My dad once bought a car from Oregon and had it shipped to Hawaii because it was cheaper to pay $500 shipping than it would have been to pay the extra 4% sales tax.

Have any US residents ever drove north to Canada to buy a car? It looks like the Canadian pricing may be 1 or 2 thousand less than the US pricing. What are the taxes like over there and will there be any extra fees? :)

Brian

A while ago, I also had considered buying car via Canada and did a little bit of research. First, you have to find a dealer that will sell it to you. Some manufacturers prohibit their Canadian dealers from selling to US buyers. Second, you have to pay an importer to convert the car from Canadian spec to US spec. This usually mean the speedometer, odometer and a few other things. But the single issue that turn me off to the entire idea was the warranty. To discourage this pratice, many manufacturers will not honor warranties. For me, this is not worth the 1-2 thousand save.

Not to mention the (fairly) new law that a car bought in Canada must remain in Canada for 6 months before it can be registered in the U.S.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I figured that there had to be some things in place that would make it difficult for us to buy a Canadian RX-8.

The warranty is a big thing to throw away. I guess Canadians don't have speedometers and odometers in miles?

The new law must have been enacted to counter all of the darn yankees that were still buying Canadian cars. :)

Originally posted by Buger
The new law must have been enacted to counter all of the darn yankees that were still buying Canadian cars. :)

Nah... blame Canada!:D

you have to have a canadian car 6 months or 15000 km to register it in the states. I know if your a resident/citizen of both countries you can buy a canadian car instead of a american car. Canadian cars have mph in smaller numerals usually, not a big deal if you ask me. Many dealers won't sell you the car because they can lose their franchise from the manufacturer (wont supply cars), this info is from a local ford dealer.

What's the Canadian sales tax for a car?


I know regular retail sales tax in Canada is 15% compared to 6.5% to 8.25% in the US depending on city.

Originally posted by psukhu
What's the Canadian sales tax for a car?


I know regular retail sales tax in Canada is 15% compared to 6.5% to 8.25% in the US depending on city.

Canadian Sales Tax is the total of two taxes.

The first is Federal tax, referred to as GST (Government Sales Tax) and it is 7% no matter where u are.

The next is Provincial sales tax, or PST. This varies from province to province.

From as low as 0% (thats right zero) in Alberta.

6% in Saskatchewan

7% for Manitoba and British Columbia

and as high as 10% in Prince Edward Island..

A full discription is available here http://www.taxpayer.com/Facts/TaxRates_by_Province_2000.pdf

Add the two taxes and viola...

Now, if anyone wants to buy one now, here in Canada, I would be more then happy to buy it for you with your money, provided I can drive it for the 6 months you have to wait.... Just to keep things fair, I will pay insurance and maintenance while I drive it :D :D :D

Thank you in advance for your business, its been a pleasure working with you :p

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