haggis88

my question would be, if i bought a car in another province, could i get the excess tax back? (or not pay it in the first place)

OP, if you want a 2" Lifted Honda Ridgeline on 20" offroad wheels, give me a shout

or this guy: http://forums.beyond.ca/st/370374/fs...8is-alpina-b6/

he has 4 cars for sale...big discounts if you buy 2 apparently!

cheeky_monkey

Also why do the cars come with shit warranties?..Here the Audi come with a 4 yrs 80,000km warranty..the same car in the UK come with a 6 yrs 100,000miles..that's 2 extra years plus double the mileage

Almost Canadian

Because they market to the local conditions.

jimf

We ended up buying the car in Red Deer where the dealer seemed bit keener. They still tried it on with adding extras.

Aviator

Did you pay the extras?

delsol79

We haggled and got 10% off the listed price and a free service thrown in. Speaking of which, if you are interested in a 2009 Nissan Murano...

Steve_

Audis come with shit warranties, which is one of the reasons I ended up not buying an Audi.

Audi is more of a "luxury" brand in North America, which is why they don't sell the cheaper models here.

Like I said, Glenmore Audi are a joke.

It's not so easy if you've just moved here, but if you've got the time and the money, it generally makes more sense to buy in the US. For example with an Audi, all the dealer has to do is plug the car in to their computer, turn the DRLs on and switch the car's computer over to metric. Then it complies with Canadian law, you get the compliance letter from them and follow the instructions on www.riv.ca

The trick with buying in the US is that you generally have to pay cash, you cannot lease or use a payment option, plus sometimes the warranty is not honoured in Canada although there's nothing to stop you taking it back to the US if something goes seriously wrong with it.

However the Canadian dollar will never be stronger than it is now, imv.

haggis88

noticed that Vauxhall in the UK now offer a limited lifetime warranty for the original buyer...do any of the GM brands here offer that? Do Opel offer it in Europe?

januarymix

Is it tax exempt from the US, Steve? So the benefits are cost primarily?

Former Lancastrian

It will be exempt the state tax if you buy it from a US dealer for export but will be subject to duties, GST, excise tax and eventually PST when you register it.
Audi have been slammed for their warranty coverage when US vehicles sold for export to Canada.
Unless the price difference is that significant after all taxes and fees paid then I wouldnt bother.

januarymix

Gotcha, very helpful, Former Lancastrian, thanks

Steve_

Yeah, but the price difference is significant, that's why people do it, but Audi is just a shit sandwich in N America, they just don't care because of all the sales to China, imo.

Anyway you get the taxes assessed at the border so there is no tax saving per se. (other than that the GST/HST/PST on a lower amount will obviously be less, but you may be liable for duty depending on where the car was manufactured so you don't typically save anything).

How it works is basically this, if you live in Vancouver or near the border you can buy in the US, get the thing serviced in the US, you haven't got a problem - except those States have sales tax. You can get out of the sales tax as an export, assuming the dealer knows how to do that, which is a big "if". It's not hard but they seem to get nervous about it.

The advantage in Alberta is that Montana has no sales tax, but it's a big drive to Bozeman if you have a warranty problem, which is the reason I didn't buy an Audi. If you're in Alberta and you're going to buy in the US, pick a make of car where there is a dealer in Great Falls or Kalispell.

Obviously though in Canada there are GM, Chrysler and Ford dealers all over the place so you can play them off against each other and get a lower price, so it boils down to the less common makes that happen to have a dealer near the border, e.g. VW, Subaru.

So my advice is if you want an Audi, buy a high spec Passat from VW in Great Falls or buy a Subaru. Although talking to people at Coutts they seemed to be saying you can save a fortune on even a Ford. (American VW dealers seem to be streets ahead of the one in Calgary as well).

Another thing is that you can usually get a bank loan even though you can't lease or use a payment plan, but on the other hand even though the interest rate might be higher you're paying less anyway so you usually come out ahead.

It is all a hassle but it's a hassle worth undergoing given the money you save.

Steve_

Glenmore Audi

Bozeman Audi

Difficult to compare specs obviously but that looks to me to be about $5,000 cheaper and then you've got all the BS additional costs Cheeky was on about in Canada as well.

I've found in the past that if you sit comparing US and Canadian prices for long enough you get increasingly angry because it dawns on you that they've worked out the "hassle" factor price of going to the US and that is included in the Canadian price. Depends on the make though.

januarymix

Very interesting...I will def need a car (either shipping or buying). We are thinking of a cruiser, anyway a larger model that will be good for the hills and cold weather.

Appreciate the tips on what to look for.

dbd33

For the cold weather you want heated seats and a small engine, something that will warm up quickly. Also a huge washer fluid reservoir so you don't have to get out and fill it often.