Dealer mis-sold car - not told it was an import
Discussion
As others have said, imported from where?
Our alfa was from Germany. The original buyer specced it up, got a better price and drove it home.
It was identical to a UK sourced car in every way - and no insurance company cared.
My previous car was from Japan, and the insurance company did care.
If it's come from further afield that the EU, then there may well be some spec differences.
Our alfa was from Germany. The original buyer specced it up, got a better price and drove it home.
It was identical to a UK sourced car in every way - and no insurance company cared.
My previous car was from Japan, and the insurance company did care.
If it's come from further afield that the EU, then there may well be some spec differences.
My Defender was classed as an import, even though it was a UK car. It was trailered to Germany from Marshalls Landrover in Peterbourgh so they could display it on a dealers forecourt. I then asked if I could buy it, so registered it on a certificate of conformity in Germany. One year later returned to England and registered it on UK plates and it was classed as an import even though everything was British.
If it's to UK spec, at that age I can't see it being a problem. It was even built here, FFS! At that age you're going to get low balled at any of these 'buyanycar' places so best bet is to sell privately where the next owner is more interested in condition rather than where it was originally registered.
Sheepshanks said:
Dealer I bought a new car off a few months used WBAC to value the px.
I've heard of them trying this on ! WBAC also load their prices to what sells well at auction , so some cars are offered well below book price , nice idea for a dealer though to get back up with his low ball offer I bought a 12 month old car from a main dealer (BMW) and 12 months later when getting some warranty work done found out it was an import (only had 2 years warranty). I kicked off at the sales guy who then claimed he'd told me, he hadn't otherwise I'd have knocked more off and asked for the warranty up front. There were no import details on the V5 as it was first registered in the UK and bought from Belgium via Ireland or something.
They gave me 12 month extended warranty and assured me it had no affect on the value of the car come PX time. When I came to chop it in the dealer tried to offer me less as it was an import - Not a pretty scene! They agreed to offer full PX value and throw in a load of other stuff on the replacement car, mats, tank of fuel etc. I took the extras but sold the car through ebay.
I'd just flog it privately, most people won't care at that age - they might run away from the mileage jumps though. I'd make an attempt to get something out of the dealer.
They gave me 12 month extended warranty and assured me it had no affect on the value of the car come PX time. When I came to chop it in the dealer tried to offer me less as it was an import - Not a pretty scene! They agreed to offer full PX value and throw in a load of other stuff on the replacement car, mats, tank of fuel etc. I took the extras but sold the car through ebay.
I'd just flog it privately, most people won't care at that age - they might run away from the mileage jumps though. I'd make an attempt to get something out of the dealer.
Latest update:
The dealer he bought the car from has offered to take the car back from him. He also has found out the car was imported from the republic of ireland. I dont know if the dealer knew whether it was an import or not but so far it looks like theyre being decent about it. Its just now a case of waiting to see if they will give him the full cost of what he paid for the car or atleast a very generous offer.
It also looks as if the dealer will just sell it on again, lets just bloody hope hell tell the next buyer its an import and not rip him off.
Wont hold my breath though
The dealer he bought the car from has offered to take the car back from him. He also has found out the car was imported from the republic of ireland. I dont know if the dealer knew whether it was an import or not but so far it looks like theyre being decent about it. Its just now a case of waiting to see if they will give him the full cost of what he paid for the car or atleast a very generous offer.
It also looks as if the dealer will just sell it on again, lets just bloody hope hell tell the next buyer its an import and not rip him off.
Wont hold my breath though
With these feet said:
I bought a Mazda B2500 several years ago from a used car dealer. Wasn't until the car was home and needed some parts when I found out from the chassis number that it was a parallel import - one that was imported by a dealer and sold on. Was quite popular for a while, especially with motorcycles where the importing dealer subsequently supply (their) warranty.
Still got it insured fine, but the specifications can differ massively between countries and parts can be a pain to get since many dealers wont entertain ordering parts that may end up returned.
IIRC, when I worked at Mazda, the whole Miata/Eunos thing was going on. Japanese cars didn't have to go through the same crash test as the UK, so didn't have door impact beams.
Off topic, but ISTR all mx5s were built on the same line and all the stories about underseal etc. were fallacies. My 94 import had underseal and side impact bars. I think all cars got the side impact protection around that time.Still got it insured fine, but the specifications can differ massively between countries and parts can be a pain to get since many dealers wont entertain ordering parts that may end up returned.
IIRC, when I worked at Mazda, the whole Miata/Eunos thing was going on. Japanese cars didn't have to go through the same crash test as the UK, so didn't have door impact beams.
My two previous Hondas were much of the same, main dealer imported as new from Belgium and then sold in the UK.
There were no issues with the value or legality of insurance as a UK car.
If the guy doesn't like the WBAC quote why not sell privately or sell it to a used car dealer. Its essentially a non-issue that is being pathetically blown out of proportion....
There were no issues with the value or legality of insurance as a UK car.
If the guy doesn't like the WBAC quote why not sell privately or sell it to a used car dealer. Its essentially a non-issue that is being pathetically blown out of proportion....
NiceCupOfTea said:
Off topic, but ISTR all mx5s were built on the same line and all the stories about underseal etc. were fallacies. My 94 import had underseal and side impact bars. I think all cars got the side impact protection around that time.
Weren't the fog lights and radio frequency range (Japan goes lower on FM?) the only real difference?Yarders91 said:
Latest update:
The dealer he bought the car from has offered to take the car back from him. He also has found out the car was imported from the republic of ireland. I dont know if the dealer knew whether it was an import or not but so far it looks like theyre being decent about it. Its just now a case of waiting to see if they will give him the full cost of what he paid for the car or atleast a very generous offer.
It also looks as if the dealer will just sell it on again, lets just bloody hope hell tell the next buyer its an import and not rip him off.
Wont hold my breath though
You still haven't said if it was imported new ie parallel import?The dealer he bought the car from has offered to take the car back from him. He also has found out the car was imported from the republic of ireland. I dont know if the dealer knew whether it was an import or not but so far it looks like theyre being decent about it. Its just now a case of waiting to see if they will give him the full cost of what he paid for the car or atleast a very generous offer.
It also looks as if the dealer will just sell it on again, lets just bloody hope hell tell the next buyer its an import and not rip him off.
Wont hold my breath though
It the dealer is taking it back its only because he is going to make a profit on the deal he has no obligation to do anything.
TooMany2cvs said:
If it was first registered somewhere other than the UK, the V5C will have two dates on it - first registered, first registered in UK - and will say "Was previously registered and/or used outside UK. Declared manufactured <year>" or similar on the front page.
My 5-series has the import wording and 'declared manufactured 2012' on the V5. It was originally registered by BMW's distribution centre in Thorne, Yorkshire (hence a Y-prefix, 12 plate) and subsequently sold to a chap in Northern Ireland. I bought it in Belfast. Somebody at some point erroneously ticked the 'imported' box when it changed ownership, so despite it being on its original 12 plate it states it's an import. Since I can prove it isn't, I don't really care.Jobbo said:
My 5-series has the import wording and 'declared manufactured 2012' on the V5. It was originally registered by BMW's distribution centre in Thorne, Yorkshire (hence a Y-prefix, 12 plate) and subsequently sold to a chap in Northern Ireland. I bought it in Belfast. Somebody at some point erroneously ticked the 'imported' box when it changed ownership, so despite it being on its original 12 plate it states it's an import. Since I can prove it isn't, I don't really care.
That's because DVLA Northern Ireland isn't, currently, connected to DVLA Swansea. The car was exported from the mainland and then re-imported.It's a great way of losing the number of previous owners on a car.
That is changing soon though when the systems are linked together.
motco said:
A mate of mine bought a car new from the Trade Sales Centre on the Bath Road in Slough. It came through Malta I seem to recall. No problems at all and was treated by everyone as if it was a UK bought car. Their entire business was predicated upon these imports. What's the problem?
A lot of new cars come with <say> two year manufacturer warranty, which an EU-supplied, EU-spec grey import would get, then a third year importer-backed warranty, which a grey wouldn't get. In addition, any warranty-borders goodwill from the UK importer would be very unlikely. But once the warranty's history? None.A non-EU spec import, though, might have parts supply problems and delays, which could well add to an insurer's costs in the event of a claim. So, to simplify matters, insurers tend to ask if it's an import. That question can be answered by a quick glance at the V5C. Where it was imported from, or to what market's spec it was built? Not so simple.
Also, an import may well have history that won't show up on an HPI - write-off, f'rinstance. Even if it was originally UK-supplied, if it's been exported and re-imported, it might well lose that history.
Because of those risks, buyers will tend to prefer cars that were first registered in the UK, so used values are slightly lower.
Edited by TooMany2cvs on Thursday 5th March 16:33
Roo said:
Jobbo said:
My 5-series has the import wording and 'declared manufactured 2012' on the V5. It was originally registered by BMW's distribution centre in Thorne, Yorkshire (hence a Y-prefix, 12 plate) and subsequently sold to a chap in Northern Ireland. I bought it in Belfast. Somebody at some point erroneously ticked the 'imported' box when it changed ownership, so despite it being on its original 12 plate it states it's an import. Since I can prove it isn't, I don't really care.
That's because DVLA Northern Ireland isn't, currently, connected to DVLA Swansea. The car was exported from the mainland and then re-imported.It's a great way of losing the number of previous owners on a car.
That is changing soon though when the systems are linked together.
Edited by Jobbo on Thursday 5th March 17:26
Edited by Jobbo on Thursday 5th March 17:27
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