Help: Is it Still Worth it to Buy a Car from the US?

[sluryjoe]

Is it still worth it?
How do I go about doing this?

I've started the process by contacting a few US Auto Dealers.
However, they all have been telling me they cannot sell a new car to Canadian.
They can sell me a used car, but I am not interested in that.

Do anyone know of any dealer that can help me?

BTW
I am looking for a Lexus.

Thanks

 

[champcar]

Start by going to riv.ca to see if car you want is eligible

I just bout an X5 M from dealer in Texas. 3000 miles on it, saved $18,000

 

[Ceiling Cat]

1) You have to have the full amount in cash, American banks or MFG. financing will not finance a car going to Canada.
2) Plan to keep the car for a long time, it is hard to sell a car with a speedo in MPH in Canada.
3) Some electronic and emissions parts are not the same Canada to USA, if you have trouble with these parts you may have to wait for delivery.

A few years ago, Lexus / Toyota dealers were selling to Canadians, that may have changed. I car broker ( or even a private citizen ) can buy the car and resell it to you.

 

[bazokajoe]

First things first...make sure the car you want qualifies as duty free.Second,make sure the you take into account the exchange rate,cost of making it a legal car for Canadian roads,HST when it comes over the border, etc.
Car dealers have been warned by manufactures they will lose their dealerships for selling new cars to Canadians.They are protecting their Canadian dealers.
You can save a ton of money buying a car 1-2 yrs old in the USA if it's duty free.
Lots of dealerships will do all the paper work for you.Dealers will only accept a cashiers check from 1 of the major Canadian banks.

 

[Curious36]

I dont know about cars but I was buying lots of ATV's south of the boarder and reselling here afterwards. This was a few years ago but assuming same rules apply. Was all set up by dealer on their end. Had to get a "no recall notice" from dealer with all paperwork signed. Cash deals. Had to pay GST at boarder and fill out paperwork for RIV (registrar of imported vehicles). Very simple. Again I dont know how this applies to new car dealerships and have also heard that most refuse to sell to Canadians....

 

[TOman]

Depending on the manufacturer a US vehicle's warranty may no longer apply once it is registered in Canada. It is possible to buy a Canadian warranty for a car that is brought across the border.
In order for the car to be Duty Free it has to be manufactured in North America, HST is applied and is payable when you register the vehicle in Canada.
There are some very worthwhile deals right across the border, if the car is being shipped from farther afield then consider those costs as well, note that most delivery quotes don't include insurance, that's extra.

 

[CapitalGuy]

If its a normal car, then no, in general you will not save money once modifications/conversions and taxes and fees are taken into account, as well as some of the free but annoying hassles mentioned by others, above. However if you are a collector or are looking for a boutique vehicle, then yes it may be worthwhile to buy in the US. If you are just looking for transportation though, as opposed to a collectible, its can be a lot of hassle for relatively small savings.

 

[Why Not?]

2) Plan to keep the car for a long time, it is hard to sell a car with a speedo in MPH in Canada.

You wont get the car titled in Canada unless you convert the speedometer. Easy on some cars expensive on others.

 

[james t kirk]

You know the funny thing - years ago I had this POS Buick and the speedo could easily be switched from SI to Imperial simply by pressing a button. In fact, the entire car.

Press the button and temperature, speed, oil pressure, odometer, everything read out in imperial. Press the button again and it was SI.

No fuss no muss.

Can't help but wonder why all cars are not like this.

 

[Why Not?]

I looked into this 2 years ago for a BMW. I found that there were lot of hidden fees or costs some of which are mentioned above.

You will have to pay HST when the car crosses the border.
You may also have to pay import duty if the car was not manufactured in a NAFTA country (6% I think).
You will have to pay to have the car converted to Transport Canada required specs on the date of its manufacture. This may include metric speedo, daytime running lights, and others. This is easy on some cars and very, very expensive on others such as exotics which can't meet emisssions or crash regulations.
You won't be able to plate the car in Ontario until the Transport Canada rules inspection is done. So, you have to figure out how to move it around and there may be shipping fees involved. You likely won't be able to insure it until it is titled as well.
Some car companies will not honour your warranty unless the car was purchased here. Others, like BMW, will honour it only if the Transport Canada-required upgrade work is done at a BMW dealer. When I looked at it 2 years ago Honda was one of the no warranty companies.

On some cars a lot of this is very easy. GMs already come with DRLs. You need to look at your specific model, price the work and see if it is worth it. On some cars you can save a lot. On used cars the difference can be really significant.

 

[bazokajoe]

From what I was told,if the speedo is a dial and not digital it's fine.If you notice on the speedo big # are kilometers and inside the lil # are mph.Now the miles read out are usually digital,not sure if that needs to be converted?

 

[Why Not?]

From what I was told,if the speedo is a dial and not digital it's fine.If you notice on the speedo big # are kilometers and inside the lil # are mph.Now the miles read out are usually digital,not sure if that needs to be converted?

Not all cars have the dual calibration and therefore will need a new speedo or dial. Also some have the mph in the small inner letters and others have km/h as the small ones. I don't know what TC will accept. This is why I advised looking into it carefully. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that there are some cars where you will be buying a whole instrument cluster (not many but some).

 

[wangbang]

I brought a car up, did all the work myself and it was a piece of cake. The car companies will tell you differently but there are rarely any differences between a US and Canadian car. It costs too much to produce different cars. Also, RIV got sick and tired of the car companies' BS that they have basically harmonized things like electronic immobilizers and bumpers.

Most of the fears you hear are from the uneducated but viewing a Carfax is a must. Lot's of Lemon Law cars get resold in the US.

That said, to the OP's point, new cars are much harder to get as the companies jump on their US dealers.

 

[gus58]

Don't mean to be rude but half the people on here don't know what they're talking about. It's very easy to import a vehicle from the states, ck the Riv.ca website to make sure it's eligible. You will find that the biggest mod is to have full time daylight headlights, speedo is no big deal most NA cars have both, and child car seat mounts sometimes have to be modified on the back dash, all can be done after you import before canadian tire inspection(the only authorized inspection centres). Other than that, the most important thing is to notify the US side 72 hours in advance of the vin number at the port of entry that you're going to use so they can check the number for liens, if it's stolen etc. and get a manufacturers letter for recalls and proof they were repaired. You have to get the ownership stamped on the US side before coming to Canada. Once into canada, it easy, you can pay the riv registration fee, I think $295, you must pay hst, which you would pay even if bought in Canada. Get the vehicle inspected at Canadian Tire(free) and get a safety check. if the vehicle is 15 years old or older the only thing you have to do is notify the US side 72 hrs prior to import and get the ownership stamped before coming to canada
DO not attempt to bring a vehicle over without getting the US side to stamp the ownership or you will be screwed. Simple as that. You will save a ton

 

[champcar]

I brought a car up, did all the work myself and it was a piece of cake. The car companies will tell you differently but there are rarely any differences between a US and Canadian car. It costs too much to produce different cars. Also, RIV got sick and tired of the car companies' BS that they have basically harmonized things like electronic immobilizers and bumpers.

Most of the fears you hear are from the uneducated but viewing a Carfax is a must. Lot's of Lemon Law cars get resold in the US.

That said, to the OP's point, new cars are much harder to get as the companies jump on their US dealers.

Could not agree with you more. Piece of cake

 

[champcar]

Don't mean to be rude but half the people on here don't know what they're talking about. It's very easy to import a vehicle from the states, ck the Riv.ca website to make sure it's eligible. You will find that the biggest mod is to have full time daylight headlights, speedo is no big deal most NA cars have both, and child car seat mounts sometimes have to be modified on the back dash, all can be done after you import before canadian tire inspection(the only authorized inspection centres). Other than that, the most important thing is to notify the US side 72 hours in advance of the vin number at the port of entry that you're going to use so they can check the number for liens, if it's stolen etc. and get a manufacturers letter for recalls and proof they were repaired. You have to get the ownership stamped on the US side before coming to Canada. Once into canada, it easy, you can pay the riv registration fee, I think $295, you must pay hst, which you would pay even if bought in Canada. Get the vehicle inspected at Canadian Tire(free) and get a safety check. if the vehicle is 15 years old or older the only thing you have to do is notify the US side 72 hrs prior to import and get the ownership stamped before coming to canada
DO not attempt to bring a vehicle over without getting the US side to stamp the ownership or you will be screwed. Simple as that. You will save a ton

+++++1