Buying in BC

[Nalgene]

Sorry dont know what happened there... :confused:
Anyways my question was I have found, what i consider, to be a good deal on a new used car. The only problem is that I am in Calgary and the car in question is located in Burnaby (Vancouver)
Fly out there and drive the car back....???
I know you have to get a $100 out of province inspection but what else (if anything) is involved? Good or bad? :dunno:
Any people that have done this before? Advice?
Thanx

[danno]

yeah i found a car in bc that i want to buy aswell.
do you have to pay PST???
how should i get the car checked out??

[BlackAc]

yes you have to pay pst, and if anything happens to be wrong with the car mechanically that makes it not pass the inspection you will have to have it fixed before you can insure it

[Weapon_R]

Lots of cash to be saved from buying in Vancouver (larger market, more competition, etc).

Go for it, lots of guys here (PM max_boost) have done this. If its a "new" used car, you should be okay with an inspection.

[BlueGoblin]

I bought a motorcycle in Vancouver a couple years ago. I didn't have to pay PST on it, but that was in part due to the dealership being cool about it. All I had to do was promise to fax them my Alberta registration once I got it, so they wouldn't get in poop with the PST agency. If they had just been dinged for not charging it or something, then I would have had to pay PST on the motorcycle and then apply to have it refunded once the bike was registered in Alberta.

[Nalgene]

Ok thats what I thought.
Im pretty sure this car will pass inspection... 2002 Honda. Shouldnt have anything wrong with it I dont think. And ill find an exact model availible for test drive here and see if I like it etc.
Hopefully ill get them to go for the same thing you got BlueGoblin :D

[max_boost]

I've purchased two cars from BC in the last few years, process is fairly simple.

If you have a friend that lives in the area, get him to check out the car for you, if not, you will have to take the salesguy's word for it. I doubt the dealer would try to screw you over, knowing that you are making your trip out of province. As for buying the car privately, just be a bit more careful.

No you don't have to pay PST, just need your AB Health card and DRiver's to prove you are a resident of Alberta.

So you have decided to buy the car, what's the next step? Get the dealer to fax over a bill of sale to your insurance company. Your insurance company will issue you documentation (pink slips etc.) Bring that, along with the bill of sale to the local registry. If you chose to drive the vehicle back, the registry will give you a white piece of paper with 'In Transit' on it that you place on the front dash of your windshield, as well as a piece of paper for your out of province inspection. Now you fly down to pick up the car, hopefully it's everything as advertised. Bring all the paper work as mentioned above to the dealer, they'll photocopy everything, get you to sign your life away (if you finance/lease) and send you on your way. Keep note that the 'In Transit' paper is only good for 2-3 days and doesn't include stop overs i.e driving around town for a few days. Apparently it's for your drive from A to B. But seriously, you get your new car, of course you cruise around for a bit before taking the scenic route home. Now you are back in Calgary, get that inspection done, and bring that paper to the registry to get your plates.

If you chose to ship the car, the dealer will get you a quote on shipping etc. But you should still fly down and at least check out the car.

I think I have it covered, anything else, just ask.

[Seanith]

Good info. My gf and I are actually looking to get a car in B.C.. so if you want to get the VIN number checked out and want a mechanic to look at the car, whats the best way to get this set up in a place you aren't familiar with?

[danno]

yeah good info thanks.

[max_boost]

If it's a private sale, that's a tough one. That's why I brought up the whole idea of having a friend check out the car for you. If the car is still under warranty, great! If not, exercise caution.

Safer to buy from a dealer, but you can save even more from a private sale.

When I picked up my 323I from Park Shore Motors in 02 and S2000 from Lougheed Acura in 03, I basically said to the salesguy on the phone, sell it to me for no GST and I'll come by next week to pick it up. :thumbsup: Everything checked out fine, and at that time, those two cars were the cheapest I could find in Western Canada.

[Seanith]

Originally posted by max_boost
sell it to me for no GST and I'll come by next week to pick it up. :thumbsup:

Thats a good line we should try it out :thumbsup:

I guess for a first time buyer a dealership would be a decent way to go.. at least they can be held accountable if anything goes wrong and generally can more trustworthy than any random person.

[Nalgene]

Wow thanx for all the Info everyone, especially max_boost. Much appreciated.
Will probably end up buying from BC seeing that its cheaper there, and more selection. On top of that I would get a nice summer vacation flying out there and driving it back :D

[lastprodigy]

Originally posted by Seanith



I guess for a first time buyer a dealership would be a decent way to go.. at least they can be held accountable if anything goes wrong and generally can more trustworthy than any random person.

have you read the dealership threads on here...i dont think so

[Nalgene]

Originally posted by lastprodigy


have you read the dealership threads on here...i dont think so

Yeah and they are especially helpful when you are a province apart :tongue:

[jaysas_63]

Originally posted by lastprodigy


have you read the dealership threads on here...i dont think so



Originally posted by Nalgene


Yeah and they are especially helpful when you are a province apart :tongue:

ya ur right.....but if ur talkin about authorized dealerships, they are fairly reliable...most of the problems ppl on this board are having are with smaller shops like the fast lane, etc;)

[BlueGoblin]

Just a side note - now that the topic has moved on to dealing with the dealerships; There are always pitfalls and obvious dangerous in getting a vehicle sight-unseen.

When I bought the motorcycle (Triumph Tiger, if anyone is interested) from Burnaby Motorsport, I asked a number of questions of the salesman over the phone. When I flew out there, I found that the bike had been somewhat, but not seriously, over-represented. It was mostly cosmetic stuff, but still an annoyance. And the salesman I had dealt with was off for a week.... To make matters worse, I found a fault with the shifter (shifter wouldn't reset after a downshift b/c of a $2 spring....). I never lost my cool with them, and they dealt fairly with me. They spent a couple hours trying to fix a few things but could not get the spring fixed in under a week (part had to come from the UK). They ended up making me a rather fair deal, I thought - $500 under what they had paid for it - so nada commission for the truth-bending sales guy.

I had a great dealership to deal with, which was lucky, but it could have been nasty if they were cockroaches.

btw - good luck on getting a bike next!

[Seanith]

Originally posted by lastprodigy


have you read the dealership threads on here...i dont think so

I'm not a fan of dealerships either, but maybe it would be better than a seller that "disappears" as soon as you have a problem with the car?

[t-im]

Originally posted by Seanith


I'm not a fan of dealerships either, but maybe it would be better than a seller that "disappears" as soon as you have a problem with the car?

well, not like a dealer is gonna do that much for you, unless it's still under warranty!