Import car from US or dispose and buy again in Canada?

[cicuser]

Hi members,

It seems that the common wisdom is to import car from US instead of disposing it off and buying again in Canada (assuming that we need to have a car in Canada). I wanted to understand if the advice to move car works in case a huge shipping cost is associated?

I am in the west coast and the minimum quote of moving car to Toronto is roughly USD 2500. If I try to see prices of manufacturer certified used cars in Toronto that are roughly the same as my current car, I see prices almost similar to the KBB value of my current car (after currency conversion).

What all taxes/fee would I have to pay for buying a manufacture certified used car from a dealership in Toronto over and above the list price? I am assuming that these fee/taxes would typically make the option of moving car from US more attractive than buying one in Canada. I just want to compare this with the cost of moving the car in my case and make an informed decision.

Any information or advice would be most welcome.

Thanks

 

[prusa]

Hi members,

It seems that the common wisdom is to import car from US instead of disposing it off and buying again in Canada (assuming that we need to have a car in Canada). I wanted to understand if the advice to move car works in case a huge shipping cost is associated?

I am in the west coast and the minimum quote of moving car to Toronto is roughly USD 2500. If I try to see prices of manufacturer certified used cars in Toronto that are roughly the same as my current car, I see prices almost similar to the KBB value of my current car (after currency conversion).

What all taxes/fee would I have to pay for buying a manufacture certified used car from a dealership in Toronto over and above the list price? I am assuming that these fee/taxes would typically make the option of moving car from US more attractive than buying one in Canada. I just want to compare this with the cost of moving the car in my case and make an informed decision.

Any information or advice would be most welcome.

Thanks

There is 13% tax on the car purchase. So take that amount into consideration.

Also, your existing warranty may/may not work in Canada. It may be a factor if your current car is considerably newer.

 

[cicuser]

@prusa Thank you for answering. I had read about the 13% tax. I assume registration, licencing and plating fee would be the same in the case of either importing or buying. I was wondering if there is any other fee that is assessed by the province (ON) in case of buying used car from the dealerships - the reason I am specifying dealership is that I have read somewhere that the taxes might depend of whether I buy from a private party or dealer.

 

[RelocateDream]

@cicuser - wondering what you ended up doing? I'm also considering making the same move: West Coast to Toronto and contemplating whether to take my car or not. Thanks!

 

[cicuser]

We ended up selling one of our cars. It was 10 yr old. We shipped our other car and it costed us USD 1865 excluding import fee (approx 600 CAD). We used US Canada auto transport. Good luck on your move.

 

[RelocateDream]

Thank you!