Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Monday, November 26, 2007

Friday, November 23, 2007

2002 Lexus SC 430, SC430, Exc. Cond. Low Miles (See Pics)

2002 Lexus SC 430, SC430, Exc. Cond. Low Miles (See Pics)

There are a few 430's for sale in Van., one '02 is $38k with 60,00 km and another is $49,995 with the same colour and options with 75k km. There seems to be a good spread between purchase in the US and prices up here.

2002 Lexus SC 430, SC430, Exc. Cond. Low Miles (See Pics)

2002 Lexus SC 430, SC430, Exc. Cond. Low Miles (See Pics)

Another WOW

2002 Lexus SC 430

2002 Lexus SC 430

WOW

2004 ACURA TL

2004 ACURA TL

In Calif. for $18,999 (19,000) loaded. I checkd CanadaTrader and all 30 TL's are in the high 20's.

LEXUS GS 300 - BELOW KELLY BLUE BOOK!

LEXUS GS 300 - BELOW KELLY BLUE BOOK!

Another great example of value. 2001 for $17,610 and low miles, 59k.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

2006 Lexus GS 300 NAV Perfect Condition

2006 Lexus GS 300 NAV Perfect Condition

Here is the equivalent vehicle to the Acura TL, another cool looking car. The price tells me that the Lexus GS 300 might be in a higher category though, $36,000

Acura MDX 2003 Black Great Condition New Tires

Acura MDX 2003 Black Great Condition New Tires

Another OC car for $17,700 sounds great. Low mileage, 47k.

FS: 2001 Acura MDX W/NAV

FS: 2001 Acura MDX W/NAV

Best deal yet. Orange County MDX for $11,500 with only 160,000 mi. Even with the high mileage it is still worth looking at, besides it is a one owner car and probably a clear title.

2003 Black Acura MDX Touring, only 41K 4WD SUV

2003 Black Acura MDX Touring, only 41K 4WD SUV

And another one, 41k mi for $23,750 in Portland.

2004 ACURA MDX TOURING EDITION -- WITH NAVI, DVD, TOWING PKG AND MORE!

2004 ACURA MDX TOURING EDITION -- WITH NAVI, DVD, TOWING PKG AND MORE!

Another one in Oregon, $27,500 loaded with 40k miles.

Acura MDX, DVD & Navi, Towing Package, Top-of Line Model

Acura MDX, DVD & Navi, Towing Package, Top-of Line Model

Portland $23,750 loaded.

2002 Silver Acura MDX with Leather

2002 Silver Acura MDX with Leather

Oregon car for $15,750

Monday, November 19, 2007

Mercedes info - SLK

Here is what I read on the forum Edmunds Car Space

Meaning Mercedes With the search this discussion not working on my
side for some reason, I've read through about 75% of the thread and Mercedes
hasn't really been discussed too often. From what I know so far, the main hassle
with Mercedes is having to go to an authorized dealer to get the modifications
done. (As per Mercedes Canada and MB Dealership in Vancouver Canada) Personally,
I'm willing to go throught that to get the car. From what I know so far,
this would be the typical process: (Note, these steps are what the MB dealership
recommended to me, very generic)

-Find the car I want, send the VIN# to
the MB Canada to determine if the car is allowed in Canada

-If the car is
allowed in Canada, give the VIN# to the local dealership and they will give me
an estimate on the total cost of modifications for a fee of $250.

-Buy the car,
get the USA recall letter clearing it. -Do all the paperwork at the border, pay
Taxes/duties/RIV

-Bring the car to the local MB dealership to get the
modifications done

-Get the letter from MB Canada(or was it the MB
dealership..?) saying the car is Canadian approved.

-Go to Canadian Tire for Federal Inspection -Submit documents to RIV Now, please don't flame me if
I have this wrong but this is what the service manager told me, and it does seem
close to the typical way of importing a car. My question is, has anyone
successfully imported a Mercedes Benz from the states? I'm looking into getting
a 2004-2005 CLK320 or 500, and I wanting to hear other experiences with getting
it into the country. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Also another post:

I purchased a 2006 SLK 280 that had been brought in. The procedure you outline is accurate, but MB Canada never charged $250 for an estimate of the work..what a bunch of crap that is. The modificaions were in the $7000 range though.


CarMax: Used cars and new cars online

CarMax: Used cars and new cars online

Another online and on site car search company. I read a reference that said Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway bought into this company. I'll work with it for a few days and see what it is like.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

2005 Acura MDX Touring w/Navigation

2005 Acura MDX Touring w/Navigation

Vegas for $24,000 w 69k mi.

2002 ACURA MDX TOURING

2002 ACURA MDX TOURING

Salt Lake for $15,500 w 104k mi

Monday, November 5, 2007

The immobilser effect

Here is a great summary of how the new regulation about importing a vehicle with an immobiliser:

#1413 of 1424 Non Tariff Import Barriers by dreyfus1
Nov 05, 2007 (4:29 pm)
Reply
Non Tariff import barriers are as old as the hills. CMVSS114 the Canadian
Motor Vehicle Standard dealing with theft deterrence and immobilization is the
latest in a long line of Govt. Regs. being exploited by Manufacturers and
Dealers. CMVSS114 (latest iteration) was concocted in 2003. After extensive
consultation the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association (CVMA), individual
manufacturers, Insurance Bureau of canada (IBC), Insurance Company of British
Columbia and other industry groups it came into effect Sept. 01 2007. What is
most interesting is that the cost to the manufacturers to put it in each car was
estimated to be $32. Equally interesting is that the European and American
FMVSS114 standards were accepted up until Sept. 2007 at which time the United
Nations ECE standard replaced CMVSS114 which had been in effect up to that time.

It should be noted that IBC and ICBC were supportive of a home grown after
market solution or the system used by US manufacturers in high theft vehicles.
All this is not cast in stone, what the politicians/bureaucrats write can be
rewritten. It is not difficult for Lawrence Cannon the Minister of Transport to
instruct his bureaucrats to rewrite CMVSS114 to accept European, US (FMVSS114),
and IBC/ICBC standards.

We have a land border with a country that makes up 90%
of the NA market, it does not make sense to have Acts/Regs. that do not take
economic and geographic reality into account. The bottom line is that Canada has
a regulation that is adding $4,000 to $40,000 to the cost of a car for the
Canadian buyers. This regulation was not supported by the manufacturers or the
insurance industry when it was being formulated in 2003-2004. The manufacturers
have found it to be very useful in the past couple of years. This abomination
has to be amended and it is not a long drawn out process to get Privy Council to
issue and amendment. Lawrence Cannon the Minister of Transport is personally
responsible for presenting his recommendations and documentation to Privy
Council. Privy Council is a subset of Cabinet, after Cannon shifts the burden to
Privy Council you can then find Flaherty and Harper responsible for adding
$4,000 to $40,000 to the cost of your car. A $32 mod adds $4,000 to $40000 to
the cost of a car, Alice in Wonderland is alive and well, living in Canadian
Govt. Regulations. It is of little use to complain to bureaucrats in RIV or
Transport Canada they are following directions from their political masters.
When CMVSS114 is amended the manufacturers will come up with another non tariff
barrier to trade, this is the nature of the beast and only Govt. is in a
position to deal with it.

Auto: America's 20 Most Discounted Cars

Auto: America's 20 Most Discounted Cars

This is from the great blog The Consumerist

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Acura MDX information

Here are two references to recently imported MDX's.

2008 Acura MDX successfully imported
Heys guy, I know there has been
lots of questions and inquiries about Honda and Acura. Here is a recent success
story with an estimated savings of $15,000.http://borderdeals.ca/2007/11/04/my-...008-acura-mdx/Its funny
how an MDX is manufactured in Ontario and then it is shipped to the US and it
becomes $15,000 cheaper. I can somewhat understand a slight difference if the
vehicle was shippped from the US to Canada. I just don't get it.

I just returned this week with a 2007 Acura MDX from an Acura dealer in Las Vegas. The SUV was an Acura corporate vehicle with 2,000 miles on it. It was was fully loaded with Tech and Sport package plus a few other accessories. Saved close to $19K. Honda wouldn't give me a recall letter but the dealer made up their own and RIV accepted it. There's also a Honda website you can go to to enter your VIN and it will show if there are any recalls. RIV will accept this as well. I managed to find two dealers in other states still willing to sell new 2008 Acuras but for MSRP.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

'07 Tundra purchased in Spokane

Here is a comment from the Townhall Talk Edmunds forum:

#1341 of 1382 importing from the US by tundradan01 Nov 02, 2007 (3:47 pm)

Hey, I just got home yesterday with my brand new Toyota Tundra, 07. A
saving of $15332 Cdn., based on my Cdn. pretax quote of $47220, and my purchase
price of $34338. After taking into account a $950 exchange rate saving, a $1500
BC and GST (13%) saving and the difference between Cdn. and US pricing. I bought
in Spokane Washington from a dealer, and also received a $2500 Rebate, not
available here in Canada.

The crossing at the border was uneventful, and everyone could not have been
more helpful, both US and Canadian. It took me about 16 hours of fax, telephone,
and internet work to sort it all out. Piece of cake! I have documented
everything and will provide information and a check list for any interested
parties. NOTE: Toyota US announced today, according to my US salesman, that all
sales of new product to Canada cease this morning. Used product is fine, but due
to pressures on Toyota Canada from Canadian dealers, Toyota USA has asked that
their dealers cease new automotive sales to Canada immediately.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Tribeca

As found on the latest page of Red Flag Deals;

Tribecca limited 2008
with today rate the Tribeca limited 2008 costs
around 27k Canadian .. what's a deal . and www.multiline.ca is still
asking 33k (US import model) ... man
a big saving from US.. a real deal with
saving of 17k from Canadian model.

I am not sure why the reference to multiline but I think the poster was checking the site out for vehicle pricing. It's kind of a cheezy site. I didn't think RFD allowed links.

Toyota selling to Canadians this weekend only

Here is a dealer north of Seattle who wants to move inventory. Maybe they have new 2007's left or 2008 built before the big Sept 1 2007 date:

"Hi there Canadian customers! I just wanted to inform you that our dealership is willing to sell new cars to you from 11/02 through 11/04. I know that it is short notice. But we can sell you any vehicle in our stock at MSRP but it must be a cash deal. Feel free to come on down if you can, but be sure to ask for Wendy or Ginger. Hope to see you this weekend."

GingerHave a Fabulous day!WENDY CLIFFTON INTERNET MANAGERGINGER JOHNSONINTERNET REPRESENTATIVERODLAND TOYOTA IN EVERETT(425)353-1111 OR (800) 308-6968

The best Subaru offer yet

Whoa, it's been 2 weeks since I last posted well that does not mean there hasn't been any car news. Lets get on with it.................

Now here is how the dealerships do business with each other; cuthroat. all the better for Canadian shoppers.

Originally Posted by ManchSubaruDealer
Hi Guys,For those of you that don't know me, my name is Xan
Peterson. I work at the #1 Subaru dealer in New England called Manchester
Subaru. I decided to arrange my own group buy, or sale in my case, because I
want this one to be organized in a way that I can handle it in orderly fashion.

I want to set a few things straight before I get started.

1) Van Bortel does pay less for their cars because I am part of Subaru of
New England while they are part of Subaru of America. On average, I pay anywhere
from $400 to $500, sometimes more, than they do, yet my pricing is still lower
than theirs...

2) When you receive pricing from Van Bortel, including accessories, they
are using what is called "port installed" accessory pricing. I, on the other
hand, am using "dealer installed" accessory pricing. The advantage to port
installed accessory pricing is that you get a huge discount on the part
installed, usually equal to the labor to install the part sometimes even more.
The disadvantage is you can only get this port installed pricing if you order
the vehicle. This ordering process may take anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks, I don't
care what Van Bortel says. The dealer has absolutely no control over the
ordering process. If you don't care about the wait, and want to order a vehicle,
I can quote you an ordered price. When you email me just ask for the special
ordered price.

3) Van Bortel claims my rebates and dealer incentives are better than
theirs. This is not true, I have seen their rebates and their's are actually
better than mine on most vehicles. The only vehicles that have the same rebates
and dealer incentives for both of us are the Tribecas and Imprezas. I remind
you, that he pays at least $400 to $500 less per car than I do.

4) The only paperwork needed to cross the border, for a new car, are the
certificate of origin, bill of sale, and re-call clearance letter. I provide you
with ALL of those. Certain border crossings have different rules on how they
accept them. Some accept faxes, others courrier packages, and some require you
to bring them in person. You will need to call the border crossing you plan on
going through to find out what is acceptable. Once your paperwork is at the
border crossing, you have to wait 72 hours, not business hours, to cross.

5) I am not here to mess around. I am serious about selling cars. I only
ask you be as serious as I am. I need to know exactly what vehicle you're
interested in and what trim level. I need to know if you want a manual or
automatic transmission. I need at least two color preferences so I can check for
availability, and any accessories you want. Last, I need to know if you want to
order the car or not.Here's what I'm offering. I will provide you with the rock
bottom price right upfront.
My pricing is all inclusive. No other fees, besides transportation closer
to you if you choose that method, will be added to this price. I will arrange
for transportation close to the border, if you pay, or you can pick it up in New
Hampshire, at no charge. I provide you with a FREE 20-day temporary plate upon
delivery that is good all throughout the United States and Canada. Your first
tank of gasoline is FREE. I will add any accessories you want. I am familiar
with the process of exporting vehicles to Canada and even provide you with ALL
the necessary paperwork to cross the border. I can answer ANY questions you have
about exporting a vehicle to Canada. I am very upfront and will not steer you
wrong, just ask tico 1948 he picked up his new Tribeca just last week. Anyone
that is interested can email me at manchester@subarumail.com or call me
toll free at (888)223-7455. Just make sure you mention my name. I hope to hear
from you soon.Thanks,Xan Peterson(pronounced ZAN)