Originally Posted by CarNut
I've looked into purchasing a new car in the US as well (savings of approx $14,000), but have been told by an accountant who specializes in Canadian/US inpat/expat work that if you are a Canadian resident and you buy a car in the US, and then import it legally into Canada, you are not able to ever resell the car in Canada. He swears that the only people who are allowed to resell US cars in Canada are registered dealers, or former US residents who have moved to Canada.
Have you looked into what happens when you decide you are done with the car you brought in from the States? I know that when I have had my current car appraised as a trade-in, I am always asked if it is a US car.
There is no restriction on reselling an imported car, regardless of point of origin, in Quebec. This would suggest to me that the rules would be the same across Canada as inter-provincial transfers are relatively simple, meaning that a prohibition in one province would be defeated by moving that car to Quebec. However, the resale value of a US imported car is typically impaired as title-washing is relatively simple in quite a few states, so beware that the bargain on the front-end has consequences on the resale end down the road.