petrol head 46 Posted July 27, 2020 What’s going on? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lakeside 94 Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) 28 minutes ago, petrol head said: What’s going on? Thought they’d already pulled out of the uk a while back? Or was that just certain models. Edited July 27, 2020 by Lakeside Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halfpenny 114 Posted July 27, 2020 47 minutes ago, petrol head said: What’s going on? Mitsubishi are part of Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi appear to be winding down in Europe and the US and concentrating on selling pickups and SUVs in Asia/Australia. They already shut down their car factory in Thailand and only sell pickups and SUVs there. My guess is Europe will be left to Renault and the US and China to Nissan. Not sure where that leaves Nissan in Europe. They're closing their Spanish factory and can't see the Sunderland built cars being exported to the EU if there is a no-deal Brexit. I'm thinking there will be a few dropping out of the UK market. The GBP is very weak, especially against the Japanese Yen so I don't see a great future for Subaru in the UK.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave2302 387 Posted July 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Halfpenny said: Mitsubishi appear to be winding down in Europe and the US and concentrating on selling pickups and SUVs in Asia/Australia. That may well be because in climates like the UK the fuckin' things look great topside, but absolutely fall apart underneath Case in point 2017 Shogun, bought new from Swale Motors by a very wealthy local fleet owner mate of mine, for his wife's xmas present, (so it's never even been off road) and he doesn't even live next to the Sea !! All the stuff like Brake Backplates, Hose and other Brackets, little 10mm bolts holding stuff, etc etc are rotting away, started this at around 6 months old, he reported it under warranty and they offered to give him a can of paint ................... Ho Ho Ho, wrong bloke to take the piss with ..................... The court case with Mitzi UK is ongoing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted July 27, 2020 2 hours ago, Dave2302 said: That may well be because in climates like the UK the fuckin' things look great topside, but absolutely fall apart underneath Case in point 2017 Shogun, bought new from Swale Motors by a very wealthy local fleet owner mate of mine, for his wife's xmas present, (so it's never even been off road) and he doesn't even live next to the Sea !! All the stuff like Brake Backplates, Hose and other Brackets, little 10mm bolts holding stuff, etc etc are rotting away, started this at around 6 months old, he reported it under warranty and they offered to give him a can of paint ................... Ho Ho Ho, wrong bloke to take the piss with ..................... The court case with Mitzi UK is ongoing Sounds like he’s scared them off! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHM 994 Posted July 27, 2020 3 hours ago, Dave2302 said: That may well be because in climates like the UK the fuckin' things look great topside, but absolutely fall apart underneath I was thinking exactly the same when I read your comment. Horrid things, and by the time they get to 10yrs old (when I’ve occasionally had the misfortune of experiencing them) they’re usually absolutely knackered & ALWAYS have issues - they’re on my ‘Don’t buy list’. I think the last half-decent car they made was the Galant but no fucker wanted them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarkTVS 209 Posted July 27, 2020 46 minutes ago, BHM said: I was thinking exactly the same when I read your comment. Horrid things, and by the time they get to 10yrs old (when I’ve occasionally had the misfortune of experiencing them) they’re usually absolutely knackered & ALWAYS have issues - they’re on my ‘Don’t buy list’. I think the last half-decent car they made was the Galant but no fucker wanted them. You missed the evo 9 there! The 10 was nowhere near as good! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHM 994 Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) 29 minutes ago, MarkTVS said: You missed the evo 9 there! The 10 was nowhere near as good! Evos - I’ve never even sat in one! I’m afraid my buying profile doesn’t include pseudo rally vehicles. Scabby old 4x4s, abused estates & a few knackered old Zafiras are more my bag (unfortunately!) Edited July 27, 2020 by BHM 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 704 Posted July 27, 2020 1 hour ago, BHM said: Evos - I’ve never even sat in one! I’m afraid my buying profile doesn’t include pseudo rally vehicles. Scabby old 4x4s, abused estates & a few knackered old Zafiras are more my bag (unfortunately!) I remember when in the 90’s,pitches advertising in AT mag were cropping up and making serious money selling imported Evos and Impreza crap to Riff Raff.They had some way of evading the import duty but by advertising them they alerted the authorities and most of these guys got wiped out financially.......BTW I was a big fan of Zafiras and most 7 seaters,we did good business with them. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarkTVS 209 Posted July 27, 2020 1 hour ago, trade vet said: I remember when in the 90’s,pitches advertising in AT mag were cropping up and making serious money selling imported Evos and Impreza crap to Riff Raff.They had some way of evading the import duty but by advertising them they alerted the authorities and most of these guys got wiped out financially.......BTW I was a big fan of Zafiras and most 7 seaters,we did good business with them. Do they not still exist and are called motor hub now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
It's me 615 Posted July 27, 2020 2 hours ago, trade vet said: I remember when in the 90’s,pitches advertising in AT mag were cropping up and making serious money selling imported Evos and Impreza crap to Riff Raff.They had some way of evading the import duty but by advertising them they alerted the authorities and most of these guys got wiped out financially.......BTW I was a big fan of Zafiras and most 7 seaters,we did good business with them. the montego countryman estate with 2 rear facing seats the renault safrane? 7 seater Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stalker 180 Posted July 28, 2020 Anyone got a few PHEV outlanders in stock? They were doing good money until yesterday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 704 Posted July 28, 2020 10 hours ago, It's me said: the montego countryman estate with 2 rear facing seats the renault safrane? 7 seater Renault Safrane 7 seater,good one,I can’t even remember having one of them.What I do remember is buying rear seats for about £100 and fitting them in various estates to make them 7 seaters and then charging extra describing them as ‘countrymen’ .I think we were stopped because they didn’t fold down ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rory RSC 596 Posted July 28, 2020 13 hours ago, MarkTVS said: Do they not still exist and are called motor hub now Whats the story with that place? Did they make big money doing a tax scam back in the day ? @trade vet is that what a lot of these import places were doing? Was there a lot of them making a lot of money out of it in years gone by? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stalker 180 Posted July 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Rory RSC said: Whats the story with that place? Did they make big money doing a tax scam back in the day ? @trade vet is that what a lot of these import places were doing? Was there a lot of them making a lot of money out of it in years gone by? I remember one business local to us, their scam was getting friends and family to buy them at the docks for pittance and then selling them to the garage for more money avoiding the old vodka and tonic on the margin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 704 Posted July 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Rory RSC said: Whats the story with that place? Did they make big money doing a tax scam back in the day ? @trade vet is that what a lot of these import places were doing? Was there a lot of them making a lot of money out of it in years gone by? I think a lot of them did but they did not get to keep it.I stand to be corrected but I think back then you were allowed to import one car from outside the EU for your personal use without paying much duty.So they were getting imported in different names then getting sold for big money.Dealers thought that gave them immunity but the Customs guys took a different view.I recall a dealer friend saying that a relative of his worked for the authorities looking into grey imports.Apparently some doorstepper had the same imported car advertised for an unusually long time so they sent someone to see it.It was sold when he got there but he was then taken to some unit that was full of similar stuff and ‘ bang to rights .‘ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarkTVS 209 Posted July 28, 2020 3 hours ago, Rory RSC said: Whats the story with that place? Did they make big money doing a tax scam back in the day ? @trade vet is that what a lot of these import places were doing? Was there a lot of them making a lot of money out of it in years gone by? I’m sure they were formerly the Keighly trade centre back in the day and sold hundreds of imports, I’m sure they had a terrible reputation also. Motor hub removed their google page as they were getting bad reviews every week they do have some lovely stock though! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted July 28, 2020 We used to do a roaring trade on imports, a local trader used to buy blocks of 25 mx5 at a time, which we used to have to fit a fog light change some bulbs change the speedo from km to miles and fit band expanders so the radio would work in the uk, the speakers where 9 times out of ten shot so we would get a speaker sale at the same time. Something to do with a suv test ? dont quote me on that but was along those lines. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 704 Posted July 28, 2020 1 hour ago, MarkTVS said: I’m sure they were formerly the Keighly trade centre back in the day and sold hundreds of imports, I’m sure they had a terrible reputation also. Motor hub removed their google page as they were getting bad reviews every week they do have some lovely stock though! Keighley Trade Centre were a mystery,they used to advertise fleet stuff in AT mag cheaper than we could buy it for.Some of our punters tried to buy from them until they saw what it was before returning to us.I was in Keighley once to see an old trader friend and by chance drove past Keighley Trade Centre and the stock looked covered in dust.I can’t tell you what he said,Motorhub might also be them.I was also told at that time ( rightly or wrongly )that there were businesses in that area like large flash restaurants which existed with seemingly not many customers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lakeside 94 Posted July 28, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, MarkTVS said: I’m sure they were formerly the Keighly trade centre back in the day and sold hundreds of imports, I’m sure they had a terrible reputation also. Motor hub removed their google page as they were getting bad reviews every week they do have some lovely stock though! They still are dodgy. A friend of mine went to view a car there and found out it had been clocked under their ownership, ran a few more reg’s off their website through dvla when he got home and found a fair few of their other cars had also been clocked. Edited July 28, 2020 by Lakeside Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
David Ayers 171 Posted July 28, 2020 (edited) They now operate out of a multi story car park which is quite fitting because some of the stock has been parked up for years. https://www.motor-hub.co.uk/used-cars/mclaren-675lt-3-8-v8-ssg-2dr-keighley-201704114315307 Case in point. This McLaren’s tax ran out December 2016. The reg on this Lambo can’t be found on DVLA’s tax portal but it is pictured with a price board of £279995 Now only £179989. https://www.motor-hub.co.uk/used-cars/lamborghini-huracan-5-2-v10-lp-640-4-performante-ldf-4wd-ss-2dr-keighley-201712142046589 Edited July 28, 2020 by David Ayers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boycie 30 Posted July 28, 2020 7 hours ago, justina3 said: We used to do a roaring trade on imports, a local trader used to buy blocks of 25 mx5 at a time, which we used to have to fit a fog light change some bulbs change the speedo from km to miles and fit band expanders so the radio would work in the uk, the speakers where 9 times out of ten shot so we would get a speaker sale at the same time. Something to do with a suv test ? dont quote me on that but was along those lines. Originally, once you had imported the car, you just needed to MOT it and then register it. For the MOT test we would just put some red plastic over the reverse light and pretend it was a fog light. The tester didn't care. You could buy an ok MX5 or Eunos Roadster as they were called for about £1200 because Sterling was strong against the yen, shipping and duty was around £700. Spend £300-£500 on prep and then knock it out for £4,995. All the old crap would get sold abroad, we couldn't buy enough of them. Mitsubishi FTOs and GTOs always sold well. The GTO buyers were usually fat middle aged men... The UK manufacturers started complaining so they introduced the SVA test, which was just a more strict MOT test but it cost just under £200, but the testers were strict. Then they introduced something, I think it was the ESVA test and everything had to have a type approval certificate, then most people gave up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halfpenny 114 Posted July 29, 2020 12 hours ago, Boycie said: Originally, once you had imported the car, you just needed to MOT it and then register it. For the MOT test we would just put some red plastic over the reverse light and pretend it was a fog light. The tester didn't care. You could buy an ok MX5 or Eunos Roadster as they were called for about £1200 because Sterling was strong against the yen, shipping and duty was around £700. Spend £300-£500 on prep and then knock it out for £4,995. All the old crap would get sold abroad, we couldn't buy enough of them. Mitsubishi FTOs and GTOs always sold well. The GTO buyers were usually fat middle aged men... The UK manufacturers started complaining so they introduced the SVA test, which was just a more strict MOT test but it cost just under £200, but the testers were strict. Then they introduced something, I think it was the ESVA test and everything had to have a type approval certificate, then most people gave up. We bought some cars in around 15 years ago. Generally they were very good. Mainly FTOs and MX5/Eunos. Put through SVA with speedo dial, rear fogs, tank restrictor etc. We had very few problems and it was good business. I went out to Japan twice. What killed it was the exchange rate. At the time Sterling was well over 200 Yen. 240 at one point I think. Now its half that. So its not economic any more, although I do see there are people bringing in Prius, the occassional Alphards and 'specialist' stuff. 17 hours ago, David Ayers said: They now operate out of a multi story car park which is quite fitting because some of the stock has been parked up for years. https://www.motor-hub.co.uk/used-cars/mclaren-675lt-3-8-v8-ssg-2dr-keighley-201704114315307 Case in point. This McLaren’s tax ran out December 2016. The reg on this Lambo can’t be found on DVLA’s tax portal but it is pictured with a price board of £279995 Now only £179989. https://www.motor-hub.co.uk/used-cars/lamborghini-huracan-5-2-v10-lp-640-4-performante-ldf-4wd-ss-2dr-keighley-201712142046589 I thought it was common knowledge that these guys also run a laundry....... Quite how they are allowed to carry on is beyond me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johny1980 4 Posted July 29, 2020 On 7/28/2020 at 6:49 PM, David Ayers said: They now operate out of a multi story car park which is quite fitting because some of the stock has been parked up for years. https://www.motor-hub.co.uk/used-cars/mclaren-675lt-3-8-v8-ssg-2dr-keighley-201704114315307 Case in point. This McLaren’s tax ran out December 2016. The reg on this Lambo can’t be found on DVLA’s tax portal but it is pictured with a price board of £279995 Now only £179989. https://www.motor-hub.co.uk/used-cars/lamborghini-huracan-5-2-v10-lp-640-4-performante-ldf-4wd-ss-2dr-keighley-201712142046589 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted July 29, 2020 (edited) We used to sell loads of pajero’s (and yes I know what it means In Mexican or whatever). Again, fog light, speedo and radio band expander. They used fly out back then! 7 seats, dual climate and all that leather! Fun times Edited July 29, 2020 by metcars 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites