car import companies,

[andy_w21uk]

guys,

have any of you had anything to do with these internet companies that import cars over here,
they look ok some of them with £2500 saving even after costs etc on the motor i am after but wanted 1st hand experience of them..
any cowboys to watch out for ??
recommend any ??

cheers

andy

[tuftylover]

have no experience with them but the cheapest i have ever seen is trade sales in slough they have hundreds of cars as long as your not looking for evo's or anything like that website www. tradesales.co.uk but even with them be carefull they all have horror stories

[andy_w21uk]

cheers for the imfo mate,
not after an evo just yet, just a new golf
got quotes delivered of just under 15k up to now, 3k cheaper than uk price and also quicker than uk delivery.

andy

[Phil_Appleby]

Might be able to help as my firm specialises in the importation of new cars, though Golfs are a tad thin on the ground just now.

What model were you after? Alternatively PM me your number and I'll see what I can do for you.

[andy_w21uk]

I have pm'd ya mate,

cheers

Andy

[Lennox]

I have the fortune of having a co car for my job. The company did a direct deal with Audi for A3, A4, and A6's depending on your posistion in the company. After costs they're saving approx £3000 per car!!!. Costs include flying the drivers to Brussels to collect the cars and getting a UK warranty. The company has around 260 drivers, so that's a 3/4 million saving. Problem being as with the Golfs the leadtime is herrendous. I ordered by car back in June, it won't be ready until last week in November!!!!!!

Good luck

Stu

[Jutslut]

with new rules in block exemption effecting the franchised dealer networks in the upcoming months you'll quite likely see a substantial lowering of price on new cars in this country, what this will mean is that manufacturers will have to allow the wholesale selling of vehicle from dealers to the likes of tesco's etc.....

ok the prices may never reach the lows of imported vehicles, but without the agro and the poor resale values (as soon as they are registered over here they are worth less than the original vehicles) is the grief necessarily worth it.....

but if its cheap sports cars and jap imports then, whahey!!! buy away, who gives a monkey that the specs a bit odd.....at least its had proper servicing through its life, the tests out there are hugely more stringent than ours...

[andy_w21uk]

not really worries about it's re sale value as i will be doing 25,000+ miles a year which will de value any car
You are right i what you say regarding uk prices coming down, but it's happening so slowly that i dont have time to wait anymore,
and up to now i am pretty impressed with a few comps i have been in contact with, there are cowboys out there, but if your sensible then you can save a lot of money,
after all £3000 is a lot of money to all of us, can buy a nearly 3 bait boats with that, lol

andy

[PISCATORIAL1]

Just spent the last few months searching the websites of the import companies. I work for a small company and those with company cars are given a budget and the individuak can source car from wherever. Two people have had direct experience of Trade-Sales in Slough and Motorpoint in Derby.
To the best of my knowledge no after problems.
The cheapest I found was actually Makro's under www.motorsolutions.com (http://www.motorsolutions.com) or .co.uk. At least 1K cheaper than others.
Points to be careful on -

1) UK spec, the car the individual at work had from Motorpoint Not UK spec, i.e not as per brochure you will pick up from UK dealers. As an example -

Motorpoint - Mondeo LX should have electric operated door mirrors - nope.
Makro's / Motor Solutions - Mondeo Zetec should have an alarm - nope. (or at least was going to check and call me back,I had credit card ready to pay deposit so they know I wasn't a time waster, they never rang me back !!
2) Warrenty, you may not obtain the full manufacturers unless you part with more money.
3) Also you have to collect unless you pay another large wedge to have delivered.
Another I looked at was Broadspeed - 12 weeks delivery and it is based on the mainland.

What I did in the end was to buy one from the main dealer, 2 years manufacturers warrrenty from date of collection / delivery, less than one year old, very low mileage, next 2 services free and free RAC cover (not actually needed as company have fleet cover with AA,but nice otherwise).
I got a better spec car than a new import of same model for less money.
Okay it's not new new, but i'm happy.

Trade-Sales / Motorpoint are reputable, certain there are others but can only speak of those have some experience of / spoken to, and generally have good stock levels,also with Motorpoint you can register on line and this enables you to view orderd cars and gives you a head start on other punters.

I best add,that I only discussed NEW cars with the ' Car Supermarkets' so have no knowledge of 2nd hand / nearly new prices.

Hope that gives U some help.

[andy_w21uk]

cheers for the info mate,
am finding the waiting time of 3 months on average with most comps but with the release of a 25th anniversary special eddition at less than £14k delivered, taxed, 2 yr war etc etc from one comp sounds a bit too good to be true,
neither websites about motorsolution websites worked bud ??

[PISCATORIAL1]

Sorry I gave you a bum steer, everything was at work and my memory failed me.

Try the following -

www.motorsolutionswithmakro.co.uk (http://www.motorsolutionswithmakro.co.uk) or
www.makro.co.uk (http://www.makro.co.uk)

To actually make a purchase you need to have Makro membership i.e no fee but allows you access to their stores and enables you to make purchases., but they are not too difficult to obtain.

[ChrisB]

You should be ok with a Golf, but check with yr insurance company before you buy. A friend ran into problems with a car he wanted to buy thru' an import supermarket because it was imported from Cyprus or somewhere exotic.

[Director]

I don't know if this will help Andy but I bought an American Honda Accord Station Wagon 2.2lt injection made in the States for the Japanese Market (right hand drive).It's fantastic but drinks more than me.It's thirsty. Truely robust as the Yanks are much more safety concious X 2. It's fully loaded. But. Insurance is still quite expensive after the Thatcham 1 security system is fitted (£400).I pay about £750 for me and the wife. I won't tell you how much to the Kilometer.Imports are a much better Spec but you do pay for it in the end.
"Goodmayes Motors", nice people mainly 4 wheel importers but are open to ideas I think. They enjoy specials. Hope this helps. They will certainly advise you. Tel. 0208 599 0111. They have been around for over 20 years and as I say are a family buisness and still there when you go back. Good luck. Mark.