Leasing a car
 

Hello,

Am I able to lease a car when I move, I will be going over on a work permit but I am on the nomination programme applying for PR straight away?

Oh and is it ok to book a one way ticket on a WP as I have been nominated.

Re: Leasing a car
 

Yes

Yes

Re: Leasing a car
 

Most big financial services like Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, etc. will sometimes need someone to co-sign for you, as they "don't accept '9' social insurance cards."

However you will be able to finance a used car from a smaller dealership very easily. Just beware of very high interest rates for newcomers to Canada and people on temporary status.

Re: Leasing a car
 

I had no problem leasing on a work permit with Chrysler (Jeep). No co-signee, that didnt come up, I did however have to put a security deposit down and get a letter from my employer. Wasnt the best interest rate either, but I could probably have negotiated harder with hindsight.

The domestic big 3 are so desperate to shift vehicles you are in a decent negotiating position, but be aware the credit crunch is taking its toll on car leasing, apparently its going to be less common as a result.

Re: Leasing a car
 

That wasn't my experience - had no problem getting leases while here on a WP, both for business and personal requirements. Interest rates were below 1%, and no security deposit paid.

Re: Leasing a car
 

Well I do have a close contact who owns a car leasing company, so that'll probably help.

Thanks for the answers.

Re: Leasing a car
 

Was that throught the business or as a private individual? I would expect having a business behind you would make it easier.

Re: Leasing a car
 

I leased through my business, and also as a private individual. It didn't seem to make any difference to what was on offer - same haggling, negotiations and conclusions. Neither required any different sort of paperwork from me, just questions about income (no proof required) and bank details for the monthly debit to be set up.

Re: Leasing a car
 

We arrived on 13th October. We have a leased vehicle obtained as individuals two weeks later. After some shopping around.

Our Experience was that the North American Models GM, Chrysler etc were pushing their finance deals and not offering leases.

We then went to Toyota who were happy to offer a lease deal with a down payment.

As we did not want to pay a down payment we were given a number of a car dealer who had arranged car leases with no down payment for immigrants at my work. However due to the current economic climate the car dealer couldnt obtain a lease without a down payment.

To cut a long story short we went with toyota and if we had gone with them straight a way we could of leased a vehicle within 3 days of arriving.

I guess it depends on whether you are prepared to pay a down payment and if so how much much.

Re: Leasing a car
 

I wouldn’t lease get a loan and buy used save money better value

Re: Leasing a car
 

I don't get a loan I lease better tax break better car

Re: Leasing a car
 

I'm sure you would, given the link in your signature ;)

I had no problem getting a lease with Honda on a TWP. In my situation, this was a much better option than a loan-financed second-hand purchase.

Re: Leasing a car
 

I was also able to lease with relative ease and that was with no employment history here (I hadn't even started work). They just wanted to see my work permit and job contract and wanted a down payment (which was about 15%).

They would only offer a lease period for the length of the work permit, which suited me fine at the time. I also thought leasing the best option as I knew my PR application wasn't guaranteed, so being able to hand the car back at the end in a hassle-free way was very appealing.

Most dealers will also discount leased cars, so it's always worth negotiating. You might be able to negotiate a set of winter tyres too, which you'll really need/benefit from if you're getting here at the start of winter. There's a $1000 rebate for Cars that do 50mpg+ highway, so look into that if you're into the green side of life.

Probably a good idea to get some insurance quotes while you're looking around for the car. Don't forget to bring original copies of your insurance NCD for house and car too. There are probably only 2 or 3 brokers around here who are helpful for new immigrants and do the best NCD conversions (the rest of them are blatant shitehawks) - let me know if you want any company names or contact details.

Re: Leasing a car
 

It depends. A year ago I would have agreed, but if you want a reliable late model Civic or Mazda 3 for example, the used prices for low millage ones are relatively high. A three year old Civic with 60-80k km on couldnt be found for much less than $14 to $16k!

I ended up leasing a new up scale one for $300 a month, and in three years will buy it for 11k ish. It made more sense to us to keep our savings and get a lease at 1.5%, and end up with a vehicle of known history, than to pay out now for an unknown quantity. We dont inted to keep leasing year after year.

Now, if you arent sure you are staying here, and are not looking at that particular scenario it might make sense to buy a beater outright.

Re: Leasing a car
 

The point is that getting a reasonable size loan with a reasonable rate is pretty tricky to do on a work permit.

Re: Leasing a car
 

I got a lease car on a WP. I put down a $4K deposit, kept the lease within my WP and did the deal.

Then they phoned and said they wanted another $4K security deposit. THis wasn't additional downpayment but security deposit, effectively me loaning them for 2 years. I said stuff it - we did the deal. They said 'Oh, OK then no security deposit is needed!'

I would say they will be more desparate to sell cars now that they were a year ago, that said their financing risks may be different too.


Gryph

Re: Leasing a car
 

Whats odd is it seems they are relatively happy to lease to newcomers on TWPs, but if you try and take over an existing lease for a short term deal through someone like leasebusters.com, the credit check requirement can be a stumbling block.

Its a shame because a short term lease deal might be the best bet...a new reliable car at minimal expense until you get settled and figure out what you want to buy. Some dealers will have lease takeovers they want to shift, so its probably worth phoning around to see if that suits your circumstances. We did that for a while for the wife, and ended up returning to that dealership to buy later on, so a good deal all round in the end. Not on a TWP at that point, but worth asking.

Re: Leasing a car
 

Hi we are arriving in calgary on jan 8th, oh is on a 2year twp, we have very limited funds, due to no house sale etc!!

Was just wondering if anyone could recommend any dealers in the area that would be willing to consider a leasing agreement for the likes of us.

Thanks in advance for any advice
Anne

Re: Leasing a car
 

Hi there, please can you PM me the details of the companies who will insure us using our British NCD - am moving to Calgary in January so will need some car insurance.

Thanks
Jan

Re: Leasing a car
 

I'd also be interested to know names of dealers willing to lease. Thanks

Re: Leasing a car
 

We arrived in Edmonton in August- like you, we had limited cash, and I didnt really want to put down the money we had as a deposit.
Someone (on this forum) recommended Northstar Hyundai, just north of Edmonton to us, and we were able to get a new Hyundai Tuscon with zero down. This was a loan arrangement though, not a lease.

The problem is, you need to shop around, but by doing that you run the risk of having half a dozen rejections on your credit profile before you even get credit. All the dealers will say they can help you, but we found to our cost that they all cant.... and the credit markets have tanked in the short space we've been here so it will be even harder for new comers to get credit.

Re: Leasing a car
 

You only get a tax break if your car is used for your business, or if you qualify through your work, in which case they would give you the form from work.

You can write off up to 100% of your lease. You write off the depreciation of a car bought with a loan.

North American manufacturers (in Calgary at least) are backing off from leases. You can still get them from Honda et al.

Re: Leasing a car
 

Yes, you need to own a business or be self-employed before there's any tax related issue. If you're an employee then leasing gets you the use of a better car than you can buy for the same payment but, at the end of the lease you have nothing. So, as an employee, buying makes more sense unless you're the sort of person who changes his or her car every three or four years.

Re: Leasing a car
 

I'm not sure how the whole insurance thing works in Calgary, I just have experience with brokers in Nova Scotia (apparently there are some differences between the provinces in how insurance is sold). If it works the same as NS, take a look for brokers that sell Aviva insurance and check out Johnson's (http://www.johnson.ca/).

Also, some of the members in Calgary might be able to offer some better advice...

Re: Leasing a car
 

[QUOTE=Oakvillian;6946273]I'm sure you would, given the link in your signature ;)

PSML:rofl: