Used car showing as an import
Discussion
Advice required guys.
Recently considered selling the A7 as I'm piling miles on and killing its value. Approached Motorway for an idea of value. They have refused to list it as its an import. They have sent me confirmation of the HPi check. Now I bought it used from a dealer in Dundee. No mention on the paperwork of it being an import. There is finance on it (the shame). So not sure if they know if not why not.
Just to clarify this isn't buyers remorse I've had the car 18mths. However at some point I will sell it. But if dealers are going to flag this up it will elaffectbiys value?
As for why I didn't HPi it, this is a large main dealer I bought from. Plus have finance so all the checks are completes by them.
Will this affect its value do we think. Not sure what if anything to do.
Recently considered selling the A7 as I'm piling miles on and killing its value. Approached Motorway for an idea of value. They have refused to list it as its an import. They have sent me confirmation of the HPi check. Now I bought it used from a dealer in Dundee. No mention on the paperwork of it being an import. There is finance on it (the shame). So not sure if they know if not why not.
Just to clarify this isn't buyers remorse I've had the car 18mths. However at some point I will sell it. But if dealers are going to flag this up it will elaffectbiys value?
As for why I didn't HPi it, this is a large main dealer I bought from. Plus have finance so all the checks are completes by them.
Will this affect its value do we think. Not sure what if anything to do.
^^^^^^^^^
I did similar in 2002. Imported a full UK spec Focus from a Ford dealer in Ostende. Saved over £2.5k. No issues at all with anything after that. Serviced ok by dealers. Only issue was a few years on needing a couple of small parts. Car didn’t show up on the Ford dealer database. Local dealer who were great. Parts identified ok.
I did similar in 2002. Imported a full UK spec Focus from a Ford dealer in Ostende. Saved over £2.5k. No issues at all with anything after that. Serviced ok by dealers. Only issue was a few years on needing a couple of small parts. Car didn’t show up on the Ford dealer database. Local dealer who were great. Parts identified ok.
Was it bought in the UK then exported temporarily, for example overseas forces? DVLA have been known to create a few issues where the operative handling paperwork doesn't fully understand the rules (see for example the R reg Porsche 944 doing the rounds on eBay a few years back).
Anything bought as described by the posters above, ie from European dealers, will have had a full EU Certificate of Conformity and would have been easy to register in the UK upon payment of the relevant VAT, road tax and first reg fee applicable at the time. These were parallel imports, ie cars to UK-spec, as opposed to grey imports from Japan etc.
As someone else said, find another buyer.
Anything bought as described by the posters above, ie from European dealers, will have had a full EU Certificate of Conformity and would have been easy to register in the UK upon payment of the relevant VAT, road tax and first reg fee applicable at the time. These were parallel imports, ie cars to UK-spec, as opposed to grey imports from Japan etc.
As someone else said, find another buyer.
Small update on this.
The dealer stsye they did a basic xheck and the import didn't show. So they are claiming they have done nothing wrong.
DVLA have confrimed the marker and its correct and staying.
Currently have 2 days left on a letter before legal action with the dealer..
I'm sure the value is effected as Motorway won't even advertise an import. Also the import state affects Autotraders algorithm so it doesn't show up in specific searches. Also shows as a warning marker for import.
Any advice moving forward am I wasting my time or is it worth a punt?
The dealer stsye they did a basic xheck and the import didn't show. So they are claiming they have done nothing wrong.
DVLA have confrimed the marker and its correct and staying.
Currently have 2 days left on a letter before legal action with the dealer..
I'm sure the value is effected as Motorway won't even advertise an import. Also the import state affects Autotraders algorithm so it doesn't show up in specific searches. Also shows as a warning marker for import.
Any advice moving forward am I wasting my time or is it worth a punt?
Where was it imported from? Does the date of 1st reg on the v5 tie up with the date of manufacture on the COC?
As it was bought from a dealer, they are required to disclose any material fact that could reasonably be expected to affect your buying decision. Unfortunately, that becomes a "He said, she said" debate.
To sue for damages, you would have to show loss which isn't beyond the possible.
Main dealer Audi or non franchise? If they are a decent shop they'll offer to take it back at market value ignoring the import.
As it was bought from a dealer, they are required to disclose any material fact that could reasonably be expected to affect your buying decision. Unfortunately, that becomes a "He said, she said" debate.
To sue for damages, you would have to show loss which isn't beyond the possible.
Main dealer Audi or non franchise? If they are a decent shop they'll offer to take it back at market value ignoring the import.
My thoughts are that the vehicle is a uk spec and obviously sourced outside the uk dealer network.
The garage you purchased it from was not a main Audi dealership as the import marker would have flagged up if done at the main dealer.
If it was a main dealer then they would have known it was an import and should have advertised it as so and priced it accordingly.
Some main dealers will take an import into stock but a lot won’t and so trade them on to the general dealers.
Your dealer did a very basic registration check and it didn’t include the import check.
My guess is they knew it was an import but decided to ignore that as they knew they could get around any potential issues.
The value is certainly less for an imported vehicle as the initial cost was less on initial purchase and anyone who says it isn’t affected is talking rubbish.
Most people don’t / won’t touch an import car due to the fear of things like this.
I would have one but only if the price was correct as I would expect some issues moving it on.
The dealer you bought it from should take some responsibility but getting them to do so could prove tiring and costly.
The garage you purchased it from was not a main Audi dealership as the import marker would have flagged up if done at the main dealer.
If it was a main dealer then they would have known it was an import and should have advertised it as so and priced it accordingly.
Some main dealers will take an import into stock but a lot won’t and so trade them on to the general dealers.
Your dealer did a very basic registration check and it didn’t include the import check.
My guess is they knew it was an import but decided to ignore that as they knew they could get around any potential issues.
The value is certainly less for an imported vehicle as the initial cost was less on initial purchase and anyone who says it isn’t affected is talking rubbish.
Most people don’t / won’t touch an import car due to the fear of things like this.
I would have one but only if the price was correct as I would expect some issues moving it on.
The dealer you bought it from should take some responsibility but getting them to do so could prove tiring and costly.
I'm guessing it was a UK spec grey import as others have said?
I bought a Mk4 Golf TDi that was a grey import about 20 years ago. Some bloke had bought it brand new from an independent 'car supermarket' and they were importing cheaper UK spec cars from abroad to sell. He didn't know any of this, just thought it was the same as buying it new from VW but just cheaper.
When he put it up for sale privately at 2.5 years old, I went and looked at it and discovered it was an import. I then used this as a bargaining chip to beat him right down in price. Told him the UK VW warranty wouldn't be valid, said it might be hard to sell on again, and so on. He ended up just saying he didn't want the hassle of trying to go through all this 'import stuff' again with other prospective buyers and let it go to me cheaply to get rid of it.
Cool story etc.
I must admit, I didn't think anyone bothered with the grey import thing in recent years.
I bought a Mk4 Golf TDi that was a grey import about 20 years ago. Some bloke had bought it brand new from an independent 'car supermarket' and they were importing cheaper UK spec cars from abroad to sell. He didn't know any of this, just thought it was the same as buying it new from VW but just cheaper.
When he put it up for sale privately at 2.5 years old, I went and looked at it and discovered it was an import. I then used this as a bargaining chip to beat him right down in price. Told him the UK VW warranty wouldn't be valid, said it might be hard to sell on again, and so on. He ended up just saying he didn't want the hassle of trying to go through all this 'import stuff' again with other prospective buyers and let it go to me cheaply to get rid of it.
Cool story etc.
I must admit, I didn't think anyone bothered with the grey import thing in recent years.
Lord Marylebone said:
I'm guessing it was a UK spec grey import as others have said?
Just to be absolutely clear, a "grey import" was one imported from Japan that had to go through SVA.A "parallel import" was a full EU type approved car, usually RHD, bought from the marque's main dealer elsewhere in the EU.
I did the latter with a Subaru Impreza (saving about £6k) and a Peugeot 206CC (saving about £5k) and had no problem moving them on. both to dealers.
Have you considered trying to sell it to the dealer as an alternative to legal action ?
Find out the market value without the import marker and see if they will give you that price, if they won't then see what they will offer you, if they won't or it is under market value then it could help your case.
Find out the market value without the import marker and see if they will give you that price, if they won't then see what they will offer you, if they won't or it is under market value then it could help your case.
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