Oink

I like the spoiler, very sporty.

Shirtback

Mine was very rudely run-over (almost literally) by a Chelsea-tractor whose driver failed dismally at braking & stopping on an icy off-ramp.

The Forsa managed to limp home, albeit shedding bits, while the CT had to be towed.

Insurance did pay out more to scrap it than I paid to buy it though...

Pizzawheel

I'm amazed you ever had Lada's over here. My first "car" was an FSO which also had a higher scrap metal value than sale value as a car; also made an impressive mess of a Renault that tailgated me once. Good and solid. Shame it needed a new engine every year.

Shirtback

There was actually a local Lada dealership/dedicated workshop locally when I came over...

Novocastrian

I also owned a Lada in Canada once. We needed a second car because the Mrs got a job about a year after we came back from Germany.

The thing cost less than $7,000 new on the road so I bought it.

It had a 3 year warranty and I traded it in for a real car the day before the warranty expired.

It only broke down twice in those 3 years, so money well spent. Not.

On edit: I've just remembered something...the local Lada dealership was run by an ex-pat Brit from Seahouses. Small world (eh?).

Pizzawheel

I paid 800 quid for my three year old FSO pickup truck. I bought it in the Wirral so still managed to get ripped off. It was my fault I blew the two engines, I was missing a fast motorcycle at that stage of my life and most cars would have failed to step into that gap.

It was actually great fun to drive and thanks to its FIAT heritage actually had surprisingly good RWD balance in the wet.

Shirtback

Some years ago, I had a good laugh/somewhat mutually bemused experience with our local panel beater who turned out to be a Scot who learned his trade on Teesside. There was a simultaneous WTF moment ...

magnumpi

My way of choosing a previously owned car usually starts with engine configuration and access to parts. I stay away from vehicles that use a cam belt and have a preference for cam chains, Front wheel drive, and a smaller engine, fuel economy is important to me.

We run a Mazda 3, and a poor mans Toyota Matrix. (Pontiac vibe) my next car maybe a RAV4 or a CRV

BritCanadaNewbie

hey guys, I've been told taking over a lease seems to be popular over here ? I've checked out 'leasebusters.com' seems to be a lot of choice of just taking over a lease and not dropping a down payment only lease transfer fees. ...thoughts?

Atlantic Xpat

Possibly challenging if you are new to Canada and have no credit history? But certainly worthy of consideration. If you are considering leasing, then, even for new vehicles you don't necessarily require a downpayment, beyond the first months payment. We have two leased vehicles, neither of which we put a downpayment on. I'm a fan of leasing as we drive newish vehicles in warranty and change them before the warranty runs out and/or the climate/roads here beat them to sh*t! YMMV of course.

Pizzawheel

Leasebusters and leasing in general is a great way to go to get day-to-day transport and rid yourself of all the (cost) uncertainties of car ownership.

BritCanadaNewbie

Did you take over someones lease? Or a new lease from dealer?

bc2015

Generally speaking, leases don't require credit history as the dealer retains the title for the car.

R I C H

That's not correct. Dealer's don't retain the lease title, the lease/finance/credit company own the car through the lease term, not the dealer. At the end of the lease, if the vehicle is returned, the dealer makes an offer to the credit company to purchase it if they want it for their stock and title is transferred to them at that point.

If you wish to purchase the car at the end of a lease, you purchase it from the credit company too, not the dealership. The dealer merely facilitates the change of title (sometimes for an admin fee).

I've leased privately and through my own businesses here and a credit check has always been required.

bc2015

Yes sorry you are correct. I use dealer/leasing company interchangably, I think in our case because it's a Ford dealer and Ford Credit Canada as the leasing company.

I probably had a credit check, but wouldn't have had any history at the time (was only in the country a couple of weeks). All I had was a letter from my employer.