Question is, what have people been told by IM and Subaru dealers about the warranties on their Euro Imports.

Personally, I am specifically interested in peoples experience with IM and dealers regarding their BELGIAN 3 year warranty. i.e have you been told it will / won't be honoured for the full 3 years.

I will be writing to Mr Swatman asking for clarification of IM's position regarding administering the claims for Belgian Warranties in years 2 & 3 as I have received conflicting information myself from the IM warranty department and my local dealers.

Any input to help me phrase the letter correctly would be appreciated.

When (if?) I receive any correspondence from IM, I will of course let the contributors to this thread know the outcome.

Thanks in advance.

Pete
(DBM 5dr Turbo, MY00, Belgian Import)

 

PT

Have you sussed out whether the Subaru Assist is valid and if there is a UK number instead of calling Belgium?

Another Belgian import owner

PS Obviously, I would be interested if you post results of warranty discussion with IM.


[This message has been edited by Boost (edited 20 October 2000).]

 

Also, how much of it goes against EU trading law? Free movement of goods across borders, etc. Didn't Opel just get fined a small fortune for something similar? I know it wasn't exactly the same, so perhaps it doesn't apply here, but seems odd. How can a warranty be valid in one EU country but not another, except by payment of a premium?

Puzzled

BJH

 

Boost / Brendan,

Subaru Assist is valid across the whole of Europe, if it is bought in a European country. The UK number is 0800 777127 (courtesy of my local dealer).

I suspect the ***** in the armour re the european trading laws is that the "extended" warranty is not provided by Subaru, it is an insurance based product ourchased by Subaru Benelux. Even so, it is my view that the insurance covers use of the vehicle anywhere in europe, so even if you have to pay for the repairs, I belive there is a GOOD chance of making a claim against the warranty to get it back.

Can you tell me what you have been told by dealers / IM about the warranty. If there is confusion amongst dealers, how can owners be expected to understand the situation? When I write to Ed, I want to be able to give examples of the confusion being caused and ask him for clarification (inwriting of course) of the actual situation.

Pete

 

PT, on the basis of what you said above, I rang Subaru Assist and they say I have no cover. I went on to them about pan-European cover, EU car etc etc and they checked with their manager and assurred me my Belgian car is not covered and I would have to pay. Please could you tell me what information/experience you have with them?

Thanks,
John

 

PT

Ed Swatman is still there, but Sam Burton is MD now.

 

John,
I have NO experience with Subaru Assist as I have only just got my car it hasn't broken down YET :-)

Had a look at my warranty book and it definately says that it is pan-european cover, however from what I can make out, you have to call Belgium first and the level of cover may be slightly different. I can't tell for sure, as my French and Flemish are not very good!

I will be calling Subaru Vilvoorde to ask them about this - if no cover, then looks like Direct Line Recovery will be getting some business!

Pete, Thanks for the info re ED Swatman and Sam Burton - haven't written to them yet as in the middle of moving house (groan), BUT I WILL!

Pete

 

My car was from the same dealer (through Alliance Car Imports). My limited knowledge of French in the Service Book leads me to believe that if you ask for recovery in other countries there is talk of charges, refunds, repatriation to Belgium etc. I think

 

I picked my car up from Holland a few months ago and was told by both the dealer and IM that I had no chance of getting the other two years - not even if I paid them the money! The guy in the warranty department asked me how much I'd saved, and when I told him he said that if he was buying one he'd do the same.

Surely this policy of IM's is designed to discourage parallel imports - which I though was supposed to be illegal, especially since it's the same car, made on the same production line as the UK model.

Anyway, I suspect that when the law changes and UK dealers can parallel import themselves, this warranty issue will disappear. But people like us who have already purchased might still miss out...

Please let me know if you have any joy. Perhaps we should all write "shocked and dismayed" letters to that horrible irritating woman on the telly, what's her name... Anne Robinson.

Jamie

 

JamieR,
My dealer said it should be no problem getting years 2 & 3 warranty, he would just have to get it authorised by Belgium, but would probably do the work prior to authorisation anyway.

Another possibility is paying for the work and then claiming it back from Belgium. Another nice thing about being in the EU is that the contract is subject to the laws of the CUSTOMERS country and if you need to take any action to recover your money, it can be done in the English courts. It would cost too much to come over the the UK to defend any action, therefore they would probably pay up. Worth keeping in mind!

Pete