pterribilis

Hi All,

I'm in a strange situation. I am a dual citizen (Australia/USA) and will be moving to Montreal for work. I want to lease a new S4 B8 during my 2-3year assignment in Canada. I've noticed the msrp price for a fully spec'd S4 B8 is around 9k less in the USA than in Canada.

Although $1,600/month for a 2 year lease isn't out of my price range if purchased in Canada, I could pay a lot less and even entertain purchasing the car in the USA.

Does anyone here have experience with anything similar? My other concern is, will it be hard for me to secure financing in Canada as a non-resident?

tgdA4

With most lease contracts they stipulate that it cannot be removed from the US without consent from the leasing company. Same would probably apply to financing it.

Also the only way to legally bring the car to Canada is to import it. Which requires you to hold the title (not to mention paying all the taxes that may negate the savings you gained).

You could register and insure it in the US at some mailing address you have access to. But you are going down a slippery path with that option. If it were really a viable option I think more Canadians would be trying this.

I think it would be best to finance it in Canada. And yes, I believe you can get financing with just a work visa. They will most likely check your US credit score and documentation.

flew66

Since you are going to be working in Canada temporarily for 2 years on working visa, you will be considered as "Visitor". As a visitor, you can bring your vehicle into Canada temporarily without officially importing it. You will need to consult Transport Canada Vehicle Importation for the details.

Otherwise, I agree with tgdA4 that your best option is to lease it locally. The price gap on the new B8 S4 may be ranging from $7K to $8.5K depending on the configuration. However, you are not paying the full gap since you are going to lease it for 2 years. The impact to you will be the pro-rated value of the leased portion represents (50%?), not the full gap. You will have less headache in dealing with the insurance, financing agencies and the Local Dealership.

If you are going to import a vehicle, the price gap diminishes quickly once the import fees, inspection fees, duty (6.1% ~ $3.7K) and shipping costs ($1~2K) are factored in, plus GST and provincial sale tax. The gap suddenly shrinks to around $3K. For Canadians who want to buy brand new cars, this is all academic. As we cannot even buy brand new cars from US dealership, but only import near new used ones.

pterribilis

Thanks for the advice. I was also concerned about warranty issues and stuff. What has been your experience with purchasing your A4? Did you ask for a deal? How was the salesperson? Did you deal directly, or did you go thru an internet sales manager?

And finally, last question...If keeping the car garaged underground during winter months, will it be protected from the extreme cold or do they come standard with some sort of cold weather package?

tgdA4

I purchased my A4 from a dealer who was utterly clueless about the cars they sold (I had to tell them what an S5 was) I only dealt with them since I was living in upstate NY at the time and the closest dealer other than them was 70 miles. I ended up just ordering the exact car I wanted. I am not much of a haggler, but luckily they gave me $2000 off MSRP. They claimed it was the dealership policy to automatically give everyone the same discount in order to skip the back and forth. I probably could have done better, but it seemed reasonable at the time.

While living there my car was garaged, however it was the type of garage that was above ground and open to the elements on the sides. The temperatures got down to -10F and averaged about 20F during the winter. I had absolutely no problems and the car started right up no matter how cold it was. If you are going to garage it I doubt you would have trouble (especially one below ground level or temperature controlled).