Ah, to be a new car buyer in November! Scanning my virtual rolodex of industry info I see that now is an excellent time to purchase a car as many dealers start the process to move their leftovers off the shelves.

Edmonds.com says that some 2007 models are being sold for a generous 30% off their sticker price. The biggest discounts currently available are on the obvious gas guzzling SUV’S and pick-ups as buyers are staring at a possible $4 per gallon hit at the pumps in the near future. AutoData is reporting an 8% drop in domestic pick-ups for the year while the curve is even steeper in midsize SUV sales which have stumbled a double digit 14% in the same time period. Another segment collecting dust on dealer lots are large domestic sedans with petrol concerns also on buyer’s minds. Some of the best deals are currently on Chrysler products. For the second consecutive year a large amount of dust is accumulating on many models. Good deals can be had on the Chrysler Aspen and Jeep Commander. Out of the Chrysler realm the Isuzu Ascender is showing heavy discounts. European models seem to be moving. Only Saab has come forward to offer deep discounts.

This is a “how to” with a unique approach to getting exactly the deal and car you want, to not only avoid all the things we have grown to hate about visiting a car dealership, AND actually enjoy the process. What a concept!

As car buyers, here is just some of the negative junk that we have all experienced:

Rude and indifferent treatment by salesmen that are dressed like pimps (don’t you ever wonder what their house or car looks like?), being ripped off on trade-ins and new purchase, the tons of wasted time it takes to transact a deal, the agony of being handed off to a “closer”, and if you are a woman just coming onto the dealership premises by yourself, being asked, “is your husband with you?” as if you don’t have a brain in your head.
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The price disparity between the United States and Canada affects more than just cars, it affects most consumer items. Yesterday, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty met with the Retail Council of Canada and retail company executives to discuss what changes need to happen to bring prices into line. The end result of this meeting was essentially that Flaherty is barking up the wrong tree and that consumers will have to be patient.
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In our ongoing series about cross border shopping, we’ve focused on the price and convenience. While retail prices of new cars are substantially cheaper in the United States than they are in Canada, the practicality of a cross border purchase depends on a buyers individual needs.

So you’ve made the decision that buying a car from south of the border is the way to go for you. You’ve called around to a few dealers, found your car and done the deal. Now what?

Fellow Nissan Truck Club member Derek Penny recently went through this process when he imported a Land Rover Discovery into Ontario. He’s gone to the trouble of documenting his story for the benefit of other intrepid cross border shoppers:
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We’ve determined that on your average sedan or pocket rocket, the Canadian consumer will save about 5 grand by picking up a new car south of the border. On the surface, that would appear to be a pretty choice if one were in the market for a new car. But is it really the best choice?

Financially, there are obviously some vehicles that are a better deal than others and typically, the dollar value is relevant to the price point of the car you are looking at. For example, a Mitsubishi Lancer sells for $13,990 in the States and $2,500 here in Canada. At the other end of the scale, a BMW 750i, which sells for $108,500 in Toronto can be bought south of the border with a whopping discount of $32,700.
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There has been a lot of talk in the Canadian media these days regarding cross border car shopping. The topic has become a daily discussion within the industry, as dealers try to benefit from the cheap prices to the south and manufacturers try to stem the flow of cars into Canada.

Recently we discussed the problem of the price differential from the US to Canada, but we didn’t go into any real dollar details other than the Porsche 911. Most of us will never buy a new 911, so that’s not a real world comparison. Why don’t we see what the differences are for the rest of us and see if it really is worth the effort to buy from south of the border.
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Shopping for a new car could be a very exciting time, except for one thing. It means going to a car dealership, which for many people is worse than a visit to the dentist. The internet has the potential to be a great help for the consumer to educate themselves, so many of their questions are answered before they step foot in a dealership.

In fact, the net savvy consumer often knows more about a vehicle than the salesman they end up visiting. The problem then is that the consumer still has to head in to a dealer to negotiate a price.
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A while back, I wrote about the price differential between cars in Canada and the United States. Some of the readers who commented and sent e-mails, couldn’t believe that there was such a drastic difference between dealers who are sometimes even in the next town. There is.

I just came across the following statement by John Chow that hits the nail on the head:
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In response to my post asking where the pocket rockets have gone, Boston Listed a handful of cars currently for sale that fit the bill of Pocket Rocket. What struck me as odd was the prices he qouted for these cars, so I thought it might be fitting to do some cross border shopping. Often, vehicle pricing varies greatly from North of the border to South of the border. What may be an affordable car in the United States may not be such a great deal up here in The Great White North.

Pocket Rocket North South Price Comparo

Cooper S USA $21,900

Canada $30,600

RSX USA $20,325

Canada $27,100

WRX USA $24,495

Canada $35,495

Civic Si USA $20,290

Canada $26,080

Just for fun, as we have a couple of Elise owners as regular readers, I thought I’d throw out the numbers for it as well.

Elise USA $42,990

Canada $58,550

Now that we see the full break down, you can see that some cars that are a great deal down south are not so cheap up here. The Elise, while still a great car for the money, is $15,500 more in Canada than it is in the States! Given current currency exchange rates, where the Canadian dollar is about 92 cents on the US dollar, that certainly doesn’t account for the giant price increase.

There is no question that there are some great little cars running around out there. The Garage definition of a Pocket Rocket includes the word VALUE. Perhaps I’ll change my previous comments a bit to say that there are no real budget concious pocket rockets available in Canada, rather than in North America.