Buying a car in USA and moving to another country

lol, you think you are the first person to think of this? Talk to an import/export specialist. You will likely get taxed heavily for bringing over a car.

I don't think students are considered residents,you are non-resident.

Why not call Canadian Customs? See if you'll be subject to PST and/or GST. Btw, if not, you're going to save much more than 10k.

Contrary to that border agent, I don't think you are supposed to declare yourself a visitor to Canada. You present your Canadian passport, don't you? I'm in a similar situation (Canadian studying in the US), and we are considered "nonresident aliens". It is not similar to a work visa. Doesn't bar me from having to pay social security benefits I'll never recover though . . . I would not personally advise buying a car on financing and moving it to Canada. If you plan to purchase it outright, you have to be careful as well since some car dealers won't sell to Canadians, so don't tell them. Make sure your warranty will be valid in Canada A quick Google search will turn up many answers to your question. Ensure that your car is actually allowed into Canada. Some manufacturers have different specs for emissions, etc., that will give you a hard time. Ideally, you want to have all your paperwork ready so the border crossing process will be quick. Factor in the CADUSD conversion rate/fees, depreciation (some people will judge imported cars when you eventually sell it), taxes, duties, and overall hassle, you will probably only save close to $5k. And whoop-de-doo, a S4. You'll learn in time it's better to buy a car to suit your needs.

Also, what is the gas guzzler tax? I remember it was 3.2k on a Jeep Cherokee when I left Ontario in the 1990s. I can't see that tax has declined.

I have done this and I'm a citizen and resident of Canada. I brought over a 350Z for $12k less and after all was said and done, saved $8k. You pay GST at the border, but you pay GST on all cars purchased in Canada anyways. Here's your steps 1) Check to see if it is admissible at http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/safev...ist2/VAFUS.pdf 2) Call Audi (1-800-822-2834) will sell to Canadians on border towns and whether the warranty is valid in Canada. I know Honda does not do either. You may have to go one state deep before anyone will sell to you, although this only applies to new vehicles. 3) Get insurance in Canada. 4) Call the dealer you are interested in and tell them to fax the Certificate of Title to the border crossing. Do this for all cars you are mildly interested in. Must be done 3 days in advance - although I got by with 2 days. 5) Pay 5% GST and duties, depending on whether the car is made in USA or Canada. An S4 is assembled in Germany and hence you will pay duties. 6) Eventually get the proof of recall clearance from the dealer. 7) Register your vehicle. In all likelihood it will be cheaper, just a bit of a pain in the ass.

You don't pay PST.

chrisjustinparr advice is pretty much spot on. As far as financing goes, no one in the US will give you financing if you're exporting the car to Canada. They want the car to stay in the country where you have the financing in case you default on payments and they have to repo it. That means you will need cash or have to make arrangements for financing it in Canada. Customs and duties are a fact of life you just have to deal with. The only way to be 100% sure about the rules for your situation is to call Canada customs and speak directly to them, after all, they're the final authority on how much you get charged. If you find a way around this on account of your student visa, I'd be quite interested to hear it. This is why most auto dealers don't bother importing foreign made vehicles from the US, they specifically focus on bringing in the ones assembled in the US because the import duties they pay at the border basically kills any savings in alot of cases. You say you'll save $10K by bringing it in, but talking to car dealers I've worked with, it generally costs around $4K end to end to bring the car into Canada for them. Since you're doing it as a one-off if might cost you a little more. Keep in mind you probably need to get some work done on it light modifying the bumper and getting daytime running lights to comply with Canadian laws as they differ slightly from American laws. This leaves you with potential savings of $6K... before you even deal with duties. I have no idea how much duties will be, but if you're paying something like 10% duties, it probably won't even be worth it to buy it from the US and you may as well just pick it up at a dealership in Canada and save yourself the headache.