Cross-Border Car Shopping: USA Vs Canada.

Are Mercedes-Benz cars any cheaper in the USA or its a question of less suspecting Canadians being seduced by a mirage?


The loonie once again reached & surpassed parity with the U.S. dollar and detonated a fierce rumbling thunder of hive of activities from discerning Canadian Car Shoppers as they flock to the USA where cars are supposedly cheaper.


The culture of getting the value for one's buck seems to be the dominating and guiding principle in most of Canadian shoppers. However, my observations on a Mercedes-Benz car are that most Canadian customers are following a mirage and sooner than later they will realise that they are far away from getting value for their hard earned money. If anything most of them are losing huge sums of money.


Well, being a Mercedes-Benz Sales Consultant, I could easily be written off, but check this out!


By simply visiting Mercedes-Benz USA (MB USA) 
www.mbusa.com you would see a 2011 E350 Sedan's Manufacturer's Selling Recommended Price(MSRP) listed at US$49 400.00 Vs CN$62 900.00. By just looking at this, most consumers will quickly decide to buy from the USA on the pretext of saving $13 500.00 Wow! Who would not want to save this kind of money?


But when you begin to build the USA car that's when you start to see a different story emerging. The following features are Standard Equipment on a Canadian car, while they are options you have to pay for in the USA.

• 4matic/all wheel drive is $2500 in the USA.
• Parktronic with parking guidance $970
• Split folding seats $440
• Ipod integration kit $265
• Heated seats
• Adaptive high-beam assist
• LED daytime running lights
• Heated headlamp washing system
• Bi-Xenon headlamps with active illumination

This is just but to name a few, the list is long.

NB. Mercedes-Benz Canada does not allow importation of new vehicles from the USA. 

The following importation costs will then apply:

• 6.1% duty (except ML,R & GL Class because they are made in the USA)
• 13% HST
• $500 MB Canada admin fees/registration fees
• $500 Dealer admin fees
• Conversion fees could range from $1000 to as much as $8000 depending on the model.
• No extended warranty on the imported car.
• When you want to sell a used USA car in Canada take off 20% of what a local car is fetching.

There you are folks. You calculate all this and its easy to see that you will be well beyond the $62900 MSRP in Canada.

For more information, please contact Frankie Meki at Ogilvie Mercedes-Benz, mekismerc@gmail.com or 613 745 9000.