Author Topic: Buying new car in US (Read 4718 times)

brian111 · « **on:** November 30, 2004, 05:34:25 pm »

Given the Canadian $ appreciation, it is cheaper to buy in the States. Anybody know how to buy a new car in the US and then import it to canada?

thanks in advance

Drivesideways · « **Reply #1 on:** November 30, 2004, 05:46:59 pm »

Welcome to the forum Brian. You might want to start by poking around the forum at some of the recent discussions on this topic. Try the search feature.

Also, this site
http://www.riv.ca/english/html/how_to_import.html
has some information on the process. However their might be some pitfalls (such as vehicle modification requirements) that are not sufficiently addressed there.

brian111 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 02, 2004, 12:38:57 pm »

thanks for the info

brian111 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 14, 2005, 11:25:11 am »

I had read over the requirements. There are quite a few, but attainable. However, usually there turn out to be more hassels when you try to deal with bureacrcy.

Has anyone done this before? I am planning to buy a lexus rx300. It's about 50K CAD and $34K US/41KCAD with the current exchange rate. Is it worth the hassel?

thanks,

Mdxtasy · « **Reply #4 on:** January 14, 2005, 11:27:23 am »

What fees do you have to pay on it? Do you know the total cost of doing this import? We looked at the RX..nice interior and very smooth to drive. Didn't like the back design and it wasn't as big as we needed.

brian111 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 14, 2005, 12:25:06 pm »

The fees appear to be around a few hundred. Not a lot of modifcation required.

Given the large price discrepancy, $9K. I would think that there has to be a market for importing, unless there are hidden fees/problems. I am not sure if you have to pay the sales tax twice. If so, that would reduce the difference by $3-4K

Mdxtasy · « **Reply #6 on:** January 14, 2005, 12:53:28 pm »

Have you contacted Toyota about the warranty? Will Toyota Canada honor the American version here in Canada?

sirAQUAMAN64 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 14, 2005, 02:38:24 pm »

I phoned Toyota on a Scion xB and they said it's up to the DEALER as to whether they'll work on it and put thru special warranty requests.

Sounded odd to me, but my local dealer was fine with servicing it for me (they said the engine parts and tranny are close enough to Echo that it shouldn't be a problem, but warned odd parts may take long to get). When I worked at Lexus we made sure that people moving from the US to Canada or vice versa were covered by their warranty. But I'm not sure they'll routinely do the same thing if you BUY specifically in the US. It's a sensitive issue, especially when one country's currency is lower respective to the other's - mother back in Japan cuts allocation if it finds out vehicles are heading out of the country and figures you don't need as many.

I'd contact Lexus Division and get written consent. Or at least inquire. There are at least 2 reps I know of at TCI that deal with such issues, and they answer consumer calls.

Sterling · « **Reply #8 on:** January 14, 2005, 09:40:18 pm »

I know that a couple years ago in the the diesel truck exporting heyday that Ford decided to cancel the warranty of any vehicle sold in Canada and then registered in the U.S. I am quite sure that GM did the same.

I wouldn't be surprised if manufacturers took similar steps to also prevent importing from the U.S. to Canada.

barrie1 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 14, 2005, 11:13:38 pm »

Usually the vehicle has to be in your name registered in Canada for 6 months at least. After that you are free to take it with you and have warranty. Less hassle at the border as well.

brian111 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 15, 2005, 08:14:34 am »

I think the warranty issue will be the biggest problem. I don't see why they wouldn't honor it, but you never know.

Well, maybe it's not worth the hassel. I need to buy 2 cars for the family and would probably save $20K if I bought in the US.

Barrie1: Do you mean registered in the US? I am trying to import to Canada.

barrie1 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 15, 2005, 01:40:16 pm »

Yes registered in the Us or Country of Purchase. Where ever you purchase a vehicle they have tightened up the rules quite a bit for the Dealers. Its usually the other way round with people coming here to buy their Newer Used Vehicles as the prices are generally cheaper here then in the US. You have to remember that with the Free Trade levelling out the playing field that they are usually paying the same price as us only in US Funds.

jlkcruiser · « **Reply #12 on:** January 20, 2005, 01:47:10 pm »

Has anyone here actually gone through the whole process of importing a car from the US, buy that I mean, buying it privately from a current owner in the US, then bringing it across the boarder and taking ownership in Canada? I currently have a 2002 Limited Edition PT Cruiser and I want to sell it and get a 2003 Turbo PT Cruiser. I found a nice one in the US for a really good price, however, I have never brought imported a car before. I just want to know if anyone here has imported a vehicle and how difficult or easy was it?

tenpenny · « **Reply #13 on:** January 27, 2005, 08:15:58 pm »

I friend of mine has a lovely bmw he picked up in conneticut, but he had a contact that does this for a living. He got the s/n of the car, and had his friend do research on what would be needed. Only mod required was the odometer, and he didn't bother doing it.

An ex co worker moved here from Hawaii (why? dunno. I think he moved the wrong way), and brought his nissan something. He never could get it registered. It had those auto-f'ing-matic seat belts, and there was no way to get it modified to suit canadian regulations. It was just plain hopeless.

I believe that with the particular s/n in hand, you can find out what's required. But I'd be surprised if it really is any cheaper.

needminivan · « **Reply #14 on:** January 27, 2005, 09:46:43 pm »

I was also considering used late model vehicle that was sold by dealers here and still under warranty(this was a 04 MPV). A dealer told me that they would probably do it, but you might get some resistance by other dealers who don't want to do extra paperwork and try to get it "approved". I think that being a used car without original owner service records the dealer would have more grounds than refusing a one owner car.

Ask the company for a copy of the warranty that will come with the vehicle you purchase.

I don't understand how someone can have a North America wide warranty, yet refuse to cover in a country...UNLESS it specifically excludes cars which are registered in one country and then registered in a second country, but includes not those that are driven there for vacation or other purposes.

I'd be really interested in why a North America warranty may not be in effect in part of North America.

footlong58 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 27, 2005, 09:53:35 pm »

If you bought the car in Canada and lets say drive to the USA, some car companies will force you to pay for service in the states, but you will be reimbersed for the warranty work done while outside of Canada...

I'm not sure how it would work for importing though...

davidm · « **Reply #16 on:** January 28, 2005, 01:56:56 pm »

Spoke with a BMW dealer and he indicated they are required by the BMW mothership to switch the guages to metric (they charge you) and then honor the warrenty as if it was a Canadian car. Being at a dealership 30 minutes from the US border, the exchange rate was starting to make him very nervous.

My understanding of the process involves contacting the US side of the border and filling out export paperwork (in advance) and then doing the import paperwork at the Canadian side. It must then be inspected (Canadian Tire can do that) and then can be register and licensed. Not sure about initial registration in the US.

blue · « **Reply #17 on:** January 29, 2005, 01:28:32 pm »

Brian111 ,
not sure if this helps , but my cousin was looking to import Landcruisers into Canada ( long story ) and it seems the only thing he could do so legally , with very little hassles , were vehicles over 15 years old . I don't remember all the details , but I think he mentioned that bring a new/used car across the border you have to pay huge tax fees ,etc . Again , can't recall the details , but he did a ton of research , and mentioned there was a lot of info on the Canadian Federal government site . Good luck .

As a side note , I once met a guy here in Alberta that made a HUGE pile of US dollars by buying used diesel trucks and selling them in the US . This was in the late 90's up to about three years ago . I'm pretty sure he swindled a ton of innocent folks about warranty issuses and such , and his used-car dealership has since closed and he's nowhere to be found . I do think that the government /border patrol have tightened all the loopholes to avoid this happening (probably pressured from the manufactors/ angry warrantyless buyers ). But you never know .

barrie1 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 29, 2005, 08:36:06 pm »

Blue the Canadian used vehicles generally sell quite well in the US because we as a nation look after our vehicles. With our harsher climate we have to maintain to a higher standard and the Folks in the US like to buy our used vehicles. Even the heavy trucks are are cheaper to buy from Canada. The Car Dealer probably retired to a nice warm island somewhere.

Author Topic: Buying new car in US (Read 4718 times)

Mdxtasy

Mdxtasy

Sterling