Cars from Quebec? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Cars from Quebec?

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mimico_polak

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Hey all,
Been looking at some smaller sportier cars as per my original thread a while back, and am finding that there's a lot of cars coming in from Quebec to be sold here. Plus they're a considerable amount of money less than Ontario cars. Any suggestion as to why that could be? I believe I read somewhere that cars out of QC have a higher chance of being stolen/damaged and cleaned up following accidents where their registration / CARFAX doesn't show the accident/flood damage etc?
Just looking for some info on this. Thanks!

EDIT: The specific car I was looking at has been registered in Newfoundland, Ontario, and QC (in that order) and is listed as NORMAL on the CARFAX. 8 instances of 'Registration issued or renewed' for a 2011 car.
 
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Caveat emptor.
 
I would probably never buy any vehicle out of Quebec. Many of those cars are US cars which have been written off, rebuilt or had flood damage.
Google "VGA quebec"
 
K20EF8 said:
I would probably never buy any vehicle out of Quebec. Many of those cars are US cars which have been written off, rebuilt or had flood damage.
Google "VGA quebec"
Click to expand...
Ya the worrisome part is that it went from NFLD - Quebec - Ontario - Quebec for registrations...
 
mimico_polak said:
Hey all,
Been looking at some smaller sportier cars as per my original thread a while back, and am finding that there's a lot of cars coming in from Quebec to be sold here. Plus they're a considerable amount of money less than Ontario cars. Any suggestion as to why that could be? I believe I read somewhere that cars out of QC have a higher chance of being stolen/damaged and cleaned up following accidents where their registration / CARFAX doesn't show the accident/flood damage etc?
Just looking for some info on this. Thanks!

EDIT: The specific car I was looking at has been registered in Newfoundland, Ontario, and QC (in that order) and is listed as NORMAL on the CARFAX. 8 instances of 'Registration issued or renewed' for a 2011 car.
Click to expand...

Which car??
 
Going between provinces isn't always an issue, there are lots of repos and lease returns from NL that get trucked to ON and QC to sell at dealer auctions. Another explanation is military owner -- you see a lot of these vehicles registered in multiple provinces.

If the ownership is branded bt QC with VGA (translation: very grave accident) -- run. Order up an OMVIC package based on the VIN to see whether it was a salvage of flood car when registered in ON.

The hard part is the QC reg. \It's known to be a bit lawless there with respect to branding and registration, you need due diligence when buying a QC registered car.
 
mimico_polak said:
Ya the worrisome part is that it went from NFLD - Quebec - Ontario - Quebec for registrations...
Click to expand...

HE said the paper trail was "Newfoundland, Ontario, and QC (in that order)."
 
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Do you due diligence like any vehicle purchase. I’ve seen lots of good and lots of junk from different provinces and states including Ontario.

It isn’t as easy these days to hide previous accidents, roll back odometers etc so a lot of the horror stories are from quite a while ago.
 
sporty cars are much more popular in Quebec
so there is lots of availability
in a general sense I'd be very cautious buying a vehicle from there

sure there would be some fine used vehicles
but the rebuilt wreck business is dodgy
and maintenance is not a priority there
 
QC cars live a rough life. Winters are brutal with a ton of road salt. BC is your best bet.
 
DJM said:
QC cars live a rough life. Winters are brutal with a ton of road salt. BC is your best bet.
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I am working in BC....would be nice to score a car here and drive it home if the price made sense.
 
mimico_polak said:
I am working in BC....would be nice to score a car here and drive it home if the price made sense.
Click to expand...

I did that last year
bought an older Subaru in Kelowna
not a spot of rust on it
was meant just as a beater while I was working out there
drove it back and it's turned into my main cage
 
There are so many written off S2000s from the US that are in Quebec. Seems as though about half of the registered ones in Quebec are VGA from the US. Quebec is the worst place to buy a car from in North America.
 
JavaFan said:
I did that last year
bought an older Subaru in Kelowna
not a spot of rust on it
was meant just as a beater while I was working out there
drove it back and it's turned into my main cage
Click to expand...

Honestly I'm tempted...there's quite a few nice cars out here. I'd just need to take a day off instead of flying, check it out, and take a nice drive back home.
 
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I bought our Ioniq in Quebec. Ownership history was originally Ontario (someone in the GTA owned it), went to Quebec after being traded in at 10 months old, and we went and bought it there and drove it home. Ontario CarFax was clean and it only had a few hundred K on it since going to QC.

Was easy and saved us a considerable amount of money for a much better car in the end (with WAY lower mileage) vs what we were seeing here in Ontario.

Due diligence is key. Find a completely independent but reputable mechanic somewhere near the dealer selling the car and tell the dealer that before you will commit to the purchase, you want to have it inspected independently. Don't tell them where you plan to take it, just tell them that this is non negotiable, and you're willing to pay their time.

...and then have it picked over with a fine toothed comb. This will obviously cost you some money, but a good mechanic will be able to see all the telltales of a chop shop rebuilt special. If a staff member from the dealership wants or needs to come along offer to pay their time as well. Nothing is free and you're asking for something more than a standard test drive of course, so don't be afraid to drop some money in your due diligence process.

If the selling dealer balks at the suggestion or refuses to cooperate, well, that's a sign they've got something to hide. Walk away.

If they go with the flow and don't seem to be nervous or whatnot during the process then that's also a sign.
 
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