jonclark

Hi Everyone,

Can anybody suggest a good family car?

I will be landing on Vancouver Island next March and I will need a family size car, but I am not sure about which car, and also I don't want to get caught out insurance-wise as I have heard it is quite expensive.

Any help much appreciated!

iaink

Insurance wise its expensive regardless of what car you drive. The driving record makes far more difference than the vehicle chosen.

I would go for something like a Honda Civic or Accord, or a Toyota Camry or Corrola, Nissan Altima / Maxima depending on how big you want to go.

Cheaper option than the larger Japanese brands might be a Chevy Impala, big, pretty reliable for a domestic, but not really exciting to drive. If you want a really quite large vehicle thats great value for money then the Ford Five Hundred has the bonus of being available with an AWD option, and is really sold for far less than you would think.

I guess it depends if you want an import or a domestic.

If you were heading to the snowier parts I'd recomend a Subaru Legacy, but then I am biased as thats what I drive.

Greenhill

Check out the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe. They have an amazing cargo capacity, good crash test results and great MPG (my Vibe does 35+ combined mpg, which is pretty impressive considering it's an AWD).

Hobbess

Buying domestic American cars is usually a cheaper way to go, I have a Pontiac G5 which is working out well (though I did win it so it was a steal of a deal!). Also buying a new car can work out cheaper as the finance deals out there are better on new, you can even get 0% at some places.

Insurance you will get stung no matter what, bring across letters for your history obviously will help a little. The kicker is that as you will need a provincial license the insurance company will look at the date you got that license and think you've only been driving for a matter of days, despite all the history, grrrr.

I'm getting close to renewing my insurance and so interested to see if a clean year of driving in Canada will make a difference.

iaink

Quite a few insurers will give credit for UK no claims if properly documented


Insurance is expensive here because of:

A: Winter accidents

B: Legal costs if you are sued are stupendous

C: Medical expenses if claimed against you are even more stupendous

Even with 10 years no claim record here I still pay $1200 a year for two vehicles/drivers

The weird thing is the cost to insure a 140HP 2l Ford Focus is almost the same as for a 300HP 4.6l V8 Ford Mustang

My feeling is that domestics are as reliable or very nearly as reliable as imports now, but they are set up with north american driving dynamics in mind, spongy suspension and little driver feedback.

maddhobs

Hi Jonclark, buying a car on the Island can be cheaper if you buy in places like Duncan or Nanaimo rather than Victoria.

Where on the Island are you heading? We live in the Cowichan Valley and love living here.

bazzz

We're toying with the idea of buying a car soon, but I've never owned one before, and the Mrs hasn't for a long time. So obviously the no-claims thing doesn't enter into it for us.

Are we going to get stung on the insurance because we've only had our provincial licences for a matter of months? Or will they take into account how long we've held our UK licences for?

iaink

I think its the driving record rather than time with a license that carries a little weight, so I suspect its going to be expensive for you


BC is a closed, provincially run market, so my experience regarding driving records/ no claims probably has no relevance.

Hobbess

I think it's a bit of both, but if you've got any driving record then bring documents. You can use history if you've driven a company car the same as though you've owned it.

bazzz

Nope, never had a company car either. Personally, I don't really like driving but it seems to be pretty useful round here. Anyone know if there's anything I can get from, say, the DVLA to show that I've got a clear record?

Hobbess

Just a guess on the company car, as i was in that boat. Just bring your UK license and make sure you get a photocopy of it before you surrender it to get your provincial license, it will show your history in terms of points etc so is your best bet.

bazzz

Okeydoke, thanks. They actually gave us our UK licences back, so that was handy.

iaink

Your record, clean or otherwise doesnt matter really. Its your insurance and claim history that will influence premiums, and you dont really have any it seems.

Hobbess

Insurance history is definately one of the big factors, but I'm in the every little helps camp and the more you can give your insurance broker the better they will be able to negotiate the price for you. Saving that $50 might not feel like much when your insurance is sky high anyway but it's still a few beers

R I C H

There's no negotiation or need for a broker in BC. ICBC is the only option for your main cover. No previous history or NCB means large premiums.