# Moving to Alberta, buy car in US and ship or in Canada?



## mboutte (Mar 15, 2010)

Hello there,

I was wondering if anyone had advice on the purchase of a new vehicle for an expat. As I'm in the process of buying a new car in Texas, I was informed by my company that I will be moving to Edmonton for a few years.

Does it make sense to buy in the states (assuming my finance company will allow me to bring across the border), or wait until in Canada and purchase there?

The additional shipping/taxes involved with importing a car don't seem very much compared to the ridiculously high purchase prices of vehicles in Alberta.

I would rather not get into a leasing situation just yet. That seems to be the easiest route, but there's alot about leasing that doesn't sit well with me.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Mike.


----------



## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

mboutte said:


> Hello there,
> 
> I was wondering if anyone had advice on the purchase of a new vehicle for an expat. As I'm in the process of buying a new car in Texas, I was informed by my company that I will be moving to Edmonton for a few years.
> 
> ...


Autos are considerably cheaper in the USA and, assuming your financing company will permit, it makes sense to buy there and import t into Canada. Go to the following site which, hopefully, will provide you with some info on how to do it.
Registrar of Imported Vehicles - Welcome to the Registrar of Imported Vehicles


----------



## 844chris (Mar 17, 2010)

We import lots of USA cars when people move. Prices definately are cheaper in the USA, you typically have to pay GST at the border and PST when registering for plates. Used canadian cars typically have rust problems from winter salting. There is a list of admissible cars into canada based on safety regulations, some modifications may have to be made such as emissions or a child car seat hook. 

if you choose to drive it up personally, you will need 1) copy of ownership 2)copy of insurance 3)HS 7 form 4)EPA form. we have links to these forms in our website. 
you can also hire a company who specializes in car transporting such as Hansens Forwarding.

Good luck!


----------

