Canadian car in the US?

[billw]

What should I know about buying a Canadian car that has been imported into the USA? What are the disadvatages? Anything good about it? Should I not even consider it? I know the odometer will not be in miles. I see that as a disadvantage but that might not be true.

Note: this is for no particular car. I just happened to come across one in my car shoppping. Google didn't turn up much that I could find.

 

[mmntech]

The biggest disadvantage is price. Cars are more expensive in Canada. Always have been, likely always will. Sometimes you can find some savings but not enough to be worth the hassle. Maybe a couple hundred bucks if that. Plus you still have to pay the sales tax and other government fees.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Technically my car was built in Canada if that counts

 

[Fritzo]

If it's a newer car, it's not that difficult to buy in Canada and bring it to the US. You have to fill out a couple of forms and it will have to be inspected. Also any financing will not include sales taxes for your state, so you'll have to pay those out of pocket.

If it's an older car, you may have to go through an import service to deal with customs.

 

[desy]

Actually when the $ was 65cents to US$ lots of vehicle's poured south.
I was hell to try and find a 2-3 yr old off lease truck back then as they all went South.
I wouldn't get one from Eastern Canada though considering all the road salt

 

[mmntech]

Actually when the $ was 65cents to US$ lots of vehicle's poured south.
I was hell to try and find a 2-3 yr old off lease truck back then as they all went South.
I wouldn't get one from Eastern Canada though considering all the road salt

Ugg, remember those days. Everything cost a fortune up here. Good for the exporters, very bad for consumers.

 

[billw]

Thanks for all the replies. The car I saw is already in the US. Now I'm just trying to figure out if the car should be priced lower than comparable cars here since it's from up north.

 

[DaTT]

Be careful as Toronto and Calgary just had major flooding.

 

[rommelrommel]

I wouldn't expect much of a discount. Maybe 5%. If it has salt/rust issues that should be obvious anyways.

 

[phucheneh]

Be careful as Toronto and Calgary just had major flooding.

I highly doubt those cars will be on the market yet. It takes some time...and flood cars are pretty ubiquitous, anyhow. Sandy cars are still making the rounds at auctions. Hell, probably Katrina cars. They get shipped all over the place and become Someone Else's Problem many times over.