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Imports - The pros and cons


tanderson001
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Just wondering what the pros and cons of purchasing a UK spec import from the likes of motorprovider are?

Obviously theres the initial saving you'll make on the purchase and you may get one faster than from a UK VW dealer.

I know that they will only come with the european 2 year parts + labour warranty as well... but what else should I take into consideration before purchaing an import?

for example, would the car be hard to sell on in a few years time? or if I wanted to trade the car in for a newer model with a dealer in few years, would they be reluctant to take it as its an import?

Cheers

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I don't think you will find it much harder to sell on, but then again we dont know for sure as the car has only been out a little over a year.

You may need to reduce the second hand value of the car a little in relation to how much a saving you made off the list price.

So lets say it retained 60% of its value over 3 years this would be based on the price you paid for it, rather than the UK showroom price. so over the years the gap will reduce in size and you will end up quids in because you did not pay full price in the first place.

You can buy an extra years warrenty for as little as 150 pounds + VAT anyway.

Hope this kind of helps!

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..... and certainly if your car is a "non-UK" specification (eg Cyprus build - less underseal and no fitted alarm, different interior trim) then it will be difficult to sell on soon after purchase. At 3 years plus, if you have a full UK specification car (eg Richard at http://www.euroimports.co.uk) then there should be little or no difference.

The depreciation is highest in the first year or so, so not that surprising that the BMW was difficult to resell, as the initial price (upon which to base the depreciation) is unclear to the buyer.

Similar applies anyway to "odd" specification cars - eg odd combination of colours - perhaps brown leather in a blue car - will also spoil easy resellability, no matter how loaded the car is with options.

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I pick my 5dr Shadow Blue Imported GTi from a VW dealer in the South-East tomorrow ... figure that one out...

I get the two year warranty with an option to buy the third year at about £500 I think.

I also get an Electrically adjustable drivers seat which is something that is not available on UK cars. Or at least it was not when I received my UK car in September 05...

Good Bye Red , Hello Blue

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NigelB - are you getting yours from Beadles?

http://www.beadles.co.uk/gti/

http://www.beadles.volkswagen.co.uk/retailers/group/

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/retailers/retailer?dealer_no=608

Also Danes had a number of cars, may all be sold by now, but had some in special order colours too

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/retailers/retailer?dealer_no=549

There are a couple of VW dealers doing parallel imports and selling their off the same physical site 169144-ok.gif

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Imports, simply put:

Select Automotive - about 500 cheaper than Euroimports (on the basis of a realistic exchange rate, not the best there has been in the last 2 years!). Advantages - cheapest, stamped by VW. Dissadvantages - paid for in Euros, bigger deposit, more paperwork.

Euro Imports - 500 quid more than select (but still a 2500 saving on list, OTR). Advantages - free cruise (its UK spec + cruise), paid for in pounds and not until you've sat in it, paperwork done for you. Dissadvantages - Stamped by non VW dealer, not the best price but still great.

Motorprovider and Allbrandsnew are also in the game, but the details seemed slightly sketchy to me.

I couldn't decide but in the end went with Euro because I'm already saving £2,750 and to save another £500, with all that fannying about, was to my mind biting off a bit more than I could chew, for want of a better explanation. The fact is that I am not going to lose much if any of that when I sell it, in 3 years, as I always sell privately and get my cash together before I buy a new car. Only the very cleverest buyer will even know it has been 'imported', and frankly, I'm sure there will be more demand for my car than that. Besides, even the trade aren't going to knock off more than £500 extra in 3 years, worst case.

With the greatest respect to some people, I wouldn't really listen to the advice of people who haven't done this before, only those that have, good or bad experiences. There is a lot of learning to do at the begining, but once you read the articles and discover the paperwork and proceedures that need to be achieved to bring the car over, you'll find that VW have a seriously hefty mark-up for very little work!

At the end of the day, we live in Europe. All the cars available in VW showrooms and are built in Germany and the imports are built in the same factory. To my mind, if you buy from VW you are basically paying them nearly £3000 to ship it over. Its as simple as that. Its the only difference.

Its still a relatively new method of purchase and from that lack of knowledge is bourne the scepticism and the fear. But, it truely is unfounded if you do your homework and use the kind of import companies that are strongly recommended on here and in the motoring press - I'm certain you won't be disappointed.

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