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 Today Canwest Newspapers went to great length to summarize a report issued yesterday by Douglas Porter and the BMO Capital Markets. Titled ” Loonies Leap: Mind the price Gap”

The report , which we have included here indicated a 1% difference in the price of Automobiles.    2009-07-30price-gaps.pdf .   The report went on to state that “it is no coincidence that the two most high profile and easily comparable goods - cars and books- have seen the most dramatic narrowing.  We found that Canadians are now paying not measurably more…..”

Well we at CarsWithoutborders challenged these findings today.  Our recent survey of the Toyota Rav 4 results in over a $2,300 difference or 6.5%.  ( 36,560 versus 34,176) This is not to say that this difference is enough to warrant a visit in the U.S., but to  a potential Canadian buyer we would advise that waiting a few months may pay off handsomely, as all indications are that the Loonie will reach par by year-end.   That is unless our GOVT intervenes and helps out the big multinationals to the detriment of  hard working Canadian Consumers.

On another stunning front the RIV (Registrar of Imported Vehicles) reported yesterday to CarswithoutBorders that the Month of June saw a 28.34% increase in Canadians importing vehicles from the U.S. This seems to indicate that the .92 cent Loonie is creating a gap that is significant enough for some Canadians to do their homework and shop around. 

 We at CarsWithoutBorders also take exception to Porter’s report findings that it is easy to compare car prices.    One needs to be particularly careful that they compare apples to apples as the many of the car companies attempt to make this difficult.

Attached find the detailed reports that we conducted on the RAV4.  And even at that we can not guarantee that both vehicles will be identical.  The U.S. version will have a TPMS system (Tire Pressure Monitoring) worth a least $500 more.

2009-07-30rav4canada.pdf  2009-07-30rav4us.pdf 

So the bottom line is that a smart shopper will look around and not be swayed by what appears to be a propaganda campaign on behalf of the Canadian Car Companies and our Canadian Government.  

Mr. Porter please be careful when you publish your reports, the Canadian public deserves better!