Quite a few people on gixerjunkies buy from Taz, as mentioned they are importers so are cheaper due to that. The third year of the warranty is with Taz themselves from what I've read, I've also read about a guy that got his import registered (?) or something on the UK warranty database in case of any issues.
I think you'd take a hit on the resale value but possibly that would be smaller than what you'd save, making it worthwhile?
Also, and this is the main (only?) reason I'd personally buy an import, you get access to different colour schemes
