RFD Effect? Car Imports From USA Surge 50%

[monty613]

I chuckled when I saw this article this morning that notes the recent surge in car imports from the USA. Great thread.

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070709.wautos0709/GIStory/


Canadians imported 112,826 vehicles from the U.S. last year, the first time more than 100,000 vehicles came north and a 50-per-cent increase on the number brought into Canada in 2005

[3weddings]

IMO it's the dollar!!! We just bought a 'toy' car for hubby and saved almost $30k!!! We couldn't even find the colour/options here that we ended up with!!

As long as the dollar continues to be strong, people will spend Canadian earnings in the US, and not here!!

...that's not to say that most of those purchasers saw the thread here!! :cheesygri ;)

[Pete_Coach]

I chuckled when I saw this article this morning that notes the recent surge in car imports from the USA. Great thread.

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070709.wautos0709/GIStory/

Giving RFD a lot of credit aren't you? The dollar is the prime reason as they stated, but it is interesting to note all the class action suits and the warranty iissues they talk about.

[monty613]

I know it's the CAD dollar, I was being somewhat sarcastic.

3weddings: what car did you buy? how was your experience getting it into Canada?

[3weddings]

I know it's the CAD dollar, I was being somewhat sarcastic.

3weddings: what car did you buy? how was your experience getting it into Canada?

Sorry...I missed the sarcasm...I was pre coffee...and I really shouldn't be here before I gas up! ;)

We bought a 2002 911 Turbo, Dh wanted it for Father's Day ...and I guess he meant it.

It's quite simple as long as the car meets all requirements, which the 911 does. It's into a dealer today for the PPI and the Daytime Running light installation (which is well under $300 there versus $600 here!). It should be on the truck on Thursday and here Saturday. A friend owns a leasing company and he's handling the import for us, but apparently does it all the time (I wonder why...you should see the markup!!)

Once I get all the info, I'll blog our experience buying a used car from the US.

I am terrified buying something like this sight unseen...terrified! But hubby seems ok with it >:(

[onecoolloser]

Sorry...I missed the sarcasm...I was pre coffee...and I really shouldn't be here before I gas up! ;)

We bought a 2002 911 Turbo, Dh wanted it for Father's Day ...and I guess he meant it.

It's quite simple as long as the car meets all requirements, which the 911 does. It's into a dealer today for the PPI and the Daytime Running light installation (which is well under $300 there versus $600 here!). It should be on the truck on Thursday and here Saturday. A friend owns a leasing company and he's handling the import for us, but apparently does it all the time (I wonder why...you should see the markup!!)

Once I get all the info, I'll blog our experience buying a used car from the US.

I am terrified buying something like this sight unseen...terrified! But hubby seems ok with it >:(
Wow, that's a nice car? How much did it cost from the US? I'm guessing around $60k?

[McLaren]

We bought a 2002 911 Turbo, Dh wanted it for Father's Day ...and I guess he meant it.

"Must be nice... to have that kind of money to drive around in a Cadillac" - Jack Klompus

[Badman]

To me RFD must have had some effect on it. If it wasn't for here I would have never looked into buying a car from the states.

[CompWizrd]

chrysler verifed in that article that the warranty is invalid in canada on a US purchased car, no american SRT8 for me!

My girlfriend is american and moving to canada sometime, I wonder if they'd try to deny a warranty claim on her car when she gets one and needs service in Canada.

She wants a Challenger, maybe a Camaro, or a Mini Cooper S. :)

[chicadam]

Love it....

Its going to keep going up until the manufacturers realize that consumers are not going to put up with this crap!!

[Samir]

Love it....

Its going to keep going up until the manufacturers realize that consumers are not going to put up with this crap!!

... or they change the warranty policy.

I wonder, say you save $10,000 on a Nissan 350z... is it still worth it w/o a warranty? You have to start considering the expected value of future repairs now.

For some cars with strong reliability records, it will be worth it (Lexus). For NAFTA cars, I wouldn't go near one w/o a warranty.

[the one]

Regarding the warranty issue, if my car breaks down in the US and I bought it from Ontario, shouldn't they fix it?

And vice versa, if my USA bought Mini Cooper dies on the road here, why can't I take it to the dealer here?

If neither is possible, then your SOL on a road trip and crap happens, no?

[enigma54]

Sorry...I missed the sarcasm...I was pre coffee...and I really shouldn't be here before I gas up! ;)

We bought a 2002 911 Turbo, Dh wanted it for Father's Day ...and I guess he meant it.

It's quite simple as long as the car meets all requirements, which the 911 does. It's into a dealer today for the PPI and the Daytime Running light installation (which is well under $300 there versus $600 here!). It should be on the truck on Thursday and here Saturday. A friend owns a leasing company and he's handling the import for us, but apparently does it all the time (I wonder why...you should see the markup!!)

Once I get all the info, I'll blog our experience buying a used car from the US.

I am terrified buying something like this sight unseen...terrified! But hubby seems ok with it >:(

Yes, please post your experience because I'm interested to know how it went for you. How much more does it cost to use someone to import the vehicle for you intead of doing it for yourself? To save time, I'd rather use a car broker to do all the paperwork if the costs aren't ridiculous.

[Pete_Coach]

To me RFD must have had some effect on it. If it wasn't for here I would have never looked into buying a car from the states.

Holy imports Batman, RFD made car hunting Badman think of buying from the States!!:cheesygri
This must be fodder for globeinvestor.com!! That is the reason the investment site wrote the article:idea:

[ashhabib]

Anyone know if you can bring up a car from mexico under NAFTA? From what I've seen its only US cars. I'd really love to get my hands on the Euro Focus ST which is made in Mexico, LHD, and is metric, so no switching of gauge faces needed

[CompWizrd]

Chrysler just dropped their van pricing anywhere from 2000 to 6500 due in part to US pricing pressure.. now we'll have to wait and see if they do this with other vehicles in their product line.

[3weddings]

With the exception of getting it shipped here, the car is ours.

It's costing us 13.5% to get it here, this includes exchange and duty. It was at the dealer yesterday for the inspection and headlight conversion and a brake bleed which cost us $500USD.

Our friend owns the leasing company and has done all the work for us, so that made the process really simple. They are very experienced in this, so other than licensing and shipping we are done. I hope we find a way to get it here soon...if I hear dh say "I want my car" one more time I am going shopping!!! muhahaha

The leasing company has an identical car (except colour, cd changer, xenon, mileage -his has double on it) and wants over six figures for it. By going this route we have saved over $28k on it!!!