I'm looking at buying an imported 5 door Golf V5 from Trade Sales. They expect a four week wait for delivery and quote around a 3 grand saving on the UK list price.
The specification quoted is as per the UK but doesn't have the automatic windscreen wipers (which I can live without), fitted CD / radio unit or alarm (but does have the immobiliser). They will upgrade the warranty to three years from the basic manufacturer warranty for 500 quid. The savings are impressive compared to shopping around and haggling at the local VW garages.
I keep cars until they fall to bits so an not worried about re-sales values etc. The small print such as 'we can only guarantee one key with the car' or 'there will only be a handbook if the vehicle arrives with one' concerns me. Should it and is there anything that I should beware of? as there is an old phrase that 'you get what you pay for'!
Many thanks for all advice!
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I asume then that you are going to keep the car for well over 10 years.
So the average age of your car will be 5 years + over the life that you keep it?
So why not buy a 3 or 4 year old car, keep it for 3 years and then buy another.
This will save you far more money than importing will do.
New cars are simply not for the private motorist - its a mug's game - let some one else stand the 60%+ loss on a new car in 3 years.
Use the saved cash to pay a chunk off the mortage, of to go on holiday.
Mind you if it was not for people like you i could not afford to run my two cars.
My cars when new would have cost over £50,000 , I paid less then £6k for both.
Thay are each fully gavalanised, quite low milage, and I see ones like them advertised with 250,000 miles on the clock.
I could keep my two running for the next 10 years, they are big, fast, safe, don't rust and average 30 mpg if driven 'normally'
My thanks go out to their previous owners who bought then new and paid for their full dealer service histories.
Buying new cars is a bit like smoking, I would not do it myself, but I am gald that others do as both keep my cost of living down, leaving me more cash for holidays, the children, bikes, houses and no need to work overtime to pay the HP on the car of to buy the fags.
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Alex I cuould not agree more with your oppinion of peolpe buying new cars.It never ceases to amaze me what % of their income people waste on cars over their lifetime. How many could retire earlier/take more holidays etc. When I feel tempted to even think about a new car I picture myself hopefully electively reducing my Workload at 50,with no mortgage, and feeling smug about the lack of status I enjoyed whilst younger not woorying if my car going to be pinched.
PS out of interest what do you drive?
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I take it you have vauxhalls then,
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Be careful about the "only one key" clause.
If you need a spare - and who would drive around with only one key - it could cost a fortune to have the car and / or keys coded.
I have heard figures of up to £600 for a French car " if you lose the key card, Sir"
Are they true? They seem to be.
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This may or may not help, I had to buy a complete key for a '99 Sharan recently because it only had one and I have a 3 year old who likes hiding things! There is no choice but to buy one from VW and the cost was £142 for key, transmitter and coding to vehicle. I got the impression that the year 2000 models had yet another 'improvement' to security and keys may cost more. Has anyone else checked to see if their house/contents insurance covers the loss?
Rob
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Wolf, got a Volvo 940 GLE a few years ago, so impressed have I been that I bought another one for the Mrs to replace her knackered Rover - thre Rover went from firing on all 4 , three, then 2, eventulally on one cylinder - would jsut about start, but would not run
Alex
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3 grand saving less £500 for warranty less £??? to add an approved alarm (otherwise insurance will be 'difficult'), less cost of installing a radio/CD, less value of auto screen wipers which you're not getting, less value of other any items missing from the car (e.g. 2nd key)......all of this substantially reduces your saving. Only you can decide if it's worth it. I wouldn't want to rely on the sales staff and I wouldn't put a deposit on a car I hadn't seen.
Alwyn's comments re keys are very valid. However, I don't know if VW use key cards. BMW don't - dealers read the codes from the ECU. But if a key card is missing, I would expect a cost up to £1000. I found Trade Sales to be very disorganised. Sales staff didn't know what cars they had or where they might be. My son bought an in-stock Punto and, on collection, we were offered no handbook, remote key, service book, key card. When I said that the salesman had phoned them (i.e. the collection centre) to check that they had all this, they went to look for it and eventually returned with a Fiat plastic folder containing the r/c key, key card and docs in Italian. No service book was supplied so we have no proof that the PDI was done and, hence, the warranty may be invalid. Fortunately the car has been perfect. For a 25% saving, the hassle was worth it but I wouldn't lightly go through the same experience again.
One further point - check that they have the Certificate of Conformity otherwise they can't register the car. The COC for my son's car was missing which delayed collection by 3 weeks.
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The important item to have,is your car PIN NUMBER. Purchasers of new cars should be given this as a matter of course. 2nd hand buyers should always insist on being given this before they drive away.
It can take up to a week to get new electronic keys authenticated & programmed-beware!
If you have your car pin number an Auto locksmith will accomplish the above task,quicker & cheaper than a dealer.
regards
Simon
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Again Don't know about golfs but a complete new key for my beloved Vectra (mechanical key, immobiliser transponder & intregal RF remote) cost £75 from a dealer.
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