Hi Folks!

My wife needs a new car. She was keen on getting the Mazda Miata, but I convinced her to test drive a Mini first, thinking that she may be smitten by the little convertible. After the test drive she said "I hate it when you are right", and has now decided she wants a Mini. Well, after checking pricing I discovered that the Mini convertible is approximately $9,000 cheaper in the US then here in Ontario, Canada!!! Now I realize that with a smaller population to support the dealer network and other infrastructure we should obviously pay more in Canada, but surely not $9,000 (35%) more!

Now I have decided to investigate purchasing a car in the US and bringing it across the border. Has anyone here done this before? Are US dealers permitted to sell to Canadians? Will the warranty be honored in Canada for a car purchased in the US? I realize we will have to pay duty (6.1% I think), some paperwork fees, as well as taxes but the final price is still substantially cheaper.

 

Has that $9000 difference factored in the exchange rate? I would imagine you could buy a car anywhere bring it home. There likely would be taxes and tariffs etc. to deal with to get it over the border though and you have to figure that into the price. The dealer would likely honor any warranties, but often are easier to deal with when you purchased your car from them in the first place. Any way you slice it sounds like you have some homework to do before you make this purchase.

 

Currently, the Canadian dollar is running higher than the US dollar, hence the increased interest in purchasing south of the border. With the current exchange rate $9,000 CDN buys $9,306 US. Who would have predicted this 1 year ago!!!

 

The BMW/MINI franchise agreement forbids selling cars for export, so most (if not all) dealers will require that the vehicle be titled and registered within the US in order to sell you the car. You would need proof of a US residence to be able to get the car.

If you find someone willing to go against policy, good luck but they probably won't be able to do it more than a couple of times because after it happens a few times they will face serious consequences from MINI.

You CAN buy a used car with no restriction, so maybe if you find a low mileage used '06 or '07 you can buy it in the US and save a little more money as well!