I don't understand why people think US cars

[911fever]

Deserve such worse resale, and should be marketed with lower prices. Sure some models don't have cold weather packages, but the ones that do, why do people think US cars aren't worth as much as Canadian ones? Southern US cars that have never seen rust or snow are often in better shape than Canadian cars.

Someone who imported a 335i (See here: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=373620) said:
"I just ignored the guys who wanted to use this fact [of a US car] as an excuse for a discount, and found several who did not care (even had a small bidding war). The car is just as good, especially when you are selling a car that soon will be too old for CPO anyway."

amen. Any disagreements/agreements? I'm curious as to some opinions here as I do work in the car industry and I see a lot of quality US cars, especially older ones, which are in far better shape than Canadian counterparts.

[Deetz]

I won't get deep into this but will start by saying that for many many years, most cars from the US had a much less selling price for the same cars we had here.

They sell for less because they were purchased for less

[davidI]

I think the main reason for expecting a cheap sales price is that it was purchased more cheaply.

There's a bit more risk with out of province cars as well - I think they're stronger candidates to be rebuilt or stolen and covered up. Caveat Emptor as always, but that's my part of it.

Sucks if you're selling I guess, but if you bought it for cheaper it's not as though you're losing any more money on depreciation than a Canadian seller would.

[2EFNFAST]

My theory is people are stupid when it comes to cars.

For example, I was shopping around for a Gen 2 Viper - according to my dad, I'm stupid to go to the US because I'll get one whose "pistons will blow up here". However, if I buy, say, one from Quebec, hey, no problem with that!

Same with my z06 - people sometimes give me the oddest looks when I tell them from the US. Have actually had people ask me ho wmuch it cost to get it to be rebuilt here (not imported, but rebuild the engine and suspension)

[Zephyr]

Originally posted by 2EFNFAST
My theory is people are stupid when it comes to cars.

For example, I was shopping around for a Gen 2 Viper - according to my dad, I'm stupid to go to the US because I'll get one whose "pistons will blow up here". However, if I buy, say, one from Quebec, hey, no problem with that!

Same with my z06 - people sometimes give me the oddest looks when I tell them from the US. Have actually had people ask me ho wmuch it cost to get it to be rebuilt here (not imported, but rebuild the engine and suspension)

Those two cars are so commonly garaged and converted into garage paper weights down here haha. A lot of cars in the states (California) are in great condition. Just really gotta do your homework to see where that cars been serviced etc.

[2EFNFAST]

Originally posted by Zephyr


Those two cars are so commonly garaged and converted into garage paper weights down here haha. A lot of cars in the states (California) are in great condition. Just really gotta do your homework to see where that cars been serviced etc.

Yep yep.

I may surf autotrader, but I will usually buy from forums (e.g., corvetteforum, viperalley, etc..) - why - I can search the person's past posts to get a true idea of the vehicle.

Was it well cared for, or treated like crap? Etc...

[derpderp]

My Volvo S70 is from California, it was already imported and inspected by the previous owner who bought it in California since he was working there for a few years, he was going to keep it but changed his mind since him and his wife already had a car and they didn't see a need for just the two of them to have two vehicles.

The car is in great condition, the paint still looks great and there is no rust or any signs of the start of rusting. The leather seats have seen much better days though, but that is just from sitting in the hot California sun. Also with how strict the rules are for vehicles in California that is a bonus if you ask me, because you know the car was maintained more throurly.

With the lack of snow, road salt and mud in south USA, I don't see how anyone could think a car from there is worth less, cars here in Canada start to rust pretty fast from the weather conditions, the engines have to put up with very cold conditions and the transmissions get abused pretty often from getting stuck in snow drifts.

So far my car went through winter without a single issue, heat is great, window defrost works and the engine starts fine in the cold. The cars shipped to the USA are built exactly the same as the ones in Canada, so I really don't see how they couldn't handle the weather conditions better or worse.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Cheaper purchase price, harder to collect history data(sometimes) and mph and Fahrenheit. Same reason a jdm car is much cheaper and depreciates heavier than it's Cnd counterpart.

[997TT]

probably depends on the car ... i bought mine from kulu and its from the US.

he'll list on the ad if its a cdn spec car (ie customer paid more for it) but i find the prices dont vary significantly btw a US/Cdn car on his site.

i bet 3/4 of the 997TT, GT2, GT3 are US spec here in Calgary since south centre gets such a $hitty allocation. Most buy them from Kulu or themselves ... and if you were doing it yourself why would you throw away $20-30k for essentially the same car.

[911fever]

Originally posted by 997TT
probably depends on the car ... i bought mine from kulu and its from the US.

he'll list on the ad if its a cdn spec car (ie customer paid more for it) but i find the prices dont vary significantly btw a US/Cdn car on his site.

i bet 3/4 of the 997TT, GT2, GT3 are US spec here in Calgary since south centre gets such a $hitty allocation. Most buy them from Kulu or themselves ... and if you were doing it yourself why would you throw away $20-30k for essentially the same car.

You would throw away 20-30k for these reasons;

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Cheaper purchase price, harder to collect history data(sometimes) and mph and Fahrenheit. Same reason a jdm car is much cheaper and depreciates heavier than it's Cnd counterpart.

I don't think Faranheit is a big deal and history data is no big deal if you do research. A friend who bought an STI from the US had the used car lot get them to fax all the service history from the Subaru dealership it was serviced at. His car is in way better shape than most STI's here, as it was never winter driven in the US

[beyond_ban]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Cheaper purchase price, harder to collect history data(sometimes) and mph and Fahrenheit. Same reason a jdm car is much cheaper and depreciates heavier than it's Cnd counterpart.

A lot of the cars have digital dashes and screens in the dash. For these cars changing it to KM's and C is as easy as a push of a button. Personally i would only import a car with a value >20k as the savings for anything less dont seem to be worth the hassle and risk associated with the purchase.

[Aleks]

Warranty issues on newer cars. But when it comes down to it, I wouldn't care as long as some of the savings were passed on. If two cars are the same price/condition and one is US and one is Canadian I'm buying the Canadian one.

[Mar]

Something I think of is what the car has been through. There are a lot of disasters around the USA like tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and any vehicle that got damaged in any of these would likely be paid out by the insurance company, shipped to another part of the country and resold, hoping the buyer doesn't look at the registration history.

I saw a lot of cars for sale online with, "a little water damage" after Katrina hit. They were very, very cheap.

[Sebasshole]

Couple reasons.

-some models of cars don’t have the same features, but still labeled under the same model, for example. Toyota Sienna LE.
Cdn spec has power doors power hatch side impact airbags and tri zone climate control. Same Le model in the US does not have those features.

-On newer cars some companies will not approve warranty work in Canada, I had a customer last week talking about this, bought a 1 year old Tacoma and somehow managed to bring it over to Calgary without having all the warranty work done, came in to have it done and it is not covered because TOYOTA USA, won’t pay TOYOTA CANADA for the claim, so basically his only option is to pay the $1200 or go back across the border and have the work done. Not to mention it isn’t registered because of this.

-Non adjusted price, its true MSRP is way cheaper in the US then it is here, and it does not get adjusted even when the CDN $ is doing well.

-Everyone complains about the discount they get on a new vehicle when time to purchase. And often mention "I can go down to the US and buy one and save 10 grand" Well go do it, Not only will any dealer in Canada deduct 23% on what CDN Black book Says the vehicle is valued at. But today’s discount is tomorrow’s depreciation, the more cars that come over from the US to Canada the cheaper they will get.
You said you bought a 911 from KULU who purchased the car from the states. Well those cars don’t really apply when looking at pre owned high end cars. If you look on kijiji or auto trader you will find under 10 cars similar to yours. So what market place do they have to work with when finding customers the cars they request or when they are looking for good condition high end cars for resale, If you search your car in an American auto trader or whatever you will find hundreds compared to a dozen. And if your in the market for a 911 turbo then its safe to say you can prolly afford the voided remainder of warranty whatever it may be 1 year 2 year.
Some companies do hold there warranty in us and cdn but I am not sure of what ones,


I might be wrong on some minor things but thats just what i have heard and seen in the last few years.