Import Car Yes or No

Dave_T_UK

I am thinking of changing my car and considering going that little bit extra and getting a new Imported car froma local Car Supermarket. Has anyone had experience of buying one of these Good or Bad. Are there any serious disadvantages, insurance, re-sale service etc ?

Thanks in advance to all that take the time to respond to this.

Cheers
Dave T (First Posting, if I have done anything wrong Please advise)

gregg1

Dave_T_UK wrote:

I am thinking of changing my car and considering going that little bit extra and getting a new Imported car froma local Car Supermarket. Has anyone had experience of buying one of these Good or Bad. Are there any serious disadvantages, insurance, re-sale service etc ?

Thanks in advance to all that take the time to respond to this.

Cheers
Dave T (First Posting, if I have done anything wrong Please advise)

I had a bad experience with an import car. Bought the car from a big high street dealer as an import. I specifically asked if it would affect the resale value that it was an import. I was told emphatically it would not. Guess what? When I came to part x it at the SAME dealer 12 months down the line they offered me much lower book rate despite the very low mileage and good con of the car. When I queried it I was actually told it was because it was an import (the salt in the wound was the fact that they had sold it me in the first place). Also, my mate bought a merc as an import and has a warranty on it. He has no end of problems getting warranty repairs done on it and has also had it intimated to him thats it cos its an import. That said I am sure there will be loads of people on here who have had no problems whatsoever. All I can say is I would never go down that route again. Sorry if thats a bit negative. Also, you can get some pretty good deals out there on new cars at the moment.

mummytofour

Im not sure if this is any help.. But I have a jap import (estima ppl carrier) the uk version is not as plush and is known as a previa. I really do love our car, having owned both the uk version and the jap import im not sure which i like best each has the up and downsides.
One down side is insurance as it is more as an import, re-sale wise for our import I dont think its a problem, most of the estimas/previas/lucidas on the road in the uk are the jap version, the jap version in our case sells at a higher price as it has a better spec, and most of the jap ones are desel autos, which are supposed to be cheaper on fule, im not 100% on this tho as I have also owned a petrol manual and cant really make up my mind which is better.

aj3001

Insurance will be increased, however the advantage of them is getting cars that are quite rare in the UK, for cheaper. The other advantage is low mileage (In japan, car tax is worked out by the mileage the car has done, higher mileage more expensive so they are imported out of the country when it starts to get higher)

You can get some very nice examples, but you can also get some really bad ones

Gorgeous_George

Motorpoint offer cars such as Renault Megane CC and Peugeot 307 CC at significant discounts to UK prices. The price differences are enough for me to consider using them.
As I wouldn't use a main dealer for servicing, I wouldn't be tied in to their cartel blackmail when it comes to servicing.

GG

plane_boy2000

Not sure the savings are so big now, combined with less warranty 2 years block exemption. I would consider it if the savings were enough, but be prepared to do battle with the dealers as they dont like carrying out warranty work on Imports - more out of principle than anything else.

Exemplar

Imports are fine as long as you remember that the saving you make when new will be doubly reflected in the trade-in price later!
As an example a guy wanted to trade in a Nissan Primera with us, he had saved £3000 against new. The Glass's guide valuation of the UK car was £3000, in reality it was worth £1000 which always comes as a shock! So yes I would buy an import as long as I expected a drop on trade in