Shopping for cars in the US

[Samw]

I found Autotrader.com and Craigslist to be useful. I ended up buying one from Florida on EBay. It will work out to be about 20-25% cheaper than buying one here once all fees and costs are added in. This is consistent with all of the articles that I've read.

http://www.vancouversun.com/cars/soa...305/story.html

http://money.ca.msn.com/retirement/g...entid=23735410

My car is currently in transit on a truck. Hope it turns out OK. I plan to take delivery in Bellingham and drive it back.

What I still don't understand is whether or not I need to buy a trip permit at the border to drive it into BC even though I will have temp plates from the car dealer in Florida. Some ICBC Autoplan agents say that I need it and some say that I don't. Some websites say I can drive into Canada with Florida temp plates and some websites say that I can't. I have binder insurance of course.

[atc]

I think you still need a permit for Washington, around $40 i believe. I bought a trailer from Oregon with temp plates but still needed one to drive thru Washington.

[Samw]

Originally Posted by atc

I think you still need a permit for Washington, around $40 i believe. I bought a trailer from Oregon with temp plates but still needed one to drive thru Washington.

I got a reply from the Dept of Licensing in Washington State that stated that if I have temp tags from a car dealership (in Florida), then I don't need a trip permit from Washington State. My understanding is that if I bought a car from an individual, then I will need to get a trip permit since I can not get temp tags from individuals.

"The Florida registration should be sufficient as long as you have all of the paperwork from the dealership. "

[Murminator]

Originally Posted by Samw

I found Autotrader.com and Craigslist to be useful. I ended up buying one from Florida on EBay. It will work out to be about 20-25% cheaper than buying one here once all fees and costs are added in. This is consistent with all of the articles that I've read.

http://www.vancouversun.com/cars/soa...305/story.html

http://money.ca.msn.com/retirement/g...entid=23735410

My car is currently in transit on a truck. Hope it turns out OK. I plan to take delivery in Bellingham and drive it back.

What I still don't understand is whether or not I need to buy a trip permit at the border to drive it into BC even though I will have temp plates from the car dealer in Florida. Some ICBC Autoplan agents say that I need it and some say that I don't. Some websites say I can drive into Canada with Florida temp plates and some websites say that I can't. I have binder insurance of course.

What was the shipping from florida?......I have been looking at Texas trucks

[Samw]

Originally Posted by Murminator

What was the shipping from florida?......I have been looking at Texas trucks

It was $1125 USD. Here's a website that you can use to get a feel of what people are paying for transporting cars from one State to another. Just select the states that you are interested in from the dropdown lists.

http://quotes.transportreviews.com/d...sp?OS=FL&DS=WA

[Murminator]

Wow shipping is expensive...or maybe they don't like me

You have chosen a vehicle transport route from Texas to Montana,
which has an average rating of 4 stars and avarage cost of $67,649.

On average customers shipping a vehicle from Texas to Montana
paid $120,902 to ship with a 5 star rated company.

[Samw]

Originally Posted by Murminator

Wow shipping is expensive...or maybe they don't like me

You have chosen a vehicle transport route from Texas to Montana,
which has an average rating of 4 stars and avarage cost of $67,649.

On average customers shipping a vehicle from Texas to Montana
paid $120,902 to ship with a 5 star rated company.

http://quotes.transportreviews.com/d...=TX&DS=MT&RR=5

Haha. I'd throw out the 1 price ($1,200,900) that is skewing the results.


Reviewed: Bluebonnet Auto Transport
Poster: Bob Davis
Subject: Delivered!
Rating:
Date: 9/11/2009 9:21:00 PM
Cost: $1200900 Driveaway Carrier

[TheMikey]

When I went down I took two days off work (thursday and friday). I flew down to St. Louis for Thursday morning (landed at about 10am) the seller of the car picked me up. We went to the bank, transferred the title, and I was on the road back to Canada by 5pm. The drive took a lot less time than I thought it would and I was back in Saskatoon by 11pm on Friday night.

If you're buying a car I'd say fly down and bring it back yourself. Road trips kick ass

[staceyd72]

HI,

I rented a flatbed locally, drove to Chicago, put car on flatbed and drove back. Flatbed rental was $75 for a weekend, rented a truck from National($240). No problems.

I was told that you needed a temp permit for each state that you drive through, border patrol in Sarina confirmed this for me.

I would do it again for my next car, you'll save a lot of money(depending on exchange rate and the car)

Found mine at a dealership, which to my surprise had great service