Warranty on Imports

misnomer · Post by **misnomer** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 1:44 pm

I am importing my CC (should be here March), and I know that previously the warranty is 1 year (the 3 year warranty is offered by UK dealers, when you buy a car in the UK). My question is, I read about the "Directive 1999/44/EC of 25 May 1999" which basically says that anything sold in the eu now has a 2 year warranty. Does this apply to cars, and if so, has anyone already 'got' a 2 year warranty on their imported car?

The interesting bits taken from the "Directive 1999/44/EC of 25 May 1999" are:

*Article 1, Paragraph 2 (b)*
consumer goods: shall mean any tangible movable item, with the exception of:

- goods sold by way of execution or otherwise by authority of law,

- water and gas where they are not put up for sale in a limited volume or set quantity,

- electricity;

*Article 1, Paragraph 2 (e)*
guarantee: shall mean any undertaking by a seller or producer to the consumer, given without extra charge, to reimburse the price paid or to replace, repair or handle consumer goods in any way if they do not meet the specifications set out in the guarantee statement or in the relevant advertising;

*Article 1, Paragraph 2 (f)*
repair: shall mean, in the event of lack of conformity, bringing consumer goods into conformity with the contract of sale.

*Article 3, Paragraph 2*
In the case of a lack of conformity,the consumer shall be entitled to have the goods brought into conformity free of charge by repair or replacement,in accordance with paragraph 3,or to have an appropriate reduction made in the price or the contract rescinded with regard to those goods, in accordance with paragraphs 5 and 6.

*Article 5, Paragraph 1*
The seller shall be held liable under Article 3 where the lack of conformity becomes apparent within two years as from delivery of the goods. If, under national legislation, the rights laid down in Article 3(2) are subject to a limitation period, that period shall not expire within a period of two years from the time of delivery.

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 2:48 pm

Hi,

I too am currently importing my CC SE and am expecting it in March.
I spoke to my import company concerning the warranty and they said that Peugeot are kicking up a bit of a fuss concerning the compulsory 2 warranty. Apparently they are trying to boycott it which case they will only provide 1 yr (they MUST provide this). In which case I will opt for the extra 2 yrs which is an extra Â£159 (not a great deal)

Where did you get that information you keep referencing as it will be useful if I could have a look?

Cheers,

Marco

misnomer · Post by **misnomer** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 4:24 pm

I pulled the information from this pdf file:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/pol ... r01_en.pdf

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 6:33 pm

Imports can be cheap but also very problematic

Pauline · Post by **Pauline** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 8:13 pm

Chris, did you mean the cars can be problematic or the process of buying through an importer? I got mine from Motorpoint - that was a doddle - and my SE is new spec and my only problem (leaky roof seal) is the same as lots of other people on this site. Hope this give importers a bit of reassurance.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 9:52 pm

I can't see the dealer back-up being as good when it comes to warranty repairs on imports.

Obviously they have to repair the car but you may be lucky to get a courtesy car etc.. and hire cars don't come cheap unless you want a Micra.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 10:20 pm

I've been told of people who have given deposits to companies and lost all their money when the company goes bust.
Vehicles with the wrong spec being delivered (and the company offering to refund the difference but not change the car)!!!, some guy on this site even had one with a diferent shade of silver paint on his cars door to the main body...
Apparantly after sales service is pants,

But i can see why your doing it,
I'm looking at some other cars at the mo
An Impreza WRX new is 23 grand over here, imported is 17 grand.
It's all about taking a chance

bergen · Post by **bergen** » Mon Jan 28, 2002 10:33 pm

here in Norway its quite poular to import cars from Denmark. I would get the car about 3000Â£ cheaper, but with one year warranites. with an ordinary car i would have done it, but with this - no way...
Cant see me driving the car for three years without roof problems.. maybe im a pesimist, but if I get roof problems after one year the money would have run with the repair prices here in Norway.
The offical dealers are nice to the ones who have imported their car and do the service and (one year) waranty jobs without problems.

misnomer · Post by **misnomer** » Tue Jan 29, 2002 11:17 am

It's official!

I just spoke to my import agent (exclusive-eurocar.co.uk) and they have confirmed that any car bought after January 1st 2002 within the EU, now has a MINIMUM of TWO years warranty! Yay! I will now only have to extended my warranty by one year (to get three years - which I feel comfortable with!)

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Tue Jan 29, 2002 1:40 pm

Excellent news. Hopefully that will apply to me too.

Pauline thanks fro the re-assurance, to be quite honest importing is becoming more and more popular all the time.

Obviously you have to be careful who you choose as your importers, the best advice is to look out for award such as Which Car etc. Also make not of info on the websites such as their trading number etc

Misnomer, keep me updated with your progress (delivery etc) and I'll do the same - a bit of moral support

Cheers,

Marco

TZAG · Post by **TZAG** » Tue Jan 29, 2002 7:45 pm

What about the ones who ordered from a local dealer??
For example I've ordered late Sept 2001 and car will be delivered in March 2002.
What's going on with this order period??

??:

??:

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: TZAG on 2002-01-29 18:47 ]</font>

misnomer · Post by **misnomer** » Tue Jan 29, 2002 8:11 pm

Your car will be registered after 1st Jan 2002, so you will get 2 years warranty. It does not matter when you ordered it (I ordered my one last August!), only at the point when the car is registered.

Hope that makes sense

TZAG · Post by **TZAG** » Tue Jan 29, 2002 11:30 pm

Thanks misnomer, it does help me just to take care my dealer properly!

gmjones · Post by **gmjones** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 2:22 pm

For the people that are importing. Where are you getting your 3rd year warranties from i.e is it an external company or the importer themselves.

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 2:25 pm

You actually pay the importers themselves. So I presume they then do a deal with Peugeot

Marco