Quote:
Originally Posted by colHolm
I can't speak to the subie, but with the tC the two cars are not equipped the same between the US and Canada. We get bluetooth, carpet mats, splash guards and a couple other features as standard equipment. Aside from that, each distributor gets different pricing for each vehicle that is based on several factors; exchange rate, tariffs, taxes, expected volume, etc.
It's not really an apples-to-apples comparison.
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I'm not bitching too hard about paying a bit more in Canada (even though our money is finally worth something). This always happens, the small market excuse "you buy less total volume so we have to charge more to make the same money". Instead of maybe pricing competitively and seeing if we really need as many dealers as we have.
But it gets bad when people were privately importing new STIs from the States, and even after all the taxes, fees, etc... were STILL paying way less, what started happening is that Subaru Canada (and others) tried to block this by claiming that the US models didn't meet Canadian safety standards, based on immobilizers or something. It was pure BS to make the importing a huge hassle.
Too greedy, that even when they realized people would rather go to another country (let alone another dealer) to buy a car rather than get gouged, they played some politics instead of adjusting their prices.
Maybe it's a sports car thing...
Nissan 370Z in Canada: $40,898 CAD (43,134.53 USD)
Nissan 370Z in USA: $31,450 USD
Shafting: $11,684.53 USD
Nissan Versa (1.8L Hatch) in Canada: $14,548 CAD (15,328.21 USD)
Nissan Versa (1.8L Hatch) in USA: $14,100 USD
Difference: $1228.21 USD
Oh and since Nissan USA offers a stripped 1.6L Versa sedan for $9990 (wow that's cheap!), someone in the US could buy a base 370Z AND Versa for LESS money than the Canadian Z buyer. They could even go up to the next Versa 1.6L trim level ($11,420) and still be under!
And even if the base Z's in Canada have a few extra features, screw that. There is no way it is almost $12k better.
Wow... I just totally depressed myself about the buying experience of a new sports car...