Buying a US car from a dealer in GTA?

[mkj2001]

I am in the market for a relatively new used car and looking for recommendations and experiences folks here have had with used car dealers in GTA.

I also see a whole bunch of dealers that are selling US cars and wondering if there are any good/bad ones.

[Rehan]

I have a related question... I would assume that the large majority of the 2007 and 2008 imported vehicles being sold by local dealers are former rentals (which I personally would avoid). Does anyone know if this assumption is true?

[veryhuman]

I bought a used car earlier this year from GTA Fine Automobiles (http://www.gtafineautomobiles.com/), it was a US import.

Carproof report picked up the US mileage and it matched up fine with what's on the car. It still has factory warranty to 2009.

The dealer reprogrammed the computer to output km/celsius, turned on the DRL and installed the front license plate mount for me. During the safety check, they got me fresh new tires.

Overall, it was a very positive experience. 3,000 km later, I've only had one warranty work, with a failed O2 sensor. Parts and labour under warranty.

[AGR-1]

US cars will give you an initial price advantage, with an ensuing price disadvantage when you resell the car. It will always be a US car and identified as such at a lower price.

You do not save, you pay less to eventually get less.

If you are looking for a recent model used, you should consider a comparable model new, with the financial incentives that are offered, a new car might just offer more value for your money than a recent used.

[unym]

Veryhuman - which car did you buy? Is it still under original manufacturer warranty ? Did you ever check directly in USA how much the same car would have cost compared to here in Canada ?

Just curious - I figured if you buy direct in USA you are probably still saving a bunch. I have seen a few USA cars at some dealers and while they are cheaper than Canadian model, they are more (quite a bit more in some cases) than US-model. And I am sure that these dealers do not pay the standard price that an individual would pay (they must pay some wholesale auction price).

Also, do you know where your car came from? ie. trade-in, rental, ....

Finally, if you keep the car a long time (eg. 5-10 years), then it probably won't matter much as to resale value and whether its a USA or Can model.

[veryhuman]

Veryhuman - which car did you buy? Is it still under original manufacturer warranty ? Did you ever check directly in USA how much the same car would have cost compared to here in Canada ?

Just curious - I figured if you buy direct in USA you are probably still saving a bunch. I have seen a few USA cars at some dealers and while they are cheaper than Canadian model, they are more (quite a bit more in some cases) than US-model. And I am sure that these dealers do not pay the standard price that an individual would pay (they must pay some wholesale auction price).

Also, do you know where your car came from? ie. trade-in, rental, ....

Finally, if you keep the car a long time (eg. 5-10 years), then it probably won't matter much as to resale value and whether its a USA or Can model.

Its a 2005 BMW Z4, still under original warranty till July 2009. BMW warranty transfers directly.

The difference in cost was about $3,500 vs buying directly in the US. Which isnt too bad, considering a the hoops you have to jump through to import a BMW under their updated policy as of this year (Quote (http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=571032&highlight=bmw+import)).

From Carproof, it looks like a 2 year lease, then it went to an auto auction, and the dealer here picked it up, the car had 27,000 km during the 2.5 year period.

[thenwhat]

Its a 2005 BMW Z4, still under original warranty till July 2009. BMW warranty transfers directly.

The difference in cost was about $3,500 vs buying directly in the US. Which isnt too bad, considering a the hoops you have to jump through to import a BMW under their updated policy as of this year (Quote (http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=571032&highlight=bmw+import)).

From Carproof, it looks like a 2 year lease, then it went to an auto auction, and the dealer here picked it up, the car had 27,000 km during the 2.5 year period.

I agree with you on buying from CA dealer when the difference is about couple thousands dollars.
you will not only have the real car in front of you for your visual inspection and test drive, but also save $$ and time for dealing with documentations, customs, CT and RIV etc. And buying from CA dealer would be preferred by me in such circumstance.

But if the difference is more than that, I would import the car by myself, I think.

[michelb]

US cars will give you an initial price advantage, with an ensuing price disadvantage when you resell the car. It will always be a US car and identified as such at a lower price.

You do not save, you pay less to eventually get less.

If you are looking for a recent model used, you should consider a comparable model new, with the financial incentives that are offered, a new car might just offer more value for your money than a recent used.

While I agree that the resale on a US import will be less than a comparable CND model, I don't think it will be very much and certainly no where near the difference in savings on purchase price.

E.g. we recently got a used Toyota Sienna and after all costs, I'm guessing we saved about $8-10k over a comparable one in Canada. If I was to sell it now, I agree that I probably wouldn't get as much as a CND one but I'm pretty confident that I could sell it for $2k less than the CND one ...

[Rehan]

E.g. we recently got a used Toyota Sienna and after all costs, I'm guessing we saved about $8-10k over a comparable one in Canada. If I was to sell it now, I agree that I probably wouldn't get as much as a CND one but I'm pretty confident that I could sell it for $2k less than the CND one ... Are you sure about that? You may have saved $8-10k over buying a comparable Canadian model in Canada, but the savings are not nearly as big when you compare it to buying a US model in Canada.

The Auto Trader has dozens of 2007 US model Siennas from several used dealerships for around $20k-$25k, which is not much higher than the US prices (there are even some 2008 LE's under $25k). And the Canadian version 2007 LEs are more like $30k. I don't know if the Canadian LE will sell close to the $30k asking price, but with such a glut of imported Siennas priced competitively, I don't think yours would fetch as much as you expect.

[Ebola]

The dealers buy whatever they can get their hands on in the US, they import them in caravans of like 10-20 cars, then they re-sell them to.. and yet they are still cheaper than Cdn cars...