with the strong dollar.. has anyone considered purchasing a new car from the u.s. ? i'm looking into picking up a new bmw but i'm contemplating ordering one from the us. i found a guy who can import a car up for me. here's a price comparison on a 335i coupe if anyone is interested:

________________________________________
From a local dealer:
WB73 - 335i coupe - $51,600
ZNS - navigation - 2,900
ZBY - premium package - 4,200
ZNG - sport package - 2,000
217 - active steer - 1,500
2R4 - 19" wheels - 1,500
322 - comfort access - 750
639 - telephone/bmw prep asssit - 1,100
6FL - usb audio - 350
total - 65,900
4% discount - (2,636)
sub total - $63,264

PDI - 1,295
Freight - 700
Admin Fee - 295
Air Tax - 100
Gas Tax - 75
Sub Total - 65,729
GST/PST - 9,202.06
Fuel - 95
Total - $75,026.06

From Importer:
$51000 x 1.02 (currency exchange)= $52020
(Please note the currency will fluctuate from day to day)
$52020 X .06 for GST= $3121.20
$ 52020 x 3% transaction fee for Auto Sales and Importation= $1560.60
$52020 x .065 for foreign sales tax= $3381.30
$206.70 for Canadian Tire Certificate= $206.70
$100 for daytime running light activation (if applicable)= $100
$102.58 for Safety and Standard Certificate= $102.58
$500 for BMW recall clearance letter= $500 (I will attempt to have this waived but BMW does charge for the recall clearance letter)
$500 transportation= $500
Total= $59931.78

Please note that the above cost does not include PST. When licensing a imported vehicle through the Ministry of Transportation, you will be asked to pay PST. If the car was originally purchased in your name from the American dealer, you will be asked to pay 8% of the red book value. The red book value PST is billed according to the Canadian market price of the BMW 335i coupe.

If you wish, the vehicle can be bought from the American dealer in my company's name and resold to you at cost. In this scenario, you will only pay 8% PST of the Importation invoice price.

$52020 x 0.08= $4161.60

Total on equivalent BMW from u.s. - $64,093.38
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so at the time of the quotes... i would have saved $10,932.68 cad

concerns:
- no included 4 year maintenance
- no metric in the cockpit
- need to sell my current G privately which is a pita for me
- problems selling the car down the road b/c it's a us model??
- and the big one... do i place a deposit on the car and worry about future currency values... or ... pay for the majority of the car now.. and hope to hell everything works out with the car/dealer later.

thoughts?

 

It sure is a tempting situation right now....
& sounds like you've done your homework.

I thought there was something recently that dealers would not sell *new* cars for export?

re metric, it's often not too big of a job to swap out the gauge faces.

:edit:
BTW..... Late yesterday - Porsche just announced a 10% price drop on all models in Canada.
Maybe others will follow?????

 

^^ that is correct, BMW in the US will not sell cars for export especifically to Canadians. They are obviously protecting the local dealers from cross border shopping. I've also talked to a number of people about importing a car but in the end the savings get lost in all kinds of fees, plus it is speculated BMW and MB will also reduce their MSRP on 2008 models. I would only do this as a cash transaction directly with the dealer in the US, get a local address (license) and insurance coverage. Keep in mind that if you do that, you'll have to pay the local tax. Once you take delivery, it is deemed used and you can bring it in yourself and save a ton of dough.

 

the guy i got the quote from didn't mention any problems about buying the car from bmw. i've also contacted bmw customer support about the warranty and exporting.. and there didn't seem to be any mention of any problems there either. in fact .. i was a little surprised as to how knowledgeable/helpful the bmw customer rep was on the phone regarding all the info.

where did u get your info from about not being able to buy a bmw for export into canada?

as of right now... there are no price reductions slated for any upcoming 08 bmw models here in canada according to the dealership i've been in contact with.

forgot to add.. the price that i received is the total price for bringing the car in. there's no hidden fee's or anything... and as u can see there is a substantial amount in savings... especially as strong as the dollar is right now. ordering a car would take about (realistically) 3 months to receive. although i'd love to get the xi version.. which, who knows when that would arrive.

 

I spoke to dealers in Buffalo, Miami and Philadelphia. They all said the same thing that they are not allowed to sell cars to Canadians unless they have a registered address in the USA.

 

well... don't know then.. maybe it's dealer specific or this guy has a deal with a dealer in the us.

found this article today at the star:

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/260793

^^lol

 

Not surprised to see this. It's been going on in Europe for years now due to the manufacturers attempted to keep their unique pricing in each country but they're apparently losing that battle.

As to your question that is an issue I would also be looking seriously at if I were in the market for a new car.

Conversion of the speedo gauge must be possible without too much cost. What is the maintenance worth - a few hundred a year?
Selling your car privately- definitely PITA and the costs need to be calculated of trade in value/tax savings versus private sale
Future sale of a US model- probably not a biggie and nothing 1K lower price wouldn't easily overcome

No doubt you'll save money in the short and long term. How much? 5-7.5 is my guess after the dust clears.

 

very interesting and not surprising at all. It is possible your contact has found a way to buy and import it. But like RBull mentioned, the savings may not be as substantial as they seem on the surface when all is said and done. So it may not be worth the hassle after all. JM2C.

 

More interesting reading - if you're interested... ;-)

http://www.wheels.ca/newsFeatures/article/31673

http://www.wheels.ca/article/31740

 

^thanks. Interesting stuff.

 

thanks for those links.. that was an excellent read. i'm going to look into this more in the coming 2 months when i expect to finally order my car.. but right now everything points to buying american especially if the dollar continues to hold.

 

Some other interesting CND dollar info I came across....

 

http://ca.autos.yahoo.com/s/25092007...-2007.html?p=3

Infiniti needs to toe the line.

 

Everyone needs to toe the line.

The Porsche US/Canada differential is still significant at present currency valuations.

 

oil is gonna mess this country up. it totally inflates how well this country is really doing.