Dealer has new cars imported from Malta

username?!

Hi All,

A friend has recently looked at buying a brand new car and visited a car dealer that has just opened. (I won't named names for now) When they arrived most of their cars where not actually on location but waiting to be "cleared".

They were told all the cars are sourced from Malta as they drive on the left apparently.

Is this normal practice or should alarm bells be ringing?

This is for a brand new high end car, so I'm thinking what could possibly be wrong?

coylemj

Assuming that the dealer pays the correct VRT and VAT, it's perfectly legal but this is what is known as a 'grey import' i.e. it was brought in independent of the local authorised distributor. Under EU rules covering the single market, the Irish distributor will have to honour the warranty but if you bring it to a local authorised dealer for a warranty claim and they discover that it's a grey import, expect to get the runaround.

I though that Denmark was the only country in the EU where the pre-tax price of cars was lower than in Ireland - prices must be lower in Malta as well.

Atlantic Dawn

There was a post on HUKD ( a bargain alert site) a couple of months ago with a company in the UK selling new unregistered Skoda Octavias that had been imported from Malta. The speedo would be in km/h so should differ very little if at all from the Irish version. Whether it would warrant an import declaration to your insurance company would be a grey area.

Apologies it was actually Cyprus, here's the ad, it was £20199 for a Petrol VRS DSG, apparently that was £6k off the normal UK list price ....
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/brand-new-skoda-octavia-2-0-tsi-vrs-dsg-nav-choice-colours-20199-with-ved-dvla-registration-2285375

jeamimus

I presume this garage isnt authorised to do the servicing so you will have to go to a main dealer for this. As mentioned above, they should do this for you but you will not be their most popular client.
For potential hassle, you should expect a substantial reduction from dealer prices here.
Might be worthwhile going back to the main dealer to see if they can match the import prices - they surely won't but they might make an interesting offer...

Stinicker

I heard of a local lad importing a brand new Toyota Landcruiser back during the boom years from Malta, I think it cost in the region of 70 grand and whatever model it was at the time unavailable here, so importing from Malta is not unheard of.

Theanswers

I had a 06 Range Rover which originally came from Cyprus or Malta. Can't remember which place. It's now in London.

coylemj

jeamimus wrote: »

I presume this garage isnt authorised to do the servicing so you will have to go to a main dealer for this. As mentioned above, they should do this for you but you will not be their most popular client.

The OP's 'friend' will be very popular with any dealer he goes to for a paid service. Warranty claims will be a different issue.

the_syco

coylemj wrote: »

The OP's 'friend' will be very popular with any dealer he goes to for a paid service. Warranty claims will be a different issue.

Could the dealer turn around, and say that the OP's mate has to bring it to the main dealer of the country of origin, citing lack of parts?

hi5

All manufactures warranties must be honoured as part of EU legislation...

Under the Regulation the producer and all dealers should honour the guarantee and provide free servicing, vehicle recall work, and repair and maintenance services necessary for the safe and reliable functioning of the vehicle, irrespective of where and from whom in the Common Market the vehicle was purchased [Article 5(1)(1)(a) and (b) and Recital 26].

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/legislation/1475an7_en.html

swarlb

hi5 wrote: »

All manufactures warranties must be honoured as part of EU legislation...

Under the Regulation the producer and all dealers should honour the guarantee and provide free servicing, vehicle recall work, and repair and maintenance services necessary for the safe and reliable functioning of the vehicle, irrespective of where and from whom in the Common Market the vehicle was purchased [Article 5(1)(1)(a) and (b) and Recital 26].

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/legislation/1475an7_en.html

A brother of mine bought a new car from a Main Dealer some years ago that had originally been imported from Malta. The dealer in question had imported a number of these models themselves.
A few years later he went to a different Main Dealer looking to trade in and buy another new car. They refused to take the car on the grounds that it was a 'grey import'.
He took both the manufacturer and dealership to court, and won his case. While the dealer in question were not obliged to take his car as a trade in, or to indeed sell him a new car, they were reprimanded for refusing to deal with my brother in a civil and lawful manner.
The manufacturer took back the car themselves, and provided him with the newer model of his choice.

Cee-Jay-Cee

It just goes to show the sheer level of ignorance in the motor trade. These cars are identical to cars sold here, they're made in the same factory and the only possible difference will be minor cosmetic ones. Mechanically and structurally they're the same car.

The mentality of dealers is akin to That of the irish people not so long ago, in that when they're not sure of something, rather than having a look, and seeing that they're identical and getting on with the job, they cower away from it citing uncertainty and lack of knowledge.

Atlantic Dawn

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

It just goes to show the sheer level of ignorance in the motor trade. These cars are identical to cars sold here, they're made in the same factory and the only possible difference will be minor cosmetic ones. Mechanically and structurally they're the same car.

The mentality of dealers is akin to That of the irish people not so long ago, in that when they're not sure of something, rather than having a look, and seeing that they're identical and getting on with the job, they cower away from it citing uncertainty and lack of knowledge.

You would think they would be rubbing their hands with the business it will bring them, I thought the money was made in service and repair now and margins are tiny on new cars.

Long Time Lurker

Dont cars that come from Cyprus and Malta not have the same level of underbody sealant and Shultz as its not required because of their better drier climate!

colm_mcm

insurance would probably load it too?

George Dalton

Long Time Lurker wrote: »

Dont cars that come from Cyprus and Malta not have the same level of underbody sealant and Shultz as its not required because of their better drier climate!

Yes plus other differences like less spec, lower capacity alternator, smaller battery, different headlights etc.

All of that applies to older stuff though. not sure if the same would be true of a new car now.

billy few mates

I cant see any merit in importing a car from Malta, I lived there for a number of years and cars were horrendously expensive and mostly very low spec, you had to pay a premium for every single extra including the radio. It took at least three months from the day you ordered a car to the day you got it because everything has to be shipped in and shipping links are not that great. Also because of the size of the place there was only one franchise per brand so if you wanted a Ford you only had one dealer to choose from so there was little or no scope for bargaining or shopping around. Second hand car prices were crazy as were spares prices and by and large the locals didn't really look after their cars. There are over a million cars on the island which is quite small so traffic is crazy in all of the urban areas (especially in summer) and the rest of the roads around the island are generally quite poor, plus the standard of driving in Malta is abysmal. The climate is quite harsh with long hot dusty summers and lots of rain and flooding in winter, I certainly wouldn't buy a Maltese import....

Markcheese

Yeah .. but if your buying a brand new car from malta , and after buying the car, paying the transport and vrt it's considerably cheaper than an equivalent spec irish car then happy days ...

my friend

hi5 wrote: »

All manufactures warranties must be honoured as part of EU legislation...

Under the Regulation the producer and all dealers should honour the guarantee and provide free servicing, vehicle recall work, and repair and maintenance services necessary for the safe and reliable functioning of the vehicle, irrespective of where and from whom in the Common Market the vehicle was purchased [Article 5(1)(1)(a) and (b) and Recital 26].

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/legislation/1475an7_en.html

You're placing a lot of faith in an entity that may not exist in 12 months

PukkaStukka

hi5 wrote: »

All manufactures warranties must be honoured as part of EU legislation...

Under the Regulation the producer and all dealers should honour the guarantee and provide free servicing, vehicle recall work, and repair and maintenance services necessary for the safe and reliable functioning of the vehicle, irrespective of where and from whom in the Common Market the vehicle was purchased [Article 5(1)(1)(a) and (b) and Recital 26].

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/legislation/1475an7_en.html

If you buy new outside Ireland and the length warranty is different in the country of purchase than it is in Ireland, then which warranty length applies here? If you buy a car abroad with, for example, a five year warranty, but the same car here new comes with a much shorter one, are the dealers here bound to honour the longer warrant on the import??

colm_mcm

what can happen in practice is the dealer needs to get approval for warranty works in advance which means delays.

other examples I've had personal experience of were a hyundai that has 5 yr warranty in UK but 3 here. they had to claim the repair first then did it without quibble. that was a tyre pressure sensor.
had a fuel pump to on a 3 year old passat. Irish cars had 2 year warranty at the time. vw ireland refused to do it. had to do it up north.

swarlb

billy few mates wrote: »

I cant see any merit in importing a car from Malta, I lived there for a number of years and cars were horrendously expensive and mostly very low spec, you had to pay a premium for every single extra including the radio. It took at least three months from the day you ordered a car to the day you got it because everything has to be shipped in and shipping links are not that great. Also because of the size of the place there was only one franchise per brand so if you wanted a Ford you only had one dealer to choose from so there was little or no scope for bargaining or shopping around. Second hand car prices were crazy as were spares prices and by and large the locals didn't really look after their cars. There are over a million cars on the island which is quite small so traffic is crazy in all of the urban areas (especially in summer) and the rest of the roads around the island are generally quite poor, plus the standard of driving in Malta is abysmal. The climate is quite harsh with long hot dusty summers and lots of rain and flooding in winter, I certainly wouldn't buy a Maltese import....

Sounds like you're describing Ireland....and here was me thinking that 'Paddy' was the worst of the lot, when it came to low spec cars, the state of the roads, bad driving, 'stealer dealers... and rain and flooding in winter. Seems we have a lot of common with our Maltese cousins.

Nonoperational

Spec levels have improved hugely over the past few years, but some people just don't care. There's no reason to poke fun at them, they just want a reliable car that works with no hassle. They probably wouldn't even know what air conditioning is so why would they pay for climate control.

hi5

Its the manufactures warranty you get. If for example Ford Ireland offer a five year warranty then that's an extended warranty by 3 years which you pay for when you buy.
The manufactures warranty is the warranty from the factory.

http://www.ford.ie/FordService/Servicing/FordWarranties