rdxon

after 4 months of thinking about it and watching two of my students do it, i bit the bullet and imported and rdx tech from the states.
my local dealer in buffalo did not have a lot of inventory so i researched the net.
i bought from Radley Acura near washington and paid
$34500 PLUS
$670 destination charge
$245 processing fee,
$68 county tax and a
$10 DMV online fee.

$35493 total , or $38705 in canadian funds (i paid 91.7 for my dollar)
(it is 93 today)

the savings from the canadian dealer (the best deal is at performance acura in st. kitts) was about 42k plus 1800 delivery fee, 100 tax and then gst and pst.

so you are getting the vehicle $44124 vs $51300 buying in canada

after all costs and troubles you are getting the vehicle for taxes free.
i could have got it 600 dollars cheaper, but i wanted a vehicle not on the lot.
this is a tax protest, pure and simple. the dealer cost in canada is about 41700 vs 33600 in the states. honda chardes 670 dealer destination in the states and 1795 in canada. it is unfair. the warrant will be done at the dealer in buffalo which is a 40 minute drive for me.

so how to do it:

deal with richard slater at radley acura. he will arrange it all for you


go to www.riv.ca to see the steps.


you can fly from buffalo to washington for 106 dollars and he picks you up at the airport. sign some papers and the navigation system takes you home (4.5 hours to buffalo)

radley acura will fax the vin no. to the vehicle export office in lewiston.
they will give you a recall clearance letter which you must have with you.
you will be given a title to the vehicle, which you get stamped at the vehicle export office in lewistion
you cross, pay your gst and pay the vehicle registration fee of 290 dollars. they will mail you the form to get a safety at canadian tire, (56 dollars) and then you go to your licence beurau to get your plates and pay the pst.
i had a blast. richard is just super and took care of all the details for me.

i did it all by email, i signed nothing, and he took me at my word for the entire time. i was really impressed. his email is richardslater@radleyautogroup.com


ps the no for the vehicle export office is

the fax no. in lewiston is 716 285 3565
the office no is 716 282 1400 or vice versa i cant remember.

loulinjai

thanks for sharing rdxon. does the US navi disk work well in Canada? and what do you plan on doing about the MPH/KM/H dashboard? thanks. was there any mods needed to bring the car into canada? (i think the US RDX has DRL)

Saintor

I intend to do the same next year for my new car. I am totally pissed off by the differences in cost USA/Canada. There is a risk warranty side, but my current car had nothing to claim in 28 mo.

rdxon

the navi works well. if i go to sudbury, or timmins, i may have to buy the ontario disc. i think the cost is 180 dollars.
the us one works for all areas in canada up to 100 or 200 miles. so it covers it.

the car needed no modifications. it has daytime running lights. the speedo is in miles and kms with the miles predominating. i can cope with this. i could change it, but i like it.
the navi works in metric (you programm metric). and it will talk to you in metric.

dracore

rdxon,

Your Acura dealership has no problem with accepting warranty/performing maintenance on a vehicle that was not purchased from them?

ecgz88

Warranty............

he sold USD 1200 over invoice, it's a win-win deal.

sasair

Any US Acura dealer will do warranty work on any US acura. He is purchasing in Virginia and having his warranty work done in Buffalo so no problem for him. You run into problems if you purchase in the US and want warranty work done in Canada.

ecgz88

According to ACURA Policy, warranty is only valid if the car is registered in US, maybe dealer use a fake US plate to do the warranty work.

AEmgee

No modifcations necessary? Bumpers? DRL?

What was the duty rate?

perfchris

No !

Check riv.ca, all your answers are there !

batootsie

Hello Everyone!

I have a written agreement of the deal from an Acura Dealer last 8/14/07 about more than a week ago. I am purchasing from them a 2008 Acura RDX with Tech PMM/Ebony. The Sales manager told me that it takes 2-4 days to get the car. It has been more than a week still haven't pick up the car from the dealer. How long usually it takes for the dealer to locate the car?Is this normal to wait for more than a week to get it? Your input will be appreciated as a first time brand new car buyer. Thanks to all.

Boon

Ugh...I don't know if I could deal with taking the car cross-border every time I wanted warranty work done. The line-ups at the bridge are crazy sometimes.

BUT I commend any Canadian who does it! The prices here are ridiculous.

derumeaux

A question from a french canadian.

Can you switch the voice recognition from english to french on a us car?
Can you put the whole navigation frmo english to french?

thanks

Ibn Rushd

i was interested in doing this for either an RDX or TSX. But i'm in Ottawa and to go to Buffalo for Warranty work is outrageous.

Is there a closer dealership on the border closer to Ottawa? The only place i can cross really is Osenburg and at Kingston, which i suppose i can settle for at the moment. But i was just curious, i also don't mind going to Cornwall (Messina in the U.S)


Anyone know if there's something there?

derumeaux

on www.acura.com you will find all the dealers. The only thing you need is a zip code from a place close to the border and they will give all the dealers close to that place and how many miles from that place.

Flamesfan

I talked to my service manager about buying an 07 MDX with 3500 miles from Phoenix and he said the only time there is warranty on a US vehicle in Canada is when the original owner form the US with US citizenship is transferred to Canada .

Otherwise it is considered a grey market vehicle with "NO" warranty .

holders

Hi guys, I'm planning to purchase a RDX from the states for use in Canada. Can anyone confirm that I can do warranty work in Buffalo? Do I need some sort of private agreement with the Buffalo dealer? BTW, I am in Toronto.

rdxon

it depends on the dealer. i think a lot of them close their eyes. i have a us address, and it helps, but technically, the warranty may not be covered.
prior to a lot of canadians buying their vehicle in the states, it wasnt an issue.
i personally think honda should just fix it in the states for goodwill. what good does alienating a group of buyers do, but make you want to buy a toyota or bmw?
[B]
[B]the real victim in all of this are the canadians and canadian dealers who pay more for their cars than the american dealers and are charged almost 2 1/2 times for delivery fees

so buy it in the states anyways. you will save enough on the cost to pay for any amount of warranty work.

holders

Hi Rdxon, what part did your US address come into use? I have close relatives in states too, I can use their address, no problem. I am really looking into make the purchase in a month or so. Another problem is that 08 Acura hasn't appeared in the RIV list of vehicles.

rdxon

none. they new i was canadian when i bought it
i have no regrets and would do it again. the border dealers are being pressured not to sell hondas in some areas. i bought mine in va, because they sold a lot of cars and have a lot of inventory/selection.

holders

Man, riv.ca is slow to add 2008 models... When can the government agencies become more efficient?!?!

perfchris

You DO NOT need to wait for the riv to add the RDX to the list.

The RDX is considered a multi-purpose vehicle like the minivans and thus are excluded from the riv list.

Just to make sure, call the riv to hear this from the horse's mouth !

acurardx

Canadian $ is finally at par, CDN = USD

We, canadians should seriously consider buying vehicles from US, easily save 30% plus

plee9

lol. this is exactly what i was thinking about. buying a lexus from Seattle and importing it to canada. i can't understand why the prices do not fluctuate with the exchange rate. it seems like the automobile industry wants to take an advantage of the situation claiming that "canadian models are not the same as US models". we all know this is a f***ing BS.

my friend once told me that some dealers in US won't sell the cars to Canadians because the company does not want the cars shifting borders.

u know what makes me even more furious? In canada, we pay higher income taxes while the income level is lower than that of the US. moreover, we pay higher prices on same goods sold in the US.

110phil

It sounds like the RDX is about $10,000 cheaper in the US. I'd consider buying one there even without a warranty ... I'm sure there will be a lot less than $10K less of repairs over the first four years of ownership.

Are there any other drawbacks than the warranty?

Also, do you have to pay US state tax in addition to the GST and PST you'll pay after importing? A 7% state tax is about $2500, which is a lot.

Boon

I was really tempted to get a Subie stateside. A few Canadians on the subaru forums said the dealers had no problem selling them cars. Toyota/Lexus also have international warranties. But I just liked the RDX too much to give it up.

mau108

Just to let you know a US vehicle has a lower resale value here in Canada.

I bought my RDX here simply because of the warranty and I needed the car asap (couldn't wait due the CRV getting stolen and our rental car expiring)

Boon

What?! your CRV got jacked? Sorry to hear that man. Where'd it happen?

mau108

in my driveway lol. Some punks needed a point a to b car, my dad was lazy and left the CRV out on the driveway that night, morning its gone.

Its the whole reason why we got the RDX lol, if it wasn't stolen we wouldn't have the RDX.

Btw the CRV was recovered (Meadoville and Sheppard, yes Malvern). Insurance gave us 13,500 for it which was awsome.

Boon

Gotta love Toronto and our escalating crime rate. I used to park at Finch Station for the work commute until two friends got their cars (G35 & Camry) stolen. Well, at least it gave you a great excuse to get the RDX. =)

perfchris

Look up redflagdeals.com. There is a HUGE thread on people that have saved thousands when importing a vehicle from the US into Canada.

There is even a step by step guide on how to do it !

Here is the link:

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/s...1&goto=newpost

rdxon

just go to riv.ca
it is not hard.
1. negotiate to buy the car. deal with a dealer who is a high volume dealer. you will get the best price. pay a deposit, and then have them fax the vin no. to the vehicle export office at your border.
2. the dealer provides you with temporary plates and a recall clearance letter.
3. 3 days after the VIN no. is faxed to the border, you can pick your car up and drive it back. ( they have to have the vin no. for 3 days priort to you crossing the border, its a rule)
4. pay your gst and vehicle registration
5. a form to get a safety done at canadian tire is mailed to you
6 get the safety, go to the licence office with the papers and they charge you pst and give you your licence.

this is easy to do. you dont need a broker. go to riv.ca

110phil

Are dealers still selling cars to Canadians? At least one border dealer posts on its website that it does not, by order of Honda USA. There have been several articles in newspapers recently about how it's difficult to get a new one for that reason.

rdxon

the border dealers have been told not to sell. that dealers farther south, texas, virginia, florida do sell.

holders

Thanks Rdxon for all the information... I'm in process of purchasing a RDX in states now

lilfeat

Why is the resale of US cars less in Canada? Odometer in Miles?
Just curious

sasair

No warranty?

holders

Right now, from my research Acura doesn't sell to Canadians anymore. Seems that Honda America sent out a letter on Oct 9 to prohibit dealers selling cars for export. Damn the corporate people.

mvwood

do you know how many other auto manufacturers do the same thing?

buzzsaw

This is a total scam in part of any corporation and dealership in North American.

They have absolutely NO right to decline you the sale under the NAFTA (North Am Free Trade Agrmt).

THEY CANT SALE TO YOU BECUZ YOU'RE A CANADIAN? TOTAL BS!!!!