Euro Import from Motorpoint

[Ian Coulter]

Hi, hoping to call upon your recent experience & knowledge.

Have had my UK MY99 from new and am looking to change.

Am interested in a euro import STi spec D from Motorpoint.

Have searched various threads and think the situation is as follows : -

Pros - £6,000 cheaper than UK car (but see below)

Covered by pan-european warranty (but see below)

No "add-on" stereo or sat nav (which I don't want)

Available in black (which I prefer to crystal grey)

No more to insure than UK car

Cons - Don't get £3,000 of free fuel

No alarm, tracker or locking wheel nuts (say £1,000)

Warranty runs from date of manufacture, not purchase

Have to register with Subaru UK for warranty to be valid

Warranty repairs have to be authorised by Cyprus/Malta

Prodrive Performance Pack would invalidate warranty

Have to pay labour on 1,000 mile service

Have to have 3,000 mile service

No lower grille

Have to sell old car privately to get reasonable value

Is this all correct and have I missed anything significant?

Would appreciate contact from anyone who has done this recently.

Thanks in advance,

Ian

 

[4Hero]

Hi Ian, welcome to SIDC [Y]

Having only recently purchased an 06 STi from MP I have to say you have covered pretty much everything above. The one thing I did find interesting was that MP only offered me 600 quid less for my trade-in (53 plate WRX, 1 Owner, FSSH, Immacualte) compared to 3 subaru dealerships I spoke to. I had to haggle a bit to get the trade-in up a notch, but this was not difficult []

I am not quite finished dealing with mp as yet though, after 5 and a bit weeks I still don't have my service book [] Should be here soon though. Not having the service book did not stop Nobles doing my 1000 mile service on my car though, and they will stamp it the next time I am in!

Good luck,

Neil.

[st3ph3n]

I'm also a satisfied MP customer. Had my car almost 2 years now. Had same issue with Neil in getting the warranty book through quickly, think everyone does.

I'll answer your cons though:

Don't get £3,000 of free fuel - Correct, but you'll save a good bit anyway

No alarm, tracker or locking wheel nuts (say £1,000) - Correct, I paid I think £250 for the Alarm and £300 for the Tracker, and locking wheel nuts were about £30 out of the dealer.

Warranty runs from date of manufacture, not purchase - Believe it is from date purchased from Malta/Cyprus, but yes, you don't get the full three years, but near enough.

Have to register with Subaru UK for warranty to be valid - Yup, easy to do

Warranty repairs have to be authorised by Cyprus/Malta - Yup, had rear shocks done on mine without a problem though.

Prodrive Performance Pack would invalidate warranty - Not sure if that's still the case, but you'll get better value doing other mods. And you will mod [] they're easy to put back to standard anyway.

Have to pay labour on 1,000 mile service - Yup

Have to have 3,000 mile service - Nope, service intervals are different (9K, 19K, 28K, 38K etc. etc.), but the intermediate ones are just suggested oil changes and not mandatory to keep up the warranty. My car has had the oil changed between services since I got it, but I like the odd trackday now and again []. I also get mine serviced at a specialist rather than a dealer and that's not been an issue either.

No lower grille - Interesting, didn't know that.

Have to sell old car privately to get reasonable value - that's what I thought but Neil got a better offer than I did. Depends what you're giving them, mine was an anonymous Vauxhall Vectra rep mobile, his was a scooby.

Think you've covered everything.

[4Hero]

I'm sure Scoobyseller will be along shortly to tell us different []

[st3ph3n]

He wouldn't be doing his job if he wasn't. Morning Gav!

To be fair the petrol offer is really good. 3K of petrol will last at least a week []. Last years PPP was good too, but I couldn't have afforded my car new off a UK dealer. C'est la vie.

[4Hero]

It is a good deal, just wasn't good enough for me []

[scoobaroo]

Can safely say your a happy chappy Neil []

Marty.

[maxpower]

Same here, got my 06 Sti in Sept, got service book last week after getting the 1K service done, though Ian Grieves said they would stamp it next time. As for the warranty think I am only down 2 months on the full 3 years as they obviously bought the car in July from Cyprus. 6K is a massive saving, and alarm was £250, tracker £300 and nuts £30 from halfrauds.

So far so good! Dont know if I need to do anything to register with Subaru UK or whether MP has done this  - filled in some forms at the place in Glasgow for subaru....

 

 

[4Hero]

I'm very happy Marty []

Great deal and you cannae grumble at saving 5 and a bit grand, all the more cash for mods []

[STi_Bandit]

Lol neil how long you had this one and youve already started modding :-)

Bandit

[scoobyseller555]

I'm never far away!

All of the above is correct,it is always better to register your warranty with subaru yourself............as you cant count on motorpoint to do it for you.

To add to all of the above remember that the key thing to remember is import trade values,i had a customer recently trying to get out of a 55 plate hawkeye from motorpoint and the best trade bid i could get was £10250..........thats POOR!

Give me a quick phone at the garage as i have amazing prices on uk wrx and sti hawkeyes at the moment.

Gav

[nkwrx]

Another satisfied customer here too. If you want new but don't have the dosh for dealer prices(as was the case with me) it deffo makes sense. Got my WRX in April done 8000mls so far and loved every one of them,after alarm etc probably payed £16000 rather than sticker price of £15000 but the £4000 grand saved ........sweet!!![] cheers Kevan

[Ian Coulter]

Hi guys, many thanks for the prompt and useful responses.

Thanks also for the welcome but it should really be a welcome back!

I have actually been an SIDC & (original) Forum member since 1999 but haven't been to any meets or track days for ages.

However, I am sure that the prospect of a new car will change all that.

Can I just pick up on a few of your points?

Why are the service books sent later rather than with the cars?

What do you have to do to register the car with Subaru UK?

Will probably use the car for a while before thinking about PPP or other mods.

Some people seem to think that the 1st 3,000 service is actually necessary.

Does using a "specialist" invalidate the warranty? If so, I would probably continue to go to Nobles.

Forgot to mention that I have paid MP a deposit to bring the car up from Derby.

I am hoping that it might be here later this week so that it could be on the road next week.

Thanks again for your comments.

Ian

 

 

[st3ph3n]

You get the warranty book from Subaru Malta along with a letter from them and the original sales invoice in the country of origin. Just makes the warranty all ok AFAIK.

Send Subaru UK a fax asking them to register the car, detailing the VIN number and a copy of the sales invoice that MP will send with the warranty book. Or maybe you can just ask a dealer to do it.

The 1K service is needed as that's for running it in, but the intermediate services are shaded differently in the book and aren't needed. Although for £50 or so for an intermediate oil change it's well worth doing halfway between services to keep everything tip top.

Any VAT registered garage can do the work without issue these days.

[4Hero]

Welcome back Ian []

They are all good questions, and I am curious too, just don't know the answer to them []

I presume that using a specialist will invalidate the warranty, is a Dealer stamp not required for warranty purposes?

Anyone else?

Good luck with the new motor  [Y]

[st3ph3n]

As long as the work is carried out using approved parts by a VAT registered garage then it's fine.

[scoobyseller555]

i would double check on this one with subaru uk on 0121 522 2000,dont think this is strictly true.First year yes,but second and third year of warranty is covered by mondial and they stipulate that all servicing must be carried out by subaru,cant comment on import vehicles.

Gav

[G.T.]

just out of intrest gav how much are you selling them for and how much is motorpoint selling them for

ta G