Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Will save you money |
| Disadvantages: |
Local dealer won't like you ! |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
The time had come to buy a new car. I broke open my piggy bank and counted my pennies. Armed with a reasonable deposit I set off into my local area to tour round the car dealerships to see what took my fancy.
After many test drives and pushy salesman, I finally decided to buy a Hyundai coupe 2.0 SE. The salesman was in the process of counting his commission, and writing his name at the top of the sales chart, when I popped the question to him "Why shouldn't I import one of these and save money?” His face fell, sweat appeared on his forehead, and he whipped out his book of car sales excuses. "You won't get a warranty, no one will service it, and it's a lot of hassle with tax and customs etc."
Not convinced, I decided to do some more research and walked out leaving behind a grovelling salesman offering me free car mats, and a stereo upgrade if I signed now.
I had seen a lot of stuff about importing cars on the TV and in magazines, but I didn't really want the hassle of flying over to Europe to buy, and having to pay import tax and registering the car in this country. Surely there must be a company out there that did all of this for me?
I turned to the internet for information. After punching in my criteria into a search engine, I found myself on the Motorpoint of Derby website. Within seconds, I had found a Hyundai Coupe listed in their ever so easy to use stock list, for £13,999, £4000 less than my local dealer.
The only problem was, they didn't have one in silver. My local dealer had told me that silver would cost extra as it was metallic paint, so I was prepared to pay a bit extra for the colour of my choice. I decided to call Motorpoint to see if they could get me a silver coupe. The lady on the end of the phone was very helpful, and informed me that she could get one for me in three weeks (2 months at the local dealer) at no additional cost. She talked me through a finance package at very reasonable rates, and said that all import taxes and registration costs would be paid, and are included in the price. All I had to do was turn up when my car was ready, hand over the money (of course!) and drive away. They would even include 12 months road tax for me.
I asked about warranty and servicing to see if Arthur Daley in my local dealership was right. Motorpoint would provide their own warranty for 12 months, however there would still be a 3 years manufacturer's warranty as well. "Why did Motorpoint go through the added expense of an additional warranty?" I asked. Some local dealers, may get a bit funny with an imported car, and might try to wriggle out of doing any warranty work, so the extra warranty was a 'just in case'. I was soon to put this to the test.
In terms of servicing, she assured me that my local dealer would only be too happy to relieve me of lots of money for routine servicing if I so desired, however under new rules, any qualified garage may service the car without affecting the warranty as long as they follow the manufacturer's servicing schedule and used genuine parts, once again saving me money.
Suitably impressed, I placed the order, and sure enough, three weeks later I received a phone call informing me that my car was ready for collection. After sorting out insurance, I jumped on a train up to Derby to collect my pride and joy.
Motorpoint greeted me with a much needed coffee, and showed me round the car before any paperwork was signed. They gave me English manuals (as the car had come straight from Korea via Cyprus), and most importantly a European Certificate of Conformity. This certificate is vital, as it is your proof that the vehicle conforms to EU regulations with regards to emissions and safety. Don't buy an imported car without one. Five minutes later I was driving home in my brand new Hyundai Coupe.
A couple of months later, I noticed one of my front brake callipers was leaking, it had contaminated the brake disk and alloy wheel. Time to try out the warranty at the local dealership.
The service manager greeted me in his friendly yet false way. I watched his smile turn to a scowl as I informed him that I have an imported Hyundai Coupe with a warranty claim. After a couple of phone calls to Hyundai UK, he reluctantly informed me that they would honour the warranty, but as the warranty was direct from the factory in Korea and not from Hyundai UK, I would not be entitled to a courtesy car. Would I like him to call me a taxi? Instead I called Motorpoint.
Helpful as ever, Motorpoint arranged for a hire car to be delivered to me within half an hour, completely covered by their warranty.
Overall, I would recommend Motorpoint to anyone wishing to buy a new or nearly new car. It will save you a lot of money.
So, did Arthur win? Not this time!
| More Reviews |
 There is no better place to buy a car from.
Review of Motorpoint of Derby Car Importer by
kazz42
Advantages: Save ££££££
Disadvantages: None!
...but when we arrived at motorpoint all of our fears subsided. It is a really professionally run business.
When it came to handing over the keys to our old car i whispered to my husband would they knock off some money they were giving us for our car as it did have a few minor scratches and chips here and there. But no they didn't! The salesman said "our boys in the garage can fix those no bother! it doesn't affect the price" again different from the ...
...were more confident to use Motorpoint than a main dealer. They again offered us a lot more for the old car, save us more than £5000 on brand new car and in fact was £2000 cheaper than second hand ones we had seen.
I have put none for disadvantages but that is only from my point of view. I suppose really there are a few things that I should make people aware of:
* You are the second name on the log book.
* The cars are imported so this affects ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
|
very helpful
18.05.2006
|
Top Class Service
Review of Motorpoint of Derby Car Importer by
wiseoldowl
Advantages: Massive cost savings, excellent service.
Disadvantages: only one central base in the UK
...a new Ford Focus from MOTORPOINT at Derby. He had a small choice of colours available ex stock at the time, but was able to choose from a wide selection of models. He paid under £10,000 for a model which retails in the UK for almost£13,500.
The service provided by Motorpoint was excellent, with no hassel and no problems at all. He merely had to visit the Post Office close to Motorpoint to obtain a tax disc for the car, and within an hour of visiting ...
...He has had only two problems with the car: 1) The service booklet was in flemish, but he obtained a new English version from Ford UK with no difficulty, 2) The car radio developed a small problem, but his local dealer replaced the radio without a quibble.
Slightly better prices still, can be obtained by travelling to Belgium, Holland etc to buy your new car, however I doubt if the hassel of getting the importation documents etc is really worth the ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful |
|
helpful
23.08.2000
|
 Is this typical of a Sales Person
Review of Motorpoint of Derby Car Importer by
tantec
Advantages: Reasonable Cost
Disadvantages: Very poor service
...have been an advert about Motorpoint in Derby and decided to give it a try.
My daughter went with us to see what they had although she was not looking to change her car at the time.
We travelled up to Derby and had a good look around but alas nothing took my wife and my fancy.
My daughter fell in love with a year old Silver Rover 25. About two hours later when all the paperwork had been completed, with some hard sell regarding finance, etc we ...
...sort everything out.
My daughter and I travelled back to Derby to collect the car.
We were just about to drive out through the barrier having shown the gatekeeper the paperwork, when I noticed there was no Tax Disc in the windscreen.
We parked up and I went to the Main Office and was told I would have to see the Sales person.
I went out and spoke to him and he acted as though it was our fault for not noticing it before. When I said he had not ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful |
|
helpful
27.07.2005
|
 Motorpoint of Derby
Review of Motorpoint of Derby Car Importer by
ycc8
Advantages: competitive deals
Disadvantages: no test drive, inconsistent sales information
...my Renault Scenic 1.6 auto expression was imported from Cyprus by Motorpoint to full UK Specification and the selling price was a massive 28% off UK list price. Although cars have delivery mileage, you only get the balance of 3 year warranty and registered as the second owner. ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful |
|
helpful
29.09.2004
|
 Quick review of Motorpoint of Derby Car Importer
Review of Motorpoint of Derby Car Importer by
POLEDANCER1
MOTORPOINT PROMISED THEY WOULD DELIVER MY CAR IN 7 DAYS..I SOLD MINE STILLWAITING TO HEAR FROM MOTORPOINT..NOT HAPPY AT ALL THEY HAVENT EVEN CONTACTED ME WHY I DO NOT KNOW??
Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful |
|
somewhat helpful
01.08.2008
|
14.04.2003
