Motorpoint imports?

fionah

Hello, I am looking to buy a Renault Megane from Motorpoint (09 plate which will be ready next week). I have just been told by a friend that Motorpoint sells a lot of imports. How would I tell whether the car is a UK import and has UK spec?

If it is an import, will it have any effect on Renault garages accepting my car for repairs under manufacturers warranty? The only Renault garages near me are Arnold Clark. Could they reject my Motorpoint car?

vikingaero

Motorpoint do source some cars from overseas RHD markets from countries such as Cyprus.

Your best bet would be to ask them directly or to ask them to state the fact on the invoice that it is or is not an import.

If you can get the chassis number you could contact Renault UK and ask them if it is a UK supplied car or an import. Indeed Renault may be able to tell you to look at the chassis number or seatbelt tag that may identify it as a continental car.

Generally UK cars get a 3 year warranty if supplied through Renault UK (1 year manufacturers warranty and 2 years dealer warranty. The import may only have the standard 1 year manufacturers warranty if it is supplied from outside the EU. An EU supplied car will generally have a 2 year warranty as a minimum.

Whatever you buy you have to balance the import status against any cost saving.

cashcoward

I bought a Mitsubishi from Motorpoint 3+ years ago and it was imported from Cyprus. It has been a good car at an excellent price and the only differences from the standard UK spec were the absence of a radio and an odometer which records only in kilometers.
It came with Mitsubishi's 3-year Pan-European warranty which is a manufacturer warranty. On the plus side, I have had absolutely no problems having it serviced or repaired either by the main dealer or by a non-Mitsubishi garage. The negatives are: (1) the UK importers don't want to know about it and any warranty claim approval had to go through a weird and slow process of exchanging faxes with who-knows-where but I think it included Cyprus; (2) getting the 3-year breakdown cover which is part of the warranty but needs to be provided through the UK importer was a pain, requiring lengthy correspondence with the Mitsubishi (Europe) HQ in Holland; (3) the main dealer had to be repeatedly told and reminded not to record my "mileage" at service as being, say, 10K miles when it was 10K kilometers; and, (4) when pricing insurance, having to declare the car as an import for which a fair number of companies won't quote (although, one broker recently asked me for my chassis number, confirmed from this that the car is UK-spec and then advised there is no need to declare it as an import - but personally, I don't believe that).
So, as I said, good car at a great price. No "killer" problems... Do I regret having bought it? On balance, no. Would I do it again? I'd think very hard about it and would need to be getting a significant cost advantage to do so. Good luck!

natjay_2

We bought a car from motorpoint derby in 2003 it was a ford mondeo, and it was a parallel import even though the car had two miles on the clock we were the second owner as it had been pre registered

As above we only got a two year warranty rather than the three year UK ford warranty and during the two years the only thing done to the car was the ford handbrake recall, during the third year when the car was out of warranty it suffered a broken coil spring and it was trailered in to a ford garage and we were expecting a hefty bill

After the repair we were told that ford had done the repair free of charge and put it down as a warranty repair, would I buy another parallel import? Yes would we were very happy with the car and the service given by ford

Inactive

Indeed, many of Motorpoints " new " cars are actually imports and pre-registered to someone else, not always Motorpoint themselves.

Spec and warranty may differ.

fionah

Inactive wrote: »

Indeed, many of Motorpoints " new " cars are actually imports and pre-registered to someone else, not always Motorpoint themselves

Would this apply to 09 plates too which are out next week? The sales guy said that I would be able to pick it up next week.

cashcoward

Not if it is like my Mitsubishi - it was "pre-owned" (by the UK company which bought it from the Cyprus dealership) but not "pre-registered" (because it was never on the road). So, although I was the second owner, I was the first registered owner, which I imagine will be the situation with you if your car is imported and is to have an 09 plate.

Inactive

fionah wrote: »

Would this apply to 09 plates too which are out next week? The sales guy said that I would be able to pick it up next week.

You would need to check with Motorpoint, some are pre-registered, some are not.

Inactive

Remember, if it is an import, you need to tell your insurance company.

DealDrivers_company_representative

This is general advice to anyone buying a pre-registered car from anywhere...you also need to ask about logbook retention and check with your insurer.
Pre-registered cars should still enable you to have your name on the logbook immediately (those that have been pre-registered in an above-board fashion), but those being re-sold to drivers earlier than the dealer is permitted to sell them will have a logbook witheld from you so you cannot inform the DVLA that you have bought it. ..retention of any vehicle document from you should never be happening.

Wherever in the UK you buy from, ask about the logbook if anyone says the car will be pre-registered. What car have run a number of articles on this in the last 2 years. It is never acceptable to have a V5 witheld from you, as a buyer. Why anyone accepts it is an eternal mystery.

You wouldn't allow seller of a used car to hold onto the logbook in their own name for weeks or months when you pay for the car, so certainly don't let it happen on a new one so always ask about this. If you tick the insurance form box saying you are the registered owner, but you aren't validated on the DVLA's records as the registered owner as such in the event of a write-off claim. An insurer can refuse to pay up, or only pay up to the person who is named as the registered owner according to the DVLA.

bclark

vikingaero wrote: »

Motorpoint do source some cars from overseas RHD markets from countries such as Cyprus.

Your best bet would be to ask them directly or to ask them to state the fact on the invoice that it is or is not an import.

If you can get the chassis number you could contact Renault UK and ask them if it is a UK supplied car or an import. Indeed Renault may be able to tell you to look at the chassis number or seatbelt tag that may identify it as a continental car.

Generally UK cars get a 3 year warranty if supplied through Renault UK (1 year manufacturers warranty and 2 years dealer warranty. The import may only have the standard 1 year manufacturers warranty if it is supplied from outside the EU. An EU supplied car will generally have a 2 year warranty as a minimum.

Whatever you buy you have to balance the import status against any cost saving.

Actually you have it the wrong way around. The Manufacturers warranty is 2 years and the dealers is 1 year. It is now EU law that all new Cars must have 2 years warranty even if they are imported.

A lot of manufacturers are also now offering 3 years manufacturers warranty and I believe that Renault are now one of them.

As for Motorpoint most of the new Cars are imports and their used ones are not. Just ring and ask.