Pre-registered Imports

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Thu 15 Feb 2001 10:59
Pre-registered Imports - Neil
I visited my local Ford dealer to find out what discounts were available for a Ka Collection. As there is currently a free insurance scheme on offer the best they suggested was £7999. Trade-Sales appear to offer Ka Collections at £6299.

With insurance and an additional warranty the Trade-Sales price would be between £7199 and £7299.

The salesman said that the ECUs of imports needed to be translated by the diagnostics machine, adding delays and extra costs to the servicing.

The salesman also said that the value of imports would be thousands less than a UK-sourced Ka.

Is the salesman right? What are the facts concerning values and diagnostics of non-UK cars? Does anyone have any experience?
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Mon 19 Feb 2001 13:53
RE: Pre-registered Imports - Rob Cook
Being the owner a Jap import Supra, and member of the owners club, I believe this to be a bit of bunkum on the part of the dealer. We have never had trouble with UK Toyota garages reading Jap ECU error codes. I don't think that computers talk to each other in anything other than Binary.

As for the re-sale value, just ask the salesman how much the Ka will drop in price the minute it leaves the forecourt. There is some truth that import values are less than UK spec though. They will also be awkward with ordering parts, like air filters and plugs, just ensure you book the car for service well in advance and that the dealer gets the parts in beforehand.

Unfortunately, this sort of thing is the downside of import cars. Weigh it up against what you save in cash.

Rob
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