scooby_dooby

Looking at buying one of two different wrx's as stated in the ( which car of the two post ) I have now been told one may be an EU import first registered in UK but the salesman wasn't sure!!. Is it a problem if it was an EU import and should the price be less than £9500 for a 2001 wrx with 21.000 on the clock.?

wrxseeker

iTrader: (1)

Cant see as it should matter as once they are out of warranty (which it is) they are exactly the same car.

Some people on here will try and tell you otherwise though.

As long as it has Full Subaru service history it will be no different to a 4 yrs old UK supplied car.

However I would definately use it to try and get the price down !!

Varboy

i've bought one, no problems with anything including warranty.

Mine didn't come with locking wheel nuts though???

wrxseeker

iTrader: (1)

Surprised no one has been along to slag off euro imports yet !!!

Euro imports dont come with locking wheel nuts or the std Sigma alarm but as long as the car has a Cat1 alarm on it (with fitting certificate) its fine.

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

Agree with the above.....
No difference other then the alarm and wheelnuts. Although you will probably find a nice warning triangle in the boot.

Most only came with 1 or 2 years warranty. Whereas UK's came with 3 years.

Alot of cars were imported from the EU when there was a large price difference (not only subaru's). Nowadays, I don't think there's such a difference in the price.

P.S Mines an EU MY00 Classic......

Moray

I had a Euro Import from Holland and it was a bit rusty underneath for a MY00. I owned it for 1 year, just sold it August. I was seemingly told UK cars have a protective underseal, not sure if thats correct though! I certainly wasnt impressed with the rust on suspension components etc. I am guessing it was for cypriot market as only country in Europe with right hand drives that are not UK so called spec.

monty baber

The car will be the same but when the time comes to sell it people will always know its a EU import (and it cost a lot less to buy new) so will expect it to be cheaper than its equivalent UK model

I think that is an expensive price for a EU import from a non main dealer garage with no warranty (thats worth anything), the fact that it was'nt advertised as a EU import would worry me tbh

I personally would'nt buy one unless it was a very good deal (and this one is'nt)

pslewis

Nowt wrong with an EU Import ...... if, and this is VITAL, you only pay the correct money for it.

The discount the original buyer enjoyed is continued throughout its life, or should be - let the buyer beware.

You must keep one eye on the time you will want to sell, and if you sell the car without alerting the buyer, you leave yourself open to a Legal Challenge .... as it is a material fact that should be disclosed. Prepare yourself for your buyer walking away when they see the Registration Document.

Personally, there are so many proper UK cars for sale, that you do not need to compromise your future selling ability ...... so, why do it?

Interesting point about the Rust-Proofing ..... certainly, the Official UK Importers did the rustproofing for the UK market. You must ask yourselves why? The reason, of course, is that a car for Cyprus (say) is not going to be subject to the same rust inducing effects as we are here in the UK.

Buy an EU Import and be the proud owner of the rustiest Impreza in Town - does that sound appealling to you??

Just my thoughts .......

Pete

Jamesemt

I bought my Dutch WRX in November 2003 when there was £3k difference - now mine is supposedly worth peanuts...

If it's a really good deal, imports are worthwhile...

oh BTW - mine doesn't mention it on the registration document, although the service book is in Dutch

Also mine came with a small blue plastic wallet as opposed to the large A4 size jobbie.

EddScott

I wanted a MY00 Sonic Blue Impreza. In the UK you could only get P1s and Terzos in Sonic Blue. My car was first registered in Dublin so is an EU Import but more importantly its Sonic Blue.

Its got FSSH apart from the last two which are subaru specialist. If I sell the car on I will sell it at the same price as any other UK car as it is in a rare colour. If the buyer trys to haggle on the basis its an EU import they can walk away.

However new age cars you may as well stick to UK as Impreza re-sale values are pretty grim anyway and if your EU car is no different to a UK car it may be harder to ask the price of a UK car.

LeighF

Regarding having to tell someone that your car is a Euro, UK spec(that is the important bit) import if you sell it. Bottom line is you dont have to tell them up front, if they ask if it is an import you must disclose that it is. The onus is very much on the buyer to extract the info, not on the seller to provide it. The only thing the seller needs to do is make sure its fit for purpose and dont tell any porkys about it. For info, I had a 99 classis, cost me 15k from holland, had a minor front ender after year, part ex-d it for STi when it was 2 years 8 months old and got £12500 part ex plus 2 grand of the STi. The dealer was aware that it was an import. They put a sticker price of £15995 on the car.

One thing to be carful, Cypriot and Maltese cars are not neccessarily euro or uk spec cars, probably a major factor in the rust. If it is a UK spec it comes down to how the owners have looked after it not which part of Europe it started its life in.

wrxseeker

iTrader: (1)

I knew someone would be along to say they dont have the same underseal.

JDM cars may not have the same underseal as "european cars" AFAIK, but can you really see the subaru having separate production lines for say Dutch cars and uk cars ??

I cant see Subaru uk spraying every car that comes off the boat with some extra underseal can you ??

The log book doesnt always show it as an import but you can usually tell from the handbook or warranty book.

For the age of the car it is probably of dutch origin as Cyprus & Malta were not in the EU at the time.

But as everyone has said price is the important issue.

pslewis

Thats EXACTLY what they did/do!!

They also fit the alarm and locking wheel nuts ..... why would you think the application of underseal wouldn't be done??

A reputation for rusting cars is NOT what any manufacturer of cars wants!! So, the work is cheap at twice the price!

Pete

wrxseeker

iTrader: (1)

My 05 Cypriot Import has exactly the same underseal as my colleagues MY04 UK car - We had them on a ramp one after the other just to prove the point.

Any comments ??

Ps Have you actually personally seen someone adding extra underseal ?

pslewis

Well, maybe they have changed since the Classics??

I had mine re-applied under warranty as it wasn't done properly at the port ........ thats NOT the export port .... but the UK Import Port!!

The words ''UK Port'' are important here ..

Either they have changed what they do, or you can't tell one underseal type from another ....

Pete

wrxseeker

iTrader: (1)

Well he is asking about a newage so it may well have changed since a classic.

How did you know it hadnt been done properly on yours BTW ??

I must admit we didnt scientifically anaylise the chemical compounds of the underseal so I cant really be 100 % sure !!!

pslewis

Mine was coming off when I hosed the underside of the car down.

IM (International Motors) told me, when they approved the warranty claim, that it was a 3rd party company they employed to apply the underseal at the point of arrival in the UK ...... not sure if they got it wrong, but they were the official importers at the time, so I am rather inclined to believe them .................. but, I am sure that you and your mate are experts in the field of undersealing, so I may have to bow to your statement

Pete

jacksdad

My 55 wrx cypriot import didn't have underseal. Got it done for £50 the day after I received the car. (Piece of mind)

Registration doesn't mention anything about "import"

DonnieDarko

how do i tell. i have a week old maltese import.

what exactly am i looking for?

and where should i get it done if it isnt? my local scooby dealer- i live in kent btw.

scooby_dooby

would an Eu import come with a sigma alarm ?

DonnieDarko

my import came with no alarm. i had a sigma system 4 cat 1 + tracker fitted before i picked it up

wrxseeker

iTrader: (1)

Not as std but it could have been fitted afterwards. On that age car even the uk cars had a separate plip for the sigma alarm.

scooby_dooby

So how can I be sure that the car is an EU import and where it was made if the sales guy reckons he aint sure ?

Barmyclown

if it`s like my EU Import, ask to see the service book and it should have the garage where the vehicle was ordered in there. Mine has some where in holand. You should also get a certificate of conformity which tells you where the vehicle was made, mine was made at the factory in japan. On the underseal point I had a look under a UK car after i got mine. The uk one has a thick black coat of underseal under the car, while mine has been undersealed , quite thinly then the paint was applied over the top. Don`t know how much difference this will make in later life, Suppose i`ll find out as I intend to keep it for a long time. But I think our roads are oversalted any way.

BrynO

I have an '01 WRX Cyprus import, it has exactly the same underseal as a UK car, lots of thick black wax, it's been on the ramps at a dealer and looks identical to a UK supplied car... IMO the 'limited underseal on Cyprus/Malta' imports (new age cars, may well have been the case on Classics), is a Scoobynet myth which comes round every few months, although there are plenty who will disagree with me on that LOL...

Anyway, back to the question, £9.5 for an EU import sounds a little steep to me, mine was bought 18 months ago with 17k on the clock for £10k, now worth maybe £8k with 28k on the clock.. at a dealer, I'd be pushing to pay around the £8,750 - £9,000 mark..

Good luck with the purchase..

Mjb1957

I have recently bought a brand new wrx saloon from virgincars and paid £16k .
when you add the Cat 1 alarm and I also had the vehicle Guardx treated also a road angel fitted the total cost was 17k which is a saving on uk prices of about 4 to 5 k .
The only comment i can make at the moment is your 1st 1000 mile service labour charge you will have to pay for , if it is a uk model then subaru pay it .
The other thing is it takes about 5 weeks to get the service book which is a bit annoying . The most important aspect is the car has a 2 year warranty which virgincars will increase a further year to make it 3yrs .

So I think this deal is pretty good on the whole.
In two weeks time i am having a prodrive fitted at a cost of £1350 , so look Out STi 's
The point worth mentioning is that all imports must have a certificate of Conformity this must be kept as it is an important document , especially when you want to sell it .

pslewis

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is his business, he earns his living selling cars ............ he KNOWS all right!!! Saying he doesn't means he doesn't want to tell you the truth!!

WALK AWAY!!!

Pete

ps. they are all made in the same place ..... just treated differently afterwards for different markets!

pslewis

Quite why anyone would wish to buy an inferior import when there are many, many proper UK cars available is beyond me .......................... there is no logic whatsoever for choosing an Import over a UK!!

You will be to tell the imports from the UK cars in the years to come ..... the Imports will only be available in one colour - RUST!!!

Pete

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Inferior in what way? ...Locking wheel nuts? Alarm?? ...Underseal???

Personally it wouldn’t bother me either way ...id buy on price & condition!

As for 'imports' rusting ...Ive had 2 jap imports that were 10 years old (GT4's) & they 'allegedly' didn’t have underseal either ...I didn’t have a single spot of rust in all the time I owned them ...but then again that could be down to Toyota's build quality more than anything else!

Vipa

Same old chestnut....

My MY05 WRX Cypriat Import is undersealed just like a UK market car would be...

Also, Idon't know where the 'inferior' element comes from. The Cypriat cars come with proper STI bucket seats rather than the UK product 'sports' seats, come with a 3 year Subaru warranty and a 5 year drive train & suspension warranty (not available on a UK car) and I saved £4k new... so Inferior, I think not.

Paul

BTW the 5yr drivetrain & suspension warranty is transferable as is the 3yr standard warranty.