Dashie

There are child tax benefit calculators at www.cra.gc.ca under 'individuals'. All children (parents) get $100 per month UCCB (universal child care benefit) per child until the age of 6, you can get a rough idea of the CCTB (canada child tax benefit) from the calculator.

It's a lot lot less than we worked it out to be in the UK.

Also, with regards to other areas of the budget you've posted, you need to allow for things like clothes, house maintenance, and don't count on getting a car loan at anywhere near a decent rate for a new arrival, and probably not for very long on the type of car you can get for $7500 - they don't like too long a term on something that likely won't last that long - you're not going to get anything that good for that price. Trust me, we're looking for another car at the moment, and have just increased our budget based on the crap we're finding under $10k, and that's before taxes etc.

marcwales

Hi Dashie, thanks for the reply. This car thing is weird, been told for years that cars are cheaper over there. But it appears to me that owning and running a car is really expensive. When you say "crap under $10k", what are you looking at? I looked on Autotrader.ca and I thought there were reasonable cars for about $7500.
The loan situation seems rough as well. You can get a loan here regardless on the car really.
On what I've learned on this thread, it seems Canada is a very expensive place to live. Seems like its only houses that are cheaper. I bought a little car for back and for work the other day - Chevy Kalos. 4 years old. Full service history, 50,000 miles, 1 owner, immaculate condition, £1800. That wouldn't last 2 minutes over there it seems!!! Insurance was £300, will get it much cheaper too when I ring around. OK, its no BMW, but for what I need as a 2nd car its great. Seems like running any car there is a major financial outlay.
Surely just my perception at the moment, can't be that expensive there surely?? How much do you need to spend on a normal, reliable,everyday car (like a people carrier type thing?).

Dashie

From what we've been finding, in SW Ontario, just on Autotrader and in the local paper and driving around a few places, you can get a minivan about 8 years old for around $8-9k (although you will have to hunt for a good one at that price), but that's always plus taxes and various other fees, so you'd likely need to add 15-20% on that, particularly if it's your first car because there will be road tax on it until your next birthday too (that part's related to you, and then applied to the car).

We decided to skip that, and go up to about $12k plus taxes, and the choices open right up, as well as the newer (around 5 years old) models generally being a bit better on fuel. It doesn't make enough of a difference on insurance for that to be a factor. And to be honest, we're finding that is a vague starting price for pretty much every model of car we look at.

Look at a couple of dealership websites - Fiat is good for a laugh, last time I looked, they wanted around $20k plus taxes, delivery etc. on a Fiat 500!!!!!! I know they're imported, but still. Look at Ford Fiesta, Focus, Dodge Journey and Caliber, see what difference they are to the prices from UK dealers. Be careful though, the models are often different, for example, with the Journey, ours is the smallest engine you can get here, but the biggest that would be available in the UK, where you can also get it as a diesel.

Be aware that there are no MOT type requirements, which is part of why you'll find a lot of rust on cars. Well, the reason for the rust is the climate really, the reason nobody repairs it is because they don't have to, as far as I can work out. I've seen so many cars on the road here that wouldn't be allowed in the UK. They are given a brief safety test at time of sale, and checked for emissions every 3 years, although if your car fails, you can just pay for a different certificate.

We've found vehicle ownership to be horrendously expensive here. Both the buying/running of the car, and the insurance. It might be cheaper to fill them up, but the fuel economy on cars here is nowhere near as good as the UK - bigger engines, mostly automatics, lots of waiting at lights and very few roundabouts to keep traffic moving, more wear and tear, more driving generally too.

The loan thing is tricky in the UK for new arrivals too. Look on the moving back to the UK section, and there are many people who haven't been able to get any sort of loan to buy a car when they move back. You also don't see rust on Autotrader ads. The climate is hard on cars in general here. The length of the loan thing is something we've encountered a couple of times. You might very well be able to get a loan on those cars, but it will be high interest, or over a short term, or possibly both. A friend of ours who arrived this year couldn't get a loan less than 18%, even on a 2 year old car. They actually wanted him to buy a brand new car, which would lower the interest, but raise the payments. If you're that determined to get a loan for a car, maybe look at that, but if you have the money, I'd try and just buy, even if it's a shorter term car and you replace it later.

We were back in the UK in February, we found that there were only 2 things that were still cheaper here - houses (although maintenance here can be much more, for example replacing a roof every few years) and petrol. Everything else was cheaper in the UK.

That's not to say that you can't make it work if you want to, but if your main motive for moving here is money, you're in for a shock, and will likely be disappointed!

delsol79

New cars are cheap to buy - well domestic ones are anyway. However, cars hold their value more here - or people at least value them to high - either way same end result. Second hand cars are dear. Also you want something reliable surely if you are going to want it lasting through winters.

The most common SUV is probably something like a Dodge Caravan. Not a fan myself but yes you can get a 2006 for around 10k. I guess you can get a high mileage 2005 for your $7500.

You probably will be fine getting something for $7500. The tastes of a Chevy Kalos driver are probably different to that of most

Oh and agree with Dashie - no MOT and most cars we looked at had no service history so another reason not to go too old.

On the load front - of course banks are tough to lend to people with no credit history. Also like someone said if it is a car loan - quite often they will want it to be on a higher value than that to allow it.

lmartin999

Used car - get a full service history. You might have to look around and be patient but I wouldn't buy a car anywhere without seeing every piece of paper since new. I own two cars, both one prior owner, private sales, with complete history. Both have been excellent - though entirely different cars
Total cost of both was under $20K.

R I C H

You're not over exaggerating just a little are you? Roof replacement 'every few years'? Come on, really, that's not the case is it? 20 years is a reasonable expectation, or longer with more modern materials.

Every vehicle I've purchased here has been less expensive than buying it in the UK would have been (Mercedes, Subaru, VW and Mazda). Recreation (skiing, boating, RV's) has been far more affordable here, and most other things are broadly on par.

TheKellys5

This is the car we are looking for when we move over. Already looked at several Calgary dealerships with some for sale around 10k ish plus taxes etc for a 2006/2007 ish. We have 3 kids and enjoy the space these cars provide for the stuff we need for the little one. Currently we have an old Kia Sedona here, but largely because the Dodge (Chrysler Voyager) is far too expensive compared to the Kia.
Would we be better off purchasing from a dealer initially, when we are newly arrived, for peace of mind/security? Do dealerships have responsibility to sell a product fit for use like in the UK? I haven't looked at private sales at all so far.

iaink

I would run, not walk, from an ageing Caravan unless I was mechanically inclined...

http://www.autos.ca/used-car-reviews...avan-2001-2007


This was the vehicle that Jeremy Clarkson was rather unkind to IIRC...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/dri...cle2361393.ece
that may be reason enough to buy it actually...

TheKellys5

Yep, that paints a grey picture. But, that can be said about an awful lot of cars too.

Totally detest that overgrown, pompous ass, so never would listen to anything he has an opinion on anyway

Anyone have any alternative minivan choices? Looking at something not too old and around the 10k ish mark, which is why we looked at the Caravan (that and the fact we looked at the Voyager here before) as it seemed plentiful and reasonably priced! Now getting

iaink

Things is that in the case of domestic vans its a grim stereotype for a reason Im afraid.

Do you need a big van, or would a Mazda5 do?

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/Mazda/MAZ...ms=trucks_vans

Dont let high milage put you off here, highway miles are low stress, and people here change oil at stupidly short intervals

Dashie

Depends how good a job the last people did, we've been told (by home inspector) that a lot tend to just stick the new roof on top of the old one to save time and money, which then reduces the life to 10 years. Other than that, we heard 15-20, just trying to draw a comparison with British tiled system and make the point that it's something to bear in mind when buying a house, and working out a budget for maintenance. You also might only have 5 years left on said roof when you buy, that's all You can get longer from a metal roof I believe, a lot longer, but most aren't.

We've been looking at new and used this year, both here and in the UK, and the UK seems to be cheaper on all that we've looked at, as well as there being peace of mind with MOT and service history (not seen a car with one here, they just assume that oil changes were done every 3 months I think).

When did you do your comparison? We've found that the balance has shifted a lot in the last 6 years. When we arrived, it was so much cheaper here, now it isn't. A combination of rising prices here and the exchange rate I think. If your was this year too - where do you get your cars..lol?

TheKellys5

I do like the look of that. How many seats does it have? Looks like there is more behind in 1 picture but it can be deceiving.
One of the problems we find with the 5 seaters (my company car), when we are out with the kids, shopping for example, with the stuff we have to have for the baby (nappy bag/pushchair etc), we are left with very little room for the actual shopping. We overcome it by using the van.

iaink

I looked at one when we got the civic. IIRC It'll seat 5 comfortably and there is also an extra row at the back too, presumably for amputees. That basic model is still for sale, you can check it out at the mazda canada website.

One of the attractions was its not overly thirsty for a van, plus mazda have a decent reputation.

TheKellys5

Yep, apparently that touring version is '6' seats from what I managed to read, (the rear ones being for persons of not great stature lol) - definitely a contender imo, thanks for the heads up.

EDIT: Having read up a bit more, the only main drawback looks like not being able to tend the baby if necessary while moving (easy done in the Kia), due to the smaller size; and if all the seats are in use there's no room for more than a small bag or 2 in the boot.
This is going to be a lot damn harder than I thought...

R I C H

All purchased new in BC at main dealerships, on the road prices:

June '11 5dr Golf GTi $30,255 (UK price with identical spec £29,293)
Dec '09 Mercedes ML350 $58,455 (UK price with identical spec £54,510)
April '09 Subaru Impreza WRX256 $33,458 (UK price with identical spec £23,780)
November '08 Subaru Forester XT $32,395 No equivalent in UK
June '06 Mazda 3 $20,140 (UK price with similar spec £17,805)

Even using a lowly exchange rate of 1.5, they make the UK equivalents look pricey.