Topic: Luxury cars cost more in Canada than the US

[Railton]

Railton
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http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/02/06/luxury_cars_trucks_cost_more_in_canada_says_pricegap_study.html

[sailor723]

The Senate's just figuring this out now?   Good to see our tax dollars at work 

[toolatecrew]

Well duhhhh

 

The report recommended Ottawa review its policies on import tariffs and safety standards with a view to making Canadian prices more competitive with the U.S.
It also encouraged Canadian consumers to bargain harder with retailers.

 

Yeah bargaining harder with the retailer who simply pays the price the manufacturer charges that will hep. Profit margins at the dealer level are not higher on cars in Canada. Its the distributors like Subaru of Canada or GM Canada that set the invoice price to the dealers and freight charges.  What a stupid thing to say.

Nothing will change people. They will charge what the market will bear. You have 2 choices. Take it or go to the US and try to import a car.

[redman]

Well duhhhh

 

The report recommended Ottawa review its policies on import tariffs and safety standards with a view to making Canadian prices more competitive with the U.S.
It also encouraged Canadian consumers to bargain harder with retailers.

 

Yeah bargaining harder with the retailer who simply pays the price the manufacturer charges that will hep. Profit margins at the dealer level are not higher on cars in Canada. Its the distributors like Subaru of Canada or GM Canada that set the invoice price to the dealers and freight charges.  What a stupid thing to say.

Nothing will change people. They will charge what the market will bear. You have 2 choices. Take it or go to the US and try to import a car.

I agree moronic replies from our gov't. As far as importing a car from the U.S., it is becoming harder and harder. Some new tricks are being deployed.
As far as low end cars, unless they have a expensive engine immobilizer, they are not permitted.
Regarding expensive cars like Benz, unless you change the bumpers to 8km bumpers $$, most are not permitted. DRL's are hardly a stopper.
The B.S. continues.....

[toolatecrew]

The only thing the government could legitimately do would be to harmonize safety regulations making importing easier.

.
1.They won't do it no way will either Canada or US admit the other guy has it right and we don't.
2.Even if they did harmonize the regulations manufactures would just find another way to throw up barriers to protect Canadian dealers who complain about lost sales to the US.

Look it sucks but people need to realize it won't realistically change. People can criticize and say "Oh it won't change if you just give up" but facts are facts. If I have a 100 foot high rock in front of my window it COULD get moved. If I get a permit and buy 1000 tones of TNT and then blow it up without destroying my house and then find a way to car the debris away. It CAN happen but I'd be a whole lot better off to just give up and either move or expend my time and money on something else.

[Northernridge]

The only thing the government could legitimately do would be to harmonize safety regulations making importing easier.

.
1.They won't do it no way will either Canada or US admit the other guy has it right and we don't.
2.Even if they did harmonize the regulations manufactures would just find another way to throw up barriers to protect Canadian dealers who complain about lost sales to the US.

Look it sucks but people need to realize it won't realistically change. People can criticize and say "Oh it won't change if you just give up" but facts are facts. If I have a 100 foot high rock in front of my window it COULD get moved. If I get a permit and buy 1000 tones of TNT and then blow it up without destroying my house and then find a way to car the debris away. It CAN happen but I'd be a whole lot better off to just give up and either move or expend my time and money on something else.

Driving down cross-border duties and tariffs on consumer goods would help immensely. Part of Canada's lousy productivity numbers stem from the lack of competition. If forced to do better, we would.

[toolatecrew]

FWIW I believe pretty much everything is harmonized with the U.S. now anyway.....I think this happened around 2010.

All the B.S. the dealers tell you that you need up here is horse$hit. The American dealer will provide you with everything for free, including the recall letter (which is just a BS statement on letterhead FFS).

I've imported a Subaru WRX, Acura MDX, Porsche Cayenne, and an Audi A4. Nothing had to be changed or altered on any of these cars and the U.S. dealerships were happy to provide me with any and all documentation to get them on the road in Canada.

Piece of cake, tens of thousands saved

If a huge and I mean huge number of people did exactly what you have done then I agree "something" would likely change.

Most likely the manufacturers would throw up more barriers

Subaru covers Warranty but you have to pay and then submit to Subaru US to get compensated. Others would simply refuse Canada warranty coverage which they can and already do. They could simply threaten dealers with sanctions about selling outside their territory which may already be in the franchise agreements.

Even if they didn't throw up barriers the number of cars imported would need to be gigantic for manufacturers to lower Canada pricing scheme and that simply isn't realistic given the need for most people to use dealer financing as well as the travel and inconvenience.

I don't live anywhere near the border. I'd have to buy a plane ticket, get a hotel,take at least 2 days off work  and then drive gosh knows how many hours back to NS . Now if I'm saving 20 K on a luxury car it makes sense but for most people that scenario just doesn't work.

I applaud and admire the way you have imported. It just doesn't make sense for enough people to do it to actually have an influence.

[mmret]

Driving down cross-border duties and tariffs on consumer goods would help immensely. Part of Canada's lousy productivity numbers stem from the lack of competition. If forced to do better, we would.

I like the way you think.

[Snowman]

Driving down cross-border duties and tariffs on consumer goods would help immensely. Part of Canada's lousy productivity numbers stem from the lack of competition. If forced to do better, we would.

I like the way you think.

Living next to the US is both a blessing and a curse. Having an economy ten times the size of ours make it virtually impossible to compete on a level playing field despite innovative thinking. We would be better off if we were isolated like Australia with similar population and resources. Or would we? the cost of housing and cars is well above our levels and a decent wage is $200k a year. Go to Australia and order a good steak and round of drinks and see how much it costs 

[johngenx]

I agree.  The proximity of the US has been beneficial to Canada in so many ways, but we get to retain our off-kilter culture.

[pi314]

Driving down cross-border duties and tariffs on consumer goods would help immensely. Part of Canada's lousy productivity numbers stem from the lack of competition. If forced to do better, we would.

I like the way you think.

Living next to the US is both a blessing and a curse. Having an economy ten times the size of ours make it virtually impossible to compete on a level playing field despite innovative thinking. We would be better off if we were isolated like Australia with similar population and resources. Or would we? the cost of housing and cars is well above our levels and a decent wage is $200k a year. Go to Australia and order a good steak and round of drinks and see how much it costs 

Minimum wage in Australia is about $16/hr.

[tpl]

Living next to the USA is ok I guess but...it would be useful if Canadians treated it like the foreign country that it is...really foreign not just an extension of Canada with better weather. Then there would be less whining and complaining about different prices ( of Luxury cars of course) etc.

We could of course just join them...good time now while they have a democratic President.   9 new states and a small French speaking independent country I expect.  I wonder what would happen with Nunavut and the territories.

[johngenx]

Canada is one of the most affordable high-standard-of-living nations in the world.  We've got it good here.  We keep poverty pretty low (could do better, but comparably, we're pretty awesome), have universal health care, public education, an amazing transport and telecom infrastructure, and massive natural resources.

We have to make sure we don't let it be stolen from us.  The US has let a small number of people make serious inroads into emptying their bank accounts and stealing the future of their nation.

[dkaz]

Living next to the US is both a blessing and a curse. Having an economy ten times the size of ours make it virtually impossible to compete on a level playing field despite innovative thinking. We would be better off if we were isolated like Australia with similar population and resources. Or would we? the cost of housing and cars is well above our levels and a decent wage is $200k a year. Go to Australia and order a good steak and round of drinks and see how much it costs 

My wife was there. No tips but service at many restaurants is lousy.

[Bubba]

I agree.  The proximity of the US has been beneficial to Canada in so many ways, but we get to retain our off-kilter culture.

Who are you calling off-kilter, eh?  TAKE OFF!