I am thinking of buying a 4 door WRX from Alliance Car Imports and have the following questions (sorry if these have been asked before!):

1) Can anyone recommend Alliance ??

2) Has anyone got expierience of making a warranty claim though a main dealer on a car that was from somewhere else in Europe ??

3) Do 05 model year drive any differently to 04 model year cars ??

4) Will it matter to my insurance company that the car hasnt got the alarm as fitted by subaru in the uk ??

5) As the car is likely to be from Cyprus will it have side airbags ? and if it hasnt is it therefore not uk spec and will this affect insurance ??

Thanks !

 

Hi there and welcome...

1. Alliance are fab - bought my 05 WRX from them a month ago... you won't get better service anywhere.

2. No experience sorry but having had a conversation with a very nice chap at International Motors about getting my 3 year Pan European warranty registered with them I really can't see it being an issue, just maybe a slight delay while they get permission for the repairs from Cyprus.

3. Yes the car will drive differently. The 05 model has the inverted struts of the 04 STi and a more rigid chasis (also engine develops slightly more power and the cabin interior is far far far superior to the 04 model.... and u you get red brake calipers!)

4. As long as the alarm is Thatcham cat 1... that's all that matters... Alliance will sort that for you if you like so when you pick it up it is alarmed. They charged £300 if I remember rightly. Mine was done by them and is fab. I think they will also arrange for a tracker to be fitted if you need one, my insurance co. don't insist on one so I didn't bother.

5. After getting into an argument about seats on here very recently all I will say is that mine came with the STi type buckets with no side airbags but if the inclusion of airbags means inferior seats then I'll do without em. Make sure your insurance company allow imports full stop, some don't like them UK spec or not. I'm with Norwich Union and they weren't in the least bit interested in where it came from. As long as your insurance company accept EU imports the airbag question irrelevant.

Hope this helps, if you need any more info from a recent Alliance customer who bought the same car as you are getting.... drop me a line.

And all I can say is.... go for it.... I haven't stopped grinning since the day I picked her up... and the grins even bigger as I saved 3.5k in the bargain

Cheers
Paul

 

I am about to take delivery of a MY05 WRX SWRT Special edition from AllBrandsnew, they will fit the Cat 1 alarm. It comes with STi interior, SatNav, Sti rear spoiler, 17" gold alloys, Fog lamp covers. All of the concerns the other forum members have I have also but the savings at 18K cannot be ignored. I have an article here from Auto express "difference in resale between UK and parallel import is negligable". I can testify to this having previously owned a 328i convertible BMW nobody was interested that it was an import as long as price reasonable.

 

I am picking up my new 05 WRX from Alliance on Saturday and I can't wait but I can recommend Alliance already. I went into their office and ordered my car and meet Paul and I have spoken to Stuart via email and on the phone and both have been very helpful. Paul even had to put up with me going into his office wanting to order a silver one but then changing my mind while there to a black one despite him already finding me a silver one.

I wouldn't go anywhere else as everyone you speak to about Alliance highly recommend them so that speaks volume about the place.

 

Tht swrt edition sounds a bargain. any one got more info on it eg. pics. is it like a special edition in cyprus or sumit where they import them from?

 

[QUOTE=C2forWRX]Tht swrt edition sounds a bargain.


Sounds to me like a cut and shut

 

The seats in the EU cars via Alliance (ie Cyprus) are exactly the same as the seats in all the UK cars that I have seen in UK main dealers. Not sure if they have side airbags or not as none of them have any tags/badges on the side of the seat saying Airbag. Note that includes UK cars..!

Alliance come highly recommended.

Jason

 

Insurance on an EU car makes no difference, as long as it is the equivalent car and it can be found on their system it wont usually be a problem. They will even usually replace it with a UK car if it gets stolen within the first year. That is despite the original price difference.

 

Picked my WRX up from Alliance on Thursday. Cannot fault the car or service.

Insurance (Norwich Union) were not bothered about it being an EU import.

The seats are different to the UK WRX. They are buckets like the UK STI one's with the hump between your legs (!!) but in the same material as the UK WRX. They have no side air bags wheras the uk WRX has semi buckets with side airbags in.

PS I have tried both seats and found the ones with airbags gave me back ache.

 

any pics of the swrt edition ???
anyone bought 1???

 

[QUOTE=simpsons !]The cars are imported into Malta without the boot spoiler in any case, then they just fit the STi one instead of the low wing. My guess is they have bought a batch of interiors from Japan or something.

It is no different than having a PPP fitted by a dealer is it, all the imports by Subaru in the UK have the Cat 1 alarms fitted so all of your cars have been twiddled with before you get them regardless.

 

Try this link not to the SWRT special edition but to a WRX WR special edition I think same stuff on it.

http://www.subaru.co.jp/impreza/wrli...1/imgs/top.jpg

http://www.subaru.co.jp/impreza/wrli.../11/index.html

 

Yes seen that before. I doubt youll be getting that for 18k. HOPE SO THOUGH!!!

 

Well remember it is 2k more than AllBrandsNew are selling the WRX for so with the exception of the STi from spoiler complete and without any performance upgrades, and only the fog lamp covers, I dont see why not.

They asure me the car is as described and offerred me my deposit back if Im not 100% happy that it meets my expectations.

An Sti interior can be had on Ebay for about 450-600 quid.

Thanks for keeping your fingers crossed for me, I'll be reporting in full to the forums on the actual car once it arrives hopefully within 2 weeks now.

 

Anyone bought a car from Virgin cars?

Can Alliance offer factory options on their 2005 WRX's?

Thanks.

 

Virgin buy their cars from alliance and pre reg. them so you'll be second owner on v5 where as from alliance you'll be first reg. owner.

I've got the same car as wrxseeker (via alliance) and after driving many new UK cars prior to ordering I really thought (and still do) that the seats are the same. I'll check this out again when I'm next at the dealer. However, as you said, there are no SRS tabs/signs on the sides of the seat suggesting no side airbags..!

Jason

PS wrxseeker, pleased to hear you got a good deal from Alliance, very good supplier IMHO.

 

When I picked my car up from Alliance I was told they were stopping dealing with Virgin as they were such a pain in the A*s! to deal with.

Either way, cut out the middle man, get the car sooner, get the car cheaper and be the 1st owner on the V5 as Jasonius says - Alliance are great to deal with.

I checked out the seats and in Cyprus (and most other EU countries), in a WRX you can choose between the side airbag seats with no hump between your legs (!) and the more supportive STI shape buckets with the hump.

In the UK you can only get the side airbag seats, which dont have the hump and are "wider" type buckets i.e. not as supportive in my opinion. This is probably done to make the sti type uk have better seats as another selling point over the wrx (not that it needs it.)

My personal view was if the STI can do without side airbags then my WRX with the same shape seats would be fine.

(Sorry for the essay !)

PS Jasonius, Have you registered your warranty with IM Yet ??

If so did you send a copy of the invoice from the dealer in Cyprus to Alliance ??

Did a copy of the invoice arrive with your service book ??

Finally, how much was the 1000 mile service ??

Cheers

 

Yes, I registered with IM as soon as I got a copy of the Cypriate (sp?) sale's invoice which I got from Alliance (after phoning them). My only critisim of Alliance is that they could/should give you a copy on collection with the cert of conformity. I know most people have had to phone up and request one.

My service book arrived within 2 weeks, quite quick apparently as it can take ~6 weeks..!

1st service cost £102. It depends on the dealer, expect anything from £80- £120, so shop around. Also take your IM cross border warranty/service conformation with you, which you will get a week or so after registering (just incase thier system hasn't yet got your details on).

Cheers,
Jason

 

I see Alliance are listing 'aqua' as a colour for WRXs - is this the same as WR1 ice blue?

 

Looks v.similar..

Linky

 

So has anyone got any pictures of the WRX SWRT Special Edition (from Malta). I am also thinking of buying one from 'Allbrandnew', seems like a bargin to me (though I would rather have another colour WR blue and gold wheels is getting a bit old now....)

What is the score with documentation i.e. service book etc. Are these replaced with UK/English versions etc..

Mark

 

Here is mine on the Quayside Im picking it up next week

 

Not sure but here is a photo of my Blue Aqua Pearl (in bright sun so looks bluer than in a darker light looks more silvery)

http://photobucket.com/albums/y157/H...nt=HowyWRX.jpg

 

What is best OTR import price for STi?

 

About £20995 without DCCD £21995 with

As far as I know

 

cheers - who through?

 

Try Alliance Car Imports (see that start of this thread).

 

Thanks for that, looks quite cool. Have you got it yet? Would like to see what model the satnav is and a shot of the interior....