A Grey Import......... What's that

Nytehawk

I recently visited a car supermarket and heard the comment grey import used by a salesman to another punter. What does grey import mean. I went to a local Motorpoint dealer at the weekend that says the importing of cars issues of recent years no longer exist Yeeeahhh Right!!!

I can see that these supermarkets sell cars at greatly reduced prices but at what cost further down the line when warranties and resale values come into question........... Any dealer guys there that can give us some straight answers??

I am looking around because I assumed it was the best time of year to get a better deal :cool:

like-saving-money

The "Grey Market" or "grey imports" is a generic term that refers to the personal, or low volume business import of vehicles from outside the UK.

The "Grey Market" could refer to cars coming in from the EU, Japan, or any other country.

Japanese Grey Market cars or Japanese Grey Import cars are merely cars that have legally come into the UK from Japan by this route.

The main factor in determining a grey market origin vehicle is that the imported vehicle does not come in via the main dealers or the car manufacturers.

The "Grey Market" could refer to brand new cars (with delivery mileage only) or used, second-hand vehicles.

There is nothing illegal in bringing in cars to the UK via the Grey Market. It is your right to purchase vehicles abroad and bring them into this country.

Of course, the UK car main dealers may not take kindly to you using the grey market, as it means you've found another source for vehicles that you might otherwise have purchased from them. - and you have saved money!

And organisations like the BBC take great delight in scare-mongering and tut-tutting at this legitimate method of purchasing a car. For a humorous and biased definition of what a "Japanese Grey Import" is and how to recognise them, see this BBC page.

The Word IQ Encyclopedia has a good definition of the term "Grey Market" at this page.... ".... grey market goods are not illegal. Instead, they are being sold outside of normal distribution channels ....."

So, get the information you need, buy wisely and make the Japanese "Grey Market" for used cars work for you!

See the Import / Export FAQ Page for information on grey market imports and likely costs to import a car from Japan
:beer:

silvercar

if you want to get full value on re-sale you should make sure your grey import is up to "full UK spec". Often cars manufactured for overseas markets have a much lower specification. This is not a problem for your use, but make sure you are only paying for what you are getting. On resale, you want the car to have the same specification as cars manufactured for the UK market, at which point you will be looking to get at or near UK second hand prices.

Nytehawk

Thanks for that that's pretty comprehensive, do you know why they therefore say that you don't get the full manufacturers warranty, I was at Motorpoint earlier and the guy quoted just a 2 year warranty for a 56 reg renault but couldn't really explain why

You always think of questions after the visit

Has anybody had any dealings/problems with the resale value of these imported cars

like-saving-money

i dont know, but it might be something to do with because it is an import, thing to look out for are make sure the clocks read MPH not KPH and that they have rear fog lights as some imports have to have an optional rear fog light and it doesnt look good on new cars oh and make sure that your insurance company will isure you as some are funny with imported cars

saintjanet

I think that the most important issues with a grey are parts availability,insurance and resale value,buy one only if you are sure you are getting it at the right price and with the right spec.They can be more difficult to sell on later too,i know, i owned one!!

Many uk supplied cars are given 2 years warranty by the manufacturer and an extra year by the dealer,this is one reason the import may not have as good a warranty.

DealDrivers_company_representative

One key question you need to ask if seriously considering buying an import is 'what country was it originally destined for'?

Most manufacturers often have 'hot climate' specification cars, built purely for warmer climates - so if your car originally came from the Cyprus/Malta market etc then you need to be very careful - common issues include lower quality rustproofing as they are not deemed to need it in warmer climate countries (unlike the good old temperate British climate which UK spec' cars ARE built for!)...and you can often find some strange radio frequencies on the audio kit in these cars - that may need adjustment at your expense...there are many other examples but these are the ones we hear about the most from people who've been caught out on a purchase.

A lot of imported Peugeots are about, sourced from well known car supermarkets, where customers have had parts like door hinges rust through after just 2yrs.

Watch out for phrases such as 'UK registered' - don't be fooled into thinking that means it is not an import. It means just that, it's been registered in the UK (which of course it has to be to be driven and sold here) but you need ask its background, build, and warranty situation.

If an offer doesn't clearly state "UK car from normal UK dealer" with you as "first and only registered owner", you need to find out what the story is, as there clearly is one.


We don't touch any import, nor any deal where the logbook of a car is witheld from you for any length of time after purchase.

Nytehawk

DealDrivers wrote:

One key question you need to ask if seriously considering buying an import is 'what country was it originally destined for'?

Most manufacturers often have 'hot climate' specification cars, built purely for warmer climates - so if your car originally came from the Cyprus/Malta market etc then you need to be very careful - common issues include lower quality rustproofing as they are not deemed to need it in warmer climate countries (unlike the good old temperate British climate which UK spec' cars ARE built for!)...and you can often find some strange radio frequencies on the audio kit in these cars - that may need adjustment at your expense...there are many other examples but these are the ones we hear about the most from people who've been caught out on a purchase.

A lot of imported Peugeots are about, sourced from well known car supermarkets, where customers have had parts like door hinges rust through after just 2yrs.

Watch out for phrases such as 'UK registered' - don't be fooled into thinking that means it is not an import. It means just that, it's been registered in the UK (which of course it has to be to be driven and sold here) but you need ask its background, build, and warranty situation.

If an offer doesn't clearly state "UK car from normal UK dealer" with you as "first and only registered owner", you need to find out what the story is, as there clearly is one.


We don't touch any import, nor any deal where the logbook of a car is witheld from you for any length of time after purchase.

I Suppose as with most punters it grieves me to pay some of the extortinate prices that we already do in UK. When you look at Motorpoint for example they are selling Megane Cabriolets for just £13200 OTR as opposed to anything up to £18K for a like for like car from other dealers and from many of the car mags etc they do seem to have a good reputation. If i could get a dealer to match that and give a fair price for the part ex it would be a miracle..... Don't you agree

DealDrivers_company_representative

You need to check you are comparing like-for-like. That price may not be for you to be first and only registered owner in a brand new unregistered car with all of its warranty intact...thats what you need to ask. If you are buying something with part of its warranty already eaten into (or not even a 3yr warranty in the first place) then that is why the price is lower...you are not getting as much for your money and it is already a registered car. So, you cannot fairly compare it to a franchised main dealer selling you the genuine article with nobody else on the logbook. You need to go and check the conditions of sale and if you find out it was orginally a car from another country's allocation, refer to our previous posting and ask about rustproofing etc.

It's a bit like trying to compare the price of a brand new loaf of unopened bready bearing today's date at the shops with one that was labelled a few days ago and has a couple of slices missing out of the top! The prices and 'real' value for money will clearly be different and it is up to you to decide which is the better long term value.

It is the conditions of sale you need to compare just as much as everything else, don't get dazzled by the prices alone. If you buy a car where you won't get the logbook for 3-6mths you need to run that by your insurers and decide if you are happy with the prospect of being the one not informing the DVLA of a change of ownership on a car...that is the drivers job, not the sellers.

We had a gentleman approach us yestrday on a Mondeo estate where he'd compared our genuine brand new 1st owner deal with another website but hadn't spotted the other guys were clever not to make it clear he wouldn't be first owner and nor would he see the logbook for some time, nor could they guarantee that all their cars were normal UK cars from normal UK dealers, but the rest of the sales 'gumph' on the website had dazzled him completely. He was only saving c.£650, which was crazy for not quite knowing where his car was coming from nor how much of its warranty was already used up since its first registration date.

You need to decide if you want to compare genuine NEW prices, or some other comparison between already-registered cars of varying ages and warranty situations - then compare deals within those two very separate categories.

On your PX, you can't have the deal at both ends unfortunately, if you are driving the new car price down, the dealers has to find the cash from somewhere to buy your used car and take the risk on it. We find many people working terrinbly hard to get the new car price down but happy to let their old car go for way less than market price just to avoid the hassle but they are then losing much of the cash saving cash they've been working hard to get on the new car...it's a question of balance.

Many of our dealers keep less than £200 in a new car sale, so you cna see there's little leeway for them to take a risk on a used car which may take weeks to re-sell.

Nytehawk

Thank you for your detailed response I am sure the like me there are lots of punters that are interested in the whole picture, I can see that the thread has been viewed 136 times so far and I hope that others will share their experiences etc with us.
I suppose my only other question (I hope you can answer this in as honest a manner as the rest), we buy a car and it immediately loses thousands of pounds (hence the reason why people go for the best buy they can find to allow for such a huge depreciation). The only people who gain out of this loss is the dealers because, you control your own environment in exactly the same way as Estate agents tend to control the housing market (a bit broad brush but you get my meaning) So in effect the small margin gained on new cars turn into a much larger margin when you take in a part ex.
A new car is as previously mentioned £13200 and the value of the part ex is offered as a trade price irrespective of mileage or condition (in this case £9000) then the part ex car is either sold on directly to a franchised dealer or sold within your own dealership (in this case currently retailing at £11995.00 whatever guide or dealership you look at). Is it any wonder that punters are not loyal to any one particular dealership, and they chase the best deal.

DealDrivers_company_representative

Absolutely...everyone chases the best deal and when needing to PX something old in return for the replacement purchase it is the 'cost to change' figure that is important - not just the new car deal. A fantastic new car deal is no good if you are losing potentailly £1-2k of 'market value' on the old car by letting it go as a part exchange rtaher than selling it privately.

Another good reason to check who you'll be paying for the car (if not a main dealer) has surfaced just today. If you take one of the deals where you pay the broker for the car then your contract is with them (we allow the customer to transact direct with the dealer for safety) - a well known internet broker has just into receivership so if anyone has paid them a deposit to order a car recently rather than use a process like our own for the transaction, they will be getting bad news before Xmas.

'Market value' of a used product can only be achieved by selling it privately (Autotrader is 'the bible' for selling used cars and even trade buyers will often scour it to build up their stock so try it before going down the PX route). Trying to get a seller to take it as part of the trade on a replacement new product will always result in a trade price. not private sale price.

A dealer taking a part ex' takes a gamble - if he cannot shift it within 2-3 weeks at some profit, it will be sitting on his balance sheet as a stock liability losing more cash each day he is stuck with it. Dealers don't always manage to make a profit on used cars. Most cars with over 60k on the clock go straight to auction so if that's all the dealer will do with it you might as well put into auction yourself and at least take the full sale price directly into your own coffers.

There's no easy answer on PX's I'm afraid...brokers like ourselves will sometimes try and effect a deal for customers who genuinely have something a dealer might like to boost their used stock but in the case of a broker's sale process, the dealer is having to bid a price on an unseen and un-inspected car and has to trust us that we've got accurate data from the customer...so they'll always build in a 'risk factor' to the offer. I don't blame them as we've been bitten ourselves - the memory of a 'mint' BMW Z3 still haunts us which arrived at the dealership with cigarette holes in both seats and 4 bald tyres....!

Sorry for my spelling errors in the last post...all before my usual fix of caffeine!