Vancouver Automotive Deals

Head over to Canadian Tire this week to pick up some great deals, including:

• Heavy Duty Corn Broom - $6.99 on May 24-27 only (was $14.99)
• Beer Can Chicken Roaster - $2.99 on May 24-27 only (was $9.99)
• Scandinavian 42" Fan with Remote - $59.99 (was $159.99)
• Simoniz 2000 PSI Electric Pressure Washer - $164.99 (was $329.99)
• Tempo 632T Treadmill - $449.99 (was $1599.99)
• Lagostina 11-Piece Padova Cookware Set - $177.77 (was $599.99)
• 4-Door Pantry - $99.99
• Bissell Pet Canister Vacuum Cleaner - $99.99 (was $169.99)
• Shark Intelligent Steam Mop - $99.99 (was $149.99)
• 3-Piece Stainless Steel Santoku Kinfe Set - $8.69 (was $24.99)
• 17' Mastercraft Articulating Multi-Ladder - $159.99 (was $259.99)

Pricing is valid today through May 31 unless otherwise noted.

If you're an active CAA member in Northern & Eastern Ontario, you can take advantage of these exclusive deals from CAA partners:

Ottawa Senators

• With your CAA card, get discounted home game tickets (at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa) and save 10% on Ottawa Senators memorabilia at The Sens Store

Jackman's The Floral Pros

• As a CAA member, get a 10% discount on your walk-in, phone or online floral order (just remember to quote promo code CAANEO1 at time of purchase)

East Side Marios & Fat Tuesday's Restaurants

• Show your server your CAA card and save 10% on regular-priced food items at participating restaurant locations (the offer excludes alcoholic beverages and valid for one CAA member & up to 3 guests per table)

Just Lubes

• Save 10% on services and packages from participating Just Lubes locations when you present your CAA card at point of purchase

Moneysworth & Best Shoe Repair Inc.

• Show your CAA card and get 10% off shoe repairs from select locations in Ottawa and Orleans

Merry Maids of Sudbury

• Save 15% on maid services in Sudbury with your CAA membership

To get more info or to see all offers exclusive to CAA members in Northern & Eastern Ontario, visit CAAneo.ca.

Buying a car can get pretty complicated with so many models, trims, and special promotions. CarCostCanada.com makes the process easier by sharing information through their wholesale price reports. The report very clearly breaks down - between the consumer and the deal costs - the consumer incentives, financing rates, lease rates, factory to dealer rebates, and other promotions along with the dealer invoice prices. Using that information you can then go to the dealer as an informed customer and start negotiating.

The regular price is $39.95 for 5 reports but with their current 2-for-1 special you can get 10 reports for that price. CAA members can save 25% off and get the 10 reports for $29.96.

The Google Maps Navigation Beta is now available in the Canadian Android Market after being initially released a few months ago internationally. In essence, it's free GPS software that turns your Android-based phone into its own Internet-connected GPS complete with turn-by-turn directions, voice search, traffic, streetview, and much more. You will need a data plan with your phone to be able to take advantage of these features but you can't beat free GPS software!

It's actually included in the Google Maps application so just search for 'Google Maps' in the Android Market.

For those of you in Quebec, MBNA has a pretty interesting credit card offer that may help you out at the gas pumps. The MBNA CAA-Quebec Mastercard is open to Quebec CAA members. Here's the low down for this card:

• On top of the 2¢ per litre of gas earned in CAA-Quebec Dollars when you show your CAA-Quebec membership card at the counter when filling up on gas at participating Couche-Tard outlets, you receive an additional 2% rebate by paying with your CAA-Quebec MasterCard credit card on all your qualifying purchases — including gas — at participating Couche-Tard outlets that sell gas
• the2 % is added to the .5% rebate you earn each time you use your CAA-Quebec MasterCard credit card
• 3.99% introductory interest rate for 6 months on Cheque Cash Advances and Balance Transfers (16.99% thereafter)
• No Annual Fee
• 14.99% interest rate on purchases

Obviously, the card should be most appealing to those of you who fill up and do a decent amount of shopping at Couche-Tard. Then again, with over 550 stores in Quebec, that should be a lot of folks in Quebec! You can apply online here or you can compare it against other MBNA Credit Cards here.

Right now is a good time to buy a new car with an abundance of 0% financing offers, cash incentives, 'cash for clunkers' style promotions, and in some cases, combinations of all three. To help you sort through all the details and get the best price consider spending the $39.95, or $29.96 for CAA members, to sign up for CarCostCanada.com's wholesale price reports. The reports break down all the available consumer incentives, financing rates, lease rates, factory to dealer rebates, and other promotions along with the wholesale or dealer invoice prices.

It's a great starting point for negotiating a price and with their standard package you get 5 reports. As a bonus though, if you complete a brief 2-minute member survey you'll receive an extra 3 dealer invoice price reports. To access the survey, login after signing up and click on the 'Members Helping Members Survey' link on your lower left hand corner. The survey is available to both new members and anyone who had signed up previously but only works once per account.

The BC Scrap-It program, available to residents of British Columbia, is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by getting older vehicles off the road. What's in it for you? A whole lot, as it turns out!

Incentives of up to $1250 are available to BC residents who turn in an older (1995 or previous) car and either purchase a newer, fuel-efficient vehicle or simply do not replace the car at all.

Some of the incentives include:

• A 12 Month, Three-Zone Translink MultiPass (Lower Mainland)
• 24 Months of Adult BC Transit Monthly Passes (Victoria)
• For the purchase of a bicycle, a $100 discount at point of sale plus $600 from Scrap-It
• A $1000 Car-Sharing Credit with Zipcar, the Cooperative Auto Network or the Victoria Car Share Co-Op
• For the purchase of a new car, a $250 discount at point of sale plus either $500 or $1000 (depending on the vehicle purchased)

The program is open by application only and vehicles must be insured; produced in 1995 or before; registered in BC and in driving condition. Any break in insurance coverage in the previous 12 months will disqualify the vehicle. So there are a few hoops to jump through but the rewards are definitely worth it!

Good news for all the online shoppers out there, Amazon.com now ships a large selection of their Apparel, Automotive, Computers, Electronics, Home, Personal Care, Kitchen, Outdoor Living, Tools, Video Games and a few other categories to Canada through Amazon Global! Books, Music, and DVDs have always been deliverable to Canada, but the new product categories opens up a huge product selection. A quick look inside the electronics category indicated that over 10,000 items are shippable to Canada, while inside of the Watches category, there are over 19,000 products.

Shipping charges range between $4.99 US and $7.99 US per shipment, plus an additional $1.99 US to $3.99 US per item. An import fees or duties that may apply will be visible during the checkout. The full Canadian shipping details can be found here. Amazon.com's prices are quite competitive to begin with, so even with the shipping and import costs, deals are bound to turn up for Canadians. The strong Canadian certainly helps, too.

You can see the entire Canada-shippable product selection from the first link, but you can also identify whether or not a given item ships internationally by looking in the "Product details" section. Under shipping it will say "This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S" or "Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S".

A big thanks goes to Al Kaseltzer for spotting and sharing this!

In a continuing effort to "lower the upfront costs of selling on eBay", eBay is rolling out an interesting promotion that begins on June 16 -- 5 free Insertion Fees every 30 days for Auction Style Listings. It looks like a nice promotion for those of you who sell a high volume of goods on eBay.com.

All of the details can be found here, but it's worth pointing out that the listings with no insertion fees will have a final value fee of 8.75% of the sale price or $20 -- whichever is lower. According to the text at the bottom of the page, the 5 free insertions will apply to ebay.com, ebay.ca, cafr.ebay.ca, and ebaymotors.com (parts and accessories only).

IKEA has added a minimum of two spaces per store designated as Green parking spots at each of their 11 IKEA Canada locations. The Green parking spots are for hybrid cars or any cars that use less than 6.5L of gas per 100km. They're located right next to the handicapped and family spaces near the entrance of the store for added convenience as a little treat for green car owners. It's a nice touch from IKEA who has been focusing on efficient packaging and transportation to keep prices low, but to also help support the environment.