Stratstones prices?
Discussion
It's very difficult for Stratstones and for sure, something has to be done to lower prices if they want to compete and survive.
This is not because the cars are not worth the money they ask, it is simply, with the pound as it is
against the dollar (and has been for long enough for it to change UK prices in my view) there is no
escaping the fact, that it is cheaper to bring a car over, than buy here.
I would have loved to have given them my business and have told them a number of times of how the
figures stack up leaving them out adrift.
I waited in hope that with a new company at the helm for Europe, prices would come down, but I
couldn't wait forever and have now gone the import route myself.
I'd still recommend to anyone wanting the peace of mind of a 3 year warranty and who does not want to
go through the long winded import process to buy from them and I'd love to buy a Z06 from them as I
originally planned in the next year or two.
They will also continue to have all my servicing work.
This is not because the cars are not worth the money they ask, it is simply, with the pound as it is
against the dollar (and has been for long enough for it to change UK prices in my view) there is no
escaping the fact, that it is cheaper to bring a car over, than buy here.
I would have loved to have given them my business and have told them a number of times of how the
figures stack up leaving them out adrift.
I waited in hope that with a new company at the helm for Europe, prices would come down, but I
couldn't wait forever and have now gone the import route myself.
I'd still recommend to anyone wanting the peace of mind of a 3 year warranty and who does not want to
go through the long winded import process to buy from them and I'd love to buy a Z06 from them as I
originally planned in the next year or two.
They will also continue to have all my servicing work.
I Think it up to the person where they buy from a main UK dealer or bring it in themself I know with some of the warranty work I have had done I am more than happy to have bought from Stratstone. I think Stratstone are cheap for what you get all the Warranty and AA also all ther other parts on the car that are made soley for the UK! The real people who should drop their price are the grey Importers like ACI or American Carriage the Imports they are selling are well overpriced! and still an Import.
Vet Guru said:
I Think it up to the person where they buy from a main UK dealer or bring it in themself I know with some of the warranty work I have had done I am more than happy to have bought from Stratstone. I think Stratstone are cheap for what you get all the Warranty and AA also all ther other parts on the car that are made soley for the UK! The real people who should drop their price are the grey Importers like ACI or American Carriage the Imports they are selling are well overpriced! and still an Import.
Whilst I may well agree with the general thrust of this comment, I would point out that the GM warranty is actually legally world wide.GM just makes claiming somewhat tortuous.The mechanism of making a claim is as follows:
1, Make contact with the supplying dealer in the US (GM will also have this info based on the vin number.)
2, provide an estimate, and get the work done and PAY (the painful bit)
3, send the claim to the US supplying dealer, who will dircetly claim off GM.
4, practice a fair amount of both persistence and perseverance.
I think you will find the GM warranty is on North America I don't know of anyone who has ever been paid out! This happened to Vettheadracer on his Z06 and the car went to Bauer millett and he still had to pay out. I may be wrong but I have never heard of anyone geting a claim done on a US warranty, If that was the case why do all the american car importers but aftermarket warrantys on the car they sell? Just my two cents!!
Vet Guru said:
I think you will find the GM warranty is on North America I don't know of anyone who has ever been paid out! This happened to Vettheadracer on his Z06 and the car went to Bauer millett and he still had to pay out. I may be wrong but I have never heard of anyone geting a claim done on a US warranty, If that was the case why do all the american car importers but aftermarket warrantys on the car they sell? Just my two cents!!
The reason importers supply inclusive of an insurance based warranty is one of convenience, and is obviously included within the purchase price, they dont want the hastle of the paperwork etc.From my own experience, this can be done, you just have to read the GM warranty small print and be extremely persistent.
owenemyr said:
The reason importers supply inclusive of an insurance based warranty is one of convenience, and is obviously included within the purchase price, they dont want the hastle of the paperwork etc.
More likely it's because as traders they are deemed to be giving you a 12 month warranty and they don't want (can't afford) to have their arses sued if your new car goes Pete Tong. So an insured warranty seems to make sense for both trader and customer. All the customer has to do is get the insurance company to pay up; which is arguably a little easier than the "send the bill to the US dealer" route but still falls IMO a long way short of telling an authorised dealer to fix your car with the manufacturers official warranty backing them up.My comments re claiming for warranty work on directly imported US sourced cars and the route for claiming is now fully both vindicated and confirmed.!!
You need to create a relationship with the original US supplyer and claim through them.
This is confirmed by the blog on the UK corvette club site and a direct e-mail from GM.
I rest my case.
You need to create a relationship with the original US supplyer and claim through them.
This is confirmed by the blog on the UK corvette club site and a direct e-mail from GM.
I rest my case.
I looked at Porsche GT3 RS prices and they too were cheaper in the US than the UK but by the time you imported it, paid the duty and VAT the saving wasn't worth it especially as the hit on LHD when you come to sell it.
I am at the moment importing a Dodge Ram SRT-10 from the US and it is about £5k cheaper than buying from a specialist importer......and you don't get a warranty with these guys anyway....well at least not a manufacturer one.
I am at the moment importing a Dodge Ram SRT-10 from the US and it is about £5k cheaper than buying from a specialist importer......and you don't get a warranty with these guys anyway....well at least not a manufacturer one.
Vet Guru said:
Lets remember every car sold in America that you can buy in the UK is going to be cheaper, Shall we now talk about the petrol price US vs UK?
Don't talk so such about the total cost of the petrol, its the duty that has always been the issue. Its just that now the chancellors rip-off is so more apparent. Its a good job fuel is currently measured and priced in litres as in 'old money' the £5 gallon will be here soon!We look at the price of cars in USA and compare to what they will be in UK once you have added shipping, duty and vat on the total and can easily compare.
Look at little more closely at Euro spec cars that are marketed over here but are actually manufactured in the 'States and how what they are priced here.
Its seems to me that the shipping, duty etc etc seem to have far, far implications for 'genuine' imports. We are in rip-off Britain.
Having said all that I wouldn't fancy living in a paid-up EEC country in the next few months, it looks like financial melt-down may commence.
There are a number of different issues being discussed here.
As far as price differentials between the EU and U.S. people forget that economies around the world are geared completely differently. Cars may well be very cheap in the U.S. but has anybody checked what the average wage is out there?! As far as being an official dealer is concerned you are buying the car either in Euros or GBP as the car is supplied by Kroymans in the Netherlands so that is the only currency conversion that is relevant.
With regards to warranty and claiming back from U.S. dealers, this is definitely possible. However there are a number of hurdles which must be overcome. Firstly, U.S. dealers are in breach of their dealer contracts to sell new vehicles outside of the U.S. It is best to have any warranty work done by an authorised repairer so that you can confirm that that OEM parts were used and in line with manufacturers instructions, but is then for the customer to pay the bill. The customer then seeks to recover as much of that money as possible from the U.S. dealer but this can only be done according to the U.S. dealers parts prices and time guides, not to mention that he will be paying you in dollars. U.S. dealers can only submit claims for parts that they have bought from G.M. therefore they will have to prove that they have done so, even if they never supplied the parts to you in the end. The defective parts must be available for inspection by GM for a set time period after the claim is entered so you would need to freight your defective parts to the states too. The US dealer also risks flagging up that they supplied a vehicle outside of their allowed territory to GM too, risking massive clawbacks of bonuses. The largest to date being over $350,000 from a HUMMER dealer in LA.
This is why most U.S. dearlers will refuse to get involved in claims when the vehicle isn't in their possession.
As far as price differentials between the EU and U.S. people forget that economies around the world are geared completely differently. Cars may well be very cheap in the U.S. but has anybody checked what the average wage is out there?! As far as being an official dealer is concerned you are buying the car either in Euros or GBP as the car is supplied by Kroymans in the Netherlands so that is the only currency conversion that is relevant.
With regards to warranty and claiming back from U.S. dealers, this is definitely possible. However there are a number of hurdles which must be overcome. Firstly, U.S. dealers are in breach of their dealer contracts to sell new vehicles outside of the U.S. It is best to have any warranty work done by an authorised repairer so that you can confirm that that OEM parts were used and in line with manufacturers instructions, but is then for the customer to pay the bill. The customer then seeks to recover as much of that money as possible from the U.S. dealer but this can only be done according to the U.S. dealers parts prices and time guides, not to mention that he will be paying you in dollars. U.S. dealers can only submit claims for parts that they have bought from G.M. therefore they will have to prove that they have done so, even if they never supplied the parts to you in the end. The defective parts must be available for inspection by GM for a set time period after the claim is entered so you would need to freight your defective parts to the states too. The US dealer also risks flagging up that they supplied a vehicle outside of their allowed territory to GM too, risking massive clawbacks of bonuses. The largest to date being over $350,000 from a HUMMER dealer in LA.
This is why most U.S. dearlers will refuse to get involved in claims when the vehicle isn't in their possession.
Gassing Station | Corvettes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff