We do our best to buy local goods and support our community and those who live in it. We also try to balance these actions with prudent personal finance decision. When it comes to buying a car, new or used, Canadians pay much more than do our American neighbours – 20%-30% more. The currencies of both nations are more or less equal, yet Canadians pay more for, well, everything. We saved over $9300 purchasing our Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle which is one reason why we chose the Subaru Outback and bought it stateside. New hybrid cars are extremely pricey to buy in Canada so any savings one can get by importing really helps in such an expensive purchase. Feel free to check out our New Car Import DIY – Save Thousands article to find out it really isn’t THAT difficult to import a car.
Check out our 365 Green Tips Series!
Doesn’t apply to those based in the US! :)
Neither does our stable housing market and banks or our RRSPs and TFSAs but i’ll still write about what is relevant to us!
Actually you might have a point even for those in the US – does importing a car cost less than buying from a dealer here? The markup on some cars (especially German) are pretty steep here.
I have not looked into overseas imports but i’ve heard of it (especially on VW Camper Vans). I know that if we import a car that isn’t made in the U.S. (e.g. manufactured in Japan) to Canada, we pay duty (NAFTA rules) of 6.1%. It would be interesting to learn what NAFTA excise duties are levied against cars made off continents.