debzielou

well we dont own our house we r just renting. income would be based on my OH's $55k arggghhhh! lolololol

jericho

You usually need a decent deposit for leasing, so it depends on your personal situation, but it might be an option. You still have to go through the credit check process though.

iaink

I was renting and on 50k, but that was in 1998. If you arent too ambitious and have some cash as downpayment and or security deposit its got to be worth asking at least. TWP in isolation is not enough to kill the prospect.

My payment on the Jeep back then was $420 a month...way more than I pay now for my civic. And what I paid for insurance then doesnt bare thinking about! Dont forget, you get to pay tax on those lovely low lease rates they advertise, plus a whole bunch of other expenses and taxes before you pick up your new vehicle.

jericho

I've just had to change bank accounts from RBC.
Have been here since end of August, have a decent income, decent balance, but they just wont give me an overdraft. We asked for $1000 and they said no. I asked for $500, and they still said no. $500 isnt a lot by anyones standards, but they just wouldnt do it.

We walked in to TD Canada and they approved it right off the bat.

The lack of access to credit was a big eye opener for us when we arrived. We had a good rating in the UK and credit was easy to come by whenever we needed it, so we kinda took it for granted. I think new arrivals will really be suprised at just how difficult it can be here.

debzielou

we only have the car we have at the mo as any form of deposit n its only worth around $800-$1000

iaink

Not if they do their homework here first I wish the internet had existed when I first considered coming here, but then perhaps it would have put me off and I would have missed out on the best thing I ever did.

jericho

When we arrived, we had no cash to put down.
We found a dealer that was prepared to use the cash rebate offer as the deposit, so that on paper, it looked like we had put some money down.
They had personal friends at a branch of scotiabank, and we were approved that way, but I know others who have tried the same tactic have since failed with the same dealer/bank. Banks are doing everything by the book now. We were fortunate to arrive just before it all kicked off.

iaink

Better start saving then. If you are going to need to find $400 a month in the budget for leasing/ payment, plus whatever your insurance goes up by too, then you shouldnt have a hard time saving a couple of grand, and if you do, then maybe they shouldnt be approving you anyway...

scrubbedexpat091

I've been here 4 1/2 years now and still cannot get a car loan, I tried last spring and after the 15th or 16th lender gave up.

I don't know how banks loan money, they told me I had insufficient credit, but it was good, just not enough. (4 years now, I even pay in full every month).

Apparently they want me to go get more debt first.

iaink

Thats basically how it works. If you never have debt, then they dont have a track record to judge you on. What the are looking for is a solid track record of repayment.

My first debt here was the car lease...ideal as it was secured by the vehicle and security deposit. I think that made it easier then to get financing at furnature stores etc. (no payments for 12 months etc). however, only once I was a PR was a mortgage and Mastercard and all that easy to get. The general principals have been discussed here in the past.

debzielou

i think we will maybe just wait a couple of months.. i mean we were approved for a mastercard and overdraft and contract fones but i dont wanna go over board on the asking for credit. We can def afford the payments every month but you know whats its like as soon as you move you just want everything straight away! Feels like we have been here longer than just over a month!! These things come with time so we will make do just now til we have made a few regular payments on our card etc first.

scrubbedexpat091

I guess it just doesn't pay to pay off credit cards....

The Burbs

We moved over to Waterloo in August on TWP, we had arranged our mortgage from the UK following a recce trip in July. I went to a 2nd hand dealer and got a minivan on finance but it took a lot of doing. Eventually we got an agreement with RCB but we needed 50% deposit, could only finance for period of TWP (12 months) and had to take out an extended warranty which means monthly payments of $740!! This does however give us an opportunity to build up our credit rating.

bear-diesel

Hi
Just before xmas we were looking for a car, we were approved for a loan from the bank so we hit the dealers.
We decided to buy new as the deal was better. Nothing down and 0%.This was approved within two mins of completing the paperwork and the loan was from bank of Montreal
We have been here 18mn on a twp
Hope this helps
When we were given our sin no we were told not to give it out to anyone, Even the banks are not supposed to ask for it. Never put on the forms for store cards. There is a pamphlet that tell you of the few places that actually require it

debzielou

thanks for that Bear. Yeah we were told too not to give out our SIN. before we got my OHs SIN we went to one of the dealers about getting a car and he made such a hoo har about not having it. All they were out for was the money kept getting fone calls for weeks after from the salesman even though we told him we were gonna leave it. It wasnt that we werent interested just that his finance manager made such a big wishy wash deal!