I’m in the market for a new car and while talking to some people last night it occurred to us that purchasing the car in Canada might be the most inexpensive way to go. I believe the dollar is pretty strong against the Canadian dollar so I theoretically should be able to get more for my money. My question is would this really be so?
Will a Canadian autodealer take US Currency or would I have to move (say) $25,000 to Canada and have it exchanged?
What are the tax implications? Does Canada charge a higher tax than the US? Would the US still try and tax me when I return with a new car? Would I be able to get my tax paid to Canada back upon leaving the country? Anything else you can think of tax related?
What about licensing issues? When you buy a new car in the states they plop that sticker in your window till you receive your plates. How would this work going to Canada?
For the moment nevermind that I live in Chicago and issues relating to going back to the dealer if there is a problem. I’m just curious about what the pros and cons of this are. I will be in Detroit in a month or so which would allow me to pop across the border if I thought it made sense.
You could, of course, just put money on your credit card and buy it that way. I’m sure most auto dealers will take a cheque in U.S. funds.
However, bear in mind the savings won’t be what you think. Yes, the U.S. dollar is higher than the Canadian dollar. But Canadian prices are correspondingly higher in the number of Canadian dollars you pay out. The difference in price in REAL MONEY will not be substantial, if there even is one.
I don’t know how the U.S. will tax you, but sales taxes are generally higher here depending what province you’re in. The federal tax is 7%. Provincial taxes range from nothing in Alberta up to eight or nine percent in other provinces.
As for licensing, a Canadian license plate is good in the States, so why wouldn’t a temporary one be good too?
But all in all, I sincerely doubt the actual price difference will be worth your trouble.
Buying a new can in Canada can be quite advantageous. I’m not certain of the tax implications, but know that you can get the Canadian Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunded.
Your dollar will go a long way, as many models are sold in Canada at a discount, even taking the current exchange rate into account.
Most of Canada’s safety and emissions regulations are comparable, so registering your car shouldn’t be a problem.
The difficulty that might arise is trying to find a dealer that will sell you a car (assuming that we’re talking about a new car here). All dealers have agreements with the manufacturers that they will only sell cars to Canadians. Some manufacturers have been trying to get tough with dealers by threatening their supply unless they stop this practice. Some (Honda, I think) are trying to get tough with consumers by threatening to not honour their warranty after the car crosses the border. I would doubt that you’ll find this to be a problem, but you never know…
Although it varies by model, the actual price differences can be significant, at least according to this article from Edmunds.
The Edmunds article is a little alarmist and only deals with third-party purchases. I’m sure that you could find a dealer in Windsor that would be happy to sell you a car.
Canadian models have all the instruments calibrated in metric. And there are other differences:[ul][li]Daytime running lights are mandatory on Canadian vehicles.[/li][li]Digital radio. Some newer models (Chevy Impalas?) are fitted with digital radio, which differs between Canada (which uses the Eureka-147 system) and the USA (no terrestrial system officially chosen by the FCC, but it’ll probably be some form of IBOC; US satellite digital radio is not factory-available on Canadian models).[/li][li]Do pollution controls differ?[/ul]And of corse, the manual is in French and English.[/li]
Aren’t more models available in the States than Canada?
If you did buy a Canadian car for use in the States, would you have to trailer it across the border (presumably paying duty) before you could fit the US plates? Could a Canadian dealer order and fit US plates? Could you bring US plates to a Canadian dealer and have them fitted?
At least Canadians no longer drive on the left-hand side of the road…
I considered buying a car in Windsor a few years ago, and ran into exactly this response from the dealer. So I will doubt crawford’s assertion to the contrary for the time being. Unfortunately, if you go the third-party route I don’t see how you can avoid the local taxes.
My SO and I looked into this last week after totaling her 4-Runner in Alberta while on holiday from the states. There was no cheap way back home, we needed a new car anyway, and we thought the dollar was strong enough to make it worthwhile. We were looking at used cars such as a Subaru Outback, Audi station wagon, or Passat station wagon. However, we abandoned the idea after looking around for two days. It did seem feasible regarding taxes, duties, and emmission requirements, but the savings just weren’t that great for what we saw. Plus, the car would be metric (kilometers on speedometer and centigrade for AC) which isn’t a big deal but could affect resale value. I didn’t know about the radio issues brought up by Sunspace.
We called the border office to get the lowdown on GST and duties. They were very helpfull and easy to contact. I don’t recall the details since I wasn’t making the purchase. But, I believe there were no duties or GST on cars greater than two years from factory date. It may also make a difference for a new car if built outside of the US or Canada.
It seemed to us that there was a greater savings on new cars as apposed to used. Maybe we could have found some better deals given more time to research and look around.
Good luck. I’d be interested in knowing what you find out. Maybe we blew it.
I grew up in Buffalo, and encountered many people who moved back and forth across the border, for whatever reason. One of my friends in Buffalo bought a used Ford LTD from his grandfather in Fort Erie. The speedometer had big KPH numbers and small MPH numbers, and the odometer measured kilometers, but aside from that the car was mostly identical to the US version. Getting it registered in the US was as simple as taking the Ontario registration and titlework to the local DMV office, and exchanging them for New York papers. He said the transaction wasn’t any more painful than if he brought a car in from Pennsylvania or Ohio.
Thing I’m wondering about is … what if I decided to import a used car from Canada to the US, and it’s from a manufacturer that doesn’t have a presence in the United States? Yeah, you see old Ladas from time to time on Canadian roads, but if I was a Lada owner who moved from Mississauga to Tonawanda, could I take the old Soviet beast with me, and get it registered in the US?
What about Mexico? If a family moved from Mexico to the US, could they take their Ford Taurus with them? If so, what about a new Ford Mondeo, which isn’t in American showrooms? What about a SEAT Toledo, available in Mexico but not the States?
I checked into this SEVERAL years ago when I was interested in importing a new (old-style) Beetle. The Beetle didn’t qualify, but it IS legal to import cars from Mexico if they meet US standards. The same dual-market (US/Mexico) car usually meets US standards, but things like the little Chevys don’t necessarily.
Newer Mexican cars often have little annoying differences to comply with Mexican laws, like a stupid warning chime if you exceed 110k/h (I think) for more than a couple or clicks or minutes.
For some reason I rented a Malibu down there with Arabic writing on the passenger-side rearview mirror!
Some of the rentals had “big miles” and some had “big kilometers.”
A lot of newer cars that aren’t entry level econo-boxes have dual Metric/English readouts. And of course those ugly digital displays are dual. The late-model Bonnevilles and Cadillacs (and probably others) have a dual analogue speedo – it’s really cool: there’s only one set of numbers, and if you flip from English to Metric or back, the whole needle moves to the correct speed in the current system.