2006 Base Prices

Canada - www.mini.ca
Cooper 25,900 CAD = 21,853.83 USD
Cooper S 30,600 CAD = 25,819.58 USD

USA
Cooper 16,950 USD = 20,086.25 CAD
Cooper S 20,600 USD = 24,414.42 CAD

Why the huge difference?

 

Exchange rates (Canadian Dollar vs British Pound, Euros and US Dollars)
Import Tariffs
Higher Taxes and Fees
Canada is a Socialist country

Also remember that Canada gets a very, very small fraction of ALL worldwide MINI production. I believe the Canadian market only receives 3K to 5K cars a year. Compare that to 25K-30K MINIs imported for USA consumption. The biggest MINI markets right now are Germany, the UK and the United States. Canada doesn't even make a blip in the radar screens in terms of overall sales.

I went to Canada (British Columbia and Alberta) back in May, and for us Americans things are much cheaper there because the exchange rate favors the US Dollar vs the Canadian Dollar.

Maybe some of our Canuck friends have a better insight into the price/tax structure of new vehicles sold there.

 

Also, all Canada bound MINIs come standard with Xenon headlights and ASC+T traction control. ASC+T is not acailable as a standalone option in the US spec Cooper, unless you opt for DSC. In Canada there are slightly different trim levels. They have the "Cooper Classic" for instance which is a very low trim level Cooper. In Canada you can get the optional heated windshield that has never been available in the US. Also until the '05 model year, you could order an Electric Blue Hardtop Cooper model, also not available in the USA.

 

I believe it's in how you option up your car. If you picked the absolute base model of a cooper, other than the classic and bought exactly the same configuration in the US, you might be paying a bit more in Canada. However, metallic paint is extra in the US, and paint colors is a no cost option in Canada. There are a few things in Canada that are standard, but you pay extra for in the US. So overall, I think the price is comparable. In anycase, in comparison to other vehicles, I think you get fair to good value for money. In my case, think I get great value for money because there simply is no other car like our MINIs on the market.

However, choose carefully. The Cooper Classic edition is fairly well equipped. For a bit more you get the Cooper which includes xenons, ASC+t and choice of paint colours and a few minor bells and whistles. You might find the increase in price a decent value once you sit and analyze it. What worried me was how fast you can go from $23K CDN to $40K+ CDN when configuring your car.

I wouldn't compare with US prices so much as currency valuations change day to day. If the price wasn't fair, very few people would be buying MINIs, would they? If MINI changed the list price everyday based on currency valuations, the cost of our MINIs would be much more as it costs money to administer those adjustments.

BTW...relatively speaking, $1000 on a $30,000 car isn't a huge difference. You could probably get your dealer to discount that amount in Canada whereas I hear many of our US friends are paying over list for their cars. Most are happy just to pay list.

 

But, on the other hand the choices in colour/options in Canada are very limited in comparison to the US.

 

I beg to disagree. When I bought my car, I was allowed to factory order any combination available.

 

Canadians pay too much, car prices aren't changing with currency. I got a pretty good discount though, which I hear is not avaliable in the USA.