Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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When we start using the third person in reference to another Forums member we're precariously close to crossing the line into personal attacks. Let's just move on and scroll past those postings we don't wish to read.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
enjoy your new Caddy
eieio
Thanks
Steph
S
To answer your questions quickly, regardless of the benz you get, it will most likely need modifications and there's no way to get around that. The dash console replacement is because the car did not show KM's and only showed Miles. As for the bumpers, the US cars are apparently only tested for 5km/hr impacts whereas Canadian standards is 8km/hr. All they did was replace 2 foam pieces in the bumper with new ones, and i have those pieces and the dash console in my trunk right now. Daytime running lights was a programming thing and I wasn't charged for that.
In terms of getting the car checked out before you buy, there's a few things you can do before hand and if the seller doesn't want to, move onto the next car. There are tons of deals out there.
Send me a private message on the link below to my RFD account with your contact info and I'd be more than happy to help you out through your process. I won't post my email on here.
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=307601&page=763
B
Transport Canada has given us until Dec 31/07 to provide our comments to them on the alternatives that they are suggesting.
You can find the Transport Canada Notice and all the details relating to their bumper “initiative” at
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/200.../notice-e.html
In May 2007 CAPC (Canadian Automotive Parnership Council) indicated that Transport Canada was unwilling to harmonize bumper standards.
This is your chance to demand harmonization with the US on bumpers..if you want fairer pricing from the auto manufacturers. If you don't contact your MP, the Minister of Transport and the person shown in the Notice in the Canada Gazette, we could well have a Transport Canada "standardized in Canada" bumper that limits importation from the US and continued premiums over US prices.
For more info, also see www.carswithoutborders.com
There is a note saying go to explanations, but no idea what the fine print limitations are. Anyone the wiser - are '08's now importable?
Did you buy a new or used BMW ? Sounds like you had a smooth process getting your BMW whichis great for all of us wanting to do the same.
Iwanted to get a 2007 BMW 335i coupe but was turned off when I heard about MB and BMW asking for 750 and extras to get car here.
The letter from BMW did you have to get the Canadian one or was the USA dealer stamped one sufficient to get thru RIV ?
Thank you
Paul
Canadians?
Whole thing takes time, effort and nerves, but some Canadians need to take a stand so that all Canadians can benefit in the end. I will keep buying or trying to buy from the US until Canadian prices are at a reasonable level.
Officially it is a used car. I had to buy the car through someone and as a result pay the state tax. It's a 2008 X3. I used the Vehicle Warranty Inquiry which the RIV reluctantly took.
Cannot stress enough - make sure the Vehicle Warranty Inquiry is part of the purchase agreement. Something like "No VWI = cancellation of contract, return of deposit with interest". If you go to RIV without VWI there will be NO form 2 until BMW/MB bleeds and punishes you for your traitorous actions to a level they deem sufficient. For BMW it seems to be roughly $2500 + time and aggravation.
Yup, me too. I've been wanting to get an X3, but for now I can wait until Canadian prices fall, or until/unless the local dealers are willing to give me a deal sufficiently sweet to compensate for a reasonable portion of the Can/US price disparity
What would you suggest as the least painfull way to do this?
Rebob
AMENDMENT
1. Section 12 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (see footnote 1) is amended by adding the following after subsection (4):
(4.1) For the purposes of subsection 7(2) of the Act, a vehicle that has been sold at the retail level in the United States and that has not been certified by the manufacturer as conforming to subsection 114(4) of Schedule IV to these Regulations may be imported into Canada despite not being certified to conform to subsection 114(4) if
(a) the vehicle was fitted at the time of manufacture with an electronic immobilization system; or
(b) the person importing the vehicle states in their declaration that the vehicle
(i) will be fitted with an immobilization system that conforms to National Standard of Canada CAN/ULC-S338-98, entitled Automobile Theft Deterrent Equipment and Systems: Electronic Immobilization (May 1998), published by the Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada, before it is presented for registration under the laws of a province, and
(ii) will be taken, within 45 days after its importation, to an inspection station authorized by the registrar of imported vehicles to carry out an inspection function to determine that the vehicle has been made to conform to the standard.
"Can I obtain a refund of the duty I paid for imported goods, if I export or return the goods to the supplier?
Question
Drawback - Can I obtain a refund of the duty I paid for imported goods, if I export or return the goods to the supplier?
Answer
If you have exported or intend to export goods previously imported with duty paid, there is a possibility you can get a refund of the duty. Drawback is a mechanism that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has to enable importers to get a refund of duty paid on imported goods when they are exported or destroyed. Be aware the process of filing for drawback can be involved and the time it takes to receive refunds can be lengthy. You must have proof of the export or destruction, as well as proof that duty was originally paid. A bill of sale or airway bill is valid proof of export and a CBP officer must witness the destruction of the goods. Without proof of export or the destruction, the claim is not substantiated.
For additional information, you can reference or publication entitled Drawback. If you need clarification, call our Customer Service Center at toll free at 1-877-CBP (227) - 5511 or our toll number at (202) 354-1000 and a representative will put you in touch with a Drawback Specialist in your area.
Based on this answer, for my Prius, any claim would be going back to Toyota USA, given their total lack of cooperation - I have a better chance of winning Loto 649 lottery than try to get Toyota to help me get a Duty Refund.
So end of story - no refund possible there.
The market is what it is.
Regardless of where I am or what I want it to be.
The cost of conversion was pretty steep in some cases, plus the re-sale value was alot lower.
However, if some Americans did, doubtless they had to obey the laws in force at the time in BOTH countries.
As long as you are willing to obey the laws of my country,and the rules of my dealership, we don't have a problem.
If you want to circumvent our laws or dealer rules, we will have a problem.
Regardless of where I am or what I want it to be.
Excuse me, but aren't our Canadian friends simply participating in that very same market? Correct me if I am wrong but your position seems to be that the market is the market is the market and the customer plays no part in it. That's not what they teach in ECON-101.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
The U.S. Import !!!
Over 166,000 Smart Canadians Purchased “The Car of the Year” saving a total of $1,660,000,000.
These Canadians are really enjoying the Holidays with their families, friends and the extra cash! How much did you save - fill in our comments section at www.carswithoutborders.com
Rules of the dealership IS NOT EQUAL to Rules of the country.
You are free to price your cars in your dealership as high as you like. Just don't start thinking that you have the right to prevent people from buying cars where they want.
Big Auto lobby groups have their success for now but don't worry, the people will fight injustice.
Agreed. I think we can all agree (except for maybe Volvomax) that MB/BMW seem to be making it extra hard to import. The biggest gripe I have with the whole importation process is the fact that I was forced to pay the MB Dealership the outrageous prices for modifications and 'admin fees'. I went to a local German shop down the road from the dealership and the guy there quoted me less than half of what the MB dealer did just on parts/labour. That's not even including the rediculous $750 admin fee. Showmeanimport summarized the entire situation perfectly. 'Supply and Forced Demand'.
Thing is though, you aren't their customer.
You are BMW USA's customer.
Look at it this way. I brought this fact to the SA at the MB dealership and he agreed too. I would never buy a Benz in Canada. All my previous cars have been Acura's/Nissans. Never even considered an MB in the past so that means I would have never been an MB customer. So I saved $10k and imported a CLK. Now I am an MB customer and all of my servicing will go to the CANADIAN dealership. So the argument of them losing a customer to the states is BS because I was never a customer of theirs to begin with. Why? Because I wouldn't want to pay Canada's prices for their cars. But at least they are getting my expensive service jobs now.
All the roadblocks that the automakers imposed on consumers are tantamount to Anti-trust. You should be aware of the Anti-trust cases imposed on the automakers by the European court for doing the very same thing that they are doing in North America. They are the ones who are circumventing the rules in North America and I don't understand how you can depend that.
Little Billy buys a hot wheels toy car from the states, but the toy car needs to be modified for Canada. Little Billy is able to go to a small local toy repair store and the modifications would only cost him $100. But unfortunately, he was told that 'The Toy Car Authority' that he has to go to Hot Wheels Canada and ask if he's allowed to bring it across first. He then has to pay a fee for that letter saying he can bring it into the country. Then he is forced to go to Hot Wheels Canada for the modifications. Then he has to pay hundreds/Thousands of dollars to get the modifications done that the local shop could have done as well. Then he has to pay an $750-1000 admin fee on top of that. The entire time the huge corporation is taking their time getting back to him. Little Billy is confused and angry because he can't go to the local shop which could have done the same modifications for a fraction of the costs. At the same time, Little Bobby brought in a different brand (Tonka truck) from the states as well and he was able to bring his Tonka to the local shop, he wasn't forced to go to Tonka Canada for the modifications. Same with Little Lisa, she brought over a Barbie Convertible Car toy and wasn't forced to go to Barbie Canada. Little Billy sees this and is very frustrated and doesn't understand why he's forced to go to Hot Wheels Canada and thinks it's wrong.
So the moral of the story is, Little Billy doesn't see why Hot Wheels Canada has a right to do this. He wonders how Hot Wheels Canada convinced the Toy Car Authority that the modifications has to be done at Hot Wheels Canada. Hot Wheels Canada is taking full advantage of this gift they've been given from the Toy Car Authority.
Does that make sense...?
I sit and laugh at GM's futile attempts to choke the Canadian purchasers out, and can only be amused at their indifference to the dealers on this side of the border sitting idle and empty.
I did all my test-driving up here. Talked to all the dealers. Used their time and resources, then proudly went south and purchased in the States. To screw the dealers? No, to beat GM.
It's great being a consumer in a free market.
People who import cars are the "bottom feeders" who only shop on price. We take our cars to Canadian Tire to be serviced because we are too cheap to have the dealership do it. As a result, importing a car does not add to the dealership's revenue and is only a cost as eventually the car will find its way onto the used car market and depress prices.
As long as the dealers share this attitude then they will continue to fight tooth and nail to prevent the import of US cars.
Right Volvomax?
And why else would we shop around other then price?? To help the salesman make his commission or quota? To make the car salesman happy? I don't think so. I personally had a real bad experience with the last car bought in Canada where the unnamed Acura dealership treated me and other existing customers like sh*t. Everything from never returning phone calls, to making us wait over an hour at the dealership to answer a simple question while they serve a potential new customer, to giving us false information to get us off the phone, to pretending they don't know who we are. 4 cars personally purchased from the same dealership and that's how they treat an existing customer? Maybe if they treated me with some sort of respect or gave me a decent price I would have bought from them again. So why should I support them by buying a car locally?
Your friends argument should be geared towards the dealership/company he works for because of the price, not blaming the consumers because were finding cars cheaper over the border. Bottom line, I saved $10k importing and I won't be buying a car here in Canada until the prices are adjusted.
spatz: this rant wasn't directed at you, but your buddies statement really got me peeved.
I have always been told that a dealership makes very little on the sale of a new car and makes most of the $$$ on the service work. Using that arguement dealerships should be happy to see thousands of new vehicles in their city.
That's what I'm thinking too regarding the servicing. Mercedes Benz just gained a servicing customer out of this. Once I told the service advisor this point of view he totally changed his attitude about the entire thing and ended up being a pretty nice guy.
Now i'm not 100% sure if servicing is where they make most of their money but still, they got my business when they wouldn't have before I imported.
Another very good article by Frank Armstrong in the Kingston Whig Standard paper today.
One of Canada’s oldest newspapers! and we know why!
On the road Again
Your friends comments are correct we may be bottom feeders but I am in a position to pay cash for a new Accura RL, why because I have taken an interest in my life and how much things cost. I tend to call it being a wise shopper. If I could save $ 8000 on a new accord by purchasing in the USA, then I will do that.
For instance, you might all enjoy this email I received from one of the dealers I was negotiating with...who thought his outrageous service fees were justified:
again-
your opinion is yours and there is always someone somewhere willing to cheapen their product to succomb to the "distressed market" syndrom.
I hope that none of your competitors feel it necessary to erode the value and price of whatever it is that you choose to peddle
Enjoy your Arcadia (sic)
Apparently, I'd "enjoy" my car more had I paid more for it. What a dinosaur.
From the G&M 12/21/07
"Remember the Firestone-Ford debacle in the 1990's. More than 200 traffic
deaths were attributed to defective Firestone tires, many sold with the
Ford Explorer.
In 2000, Firestone recalled 14.4 million tires, after 88 Americans died,
and long after an overseas recall had begun in 1993. Many critical
observers of this tragedy have suggested that the decision to put off a
North American recall reflects the common corporate practice of placing
shareholders' interest above all other stakeholders' interests.
Ironically, managers who are trained to focus on short-term, bottom-line
results can often damage the longer-term interests of their company by
failing to recognize the moral dimension of their decisions - something not
necessarily ingrained in everyday work routines.......""
My Opinion - The same managers are doing similar short term irrational decisions today regarding pricing and unfair trade practices in Canada-USA. Mr. VolvoMax think about this for a while.
listening to a Mr.Edmundson of Car lemons or
Lemon Cars.a service he started in the seventiesl
He talked about Fords morality involving pinto fires.
They calculated it was cheaper to pay a survivor 75M
or death benefit of 150M than to recall and pay for
modifications.
The worst unit in a hospital is the burn unit extremely
painful and hard on staff to work with the suffering.
Remember that when people try to talk
cars and morality.
Following the new amendment, and if I understand correctly, you do not need any modification in regards to the immobilization system for vehicles that have already one installed? Please correct me if I’m wrong on this issue.
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2007/20071226/html/sor307-e.html#REF1
“ This amendment will facilitate the importation of vehicles sold at the retail level in the United States to be imported into Canada. All imported vehicles which have an electronic immobilization system will not need further modification and vehicles which do not have an electronic immobilization system at the time of manufacture will be required to be fitted with an aftermarket one which meets the CAN/ULC-S338-98 standard.”
Thank you! Well I was caught up in the process while 2008s were still inadmissible, so I located a new 2007 still in dealer stock. As a result, I was exempt from this nonsense!
I’m shopping for either an X-Terra Off Road or Rav4 V6 Sport. I’m pretty sure the sales people would like nothing better than to be able to offer me something closer to the US price but then the dealer would have to get something closer to the US invoice price from the manufacturers. The look on the sales guy’s face when I mention having spoken to a broker really tells a story.
I talked the Toyota dealer down to an equivalent of 5 or 6 thousand over US MSRP, which is tolerable considering the cost and nuisance of importing. Stood up to shake the kid’s hand and say I’d be back in an hour with a bank draft. I guess he thought I was walking out because he started jabbering at me that the better Canadian engine immobilizer was actually worth the extra money. I was so flabbergasted that I did just walk out.
Nobody has a good way of dealing with the increase in the value of the Canadian Dollar. The manufacturers fall back on our usual Canadian tendency to try to push the consumer around, the Canadian consumers do our usual end run by paying an American to pretend to buy a car and sell it to us as used (We didn’t need to have a Boston Tea Party to protest British Taxes, we just hired a better accountant.) and some poor dude in a dealership loses his commission by getting me to focus on the question of “Is he stupid or does he think I’m stupid?”
No Canadian Government is going to obviously rain on the “The dollar is worth more, we must be smart!!!” parade, they will try to find a sneaky way of regaining the trade advantage.
I can't say I blame the people who work in the dealerships for feeling kind of down. However, calling people bottom feeders and saying silly things to them isn't going to sell many cars.
I was told that the cost to convert my car would be inline with a similar 2002 SL500 aproximately $ 3800.00 I was also told that since I was asking for a B-service the cost may be a little higher. The SL500 owner only had the Oil changed. (~100.00)
A week after dropping off the car I was told the car was ready but they were waiting for a MB representative to show up to "inspect the work". I inquired as to what the final bill would be and the service advisor told me $ 3510.00 Not bad I thought, a little less than $ 3800.00.
A week goes by (Christmas etc). And I call them up to find out where this letter is. The same advisor tells me that MB has not recieved any of "his" paperwork and that he will have to resend all the paperwork to MB Canada. I then told him I wanted the car back and he can send the paperwork to me.
When I go to pick up the car the service advisor informs me that he forgot to include the cost of the parts Totalling: $ 903.00
The total cost to convert the Car to "Canadian Standards" now comes to $ 4500.00
The extras i really did not need or expect:
The schedule B service: On the bill it shows 8 Oil 15W40 Quaker State @ $4.75 a quart. I asked the service advisor about this I told him that this car requires synthetic Mobile 1 oil @ $ 20 / bottle it takes between 10 and 11 bottles. The service advisor told me that he had inquired about this to the mechanic and he told him he had used mobile 1 synthetic, why do i have a bill then that shows 15W40 was used ? What are the implications ?
They also did a really nice job of washing my black car (a million scratches) On top of this I have a ding on the passanger rear wheel well, someone used some touch-up to cover it up. And my grill has a small ding in it as well. As I said in my previous postings the car was mint, it only had 8000 miles on it and never seen rain.
I really believe that this was done to undermine the value of the car.
In short if anyone is going to do this (import a car into Canada) please take lots of pictures, I took some and that don't show any of the damages but I wished I had taken more.
Get a written estimate from MB before allowing them to touch your car.
And make sure you tell them don't wash my car.
I don't know if the damages were done on purpose to undermine the value of your car, but what I'm thinking is that they're treating us importers as coach class 'bottom feeders' with the 'i don't care about your car' attitude. But then again with all the importers that they're dealing with undermining your car isn't out of reach I guess.