Toyota Canada's despicable pricing practices

My girlfriend has had her sights set on a Toyota Prius.

If we were to saunter down to Plattsburgh, NY, the price for the most basic US model is US$21,000 (plus NY state tax and a few other minor fees).

However, the best price for the most basic model Prius in Quebec is CAD$30,000, plus tax and fees.

I spoke with Toyota and they explained that, get this, the Canadian "most basic model" comes with air conditioning, electric-windows and a few other doo-dads.  The US "most basic model" does not (I do have to check that out).  This is not worth $9000 by any stretch of the imagination.

As we all know, the exchange difference between the US and CAD is on the order of 1 or 2 cents of late with no sign of the US dollar recovering significantly.

Further, Toyota's US warranty is not honored in Canada if the car is sold to a Canadian resident.  (Honda have the same sleazy policy; Ford and GM honor the warranty without conditions (I don't know about Chrysler, but I suspect they have the same policy as Ford and GM)).

I don't know why Toyota have this sleazy policy, but I suspect part of their excessive Canadian price is their raking in of the Canadian tax credits for highly fuel efficient vehicles.  The owner is supposed to get that benefit, not the car maker.

While I've always driven Japanese cars, their pricing policy and their cross-border warranty restriction (based on supposed differences in models) is absolute sleaze.

It is anti-competitive.

It is gouging.

It is wrong.

While I am the last person to urge people to eschew the quality of Japanese cars, it is also certain that the quality of the US "big three" has improved markedly over the past decade.

And as the US "big three" seem to understand cross border competition, I urge you:

To not buy from Toyota and Honda.

To buy US brand cars... from New York state.  (Vermont sales taxes are higher and I don't know if the sales tax can be avoided from either for Quebec sales).