Car News

If you’ve been following the automobile auction news lately, you will be aware of some of the incredible prices buyers are often willing to pay for collector cars.

Watching the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., in January is seeing only one facet of the market. A far more accurate pulse can be taken by looking at the entire auction year, especially the Canadian-based RM Auctions, which sell not just muscle cars but the great classics, rare vintage exotics and specialty cars of all eras.

Read Full Article…

Peter Pauls runs a small used-car dealership northeast of Winnipeg and rarely has his lot been more jammed with metal than in the past several months.

Cars and trucks have been piling into Canada’s pre-owned market and into the hands of dealers like Mr. Pauls. And their prices have plunged as supply exceeds demand.

Read Full Article… 

50.7% were entry-level vehicles. Efficient models gaining popularity thanks to concern for environment, rising fuel prices

You’ve seen them on Canadian streets for years in ever-growing numbers - compact cars like the Honda Civic and Mazda3, subcompacts like the Toyota Echo hatchback, and baby-SUVs like Ford’s Escape. Now, the newest of those mite-size vehicles are the majority.

For the first time since car dealers opened for business in Canada, more than half of all retail buyers bought a small, fuel -efficient vehicle last year, new research shows. Read Full Article…

On Monday, March 19, 2007, the Minister of Finance, the Honourable Jim Flaherty, tabled a Notice of Ways and Means Motion to amend the Excise Tax Act Relating to Excise Taxes. The Motion includes changes to the non-GST/HST portions of the Excise Tax Act (the Act). Under the proposed changes, section 6 of Schedule I to the Act will be amended to impose a new excise tax on certain fuel-inefficient vehicles. This replaces the existing heavy vehicle weight tax, which no longer applies after March 19, 2007. The fuel-inefficient vehicle tax will apply to automobiles (including station wagons, vans, and sports utility vehicles) designed primarily for use as passenger vehicles, but not including pickup trucks, ambulances, and hearses, in accordance with the vehicle’s fuel-efficiency rating. Passenger vans capable of transporting more than eight individuals are excluded from this tax.

Calculation and rates of tax
The excise tax on fuel-inefficient vehicles is calculated on the basis of the weighted average fuel consumption rating as determined in accordance with information published by Natural Resources Canada. For purposes of this tax, the weighted average fuel consumption rating is calculated by combining 55% of the city fuel consumption rating with 45% of the highway fuel consumption rating. Automobiles that have a weighted average fuel consumption rating of 13 or more litres per 100 kilometres will be subject to the excise tax at the following rates:

• at least 13 but less than 14 litres per 100 kilometres, $1,000;
• at least 14 but less than 15 litres per 100 kilometres, $2,000;
• at least 15 but less than 16 litres per 100 kilometres, $3,000; and
• 16 or more litres per 100 kilometres, $4,000.

A listing of 2007 model vehicles and associated fuel-efficiency ratings & excise taxes can be found here.

For more information on this tax click here.

Loonie’s rise gives Canadians a break south of the border

by GREG KEENAN

» Read Full Article

The massive gap in prices that led Americans to flood into Canada to buy vehicles has vanished, so that now Canadians can save thousands of dollars if they purchase a new car in the United States.

Canadians buying luxury sport utility vehicles will save as much as $14,000 if they buy them in the United States, auto industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers said yesterday in his annual comparison of vehicle prices between the two markets.

“It appears that, to date, auto makers have not adjusted their MSRPs [manufacturers’ suggested retail prices] to reflect our dollar’s new-found strength and Canadian vehicle buyers have not reaped the benefits resultant from a strong currency,” he noted.

The reversal of the price gap that hit its peak in 2002 means that the flow of cars from the United States into the Canadian market is growing, vehicle brokers and others said yesterday.

» Read Full Article

Loophole may close for distinctive, older Japanese and European car models. Read Full Article at TheStar.com

Mark Toljagic
Special to the Star
To the casual observer, Michael Bayley’s car looks like an old Volkswagen Golf with a monstrous scoop tacked onto the hood.

While it may resemble a shop-class pimp job, the scoop feeds a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine that’s good for 230 hp – enough to grind the tires into eraser dust.

Onlookers are more likely to notice that Bayley has to roll down the passenger window to order in a drive-through lane. That’s because the steering wheel is on the right-hand side of the car.

Bayley imported his used 1991 Nissan Pulsar GTi-R directly from Japan, eschewing conventional left-hand drive for the cachet of driving an automobile unknown in these parts.

“I was looking for something a little different,” says Bayley. “And I had a personal connection to the car. It appealed to me when I was living in Japan.”

A mechanical engineer who works in the auto parts industry, Bayley has joined a small but growing contingent of auto enthusiasts who have taken advantage of a loophole in Canada’s importation laws to bring in distinctive, older Japanese and European models that are exempt from federal safety rules.

While Canada’s Registrar of Imported Vehicles (www.riv.ca) carefully screens late-model domestic and imported vehicles brought in privately from the U.S., it leaves 15-year-old-plus vehicles unscrutinized….

Read Article…