Is it worth travelling to the US from Canada to buy a truck or will I get taxed to death anyways once I'm back?

Probably nit. You will still need to pay import duties and GST.

https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/safeve...

Basically right now the difference between Canadian and US money makes doing that right now kind of cost-prohibitive. It's not so much the other fees that make it a problem- you have to pay GST/HST eventually no matter where you get a vehicle etc...) .incidentally when you import one you DON'T pay PST /HST at the border as the first answer suggests- you only pay GST at the border then you pay the provincial portion of taxes when you get the registration in your name in your home province. I know quite a few people who've imported vehicles (including myself) and I've never heard of a vehicle not meeting requirements as far as "dashboards" or anything else. The idea that once a vehicle is imported it isn't covered by recall notices etc. is silly. I'd like to see some sort of proof or reference to the answeres' claim that it voids the warranty and all that other silliness ( lower resale value ???) ...mind boggling....

You would have to get exact numbers and run them.

* The vehicle must have been safety tested in Canada and listed on the RIV. It must be less than fifteen years old.

* You will be charged duties (equal to the GST + PST (or HST) of the province you are brining the vehicle into). There are also environmental fees which can be from $500 (new fuel efficient vehicles) to $3,000+ for older vehicles -- trucks tend not be fuel efficient.

* You must have the vehicle inspected by a mechanic. It may also need upgrade to a metric dash and daytime running lights. Depends upon the vehicle -- modern vehicles with electronic dashes and often just switch to metric with a button or setting change while others need a new dash panel. Most US vehicles have DTLs there days.

* You need to get it from the US. That mean either temporary insurance or a tow since you typically can't insure a vehicle in the US without a driver's license.

* You need to pay for a title check and for the title transfer to the province you are importing it into.

There are also certain hidden costs. Once imported, that vehicle is no longer covered by recall notices or factory recalls. It may also void car selling warranties in the state you are buying it into. Even if it doesn't... the seller/dealer may simply offer to take the vehicle back -- which would cost you thousands more to re-import it back to the US. I.e. if it dies... you may have no options. US imported vehicles often do not have Canadian levels of rust protection. Finally, US imported vehicles are often extremely difficult to resell. Older US vehicles are often imported into Canada to try to hide bad titles -- stolen, write-off, flood damaged, etc. Canadians ten to avoid wanting to buy them, which means low resale value if you need to sell it.

If not build with US smog control conformance it would be a big pain.

This guide says cars 2.5% trucks 25% !! maybe a typo?

http://www.ezbordercrossing.com/the-inspection-exp...

Official import info

http://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/impor...