indyn

Sylvan, I'm guessing you're from Alberta. Auto prices are relatively high in that province compared to Ontario and Quebec. Its a different story for every province. I see lot of dealerships here in Ontario selling US cars all the time and dealers have taken in US cars as trade-ins. But of course you cannot expect them to pay you the same dollar as a Canadian vehicle, obviously they know what one pays for it.
As far as your friends VQs, the dealer might've turned them down because of the price they're asking for or too many mods on the cars.


Best bet for your friends is to sell it privately and they'll make more buck at the end.

canucklehead

iTrader: (9)

^ +1. in BC the resale difference between a local vs US car is minimal. comparing 2 identical $30k cars, one from the US and one local, you might be looking at ~$1-2k difference. of course it is fair to assume that if you paid less for a US vehicle you should transfer some of that cost savings on to the next owner. this also makes a US car marketable.

the far greater impact on resale is if the car is in excellent condition in/out and checks out for accidents/liens/mechanical - and lower mileage is always an asset. these factors are much more important than where the car was first registered. all g37's were built in Japan after all!

Sylvan Lake V35

Maybe it just an Alberta thing then, people seem to avoid US cars unless they are importing them themselves. The one friend in particular I had try to trade his mint condition bone stock G35 in on a G37 the dealership wouldn't even make him an offer. they told him US cars don't sell well and they didn' even want it. I have noticed in the past people selling US cars have a hard time moving them here, I would guess if you bought the car for $5,000 less in the US you would have to sell it for the full $5,000 less to move it here. I have had a US car for about 5 years now before the dollar was good and everyone started importing US cars and i have been watching this trend for awhile now and in Alberta it is questionable weather it is worth your time to import a car from the US. If you plan to heavily mod it like I did it shouldn't matter or if you drive it till the wheels fall off, but if you are buying and driving for a year or two you will likely not come out ahead here anyway and might end up behind if you consider all of the fees and travel expenses involved. In Alberta we typicall don't find many cars in close proximity so typically we are traveling farther south to find what we want. that is my experience for what it is worth anyway.

indyn

Unless you're in the business of selling cars then you shouldn't worry too much about price paid or selling price.
I got my car to enjoy it; it was pure adrenaline when I bought and drove it back all the way from New Jersey just pushing that gas pedal. Hey, I even got the mod done with Igor.

Sylvan Lake V35

.........

Snowboid

[quote=canucklehead;3008434]DRLs were installed as part of the provincial/federal inspection process.

So I called CT in Victoria about the DRL's and they said they couldn't do them because the 2010s use the HIDs.

Found a custom shop that has done 2010's here in Phoenix for Canadian customers. Had it done last week and they work like a charm. Only weird thing is the clearance/marker/tail lamps are on as well - the only difference really is that Auto dims the dash/nav and switch lights at night. Apparently this is the way the 2010s run in Canada as well.

Cost was $ 495, well worth it because my DIY days are long gone!

On a secondary note, the second last fillup I decided to try driving a tank on DS exclusively. Economy went down to 22 after filling up again.

Don't know if it's because DS causes me to sub-consciously accelerate harder or drive faster but it is sure fun pulling out to pass on secondary roads or surprising the normally fast Phoenix drivers on the freeway onramps.

Pity I have to return in a month. I do have all my information prepared for the border crossing so it will be interesting to see how smooth it goes.

Snowboid

canucklehead

iTrader: (9)

^ i had the provincial certification inspection done at an independent, licenced shop. the broker took care of all this. for the DRL a relay was installed that turns on the DRLs only, not the tail/marker lights. this is the way almost all Infiniti's are retrofitted. the factory DRL module is ~$800 plus a bunch of labour so almost all owners skip this and just go with the relay option.

Calgarywinger

Maybe more a Sylvain Lake thing than Alberta. I bought my FX (US import)from Hyatt and they had half a dozen to choose from. Same thing at 3 other Nissan dealers in Calgary.
All of a sudden, it seems, we've been flooded with used US cars. The Dealers took care of all the requirements (DRL, inspections, import stickers, block heaters, etc.) and the prices were very competitive.
Warranty service has been great (I also own a G37S Vert, bought new at Hyatt) and there's no differences between service for my US-imported FX and my direct-from-Japan G37. As for re-sale of these units, I spoke with Hyatt about trading this '09 next year before the warranty expires and they'll give me exactely what they would give for a "Canadian" model. It strictly depends on mileage, over-all shape and the age of the vehicle.

Sylvan Lake V35

2 reasons to buy a US vehicle

1) to get a vehicle cheaper than the Canadian model.
2) to get a rare or hard to find model, like Acura NSX, or nismo 350Z.

The reason there are so many US vehicles at the dealerships is because they buy them at wholesale costs in the US. So they are even cheaper and they bring them in by the truck load mark them way up and make a ton of money on it. I wouldn't buy a US vehicle for the same price as a Canadian one because I know the dealer has way more room to work and still make money so if you bought a US vehicle at par with a Canadian one you over payed end of story.

It is a surprise the dealership trying to sell you a vehicle would tell you they would give you equivalent value on a US vehicle when you want to trade it in next year they wouldn't tell you what you want to hear to sell a vehicle but I am sure you got it in writing so you will be fine

Snowboid

The relay that was installed only uses the HIDs as DRL, the other lights were on because I was in my garage with lights on Auto - duh!!

Had my first service done today here in Phoenix, also fixed rear passenger window wind noise.

Will update on the export/import in a few days when back on the island!

Snowboid

Snowboid

So after an 1800 mile drive from Phoenix to the island, the average economy was 8.9 l/100km - not bad considering the first 1400 miles were around 70-80 mph - plus nearly an hour idling on a frozen I-5 near Lacey WA and driving through ice and snow until I hit Vancouver.

The export/import process was a breeze. Less than 10 minutes at US Customs, then 15 minutes at Canada Customs and another 10 minutes at the RIV office.

After all the costs are totaled, including duty, tax, modifications, RIV, etc... the savings are $ 14,000 - not too shabby!!

Snowboid