Last month we became very interested in the plight of Canadian consumers after witnessing first hand the disparity between the price of automobiles in their country and the U.S. The disparity became crystal clear when the Canadian Looney and U.S. dollar spent some time at parity, which revealed that, for instance, a Lincoln Navigator starting at $47,755 in this country goes for $76,299 in Canada. The range of disparity varies from car to car, but it's there on every model sold in the Great White North.
The obvious workaround here is for Canadians to buy their cars in the U.S. and import them into Canada. It's not an easy thing to do, but until automakers address the inequality of MSRPs (they may be forced to), it remains a worthwhile endeavor. That's why we were pleased to be pointed to the ImportCarCanada.com website that helps Canadians navigate the mine field that is cross-country importation of autos.
Navigating the site ourselves we learned a few things that were news to us. For instance, did you know there's a list of admissible vehicles in Canada? Sorry Ford Thunderbird fans (hello, anyone?), you're not allowed to enjoy the maple syrup above the border. Also, if the vehicle you're buying was built in North America, you don't have to pay taxes on it or duty fees at the border. Buy a BMW built in Germany, however, and you'll be hit with a 6.1% duty fee. Finally, customs is obviously a nightmare, and the site offers many guides to help Canadians keep their forms in order.
None of us on the Autoblog team lives in Canada and thus enjoy the relatively inexpensive cost of owning a car here in the U.S., but we're glad to know that Canadians can do something about the short end of the stick they're left holding.
[Source: ImportCarCanada.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gardiner Westbound @ Oct 27th 2007 3:35PM
The Automobile Protection Association (APA), a Canadian membership based non-profit association dedicated to promoting consumer interests in the marketplace, has Canadian sources that make U.S. cars available. They take care of the details and save the member money.
http://www.apa.ca/
Tim UF @ Oct 27th 2007 3:46PM
how about helping us get some Canadian Vehicles?
I would've loved to get an Acura EL: Civic fuel economy, Acura interior refinement...
SPG @ Oct 27th 2007 6:46PM
Sorry, all I'll give you is a Pontiac Wave.
Belive it or not the Pontiac G5 Pursuit was intended to be Canada only and was for the first year of production too.
cheryld @ Oct 28th 2007 6:34AM
I have an 2001 EL Premium, Navy with beig leather, with 173K on it. I am wanting to change vehicles soon.
The vehicle is sound and well maintained. I am a traveling nurse so most of my driving is all hwy.
Interested?
RWD fan @ Oct 27th 2007 3:46PM
So why don't we just trade cars for prescription drugs?
Sandeep @ Oct 27th 2007 4:00PM
might as well trade cars with the Middle East for oil, at this rate.
RicardoHead @ Oct 27th 2007 4:30PM
I think it's great if they import the cars up cheaper, but pathetic when they whine and sue the automakers. No one owes anyone a convenient cheap price - it's up to you to make the effort to get it. I shop everywhere all the time and also import things less expensively if the savings are worth it, but I don't sue my nearby Exxon because the Shell station 3 miles away has a lower price. That's just ridiculous.
Azrael4h @ Oct 27th 2007 4:38PM
There's a small difference between a 1-5 cent disparity between two places within walking distance of each other, verses the issue with Canadian prices. Which is $10,000 - $30,000 or more, despite the value of the Canadian looney vs US Dollar being the same, and having to drive anywhere from a few to hundreds of miles to cross into another country to buy a car at a similar price. And then they have to go through the torturous process of importing it, getting through customs, etc... etc... even though the cars are pretty much identical if sold on both sides of the border. Nearly every US-built car even has a speedo with KM/hr readings as well as MPH.
It especially is odd considering a good few cars are built up there, and have the same markup. However, your analogy is pointless and irrelevant, as 3 miles does not equal the same effort as crossing into another country and dealing with enough paperwork to kill an entire rain forest just to buy a car at a price that isn't fraudulent markup.
LeRobert @ Oct 27th 2007 4:38PM
The thing is, when all the Canadian dealers are holding up the prices together, that's corporate collusion. Hopefully with the increase of cross-border imports, the outrageous prices here in Canada will be driven down sans lawsuit.
RicardoHead @ Oct 27th 2007 4:57PM
Sorry Azreal, I lived in Germany in 1995 when (at the time) the USD was weak vs the DMark. I went thru the pain of importation then to save about $15k so, if I could do it across an ocean and in a language/customs process that I did not understand, most of Canada can make the 300km trip over the border and do it too instead of whine. About 85% of the population lives within a few hundred km of the border.
Now, as to the paperwork and hellacious process of importation, you have the advantage of being able to pressure the Canadian government which is specifically responsible for making the process burdensome. Yes, it is not the automakers who make the process hell, it is you, the Canadian people, who thru your responsive elected officials have done this to yourself. It's a copout to pick on the automakers.
Tecmec @ Oct 27th 2007 5:20PM
Oh, I get it. So since you had to suffer, all Canadians should have to too. Is that it?
How does you past experiences justify the car companies charging 20-40% more in a market with the only difference being the name of the country?
TEM @ Oct 27th 2007 5:26PM
Tecmec,
You do have to realise, that with cars, like prescription drugs, and especially with luxury cars, the United States, is a primary market, while Canada is a tertiary market.
Harvid @ Oct 27th 2007 6:28PM
What do you mean its not the automakers' fault. They kind of set the prices! And those prices reflect the value of the CDN dollar circa 2002 when a CDN dollar was worth about 0.63 US. However, they are not adjusting the prices to reflect the fact that the CDN dollar is now worth 1.03 US. Personally, I don't expect the prices to be exactly as they are in the US, as business costs are higher in Canada. But to not changes the prices at all to reflect these currency changes is just gouging. And that is the automakers' problem....
Bubba @ Oct 28th 2007 12:40AM
Ricardohead: Get your facts straight:
We aren't whining about the price or the hassle of importing. We're whining because manufacturers like Honda have made it a policy to not allow selling to Canadians, and to make sure we cannot get the paperwork we need to bring the vehicle across the border.
I would be more tat happy to drive my new Acura MDX back to Canada from *anywhere* in the USA, but due to price-fixing, no US dealer will sell to me.
Kowell @ Oct 27th 2007 5:31PM
It's even more frustrating when you see that Toyota and Subaru are pretty much the only companies left that don't forbid their salesman from selling to canadian with treaths of removing their sales licenses...... that and the fact they void the warranty as soon as the car crosses the border.... If half the energy they put toward stopping buying from the US were put towards fixing the price disparity..... there wouldn't be any problem left....
un4tgivn @ Oct 27th 2007 6:26PM
Actually, it's in the franchise agreements for most manufacturers that forbids selling to non-residents.
Just as all the Canadian dealerships were threatened with the loss of their franchises and/or fines incurred during the early/mid 90s when certain SUVs were in short supply in the US and the Canadian dollar made it favorable to source cars up here.... We're seeing the growing trend for American franchisees under the same pressures to avoid selling to us. It's nothing new....
whofan @ Oct 27th 2007 5:45PM
Where does NAFTA come into play? I though free trade ment that consumers could shop cross boarders with out duty ect.
Harvid @ Oct 27th 2007 6:21PM
Actually, NAFTA supports "free-er" trade. It is no where near what the EU represents, with the free movement of people, goods and services. There are fewer restrictions than say 30 years ago, but completely free trade it ain't!
cly @ Oct 28th 2007 11:20AM
un4tgivn: NAFTA? it's a joke to keep politicians employed. Remember the softwood lumber? NAFTA only works if it benefits all parties involved.
un4tgivn @ Oct 27th 2007 6:23PM
Oh, how the Canadian media has poisoned the minds of my less-astute fellow Canucks. The price disparity is nothing to groan about in Canada. The value of the Canadian dollar hasn't actually *risen* all that much in the big picture. It's that the American dollar has lost most of its strength on international markets.
For example, the Canadian dollar has only gained about 9% in the past 6-months versus the Japanese Yen, and while we've seen nearly a 15% gain versus the Euro, that is reflective in an annual trend that tends to 'peak' at the beginning of november, after which the Canadian dollar falls substantially in value versus the Euro. (source: XE.com)
That being said, the surge in the Canadian dollar in respect to the American dollar shouldn't be an excuse for a price change in the bigger scale. Considering we have a market that is about 1.2 million vehicles annually (~10% of the US market), one has to at least think about the costs of Marketing, Distribution, Certification, etc of these vehicles in Canada remaining relatively constant, however since most manufacturers dealing in Canada more or less report to the foreign home-office, the root cost for these foreign manufacturers tends to actually be HIGHER... Which actually DECREASES profit margins. Imagine that!
To further compound the justification of the manufacturer's refusal to alter pricing, consider that the dive in the value of US currency has caused incidental costs and conversions for the procurement of raw materials and outsourced goods to skyrocket.
Think about it people!
Every time I hear those idiots on the squakbox gabbing about how Canadians are treated unfairly, I feel embarrassed that me fellow citizens are actually too stupid to form an independent thought about the situation. Perhaps studying some economics courses should be in order for you all.