Hi KB :)
I've had this before and I think it's something to do with the site timing you out. Maddening when you've just done a lengthy response to someone! What I do these days is after typing out my reply, highlight the lot of it and press Ctrl+C (making sure to press Ctrl first, bit pointless if you overwrite everything you just typed with "C"...) or right clicking and "Copy" which is perhaps safer. Then if the site stuffs up or I get "Page can't be displayed" or whatever I can go back and just paste the response in again.
Handy for certain other sites as well.
All the best! Dan J
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I am about to send the order form to a dealer in Holland and I have done my home work, but I was just making sure that I have not missed out anything. I would prfer to source one from the UK, but when can I save more than £1200 then the effort involved is more than worth it.
Car Honda Jazz SE Sport
UK price with extras £12.355
I can source the same car same extras, bring it into the country myself and pay VAT Road Tax and register it for just over £11.000. The only drawback is the wait, exchange rate and the theoretical a resale value. I intend to keep the car for a while so I the resale value for me is not an issue.
any info greatly accepted.
Naf
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Have you tried any of the brokers for a discount on a UK car. £1200 quid is on the verge of not being worth it.
Andrew
Regards
Andrew
www.hispecgolfs.co.uk
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Have you seen HJs best Deals of the new year? Some cheap Jazzs there.
Can anyone tell me what Jazz (plural) is in English?
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Andrew
Yes tried them all the nearest I've got is around £500 pound saving on a standard car. Honda's seem to relatively well priced in the UK and seen as the car is not an expensive model then the amount saved is relative, I have set myself a target % saving and at the moment I am within that but if the pound continues to fall ????????
Naf
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As you may know, I have imported quite a few cars, but if I was only saving £700 over a UK car, it wouldn't bother. With a UK car, you'll get a full warranty and no hassle when selling.
Andrew
Regards
Andrew
www.hispecgolfs.co.uk
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Well, with a Honda, you get the full three year warranty anyway. If he's planning on keeping the car a very long time (about 7 years probbaly) it might make financial sense, although it's still hassle to go through. (I assume the £700 saving is based on the car delivered to the UK, versus a £500 discount off UK list).
If you sell the car at three years, you'll just lose all your saving when selling second hand. UK list for the base car is £11,295, so you've got a grand's worth of extras - but be aware that you won't get anything back, except maybe for metalic paint, when you sell it on.
£500 off is looking like a good deal for the Jazz - the best I can do is £330 through drivethedeal, although that brings the base price below £11,000 plus metallic. There aren't many discounts going on them, but at least they're fast, economnical, spacious and presumably reliable. Try www.carpricecheck.com - they send out e-mails so I haven't used them, but they can be good.
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Bit off the main point but do you realy want a Jazz, as I have already said in my previous postings the suspension is far too firm - you get bounced about and you have to be very careful what kind of shopping you place in the boot. I speak from experience as I have the Jazz sport and spent time cleaning broken eggs from the boot!.
If we had had the chance to test drive the car for 24 hrs. we would not have bought it.
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Thanks Dan for advice. Duly noted.
Some of what I was going to say has been said fortunately.
Firstly, have you tried.....www.bobgerard.co.uk/ No Jazz's shown, but ring for details.
Ring 0032 59802166 Speak to Norbert. He is at Casier Honda in Ostend, a mile from the ferry and opposite the Toyota dealer I bought some Yaris's from (at about £2000-£2500 off list).
My last 2 Yaris's came from Intermotive in the Netherlands - delivered to the UK without problem and excellent service. www.intermotive-car.nl........speak to Richard van Donglen.
Ring more dealers - I saw a CRV at £1200 off list yesterday (Eddie Grimstead, Romford). Haggle hard.
Try the Civil Service Motoring Assn. (CSMA). www.csma.uk.com....... See their website. They have arrangements with a Honda Dealer. Don't worry about not being a Civil Servant - no problem.
I agree it's definitely not worth importing if the savings are not substantial. I wouldn't do it if I wasn't saving more than £750 over and above the cheapest UK price. Simply not worth it.
Yaris's are readily available at good discount - either from Intermotive or Trade Sales/Motorpoint etc. Intermotive cars are UK spec and with 3 year warranty. They're a superb organisation - really helpful.
Have you considered the new Mazda 2 coming out soon? Similar to Fusion and available with petrol and diesel and auto as well as manual - Jazz is petrol only. I'll be contacting the Mazda dealer in Belgium between Calais and Ostend when it comes out.
Does the Jazz have the hard ride as reported everywhere?
Let us know what happens - will watch out for your responses.
KB.
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Thanks everyone for all the posting.
I do intend to keep the car for more than 5 years so am not worried about resale value.
www.bobgerard.co.uk (very knowledgable) will not be supplying the Jazz, tried them and I presume that after their cut has been taken the savings are not enough for any potential customers. We all know Denmark is the cheapest but they only have the 1.2
Specs differ greatly with the Jazz, it is only a 1.2 in some countries. Tried Ireland and completely diff spec.
Yaris is way to small, if space was not a factor here then it was my first choice.
I test drove one (Jazz) for a day, yes the ride is a little firm but apart from this the car is suitable for my wife and new baby (hence the new car), being small on the outside but big on the inside. I just have to cut out the eggs, or buy them boiled.
Tried Casier, can't supply that model.
CSMA, I'm a member, but no great savings
Not seen the Mazda and forget the Fusion (an eyesore).
3 year warranty with all Euro Hondas.
I'm putting about £900 worth of extra's on it
It a bit of an exercise for me aswell, fortunatley I live very close to the airport and can fly to Amsterdam for less than £30 and get the ferry back from Rotterdam for around £80.
Having to fill in a few forms is no fear/hassle for me, I have done a TAX return now for years !!!!!
I have found that a major factor is that the car is still very new and very much in demand so not much discount in the uk being offered. I would prefer to buy nearly new in the UK but these are not much cheaper than new ones.
Have I defended my self enough !!!!!!!!!!
I have not ordered yet and will do some more calling tomorrow, but £1200 is 3 weeks Skiing in France !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks all again for your comments, keep them coming, before I fax the order form off.
One last thing, why can't the UK dealers be like the one I am dealing with in Holland (Verhagen), they know the meaning of the word customer service, mind you I haven't placed my order yet !!!!
Thanks
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What extras are you getting on yours for £900.
Regards Mal
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Make sure you are getting quotes based on current Euro exchange rates. In the last six months or so, the Euro has strengthened (prices gone up) by about 5% from about 1.60/£ to 1.525/£.
Ian
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One last thought.....If the Yaris would have been OK except for the size (and I do agree with you on that - why couldn't they have just made it six inches longer and given it a boot worth having?).....you must have considered the Yaris Verso. It is alarmingly unattractive but does have loads of room and does come with that superb quiet, powerful and very economical diesel engine and it is a Toyota and Toyota are particularly good with imports, both at dealer level and Head Office.
Incidentally what are the contact details of your Dutch concern? Have you asked whether it's cheaper/easier for them to ship it over and you collect at the dockside, as per Intermotive?
Sounds as though you've done as much homework as is feasible - at least you can say do did your best.
KB.
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Are you sure Toyota like imports? I was told in no undercertain terms by my local dealer that neither they, nor any other Toyota dealer would touch an import as a trade in and would be reluctant to service it.
As for the size of the Yaris, it really depends what you want. It's not intended to seat 4 adults with loads of luggage - if you need to do that for a weekend, hire a bigger car! But it will seat 4 in comfort or 2 / 3 with plenty of boot space - with the rear seat forward you can get quite a lot in. It's a perfect size for what it is, what is really needed is not a bigger Yaris, but a better car in the 'next size up' class.
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Steve, my observations re. Toyota and imports relate to the experiences I've had regarding my having them serviced and registered and repaired under warranty, rather than taking them back to a showroom as a part exchange. In the latter respect I don't expect any dealer will be over the moon - hence the reason I've sold them privately. Others may wish to keep them for 5 years or so, at which point I don't think it would make any difference anyway. They have a department at Head Office which deals solely with imports and is very helpful and of course the Service Dept. at the local dealer gets paid for anything it does to the car irrespective of it's source.
Re. the size....I stick by what I say insofar as if the boot had been made 6" longer, you could get a half decent amount of shopping in it and the car would still be the same size as the Jazz. We've had Yaris's since 1999 so have some idea of what you can and can't do with it and feel that the passenger space is fine but the boot is just not big enough. Having said that, it can't be so bad as we've still got one but would have bought the Verso version if it wasn't so ugly (in our view).
Presumably you don't like the Corolla in any of it's 3door/5door hatchback, estate or Verso versions? Just as a matter of interest - what is it that you're not too happy about?
KB.
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I suppose it's possible the dealer was just desparate for me to buy a car from him - as I say, he also inferred that I'd have trouble getting it serviced or repaired by a Toyota dealer. I should add that the dealer I bought mine from has just been very good at fixing the many niggles I had with it - many he probably didn't need to do, and even washed it in to the bargain!
As I said before, the size of the car really related to what you want to do with it. For a single person who rarely has anyone else in the car, or even for a couple, it's perfect. I can fit my shopping in no trouble - I usually just dump it in the passenger seat, and unless you have a family I can't see you having trouble getting the weekly shop in the car. And if you do have a family, to be honest, the Yaris isn't the car for you.
I've got no problems with the Corolla, but it's just a car. Perfectly good, but it just doesn't have the nice little features of the Yaris. Don't forget that while 6" might not be much on a car, it makes it 6" harder to park and will entail more weight and reduced fuel consumption as a result.
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I have not ordered yet and will do some more calling tomorrow, but £1200 is 3 weeks Skiing in France
I assume from the above that you are saving £1700 on UK price, given that you say you can get a discount of £500 from a UK dealer. I certainly wouldn't do it if the real saving is only £700.
Are you protecting your exchange rate by buying a 'forward contract' or buying your Euros now? If not, further weakening of the pound or a devaluation would eat into your saving and could virtually wipe it out. Of course, the reverse could be true but it's a gamble.
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Okay lets put some figures to this debate :-
I will always beat a UK import agency on price as I have no commision and my costs to bring the car back to tht UK will be cheaper :-
Flight and train to rotterdam around £50.
Ferry from Holland to UK (Stenaline) £89
I live a 2hr drive from Harwich port and a 3 minute drive from Luton airport.
If it was a choice between a UK importer and a UK dealer I would choose the dealer :-
Best UK dealer offer so far :-
Jazz 1.4i DSI SE Sport Man £10,809
Tailgate Spoiler Colour Coded - £222.47
Front + Rear Mud Guards - £ 61.08
Carpet Mats - £ 44.89
Side + Bumper Protectors - £ 246.50
Colour Coding Protectors - £100.00
Cat 1 Alarm - £ 489.45
Total of above with metallic paint = £12,211.39
My calculated cost to import my self = £11,050 this includes paying the VAT, RFL , reg and travelling costs.(Have I forgotten anything)?
The above is based on an exch rate of 1.56 which I know is optimistic at present (rate at beginning DEC). Fortunately I am not the one paying for it, my wife if and she is French and still has a French bank account so payment will be in Euros so the exch rate is not a factor for me untill I come to pay the VAT as I believe that they calculate the VAT on rate at the date you brought the car in to the country ?
I was all set for the Yaris, but then discovered that life was about to change 9 months later. I went to the Toyota dealer sat in a Yaris 'yes very nice' opened the boot 'straight to the bottom of the list'
The Yaris verso, I agree with KB ugly. I did test drive the new Corolla but the Jazz has just as much room in a smaller package and i nice looking, the Corolla Verso is a real looker but I only have 1 child at present not an army.
The saving is around the £1200 pound mark on a UK dealer price and around £600 on a UK importer price, from what I've read about various importers, I would not trust any of them.
Please anymore comments are welcome as I will send off the order form this weekend.
Thank you all,
p.s. these bullitin boards are so much more active than the import news groups, mind you that's where I got the link from.
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I think this has been admirably comprehensively covered, Naf and in answer to the question 'Have I forgotten anything?, the only thing I have added to my own lists are :- £20 Bank Charge for sending the deposit by electronic transfer, the same again for the final balance transfer and £15-£20 to have UK plates made up. Additionally I have once or twice had to pay my Insurers small sums to keep simultaneous cover on my old car plus cover on the new one during the changeover period. Are you able to post details of the dealer in Holland, for future reference?
Yes, they do bill you for VAT as you described - when you fill in the form VAT 413 and hand it in with all the other stuff at the DVLA Local Office, they pass it on to Customs & Excise at Dover, who send the bill within approx 1 month.
Good luck with your purchase.
KB.
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Update, just spoke to the same UK dealer in my previous posting and he has offered me the same car but at £12000 so the saving for me has come down a little but still worth it in my opinion.
Dealer I am using in Holland :-
G. Verhagen Auto's B.V.
Baarlandhof 17
3086 EA ROTTERDAM - The Netherlands
Tel: 00 31 10 480 1166
Fax: 00 31 10 480 1886
info@honda-verhagen.nl
www.hondacars.nl
The Guy to speak to is Ferry Devries makes most of the dealers I have dealt with over here seem incompetent.
Mal, the extra's where listed in my prvious posting, the alarm is the majority of the cost but it is supposed to be the bees nees.
I will keep the car for as long a possible.
Thanks KB and Andrew (hispecgolfs.co.uk) and 'everyone who know me' for the posting.
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Thanks for dealer contact and, again, good luck with the order.
KB.
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Go for it! If you're keeping it for 5 years, and your real saving is 1200 quid, i'm sure you have nothing to lose.
Cheers
Andrew
Regards
Andrew
www.hispecgolfs.co.uk
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"Naf", done the deal on wifes Jazz the day they got the demo in, they would not budge on the list price of the car saying they could sell all they could get there hands on at the time-they were telling the truth!. After some persuasion reminding them that it was the third car I was buying off them in as many years
(2new 1 used)I managed to extract from them a good discount on the protective mouldings inc free painting also discount on carpets, mudflaps and door step garnish, and a free 27000 mile service for my civic aerodeck which i think is worth over £250 ( they probably hope I will not have the car when it becomes due)
Total savings came to over £500 which I thought was a good deal at the time.
I must admit if you don't mind the firm ride the rest of the car is great in every area
Regards Mal
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Mal
Thanks for the posting I have decided against having the all round body protectors painted as when they do their job as they are meant to, I am sure the paint will chip, what do you think ?
What model did you get, and is the engine still silent at tickover ?
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My jazz 1.4 sport se is eternal blue metalic and looks good with the mouldings painted but i did have problems with them (do a search on "protective mouldings")I have also seen the same colour jazz with unpainted mouldings and they look awfull as the matt finish on them looks as though they are meant to be painted!.At this moment in time I still have the orriginals on and the replacements are in the garage waiting for a nice warm summers day before take them off and replace them myself,I fitted the side mouldings myself as they were ok.
I would not worry too much about damaging the paintwork on the corner mouldings as they can be repainted in situ but do have them fitted because they are cheaper to repair than a whole fender. Hope I have been of some help.
P.S. garage tell me the only faults they have had on them in near a year have been 1 faulty radio and the adjustment of 1 rear hatch door the latter being mine.
Regards Mal.
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Once again Mal
Thanks for the reply I have will go for the the Satin silver, but will not have them painted for the exact reason's you have posted previously with colour match etc.
Naf
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Sorry, yes the engine is still as quiet at tickover as it was the day we got it,just had its first 9000m service £115 includes £6.95 enviromental charge... must ask them what that was for.
Regards Mal.
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I believe it's a charge to cover the 'environmentally friendly' method of disposing of the oil. Looks as though I'll have to think twice in future before next tipping it over next doors garden in the dead of night. (Perhaps one of those :-) thingy's would be appropriate here).
Incidentally, my local Honda dealer said he'd stopped painting the protectors on the Jazz for all the reasons stated here.
KB.
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Are you sure, seen them in silver and they look great,only reason we did not go for silver is because my Civic Aerodeck is also silver.Tomorow I am going to get in contact with a firm called Clim Air, they produce wind deflectors for all 4 windows. I have fitted them to my civic but have been waiting for them to produce them for the Jazz. They look good and are usefull.
Regards Mal
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Interesting, my dealer had..I think 4 attempts before I was happy but I put that down to incompetence mmmm might be better not to paint but I still say they look awfull unpainted, especially on silver.
Regards Mal.
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Here is the site for Clim Air www.scoot.co.uk/climair/
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Mal
I agree they do look nicer in the colour of the car, but I am trying prempt grief that you have experienced, I can live with the different colour and have made sure that I have seen as few that have unpainted protectors before I made the decision. I personal don,t think they look bad.
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This is fun.
Amazing, I have rung around and looks like I will source from the UK, as some dealers are coming nearer to my Import price, might get it to within £600, in which case it UK dealer 1, import 0 , I might add that the dealers are crying about it !!!!!!!!
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If delivery is important, I wouldn't import. If you don't mind the plate/value you might sequeeze a good deal in February from UK supplier. Get your readies out. Have you recalculated your savings based on 1.6 Euro to the £ Pound?
If saving less than £800, I wouldn't bother.
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To be sure, the saving of £600 in insufficient to go to the trouble of importing. And I bet, given your hard won experience, that there's even scope for the last round of hard bargaining that will extract just a tiny bit more from them. There's no case for sympathy, most dealers would willingly take the maximum from you in the cause of business and profit, as is to be expected. If you have the chance to get a little back from them then do it readily.
Presumably you just continued to ring round till you found this particular dealer? Well worth the effort. What part of the country was it in?
KB.
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Mal
Just to let you know, Honda have listened to the critics and the ride will be sorted across the Jazz range, so eggs can now be carried with confidence, the SE will come standard with a CD. Had an interseting chat with Honda UK and will stick with a UK sourced car for sure now.
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I knew his would happen. I can just see it now in the parkers guide it will go something like this... "Great car loads of space economical etc etc etc but beware of the earlier models which had atrocious ride quality"
When did honda say this would be happening? will it be soon or will you have to wait some time for your "improved" model.
I feel cheated by Honda uk as I now have a greatly devalued model Which might be difficult to sell once all these improved models hit the road.I am now thinking whether I should keep it or just stick with it.This has realy annoyed me!. :-(
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Mal
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, I found out because I called Honda UK to find out if there was any planned spec changes or prices increases before March/April as I was informed by a dealer that the body protectors may become standard. I was then told about the revised ride qualities, as for future values of the earlier models ? I personally found the ride acceptable in the current model but will try a new one when I can.
Spoke to Judith form Honda UK on 0845 200 8000, she was very helpfull and also informed me that cars imported are not quite upto the UK spec !!!!
Naf
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Mal
This revision was said to be for 2003 models.
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Naf, (What is that a nickname for)
This only proves that even the best car manufactures can get it wrong, remember the publicity about the Mercedes mini overturning on corners.
I realy should have tried the car out on the roads in Northumberland where I live before deciding but my nearest dealer is over 30 miles away.
If I do decide to "put up and shut up" and live with what I and now Honda UK deem to be an unsatisfactory ride quality I will certainly enjoy the rest of the car which I can not fault especially the "magic seats". BTW in Japan where I have visited a number of times recently the "Fits" as they are called there come with the wind protectors as standard as do most cars over there.
Regards Mal.
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