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driving concerns

I am a Canadian who has been living and working in Boston for four years. I bought a 2012 VW Passat when I arrived paying $23,000 (U.S.) plus taxes, at a time when the dollar was close to par. I plan to move to Quebec later this year and am confused about all the extra taxes and duty Canada imposes . How much will taxes and duties cost? Is it is worth it to move the car with me, or should I sell it here? — Jennifer, Boston

Because your Passat originally hails from Chattanooga, you won't have to pay duty - but you will have to pay GST, experts say.

"There is no duty on this vehicle because it was manufactured in North America," says Viraf Baliwalla of the Automall Network, a Toronto-based car broker. "You'll pay GST when you cross the border - they'll tax it based on the current market value."

You only have to pay duty for cars built outside of North America. It's 6.1 per cent of the market value, and it gets calculated by border officials when you cross.

We sent your question to Canada Border Services Agency to get the official answer. They said in an e-mail statement that the information is "readily available" on their website. But the site's link to "import a vehicle" was broken. They did send us a link to a long memorandum that mentions the fees.

If you're returning to Canada after living in the U.S. for more than a year, you get a $10,000 exemption for a vehicle. So, you only pay GST/HST on the value of the vehicle over $10,000.

If you're car's worth $12,000, you only pay GST/HST on $2,000.

In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Labrador, Ontario and British Columbia, you also have to pay the provincial portion of the HST at the border.

In Quebec, you don't. You pay the QST when you register the car.

On top of the taxes, there's a $100 excise tax for cars with air conditioning.

And, you'll also have to pay a $195 fee plus QST and HST to the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV).

Once you're back in Canada, you'll also have to pay to get it inspected to see if it meets Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

If it needs fixes, like daytime running lights to meet Canadian standards, you'll have to pay for those too.

Then, before you register the car, you'll have to get the car inspected again.

Take it, or leave it?

With the current exchange rate, Baliwalla thinks you'd be better off to sell your car in the United States and use the cash to buy something here.

"By the time you factor in the exchange rate, you will get more bang for the buck ," Baliwalla says. "And you wouldn't have the headaches and hassle of going through the process - today, it's not worth it to import from the U.S."

Another complication? If you move a Volkswagen across the border, the warranty is no longer valid.

"Our warranties are "non-transferable" from the U.S. to Canada - and Canada to the U.S.," says Volkswagen Canada spokesman Thomas Tetzlaff in an e-mail.

But Zvi Richman, of First Rate Auto Leasing thinks that keeping the car might be a good option.

"She will incur the HST and a probable cost differential, by likely selling at wholesale level and buying at retail," Richman says in an e-mail. "At the end of the day, she is selling a vehicle she knows well and buying something unknown - unless the numbers really warrant this alternative, I don't think she should go for it."

Have a question? Send it to globedrive@globeandmail.com. Canada's a big place, so please let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.

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