Canadians Save $1,000 on an ’08 MINI
Good news for our friends in the Great White North. For the ’08 model year, the MINI Cooper Clubman (R55) and MINI Cooper (R56) with standard transmission are eligible for a CA$1,000 rebate from the Canadian government!
>As part of the Government of Canada’s plan to protect the environment, the ecoAUTO Rebate Program encourages Canadians to buy or lease fuel-efficient vehicles. It offers rebates from CA$1,000 to CA$2,000 to people who buy or enter a long-term lease (12 months or more) for a new fuel-efficient vehicle.
One of the requirements is for new passenger cars with a combined city-highway fuel consumption of 6.5 litres (L)/100 kilometres (km) or less. This is why the automatic transmission equiped car doesn’t get the deal.
The auto will cost you about CA$100 over the course of the year in extra fuel. Add to that the cost of that option (CA$1390) plus the lost rebate (CA$1,000) and it really will cost you over CA$2,400 the first year alone. That sounds like pretty good incentive to learn to drive a manual transmission.
Thanks to Andrei for sending this in and doing the math!
[ Vehicles Eligible for the ecoAuto Rebate Program ] Transport Canada
[ 2008 Model Year ecoAUTO Eligibility ] Complete List
This was also the case on 07 MINI’s.
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Geez! This is great! Kinda like the energy income tax credits Jimmy Carter’s administration offered in the 70s. But…wait…Georgia doesn’t have a big petroleum industry, does it?
Come on America, get with the program!
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Take off eh?
Cooper S would also be on this list if only North America (Or Canada in this case) got the fuel saving technologies that Europe has.
This is exactly what I want in the states. Reward the people who are already taking measures to conserve the planet’s resources.
We should atleast get a tax write-off for having one of these cars.
No one mentioned that the base prise on a Cooper is $25,900CDN vs. $18,700US.
Even with the Federal rebate it is far form equal. And given the current exchange rate, US consumers have a 6,200 dollar advantage. That is more than 38% extra for the same car!
Clubman pricing? Maybe we’ll get that in March.
Sadly something like this will never fly in the U.S. The lobbyist for the big three will make sure.
Actually the U.S. has a similar program. Buyers can get federal tax credits of up to $3400 for buying hybrid or alternate fuel vehicles. Electric and low-emission diesel vehicles are included if/when they are offered for sale here. The U.S. program also offers tax deductions for previously-purchased hybrids. Unfortunately there are no incentives for economical gasoline-powered models, but the new electric MINI might qualify. As if it made a difference on a $65K vehicle.
That’s like 2000 US, isn’t it?
Nope, it wouldn’t fly in the US, though I wish it would.
A $25000 MINI will have $1250 in Canadian GST tax and $100 in excise tax applied. So you could say that in the US, all MINI’s, even MCSA’s get a $1350 “rebate”.
Great idea to give tax rebates to those who choose to buy certain cars. Of course the cost is passed on to the rest of the population through higher taxes. There is no free government lunch folks.
More symbolism over substance. Liberalism at it’s finest.
Unfortunately, there are reports in the Canadian media that a large number of these rebates have yet to be distributed…even from earlier last year. Not much of an incentive if you have to wait a significant amount of time.
I remember finding something on the web in regards to a rebate on ’07 MINIs. Not sure if it was tax, or cash, but something like $3000. Anyone have any info?