Buying a car from Quebec...

[headshok2002]

Anybody ever done this?
I know how to import from USA... but I've never looked into Quebec, before. I'm usually afraid to buy cars that have ever been in Quebec. :)

[white fish]

I did it in the summer

not hard get your e test and safty (tell them from out of province)

pay your tax when regestering it

done

[headshok2002]

Sweet!

So, I was going to ask the guy if he'd meet me in Cornwall or something. Would that make this any easier? Or would I need to actually go to Quebec to do this? I was thinking if every step can be done at the Ontario ministry... then it'd be worth it to negotiate his bringing it to Cornwall as part of the deal. I could get it plated and drive away.

[BryanR]

I wouldn't buy a car from Quebec.

[ed@mtl]

I wouldn't buy a car from Quebec.

And why not? I would never purchase a used car from Ontario. Especially from TO. You guys have to travel everywhere, even to the corner store for a loaf of bread.

It depends on who your dealing with and if they have all or any recorded history of that vehicle.

[headshok2002]

Yeah, I know that there are risks buying from Quebec... but seriously, the market there is just plain cheaper.

I just got a carfax account (feckers upped the price to 40 bucks!), and if I am about to buy a car... I'll likely car proof it, for another 40 bucks.

[jefferson88]

And why not? I would never purchase a used car from Ontario. Especially from TO. You guys have to travel everywhere, even to the corner store for a loaf of bread.

It depends on who your dealing with and if they have all or any recorded history of that vehicle.

This is the issue, cars from on Ontario have very strict guidlines with regards to their history which the MTO strictly enforces. It very difficult to not have accident info submitted to the MTO as police do it for every car involved in one. It was a pandemic here in the 80's and 90's for seedy used car dealers to go buy "cheap" cars from Quebec that were usually rebuilds from big accidents or kilometre roll backs. W5 did a huge exposee on why you should never buy used from Quebec... Its not a personal thing, just a lack of diligence by the transportation ministry there.

[headshok2002]

^^^ Yup, that is my fear, as well.

Still, car proof is really good... as it tracks all insurance claims through Canada. I'd say the vast majority of severe accidents go through insurance, so it'd be reported on there.

Still though, when I was checking prices... it was like every single car I saw was a good deal compared to Ontario prices. They can't ALL have been in accidents.

[SleeperAvant]

So what car are ya buying?

[headshok2002]

So what car are ya buying?

Haha, beetle for the girlfriend.

[afretes]

Carproof doesn't show it all. Like cash repairs. BTW, you're going to go through this hussle
for Beetle?

[headshok2002]

Carproof doesn't show it all. Like cash repairs. BTW, you're going to go through this hussle
for Beetle?

Yeah, nothing will show cash repairs, obviously... but cars that get damaged extensively aren't often fixed and paid for in cash. I don't care if it's been in a fender bender and repaired... I am a believer that cars can be brought back to 95% of what they were pre-accident...

And yeah, it's a bit of hassle, but not that much.
Her Focus was just written off, and insurance is giving her like 4600 bucks total... I am arguing that, trying to get it up to 5k. We'll see.
Regardless, I can't find a beetle that I'd buy in Ontario that is within her budget.
If I go to Quebec, I can find a car that she'll actually love. I can choose the popular colours (green, red, yellow), and I can get a GLS with leather and moonroof. I'd be getting a bare bones car if I bought here. I think the discrepancy in prices is about 1500 - 2000. Spending 5k there gets me a car that might cost 7k here.

But yeah, if you come across a 2.0 beetle with under 130k in the 5k range, let me know! I've found a 1.8T that is fairly local with 138k for 5800 (negotiable), but I want a 2.0 for her, for fuel economy and maintenance reasons.

But yeah, I'll be happy when this is over...

[BryanR]

And why not? I would never purchase a used car from Ontario. Especially from TO. You guys have to travel everywhere, even to the corner store for a loaf of bread.

It depends on who your dealing with and if they have all or any recorded history of that vehicle.

Because Quebec drivers have small brains and generalize too much about Ontario drivers (see quote above)




I <heart> you Ed

[BryanR]

Yeah, nothing will show cash repairs, obviously... but cars that get damaged extensively aren't often fixed and paid for in cash. I don't care if it's been in a fender bender and repaired... I am a believer that cars can be brought back to 95% of what they were pre-accident...

And yeah, it's a bit of hassle, but not that much.
Her Focus was just written off, and insurance is giving her like 4600 bucks total... I am arguing that, trying to get it up to 5k. We'll see.
Regardless, I can't find a beetle that I'd buy in Ontario that is within her budget.
If I go to Quebec, I can find a car that she'll actually love. I can choose the popular colours (green, red, yellow), and I can get a GLS with leather and moonroof. I'd be getting a bare bones car if I bought here. I think the discrepancy in prices is about 1500 - 2000. Spending 5k there gets me a car that might cost 7k here.

But yeah, if you come across a 2.0 beetle with under 130k in the 5k range, let me know! I've found a 1.8T that is fairly local with 138k for 5800 (negotiable), but I want a 2.0 for her, for fuel economy and maintenance reasons.

But yeah, I'll be happy when this is over...

How about a brand new 2008 Beetle for $8-10k with no warranty and mild smoke damage?

[headshok2002]

How about a brand new 2008 Beetle for $8-10k with no warranty and mild smoke damage?

Haha, please define "smoke damage".

[afretes]

Yeah, nothing will show cash repairs, obviously... but cars that get damaged extensively aren't often fixed and paid for in cash. I don't care if it's been in a fender bender and repaired... I am a believer that cars can be brought back to 95% of what they were pre-accident...

And yeah, it's a bit of hassle, but not that much.
Her Focus was just written off, and insurance is giving her like 4600 bucks total... I am arguing that, trying to get it up to 5k. We'll see.
Regardless, I can't find a beetle that I'd buy in Ontario that is within her budget.
If I go to Quebec, I can find a car that she'll actually love. I can choose the popular colours (green, red, yellow), and I can get a GLS with leather and moonroof. I'd be getting a bare bones car if I bought here. I think the discrepancy in prices is about 1500 - 2000. Spending 5k there gets me a car that might cost 7k here.

But yeah, if you come across a 2.0 beetle with under 130k in the 5k range, let me know! I've found a 1.8T that is fairly local with 138k for 5800 (negotiable), but I want a 2.0 for her, for fuel economy and maintenance reasons.

But yeah, I'll be happy when this is over...

Manual or auto?

[headshok2002]

Auto is preferred... but if the right deal came along in a 5 spd, I'd have to have a talk with her and see. I've had her out in my car before (*shudders*), but I think if it was her car... and I put in some serious time in the passenger seat, I could get her into it.

[white fish]

you need a 10 permit from quebec

[BryanR]

Haha, please define "smoke damage".

Cars are 100% okay - but there was a fire in the storage area, so they smell a little and cannot be sold as "new".

[sakimano]

I was looking for an A8 a while back, and found that Quebec had quite a few. That was (I assumed) due to the heavy euro feel in the province.

Anyway, I settled on an Audi Certified Pre-Owned, negotiated with Lauzon Audi, and as a check, pulled a carfax. The cool thing was Audi has a free link to the Carfax right on the web page (all Audis that were CPO had this on audi.ca)

anyway, the Carfax showed MAJOR mileage tampering! I called the dealership, spoke to the service manager about it, and got the runaround.

that was the end of that!

[headshok2002]

Yeah, I have faxed a couple cars already and both came back with fishy odo readings.
Wait, 3 cars total... Haha, the last one... this is great.

I had originally found a nice little 99 for sale, but apparently got there too late. 145k on it, but nicely equipped, looked clean, and was only 4 grand -- in Kingston!
It was sold, a couple weeks ago, apparently...

So then, I see this car for sale again, at 6300 bucks. They looked identical, and it was now like 20 minutes from Kingston. I emailed him, asked him some generic questions, and got the VIN. Basically confirmed that the dude bought the car 3 weeks ago and is trying to sell it for thousands more than he paid. It was a good deal at 4, but 6300 is too much.
I called him on it, and he was like "well, 6300 is the price if you're interested".

Psshaw! Haha, anyways, I just thought it was funny. Obviously he can try to do whatever he wants.

[faddajinx]

I just bought a car from Quebec like 3 weeks ago. You buying from a dealership or private seller? I bought private.

1) Read this web page thoroughly:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...da01192007.htm

http://www.canadatotwincities.com/buy_car.html (this web site kinda summarizes what to do if you buy from a dealer, although he registered his car in MN)

It explains the guidelines for importing a car. You have to fill out an HS-7 declaration form for Customs, you'll be importing the car under Box 2B. Basically, if the car was manufactured for sale in Canada (and meets Canadian motor vehicle dept standards), you'll need to contact Audi for a certificate of conformity (that the car will meet US Motor vehicle standards). This usually comes with the EPA approval too. You can get the dealer or the private seller to take care of this before you head up there to get the car.

2) Once you purchase the car you have to go to the SAAQ branch (basically their motor vehicles office) and get a registration along with a temporary transit tag. At this point you'll have to pay the GST tax, which is something like 8% of the cost of the vehicle. Since you're a non-resident of Quebec, they'll give you a form to mail back in so you can get a refund of the tax. If you're buying from a dealer, they'll probably take care of all this stuff for you.

3) Once you get to US Customs, show them the HS-7 form with the Certificate of Conformity from Audi, your registration and transit tag, and your bill of sale. They'll check everything out and then stamp the HS-7 form and give you this other form that you'll need to take to your local DMV when you register the car. I didn't have to pay any more duties.

4) Once you get the car home, get your emissions done (if required by your state), get the car insured, then take those forms from customs down to your local DMV. Here in GA they ran the VIN to make sure it wasn't stolen (an officer filled out a different form for this), and then I filled out the normal paperwork to register a car. I gave them all of the documents, plus the registration, which is basically your title (up in Canada they don't use titles like we do) - and they gave me a tag. A week or so later I got my GA title in the mail. All done.

It was a little easier for me because the audi I bought was originally imported from Cali and the owner had a copy of the original title. So I imported under box 2A of the HS-7 and didn't need the Certificate of Conformity since the US motor vehicles sticker was still right there in the door jamb. But otherwise it was pretty easy.

Good luck!

[jefferson88]

He wouldn't have to do any of that because he lives in Toronto... Not US.

[faddajinx]

He wouldn't have to do any of that because he lives in Toronto... Not US.

whoops...didn't catch that part, lol. he can just disregard the customs stuff, but he'll still have to pay the GST and can get a refund since he doesn't reside in Quebec