ATTN: Canadians - How many of you are thinking of buying a vehicle in the US?

Since the Canadian dollar is now trading at parity with the US, a lot of people here are not impressed with the prices of vehicles sold in Canada -vs- the same vehicle sold in the USA.

Despite the fact that some of these vehicles are manufactured in Canada they are sometimes as much as $15000 less in the US than they are here. Many Canadians are heading south of the border to take advantage of the savings... are you one of them?

I must admit the temptation is there for me, but I think I would be purchasing pre-owned rather than new... there are some pretty nice CRXs in Arizona and California that have caught my eye! Rust-free and save a few grand in the process? I'm in!

What do the rest of you think? Would you buy in the US rather than pay higher Canadian prices?

not from Canada, but work with a guy from Windsor. He is currently doing all of his shopping across the border and has said he is in the market for a car. He is definately planning on buying in the us and taking it accross.

Unfortunately there are some new regs at the federal level that have mandated something almost as stupid as airbags in cars - ignition disabler or some such thing. Seems the US automakers were able to lobby the OEM version to kill off the after market guys - gotta luv US monopoly business practises - not.

Me - If I can swing it - I will buy new in Europe (they get options and features undreamed of here - heck the states gets more choices than we do - and that is not saying much). Drive it for a bit there. Let my cousin look after it for the rest of the year. After a year and a bit, import it as a used car and not get reamed by the FED. (well thats the plan anyways)

Cars imported into Canada from countries other than the US must be at least 15 years old to enter Canada. :( ICBC and the CCMTA are trying to get that raised to 25 years, so far unsuccessfully... thank goodness. My CR-X was imported from Japan at 15 years old and with some TLC and modifications it's actually just as safe (if not safer because of the upgraded brake system) than the North American ones.

I heard there are some groups here trying to fight the exclusion of 2008MY vehicles from the RIV list citing the fact that an immobilizer has nothing to do with CMVSS (Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards which are almost taken verbatim from the US's FMVSS anyways!)