies (3 year warranty etc) did not apply to any car sourced from either country. No Subaru dealer or sensible person will touch them with a 10 foot bargepole.

However, since Jan, Cyprus and Malta are now EU member states, it will be interesting to see if the 2 year minimum warranty or 3 year Subaru warranty now applies to cars imported from either - in which case they'll be a bit of a bargain.

Timbo - to answer your question - Dave Hendry cars is pretty well known - ask them who they source their cars from (ie which dealer) and make sure that as well as the CoC you get the original supplying dealer invoice - you will need this to register with IM for warranty purposes - unless you fancy going back to Belgium (or wherever) to get your warranty work done!

TimboMY03

Boss Hogg

I think the car is from Cyprus, so how do I find out if the Subaru 3 year warranty applies?

Tim

Boss Hogg

Tim - give IM a call and ask the warranty department - get it from the horses mouth so to speak. I can't remember the number though - maybe your dealer will know?

Do Litchfield and Emperor imports still do EU cars? Well Lane used to (where I go mine from) but I think gave up - also Keyring cars shut down.

Dr Nick

On the Cyprus/Malta - EU thing, it is my understanding that these countries do not join the EU until 1 May 04

I too am interestedt to know what difference this will make to cars sourced from these countries after that date.

Cheers!

Rog Ford

How much do they want for the car? According the the David Hendry Website, a new WRX is £18250. If this is an import - of any sort - you'd be mad to pay that if you can (as people claim) get a full UK model for £18300.

scooby L

timbo
I bought my STI MY03 from D H Cars, It came with a 3 year warranty provided by a third party set up by Hendrys.
I cannot comment on how good it is because I've never had to use it so far (had the car 1 year now)
The PPP issue seems to be on what your local subaru dealer feels about Eu cars... I think Tileys of Bristol are ok?
If you buy the import with an ecu upgrade allready fitted, the waranty provided by Hendry's covers it, so ask Andrew what they can do for you.
The money I saved by buying an Eu model went on 18" wheels and a nicer stereo...

mutant_matt

Don't hold me to this (as I have known to be wrong ) but......

IIRC, IM signed a cross boarder warranty agreement, as did pretty much all the Subaru importers round the world which agrees that they will carry out warranty work on any Subaru that comes to them, subject to them checking with the originating importer that the warranty is valid and that they agree to pay for the claim.

Therefore, the 3 year warranty that comes with all MY01 and newer Subaru's *should* not be turned away for servicing and warranty work by dealers, in this country or anywhere else for that matter. Also, I beleive that cars from Malta (I can't say for sure for Cyprus) will also be serviced and warranty work carried out by UK dealers a) for the same reason and b) because they are *supposed* to treat *any* EU or Commonwealth sourced vehicle the same.

Sadly, as we all know, what they are *supposed* to do and what they actually do (without Fuji's intevention) are two different things....

Matt

Green

...was told by a dealer the other week that they will look after European Imports...

mutant_matt

I don't think that was ever in doubt Green

Green

...sorry.