[Always] WOW ---- New and used cars from US up to 30% cheaper - Read post #1

whodoesntlikepancakes wrote: ↑If a Canadian resident has a family member which lives in the states; can the American family member purchase the car and then sell it back to me to import to Canada?

This has been answered before, but I'll save you the effort: they can buy for you but will likely have to pay taxes in that state (assuming sales tax exists). They could then privately sell to you to import.

There is no advantage to this scenario aside from possibly being able to buy a new vehicle from a manufacturer that won't sell new to Canadians. You will typically lose in this scenario as you'll pay taxes twice, unless your relative lives in a tax-free state like AZ.

You are often better off buying as a Canadian directly in the US as you can typically avoid paying US taxes. See M. Maggot's first post in this thread for state-by-state details.

Looking at buying a new Outback 2.5i base. What can I expect off MSRP if I'm buying for export? Fitzmall advertize about $2.8k off MSRP ($1.4k off invoice) - what kind of discount can I expect for export?

Let me know. Thanks.
Mike

michelb wrote: ↑Looking at buying a new Outback 2.5i base. What can I expect off MSRP if I'm buying for export? Fitzmall advertize about $2.8k off MSRP ($1.4k off invoice) - what kind of discount can I expect for export?

The Fitzmall price sounds pretty great. Just give them a call or email and let us know how you do.

Bumbo Singh wrote: ↑I want to let potential customers know that I used Calkins Transport to transport a Honda Pilot from Scottsdale, Arizona to Blaine, Washington to eventually import vehicle into Canada. I had a great experience with this company. Here are the Pros and Cons of my experience.


Pros
1. Great communication by email and telephone. Merritt assured me every detail of the transport. We spoke almost everyday until the vehicle was picked up. Great job
2. He didn't keep me in the dark about the trucking company picking up the vehicle.
3. The driver phoned me 3x during the process: @ 48hrs, @24hours, @1hour before pickup
4. Driver examined the vehicle with me. He wasn't pushy to get the hell out of there. He noted all scratches and dings on "Billing of Lading". I signed off.
5. I paid by credit card by telephone and his office emailed a scan of receipt.
6. I didn't pay driver anything.


Cons
1. I wish I had realtime tracking. But this isn't a deal breaker. Driver called me so it was ok.
2. We initially arranged a price for open carrier transport but vehicle was transported in closed carrier. I had to pay more money for this. Again not a deal breaker


Overall rating 9/10.

I would use Calkins services again. If anyone has any questions about legitness please email me at bumbo73@gmail.com and I can hopefully put your nerves at ease. This company is a broker so they find or contract truckers to transport vehicles.

In no way I get paid to write this review. This was my first time transporting a vehicle and the Calkins team came thru.

Good Job

Parm D

Did you buy a third-party warranty from the US? It sucks that Honda does not honor cross-border warranty.

JWL wrote: ↑The Fitzmall price sounds pretty great. Just give them a call or email and let us know how you do.

Fitzmall have great, no haggle prices but they won't sell new to Canadians (any make - seems like they sell pretty much everything)

Has anybody dealt with Northtown Subaru or West Herr Subaru in Buffalo in terms of providing the service? Both are offering similar pricing (invoice +$500) which is better than Van Bortel.

rjmbc wrote: ↑I stand corrected. I went back and looked at the documents and found that at the time of the claim the vehicle was still under it original warranty - that actually ends on 15 Jan 2011, however Lexus (Head Office) confirmed that CPO is valid in Canada. Vehicle was purchased in California.

There was a discussion primary between Mr. Mayhew and Rjmbc on the US Lexus CPO warranty ,on whether it is honoured in Canada.
I am looking at a 2010-2011 Lexus RX350 which is selling for around 30000-33000 US$.It has 1-2 yrs of original warranty remaining but
both have CPO warranty( 3 more yrs of warranty from date of purchase) on the vehicle.
One Lexus dealer salesman told me the CPO is still valid while the other one which is closer to the Canadian border told me the CPO is not valid.

Anyone found out any definite answer.

I emailed Lexus Canada,but I am afraid they will not give me a straight answer.

Thanks

i espect the answer from my nearest dealer which is DVN would be: come buy from us.
US-specs Lexus are made to inferior standards cos they dont have to sustain such temp extremes,while made here in Cambridge Ontario though.LOL
DVN's reputation are well known here.
I test drove there once,the SUVs are all optioned to the 9s and start at 60000 before tax.
I did get a free mug though for the test drive.RFD style

leafnation5 wrote: ↑Has anybody dealt with Northtown Subaru or West Herr Subaru in Buffalo in terms of providing the service? Both are offering similar pricing (invoice +$500) which is better than Van Bortel.

last yr VBSubaru was running at invoice minus 500 and west Herr would not budge.Maybe this time its different.West Herr seemed very aware of the procedures for sales to Canadian also.

Just want to confirm if Outback 3.6 R is not taxed for Green Levy Fees. Right? Does anybody knows how long Subaru takes for an order if vehicle is not available in lot.

All US dealers are aware of VB pricing and using that as measure for pricing. Now VB pricing is highest because they are adding $750 instead of $500. I compared the pricing with Edmunds - the difference is $200 less in Edmunds vs West Herr and North Town. Communication with West Herr is pain. They takes forever to answer an email. I end up going with North Town.

goldenball wrote: ↑There was a discussion primary between Mr. Mayhew and Rjmbc on the US Lexus CPO warranty ,on whether it is honoured in Canada.
I am looking at a 2010-2011 Lexus RX350 which is selling for around 30000-33000 US$.It has 1-2 yrs of original warranty remaining but
both have CPO warranty( 3 more yrs of warranty from date of purchase) on the vehicle.
One Lexus dealer salesman told me the CPO is still valid while the other one which is closer to the Canadian border told me the CPO is not valid.

Anyone found out any definite answer.

I emailed Lexus Canada,but I am afraid they will not give me a straight answer.

Thanks

Got my reply from Lexus Canada directly:CPO not valid/and US Lexus dealers are not supposed to sell Canadians too old or new, reallly???
Thank you for your recent email.

For your information, it is our understanding that Lexus dealerships in the U.S. are not authorized to sell Lexus motor vehicles to guests located outside the U.S. or to sell Lexus vehicles for re-sale or use outside the United States.

You may be interested to know that Lexus vehicles distributed in the US and Canada may not have identical equipment or meet the same regulatory requirements. When Lexus Canada considers equipment on Lexus vehicles for the Canadian market, we select certain options and features, on a model-by-model basis, that we believe are best suited for Canada s challenging climatic and driving conditions.

When a US vehicle is brought into Canada, the importer must ensure it complies with Canadian regulatory requirements, like mandatory daylight running lights, an appropriate vehicle immobilization system, etc. In addition, the costs to retrofit or modify a vehicle in order for it to be brought into Canada are the responsibility of the owner or person importing the vehicle.

For further information on importing a vehicle to Canada, we suggest you visit the website of The Registrar of Imported Vehicles (a division of Transport Canada). The address is as follows: www.riv.ca. If you prefer, you may call them at 1-888-848-8240.

It is our understanding that the manufacturer's warranty (regardless of whether it is a US Lexus vehicle or a Canadian Lexus vehicle) is honoured in continental USA and Canada. However, Lexus Certified Used Vehicle plans purchased in the US are not honoured in Canada.

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Sincerely,


Customer Interaction Centre
Lexus Canada

HI All,

I bought a car in the US about 5 or 6 years ago and have been looking to do this again with a used BMW. I'd used eBay and Autotrader to try and find dealers in the past, is that what everyone else here is doing to try find deals on used vehicles or is there another better search tool out there?

leafnation5 wrote: ↑... Does anybody knows how long Subaru takes for an order if vehicle is not available in lot.
...

I was told it's about 45 days to get a factory order. For what it's worth, I was recently told by a dealer that they aren't doing factory orders on 2013s and will wait for the 2014s

michelb wrote: ↑I was told it's about 45 days to get a factory order. For what it's worth, I was recently told by a dealer that they aren't doing factory orders on 2013s and will wait for the 2014s

I know it is at least 4 weeks. My order has already gone to Subaru and will know by 20th May the exact delivery date. They are doing factory orders only at this time for 2013.

As I know, there are not major changes in 2014 model except Subaru could bring in Diesel version.

Since last couple of years, I was in the same boat as you are. First I waited for 2012 and came to know major changes coming up for 2013 model. Then I waited for 2013 model. I spoke to few dealers in August and September last year but they were not ready to sell to Canadians as the local demand was much higher. Waiting for 2014 model will not take me anywhere. You never know what will happen to Canadian $. You have to built in all risk factors. Moreover reviews on 2013 has been great.

Moreover, even if 2014 model comes in July then dealer will not sell to Canadian and another option would be to wait until October. That is not choice with at this time and I want to drive around in summer.

2 things that I came to know that could in 2014 outback is....hydraulic rear door open and push button rear seat folds. Both these are options and not standard features. They introduced these in 2014 forestor.

After following th thread for 2-3 yrs, finally made our purchase.

We had to order and wait for a month but it didn't matter to us.
Dealership to pick up the car: an hr for finishing paperwork and showing us the cae
US border time: 5 mins (Lewisten bridge)
Cad border time: 30 mins
RIV office (I visit in person): 20 mins
Crappy Tire for inspection: was told 20 mins in the phone but waited for longer than an hr....

The last step will be ministry of transportation which we will do it soon.
So far, very smooth transaction.
CBSA office use 1 for exchange rate but gst (and I assume pst too) is calculated after the 6.1% duty so the gain from 1 exhange is offset by higher gst amount.

goldenball wrote: ↑last yr VBSubaru was running at invoice minus 500 and west Herr would not budge.Maybe this time its different.West Herr seemed very aware of the procedures for sales to Canadian also.

We went with Northtown. Van bortel is actually cheaper for 2014 forster but only by 300. West herr quotesmore expensive but I didn't bargin so don't know.
Northtown we went with Chris. He is not bad. Actually, a bit slow (not aggresive at all....) but he got all the paperwork right. I didn't have any problem. Just weird that in Canada, usually sales followed up with us but with Chris, I had to follow up with him. We dealed with everything through email. We went to check out the dealership at one visit to Buffalo (which we do often) and then I orded the car/gave credit card info for deposit over the phone. After one month, our car arrived

ginabobolee wrote: ↑We went with Northtown. Van bortel is actually cheaper for 2014 forster but only by 300. West herr quotesmore expensive but I didn't bargin so don't know.
Northtown we went with Chris. He is not bad. Actually, a bit slow (not aggresive at all....) but he got all the paperwork right. I didn't have any problem. Just weird that in Canada, usually sales followed up with us but with Chris, I had to follow up with him. We dealed with everything through email. We went to check out the dealership at one visit to Buffalo (which we do often) and then I orded the car/gave credit card info for deposit over the phone. After one month, our car arrived

Outback was coming $300 more with Van Bortel. It does not make sense to go Rochestor and pay $300 more.

ginabobolee wrote: ↑After following th thread for 2-3 yrs, finally made our purchase.

We had to order and wait for a month but it didn't matter to us.
Dealership to pick up the car: an hr for finishing paperwork and showing us the cae
US border time: 5 mins (Lewisten bridge)
Cad border time: 30 mins
RIV office (I visit in person): 20 mins
Crappy Tire for inspection: was told 20 mins in the phone but waited for longer than an hr....

The last step will be ministry of transportation which we will do it soon.
So far, very smooth transaction.
CBSA office use 1 for exchange rate but gst (and I assume pst too) is calculated after the 6.1% duty so the gain from 1 exhange is offset by higher gst amount.

What was sequence of visit - Crappy Tire first and then RIV or other way around. I think Crappy tire first. Right?

ginabobolee wrote: ↑After following th thread for 2-3 yrs, finally made our purchase.

We had to order and wait for a month but it didn't matter to us.
Dealership to pick up the car: an hr for finishing paperwork and showing us the cae
US border time: 5 mins (Lewisten bridge)
Cad border time: 30 mins
RIV office (I visit in person): 20 mins
Crappy Tire for inspection: was told 20 mins in the phone but waited for longer than an hr....

The last step will be ministry of transportation which we will do it soon.
So far, very smooth transaction.
CBSA office use 1 for exchange rate but gst (and I assume pst too) is calculated after the 6.1% duty so the gain from 1 exhange is offset by higher gst amount.

So how much did you save in total if you were to have bought a similar vehicle in Canada? Thanks!