+100 That's the story I got from the local tire shops - Bridgestone Canada does not give them a break, so they can't give me one or they lose money. I understand that. It's the mfr/distributor in most cases doing the gouging IMO. So I still do what I can for the local guy by paying him for the installation, but that's as far as I can afford to go.

 

I was at the Mercedes dealership with my buddy who's interested in a C class and its 11,000$ more expensive then in the U.S (the C350 model) and we asked the sales person about it, and they simply said and i quote "Mercedes prices their cars based on market value in the country, if you go to Australia, you'll pay double the price for the same car, and the car itself is made in Europe".

Like RBull said, it's the "supplier, distributor or manufacturer" who need wake the **** up.

 

You guys are absolutely right. I buy nearly all major purchases in the US now - especially for the cars. I bought a Subaru Outback limited in the states and saved 12K. The parts and accessories for the car are almost 1/2 of what they are here.

I have found that this isn't the case on all items though. For example, I was shopping around for TV's surprisingly this week and when I went to Ogendsburg NY to pick up the exhaust, I went into a local Walmart and surprisingly, the TVs were the same price there as here. I was also in a Fry's electronics in Seattle last week and found the same thing.

I guess you have to look at what you are buying but for any high margin item, the states is way cheaper.

 

Tunerworks.

 

Very true. I've seen comparisons on many different items. Some are actually a bit less in Canada but many are significantly more.

 

I agree that much of this is at a wholesale or manufacturers level but the retailers should be screaming at their suppliers. I doubt freight is a reason given that I ship single items here at a premium via courier etc, yet still save huge percentages. We are a smaller market but this is a lame excuse by the companies hosing us. They are doing it because they are getting away with it, or should I say they "were" getting away with it.

Ericsksen Infiniti have a policy at the service department with is punitive against U.S. autos. I say **** em! I will buy a new U.S. Infiniti for 20K less and they can shove their warrantee. I can buy a private warrantee for $ 1,700.00 +/- . We are 30 million strong. Surely that market is worth something. Especially given how wealthy this nation is. I think we all agree here that we are being taken to the cleaners and if enough people quit buying domestically, something may change. I just hope the change is not our government slapping punitive import restrictions on us to protect those wishing to rape us. We will see.

 

Warranties - kinda funny story. So Subaru Canada just changed it's policy to no longer accept warranty claims for US imported vehicles starting with 08 models. Before that, you could buy a car in the US and import it and they would honor the warranties. Now, they won't given how many people are doing it. Talk about blantant profiteering. Luckily I bought an 07 so I can still get warranty work. Still when you are saving 10K or more on the car, the warranty is the least of your concerns.

 

Just thought it worth mentioning. I ordered the new tires for my M5 on Thursday the 21st. They arrived this morning. That is in transit for 4 business days.

My son ordered tires for his new 335Xi coupe locally. They had to be brought in and it took the same amount of time. Does not seem like we sacrificed much by buying from Tirerack. I recommend them to anyone wishing to cross border shop for tires.

 

i think this is a great thread. with the power of the internet.. it is so easy to look up price discrepancies these days. i have also found that the majority of my major purchases are being made in the us as opposed to up here.

i actually have a bunch of gear i bought for this motorcycle season coming soon. bought a new 1-piece, helmet and boots. i estimate i saved around 1,200$ which is a ridiculous amount. 1-piece suits up here can cost up around 2,000$ and higher... where as u can get them for around 699$ and up from down south. even the helmet i ordered was 250$ cheaper and this is after incorporating any duties and taxes.

i'm lucky we have a sister company in south carolina so it's easy for me to get info on duties and taxes from our brokers prior to purchasing anything.

my sister will be moving into her new condo in about 6 months... and i'm helping her with her multimedia system. we've been to a bunch of stores around the city and no one can even come close to the pricing in the us on most of the gear.

i've noticed that some of the smaller mom and pop shops around town can get really competitive on pricing... but they are excruciatingly hard to find for the regular joe and seriously too far and few between.

it's sometimes shocking to me how well our economy and dollar has been holding up lately because what i see on a day-to-day basis doesn't seem to jive with it.

 

i'm not sure if it's all because our prices are too high, or that the american prices are too low. we are basically subsidizing many of the manufacturers because the american market can't support higher prices. as a manufacturer we've taken a bit hit due to the dollar, but we can't raise our american pricing to compensate, since it will make us uncompetitive, i believe GM had been planning to raise prices on most models, but due to the market they've had to cut prices/offer incentives again in the u.s..

i'll agree that on imported items we should be paying less, but on domestic items, the costs haven't changed relatively.

after the last fiasco of buying something in the states and getting hit with huge import fees, i'm not bothering, basically, i'm just not buying much beyond food, of which i try to make sure a good chunk of is local. lower prices here would be nice, but it's not always realistic, i would rather see higher prices state side, (though it would probably slow their economy even more).

 

Interesting, it's the same discussion but in the opposite direction that's been going on in the US about prescription drug prices for years. Pharmaceutical companies have been screwing US insurers and consumers for ages because they don't have the purchasing power that most other countries do, thanks to privatized medicine and a multiple-payer system. I wonder, if you looked at all items across the board, would we be paying more than US consumers, or vice versa, or would it even out?

After having lived in the US for several years, I don't feel overall any less well off now in Toronto than when I was down in Boston, but that's purely anecdotal.

 

I hope Infiniti drops prices soon because I might go get myself a lexus is350...since that even dropped in price even though it's not stated on lexus website but when you build one and i was looking at is350 before with sport package added and it came to like 56000 before taxes...and now you can build it for under 50000 now...and that's g35 sedan prices now and i have always wanted a g35 but if infiniti...hope they lower soon im looking to buy in april

 

Lexus just dropped the prices on the 08 IS by $4650. VW and Audi are starting to drop their prices also now. Hopefully more manufacturers will follow suit soon, I'll be looking for a new car myself this year. The IS350 with sport package is one I'll be looking at also.

 

Our next vehicle (either GMC Acadia, Toyota Highlander or Nissan Pathfinder) will be coming from the USA. Prices up here do not even begin to compare to the great prices down south. I buy most of my clothes down south, as well as most of my car mods, etc. I was very close to buying a 350z down south as well, but came across a decent enough (at the time) deal up here.

 

Interesting. That IS350 is starting to look a little more appealing.