FX Arbitrage

911 4S = USD 87,100 * 1.0950 = CAD 95,375 CAD 95,375 *1.06 (Duty) = CAD 101,097 CAD pricing in Canada = 127,500 You save yourself CAD 26,403 !!!!! I've heard from people who have done it that it'sa not THAT much work to bring a US car to Canada....I feel bad for my dealer but at that amount of savings it start to make sens. Or put another way, you can buy a very low mileage 996TT for the price of a new 997 4S.

On used cars, the differential gets even greater (i.e. 115-120k for a used 996 TT), but same car is only 70-80k USD (plus the 6.1% duty + exchange rate + GST/PST + any fees incurred for paperwork). Still, the gap is still HUGE. http://www.mr2.com/TEXT/Import.html

You can't import new Porsches into Canada.

how come ? I know plenty of friends who have bought new Japanese and German cars in the last year....what's the scoop with Porsche ?

You can import in a nearly new Porsche though. Plenty of US dealers I contacted would have been happy to sell me a "demo" Porsche.

No warranty from CAN dealer though right?

Warranty is valid, dealers are "encouraged not to sell to Canadians" but it is not illegal in any way. The eventual resale might be impacted(wary of US car) but I think with the current exchange it becomes a non issue, 20-25K savings on new and used after factoring in 1.06 duty is hard to ignore. Up to Porsche to narrow the gap or continue to face this. It is more the weakened US $ that is hurting them by not raising the price in their major market the US, rather than them trying to rip off canadians. Semi free Markets at work ;o) Ken

I have a US car and prior to finalizing the deal, I phoned PCNA to ask about the warranty issue. The response was that the warranty is valid ANYWHERE in North America and that Canadian dealers are obligated to honour it regardless of whether they sold it or not originally. BTW: I asked both Toronto dealers for 6 months to find me the right car and when that failed, I started looking in the US. Ironically, I bought my US car in Canada afterall. No regrets at all as it is better than any dealer examples I saw and trully flawless. It wasn't the cheapest US car but still saved me about $25K vs a dealer. No CPO warranty but I had 15 month of factory warranty left and no GST on a private sale. I almost bought an '05 997 at a dealer in Chicago for $65K US with 3 yrs and 2 CPO remaining; at the last minute I decided I prefered the 996 C4S over a 997 C2. Lots more choice and value south of the border and they'll sell you anything come month end; money talks!

This is the same as in Europe. I can take a trip over to Germany and pick a car up from the factory and drive it back to the UK and save myself a huge bundle. Porsche UK still have to honor factory warranty which is 2 years.....I think the same in Canada. But problems can occur if you sell the car. You will probably have loss in rediduals which will match what you saved by bringing it in cheaper. Also, if you have problems out-of-warranty then your on your own and you are unlikely to be offered any good-will from the OPC network. Finally, it's unlikely your local OPC will accept the car as a trade in should you want to trade up to a newer model in the future. There are pros and cons, it's not so straight forward as you think.

Not quite the same since you'd be bringing in a LHD from the continent where the vast majority of cars are RHD; that makes for some major differences between the two version and certainly affects resale values. This is just based on what I read in the Brit Porsche mags; which are quite excellent BTW. The only difference between Canadian and US cars are: DRL (easy conversion), French/English airbag stickers (I plan to remove ALL those ugly stickers) and Mph vs Kph instrument clusters (you can change it if you want to spend the money, but the digital speedo is easy to switch over) and they both have 4yr/80K kms warranties. There are soooo many US cars coming in now that I don't think the stigma of having an "immigrant" car will hold much longer. Besides it used to be the reverse stigma when the CDN$ was worth $.62 USD. Once out of warranty I don't intend to service the car at the dealer, there are many better indy Porsche tech in Toronto.

NO! I am talking about having a UK spec'd RHD car bought and picked up in Germany and driven back to the UK. It is actually very common.

Sorry, I didn't realise that's what you meant. But why would the UK dealers descriminate against a Euro delivery? Here you can have the dealer set up the Euro delivery and ship back you CDN spec car after you're done with your vacation.

Last I heard from another european car manufacturer's sales associate, Canadian prices would remain the same for a couple years while US MSRP's would increase. Jason.

Porsche GB is separate company although it is a subsiduary of PAG. They have their own profit/loss business. So you buy a car from them and they make money from it. You buy a car from outside the GB network they make diddly squat but they still have to service it during warranty period. A UK spec'd car that is brought in from outside the network differs only, and I mean only on the sticker under the hood. It has an extra option called "c16". A c16 car is one that is bought outside the UK but made for the UK market and not brought in by the dealer. So they will always know a C16 car. They dont like it for obvious reasons because they loose money on it. Prior to the European Common Market rules, if you brought a car in from mainland Europe it was classified as an import and we had to pay duty (hefty fees) on it. But since we joined the EU it is now not classed as an import and so we dont pay import duty. But generally cars are a hell of a lot cheaper when we buy them from the country of manufacture. Not that I would want to but if I bought say a Fiat, I would save thousands buy buying it in Italy (or maybe Checkoslavakia since I think they are made there). Same goes for German made cars. So you can get some real good deals by buying direct. But the downside is when something goes seriously wrong and your out of warranty. They will not in any way consider you for any good-will claims. And of course if you have a real gripe that you want to take to court with, well you cant do that to Porsche GB since you didnt buy it from them. As I said there are pros and cons. If it was that simple we would all be doing it.

I think the whole dealer not being happy about it is crap. The dealerships make money off warranty work and regular service. Think about it, if I buy from one CDN dealer and then go to another CDN dealer, they are fine even though they did not sell me the car. Dealers make the most money on options, especially dealer installed, service and warranty work.

The sales department is the unhappy side when it's an outsider vehicle, but service is quite pleased with warranty and service work coming in from any customer. These 2 department often are at odds with each other while working under the same roof; it's been that way since the very begining. Ask me how I know: OEM manufacturers are my clients and they're constantly trying to find ways to make dealers understand that sales sells the first vehicle to customer "A" but the subsequent sales of services, parts and vehicles to that same customer is facilitated by service. Makes sense, right? Try making the average sales consultant understand that

If you buy from one CDN dealer and then go to another CDN dealer for service you are staying within the CDN network. That's exactly what Porsche CDN want you to do.

As far as the "dealer won't be happy" I would say that I will feel a little bad, but I'm looking at some very slightly used (USA) 996TT that will be cheaper than a (Canadian) C4. Or if I get really I can get a used 996TT and do a 550 Hp RUF upgrade & new wheels for the price of a local 996TT.I guess the point is that for alittle bit of saving you should encourage your local dealer but the summs are so big right now that it's foolish to ignore a saving of $20-25k...think of getting a nice winter beater for free !!!!

With the exchange rate where it's at, it certainly is worth considering the extra work to bring in a US vehicle. And I agree it is becoming more commonplace to see US cars in Canada, not just p-cars. Consider all the North American cars (& others) build in Canada. Over the next couple of years, I would love to move up to a TT, but a good example of an '02 sits around $120,000 at a Porsche dealer (Pfaff currently has on '01 for $115,000) ... compared to about $40,000 less in the US (+ exchange, etc.). PCNA needs to look at their Cdn. pricing against competing products IMHO. Consider that 4-yr. old TT and a new C2 with some goodies on it for about $125,000 - $130,000. Then look at some competing products ... the new M5 (different car I realize, but still a great vehicle) is around $115,000. The new M3 will have a V8 and will be priced lower, MB has some juiced AMGs in that same range. Perhaps sacrilegious to mention it on this forum, but a new Z06 is around $95,000 (I know, not a Porsche, but amazing performance). Love my p-car , but the Cdn. pricing needs to be re-examined relative to what we can get a US car for and other products on the market - just my $.02.

You are absolutly right cause when I was at the border, another guy was there with the "new" Lexus SC 430 and another with a mustang. The big thing now for kids are importing S2000 and 350Z for the price of new civics and VW golf. All that to say that we're not the only ones doing it. I did it not to save money but more because there weren't any RSA around. In one way I kind of feel bad for fellow canadians, whom are trying to sell their canadian p-cars for a fairly good price considering what they paid originaly but are getting laugh at when compared to US cars. But in the end we as buyers, want the best for our money.