wc11

You'll pay exchange, then 5% GST & 6% Duty at the border. Any PST will be paid at time of registration in it's destination province.
I bought mine when we were at par with the US and could sell it back to the US for more than I paid for it back then. Nothing wrong with that.

Depending on where your sourcing it, Pennsylvania for me, they paid to get it to the border in Niagara, where I put it on the back of a $49.00 uHaul car trailer on the back
of my 4Runner for the trip home. Cheaper that the $800+ I was quoted for the pick up.

HyperMike

My understanding is that if the vehicle was manufactured in North America (US or CAD) there is no duty payable. If the car was manufactured anywhere else (outside North America) there is a Duty of 6% (I think) payable. Furthermore, if the vehicle is >25 years old there is no Duty payable regardless of where the vehicle was manufactured.

Cheers,
Mike

Torontoworker

I think our dollar difference, inspection fees, transportation fees plus taxes is the bigger issue than is the duty even on a car that's 25 years or older. Two years ago would have been the time to import - now with our Central American like dollar... Not so much unless you steal the car.

Stevelev

I understand the amount of duty changes based on origin - 6% for German products. A few years ago, I purchased tires from Tire Rack and shipped them to the US border (a 45 minute from my home). The particular Dunlop model was made in Germany (versus the US) so I had to pay an add'l 6% duty on them. I looked at 991's south of the border recently before buying one up here and although there was a much larger selection, all that were optioned the way I wanted were more expensive than what I could find here (not to mention the hassle of getting it here). FYI, my Boxster is currently enjoying the warm Florida weather ... when I went looking at 911's down there, the sales rep suggested there was no way they would consider taking a CDN car in as a trade.

I had a very positive experience purchasing a US Audi S4 Avant many years ago. At the time our dollar was close to par so the deal was a good one (incl the 6% duty, RIV fees etc). 2 years into enjoying that car including taking it to the track, someone came along who wanting it more than me so I sold it to him at a 5% more than I paid ! Goes to show that the "right" US car will be worthwhile to a CDN buyer ...

Imo000

I'm pretty sure the duty is not 6% but 6.1%.

GTA_G20

If I recall correctly Alberta doesn't charge PST on resale or used car sales but only on new car sales .No double triple and quadruple dipping like us in Ontario.

Both of my p car purchases have been US cars. First one I drove to South Carolina and trailered it back .I sold it about two years ago with zero issues to another canadian buyer . My current p car is also American I bought it locally after the P.O. did the leg work of importing some years ago .

My next pcar will again be purchased in the US simply due to the wide selection . I'd would be far more likely to find the build I want in Trump land than the limited choices domestically . However i shudder when considering FX and refuse to upgrade until I see our dollar climb towards a loonie and not continually plummet towards the Pennie

Jamie140

You might be waiting awhile. All of our current policies seem destined to make Canada far less competitive than the US.

HyperMike

I revisited the CBSA website and you are indeed correct Imo000, the duty is 6.1% not the 6% I originally quoted...having said that I'm not sure the 0.1% would factor into my decision !

Cheers,
Mike

Crazy Canuck

+1

Christien

Having imported plenty of cars from the US to Canada, both for myself and for clients, here are my observations:

1. Final price ends up being pretty much the same. Don't limit your search to either country based on price alone. In the end the same car will cost the same amount on either side of the border, as long as our exchange rate stays around $0.75. Down in the 60s it's not worth it to shop in the US, closer to parity it's not worth it to shop in Canada. Some people like to lay hands on the car before purchasing and don't have time/budget/desire to hop on a plane somewhere to do so. Fair enough, then you're searching locally only.
2. Selection is 10x in the US what it is here.
3. Reselling: there are arguments that it's harder to resell a US car in Canada, and there's a degree of truth to that. Some buyers are much more hesitant to buy a former-US - it's a required disclosure for dealer sales, which tells you something of the market. That said, many (most?) potential buyers won't care. There's the argument of a potential flood car, but that can be offset by a proper PPI. There's also the option of buying a southern car that's never seen road salt. That also means it's never been stored for winter - upside is that storage is bad for cars, they prefer to be used regularly, downside is that often means more mileage.
4. hassle of importing - no argument on this one, it can be daunting at first, but if you know what you're doing, it's absolutely do-able. Ever done your own taxes? Vehicle importation is much simpler. Count on 4-5 hours of reading/learning and paperwork for your first import. Or pay a service. TFX will do border paperwork for you for a fee (can't remember how much, probably a few hundred $$) though it's not all of it, you'll still have to do the RIV inspection and related paperwork.

Here's a huge tip I discovered a few years ago: use a foreign exchange service. I use Knightsbridge. My bank (TD) marks up the exchange rate by about 2%. Knightsbridge marks it up by about .25% (could be off on those #s, it was a while ago I researched it). But for a $50-100k car, it adds up to a couple thousand. I used them for anything more than $1000 or so. It's as fast (sometimes faster) than a regular wire transfer to a US bank and perfectly secure. I admit I was VERY nervous the first time I used them - wiring a company I'd never heard of and only researched online tens of thousands seemed like the beginning of a "learn from my mistakes" story, but I've used them several times and never had a problem. There are other similar companies with similar rates.

FWIW, I'm not doing imports any more (didn't renew my dealer license, getting out of the industry) so this is all unbiased info - I'm not looking for new clients

TL;DR cast a wide net, shop in both countries for the car you want, be aware of market prices on both sides of the border so you can recognize a deal or an over-priced car when you see it. And ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get a PPI from someone other than the seller.

Did I mention to always get a PPI?

BioBanker

As stated many times above the biggest advantage of the US market is the availability of cars. I looked for 2years to find my 996TT and would have preferred a local Cdn car - could not find one that I wanted to buy during that time and ended up finding the perfect car in the US. You should factor flights (hopefully one way!) in the US decision. It is easy to register a US 996TT car in Canada so I would not worry about that. Modifications to Canadianize it are trivial if you do your homework.

However, contrary to what is said above, I'm told that US cars in Canada command a premium as currency favours the US buyer and its obviously easy to reimport a Canadian registered US car back into the US. US buyers wont buy Cdn cars, but they will buy a US car from Canada. No personal experience, just what I have been told.

HyperMike

Hi everyone...I didn't want to be that guy that never comes back to a thread they started . I appreciate the insight from everyone. I agree that with the direction the CAD$ is taking it's getting harder to justify a US car unless it's a really good deal but as has been said several times, the selection is so much greater in the US than in CAD. I'll keep looking and hopefully I'll find my dream car here in Canada and not have to deal with the hassles of importation!

Cheers,
Mike

Turbodan

curious what model are you shopping for?
I agree that US cars are often optioned better than Canadian and you can find cars that have never seen salt.

HyperMike

I'm casting a fairly wide net but, ideally, I'd like to find either a 996TT or possibly a 996/997 C4S. I don't think I'd look at basic 996's although a 40th Anniversary model would probably be appealing. I'm looking for my first Porsche and although I could probably stretch budget-wise to something newer the 996/997 appeal to me as they are still relatively analogue and represent really great value with respect to purchase price and likely low depreciation compared to something newer!

Cheers,
Mike

Christien

One thing that never occurred to me, you can easily access the California market. Here in Ontario we usually don't look there, because the transportation costs usually are too much to make it worth it. Many times I've come across listings in CA that looked great, but couldn't make work because of the costs involved. But for you it's the same distance as Florida is for us (which is probably the #1 source of cars for us).