Major issues importing most 2008 US vehicles

Lococoin · Nov 27, 2007

Effective September 1st,2007 most US vehicles are not eligible for importation. This is because Transport Canada has made a change that requires a theft immobilizer installed in every vehicle. The manufacturers have convinced TC that their US vehicles do not meet the specs and consequently they have been deemed inadmissible. There are a number of people who imported vehicles before the list was amended and now cannot register their vehicles in Canada. They are basically sitting in their driveways in limbo.

Here is the website where you can sign the petition Cars without borders - Autos sans frontières

To find out more about the inadmissible vehicles, please go to Registrar of Imported Vehicles RIV: How to import a U.S made vehicle into Canada

Dont expect to see Canadian pricing drop because of this, the manufacturers have an ace up their sleeve now. Rest assured they arent going to lower pricing if people cant buy their product down south and bring it back.

2003Summit · Nov 27, 2007

I agree that's a bumber, however consider this. I checked the list and all dodge trucks, except the dakota are admissible. All dodge trucks have the chip in the key as a standard feature. All ford turcks have this available as an option, as long as the option is purchased they are also admissable. I think the potential of that is enough to keep the pressure on the prices down. Even though all GM trucks are not admissible (I thought GM always used a chipped key???), if ford and dodge are keeping prices in line, GM will have no choice to as well.

crushd · Nov 27, 2007

also, you can have your vehicle modified to meet the requirements.

Lococoin · Nov 28, 2007

crushd said:
also, you can have your vehicle modified to meet the requirements.

from what i have read, there is no aftermarket product they approve. can you link me to your source?

thanks

jeremy · Nov 28, 2007

okay, from someone who manages a chev store, to check if a vehicle is admissable, do not trust any other website, Registrar of Imported Vehicles RIV: How to import a U.S made vehicle into Canada is the people that actually compile the list.
as for the immobilzer, there isin't a aftermarket one that qualifies yet, as no one has presented any to the people at RIV.
GM's come with a chip in the key, have for many years, but a passlockII is different from PASSLOCKIII with theft deterrent, which is what they are looking for (better technology).
another thing which is not a huge deal to somepeople, is no roadside assistence at all (which is 5 year 160,000 on all 07's and up) and no warranty for the fisrt 12,000 of 6 months.
The pricing has nothing to do with being admissable, just economys in the two different countries.
I am not a fan, hurts local business, not just dealerships, and beware there is no central lein agency in the US as we have in Canada, andI used to buy sleds and boats like crazy in the states and have had this happen. I also know of a gentlemen in bc that owns a 2007 tahoe ltz, that he can't get across because he gave the private guy the dough, and he still has a gmac lein.
another thing to consider is that most people lease, can't lease a US vehicle in canada, or get 0% financing, which means line of credit or cash.
the other is that in 3 years when you go to get rid of it, and you told your local dealer where to go because you where going to save money going to the states, how much do you think your used US vehicle will have depreciated, more then a canadian guarenteed!!!

jeremy · Nov 28, 2007

the other thing is that you are trusting someone far away, and as much as pictures say a thousand words, nothing beats looking over your vehicle before paying the bill.

I hope I didn't offend anyone, that was not my intent, just makes it hard on us that work at dealerships when that is all you hear about is the US market, and after a customer gives you brian damage about it, half them come back because they want to lease!!!!!!

JoHNI_T · Nov 28, 2007

business a little slow this month Jeremy! :realmad:

im a Sales manager at Saturn Saab in Cow town and we are slow as well...
THE BIGGEST THING EVERYONE FORGETS IS
if all the new prices drop on toys or auto so does everything we own. if a new truck comes down $10000 so does your 2005. I own a lot of toys so i dont want the canadian prices to drop, ya we pay a bit more $$$$ but our resale is much higher in Canada on all theses products, so the bottom line to me is not what I pay for the unit but how much it costs me each year i own it, so overall we are not any further behind the americans. now dont get me wrong if a guy can save some good money down south take the deal while you can because it wont be there for long as I think all the manufacturers will put a end to it some how. just do your homework

jeremy · Nov 28, 2007

my favorite is when they want to pay me a us price, but want canadian dollars for their trade. it dosen't work that way!!!!

i am also not a fan of the guys that come in and offer stupid money, and say they can buy one in the states, and I know that they can't buy it for that price, or actually cough up the cash

ZRrrr · Nov 29, 2007

Well the hard part to stomach is just how much Canadians have been gouged for years.....higher resale or not. It is still money up front, money that is likley financed one way or another so your long term costs are higher. Does a higher resale cover those costs....no. What's coming to light now is how the US manufacturers have kept Canadian and international pricing higher to cover the lower prices they offer our American counterparts. It's about profit and greed, wich is theri perogative, but when push comes to shove and the consumer becomes savy, I go where I can maximize my return. If I can save $11,000 on a truck and take a small hit on the resale of my current truck....well you see where I'm going. It's still thousands back in my pocket and that's going to help offest the cost of the child we're trying to adopt. Hey, I feel for you guys in the business but it's time we all put pressure on suppliers to even the playing field. At the end of the day it's money back on all our pockets and improves are entire quality of life. I would like nothing more than to have the same economic benefits as my American colleagues. It drives me crazy to see how cheap their groceries are, clothing, gas and all the other essentials in life. At the end of the day I could care less if the trucks cost the same, I have choice, but it's those essentials like food and clothing that really bother me. We have been taken for a long and painful ride and I would like to see it fixed!

At the least the GST is coming down.

plumbum · Nov 29, 2007

i think alot of people forget too. that our lovely governmnet is alot of the cause for higher prices. we are taxed to death here. i cant remember the exact number but we basically give about 75% or more of every dollar we earn to the cdn government. this happens in one way or another. and we get taxed on taxes too. that blows me away. my wholesalers pay gst, pass it on to me, i pay gst, pass it on to the customer, the customer pays gst and eats it. no passing it there. yes the government credits gst to my wholesaler and myself but there is still some overlap. and i cant even fathom the amount of taxes that get retaxed. import taxes, duties etc.... so anyway our higher prices typically are because of our own government. gm, ford etc... take that into account when posting msrp's, so i have been told.lol.

as for the textile prices. my wife just came back from a shopping trip to the states. our governmnet has dutied and levied textiles to about 20% to help protect our textile industry.

food prices. i wouldnt want to trade our inspections and safeties for american ones. they are alot more lenient to hormones, additives etc... than our government is. as well we import alot of our food. so higher cost.

jeremy · Nov 29, 2007

you bring up alot of good points, however if looking to lease or finance through gmac at 0%, can't.

I kind of sit ont he fence, i work for a dealership so i hate losing business, but for years have inported things from the states such as sleds and boats.

you never heard anyone gripe at all until the dollar went up!!!!!!!!

oh well, I have been in contact with many a big wigs from GM and they are not really giving us any answers to why the difference in pricing, so as a retailer it is hard to justify the difference in price when the us and canadian dollars are on par.

It makes it difficult for us. no new XP for me this year!!!

ZRrrr · Nov 29, 2007

plumbum said:
i think alot of people forget too. that our lovely governmnet is alot of the cause for higher prices. we are taxed to death here. i cant remember the exact number but we basically give about 75% or more of every dollar we earn to the cdn government. this happens in one way or another. and we get taxed on taxes too. that blows me away. my wholesalers pay gst, pass it on to me, i pay gst, pass it on to the customer, the customer pays gst and eats it. no passing it there. yes the government credits gst to my wholesaler and myself but there is still some overlap. and i cant even fathom the amount of taxes that get retaxed. import taxes, duties etc.... so anyway our higher prices typically are because of our own government. gm, ford etc... take that into account when posting msrp's, so i have been told.lol.

as for the textile prices. my wife just came back from a shopping trip to the states. our governmnet has dutied and levied textiles to about 20% to help protect our textile industry.

food prices. i wouldnt want to trade our inspections and safeties for american ones. they are alot more lenient to hormones, additives etc... than our government is. as well we import alot of our food. so higher cost.

Yu bring up some good points and it goes to show that we are effected at both ends. However I could easily dispute a couple of your comments as I have a connection to the industry. Especially on food, since we import a lot of our food from the US. Not to mention Mexico who has been found on occasion to still be using human waste for fertilizer. As for textiles, most come out of third world countries. Do we impose high duties and taxes on developing countries?

Point is that we need to put pressure on both our government and suppliers of goods. We all watched our finance minister try to pass the buck when he said they were "talking" with retailers. Nice way to avoid the tax issues.

Like I said, at the end of the day I want similar economic advantages. I am willing to pay a slightly higher price for certain things due to quality etc.. My problem lies with the GROSS differences and no one being to offer concrete evidence as to why. I'm tired ot hearing "it doesn't work like that" but on one being able to tell me how it does work!!! Like Jeremy stated, he has spoken with GM higher ups and they are not offering any explanations, not even to the very people that rep them.

plumbum · Nov 29, 2007

i kind of think that some of the gross differences is a bit of... not really greed but wanting to keep it that way. there is a couple of sides to this. one being that they are finally making money occording to the dollar differences and no real increase in cost. so we are subsidizing the U.S. in a way. two being if they drop the prices for a temporary increase in the cdn dollar and then try to increase it when it goes back down, the uproar would be huge. even more so than with the price differences right now. so they cant re-raise the price later and they really start to lose money. and from the information i have been getting all anybody is really going to do is offer rebates to get rid of existing inventory and then wait it out, for however long it takes to get back to normal. anything 2008 will not see a price break until next year at this time. but all 2007's are going to get big rebates to move them out. as well anything smaller ticket that moves well is going to get some adjustment to. but we wont see that for another couple of months or more.

jeremy · Nov 30, 2007

it is a bad situation, no i know how the farmers who dealt with the bse feel!!

I wish that I had the answers!!!

All of the posts here bring up really good points, looking at it from all angles.
I remeber years ago selling diesel trucks into the states as fast as i could buy them I would have a buyer.
Karma, I never thought it catch up to me.
Any retailer who stocks a product, has to be worried right now.
Think if a manufacturer dropped it's price to be comparible to US, bath tubs, cars, whatever, what happens to the stock they have now (especially used car inventories, trade in values) it would be a negative thing. So whatever they decide to do if the dollar dosen't change could affect alot of us.

And I can't blame any one for going south, I work hard for my money, small difference in the prices, okay buy locally. Huge difference, well you know where I am going with this......

bigdog67 · Nov 30, 2007

OK...you all made some very valid points on the issue.I understand the problem that the local retailers are having with cross boarder shopping,but I always thought we had free trade. I guess that only applies to big buisness.But if you think of the money that the American auto makers,sled builders,or any other manufacturers are making on the backs of Canadian,I'm sorry,the first chance I get to head south for some kind of savings,I'm going.Also,someone please answer me this,all you DOO riders out there buy from a Canadian company that is so heavily subsidized it makes me sick.DOO hasn't dropped their prices,they discourage cross boarder shopping by not honoring warrenty,and lastly they are making a killing in the American market because of the dollar....Where is the justice?Makes me proud I ride a Cat...lol But that's just my 2 cents....Oh and by the way...Jeremy...you sound like a car salesman...lol You coming over for a beer later?

jeremy · Nov 30, 2007

right after work?? I have to go to home depot but yeah, skippy just picked up his sled, still trying to convince me that I should do the same, really not worth the money, look at all the greif it has caused him.
I sure hope that my 900er beats his doo, and i'll laugh more if my doo beats his!!!!!!

SLEDBUNNYRACING · Nov 30, 2007

Beers....Where????

jeremy said:
right after work?? I have to go to home depot but yeah, skippy just picked up his sled, still trying to convince me that I should do the same, really not worth the money, look at all the greif it has caused him.
I sure hope that my 900er beats his doo, and i'll laugh more if my doo beats his!!!!!!

bigdog67 · Nov 30, 2007

Only for people that I've insulted Sledbunny...Jeremy's an easy target.Gotta keep his spirits up somehow.Alcohol seem to make him forget things,like he doesn't know how to ride except for the flatland..lol

jeremy · Nov 30, 2007

coming from the flatlands I can ditch bang extremely well.

i am hoping that the mountains will be like one big ditch?????

probably not, but back to the beer, i really like beer, and tangle ridge whiskey
are you dave going to be around around 7-7:30
and i can't remember which street you live on

plumbum · Nov 30, 2007

one other point i would like to make. we all dislike americans right. well at least some of them. * LOL * . why boost thier economy by buying from them. our economy goes into the shitter and then we all dont have money for toys no matter how cheap they are. just a thought. i myself have bought locally for both my truck and my quad. the rebates definately made the decision easier. i dont think i would have bought 07's without the decent price incentives.

Major issues importing most 2008 US vehicles

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