Canadians could save money by importing cars from the U.S.

Now that the loonie is reaching parity with the U.S. dollar, a number of websites have sprung up claiming that Canadians can save thousands of dollars on the purchase of a car by importing it from the U.S. One of these websites offers a step-by-step guide to the importing process for $19.99: http://www.ucanimport.com/products.aspx .

Before you buy that guide, you might want to download the free brochure from the Registrar of Imported Vehicles: http://www.riv.ca/english/html/how_to_import.html .

It appears to be a complicated process, fraught with the possibility of making costly errors. Your local Canadian automobile dealer may not be enthusiastic about servicing your vehicle while it’s under warranty. Warranties may be invalid in Canada. But if you can save $5000-$15,000, it might be worth the trouble. I’ll settle for shopping trips for clothes, small electronic appliances, and tools, or just wait for prices to drop here to match the U.S. border city prices.