paolob99

I am moving to Vancouver Island in April, just for 6 months. I will do some road trips including the States and will complete my dissertation in a relaxed environment.
I need a car, so I have started looking in Victoria Classifieds and Craig's list

I only needa beater car.

I am shocked by the prices. Cars that are almost valueless are $3000 CAD

All up on miles, all older models from the 90's

I looked on Canadian ebay and it seems nobody uses it.

My current car is a 2005 Mondeo diesel, about £1000 in sterling, so $1500 CAD ish.... in Vancouver, that car would cost at least $6000 CAD if not more

Why are the prices so high, relatively speaking?

I had dreams of tooling around in a yank land yacht, or a nice old classic, even a Beetle....but looks like I may be stuck with knackered old 80's pontiac for silly money

Is there anywhere else to look?

ninaDGBCA

http://vancouver.kijiji.ca/f-cars-ve...QmaxPriceZ3000

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/pv/Used/a...ue&st=1&rcs=30

http://viautoexchange.ca/dealership.php

http://www.landmarkautosales.ca/vehicles.html

paolob99

many thanks, going to have a browse on these sites

ninaDGBCA

No probs. Generally speaking Canadians tend to over estimate the value of their belongings. But you can haggle quite well here.

Autotrader is a big used car website and kijiji is the used for everything website and they love it here.

Cars generally tend to have bigger engines than back home, so they'll be good for more mileage than the European ones. We just bought a 2007 Nissan Versa with 91k km for under $5000 incl. tax and licensing. It was a little dealer here that fixes cars that had been in a slight accident. Ours is still classed as "non branded", it was just cosmetic damage and the headlights and therefore it won't affect the insurance but it was so much cheaper.
So see if there are some small "dealers" on the Island or around Vanc.

Piff Poff

Second hand cars in Canada ARE expensive, people seem to think if they have spent money in maintaining the vehicle it adds to the value of the car, they also think that things like, replaced brakes 2 years ago and have since done a million miles that the brakes are still as new or if it's a classic car, fully restored 20 years ago means that it's ship shape now even though they have done nothing in maintenance since and it has turned into a rust bucket. Having said that, look for long enough and at every supposedly rust free vehicle advertised you might find a bargain. BTW rust free on an older car usually means the rust has fallen off and left holes

JonboyE

On the west coast, Craig's List is the most commonly used free classified listing site. It is a good idea to filter the listings as "by owner." If you are after something sub $2,000 then it will be a 90s model. Nothing necessarily wrong with that. A 90s model vehicle that has been properly looked after can be just fine.

Aviator

Market forces. You ask and people pay, prices stay up.

It is good that used vehicles keep there value for most. When you come to get rid of it you lose less.

What amazes me is the prices asked on Craig's list. I buy a lot of camera kit and can buy new from the US (landed at my door) for the same or less than prices asked used on craigs list for used equipment. I guess there are some mugs out there who pay the prices or they would not ask.

CanadaJimmy

I've seen the same thing on all used-goods sites even in the UK, like ebay, where I would often bid on auctions, then watch as people will bid over the price to get it new. I can never understand the logic, all I can think of is that some people are too lazy to research.

paolob99

i am trying to come to terms with the fact that my next car will be american, made in the 90's, poor build quality, poor handling, poor aesthetics, poor economy and uninspiring, with +250 miles on board


it's really getting me down

ninaDGBCA

it could be Korean, made past 2000, , better economy and only 148k km on! And ... I am driving in "Rio"...sounds very inspiring
http://islandcarbuyer.com/listing/2001-Kia-Rio-30669

http://islandcarbuyer.com/listings/c.../150000/page/1

http://islandcarbuyer.com/listing/20...i-Accent-59427

Quaks

Don't forget you have to pay tax on the car purchase as well, although you can just claim it as a gift most of the time.

Aviator

Unless it is actually a gift, that would be a fraudulent transaction if money changes hands.

paolob99

I thought I would nip to USA to buy a car, they are the same cars afterall

seems like you can't do that either

I am still a little chocked at the state of the second hand car business in Canada

And now you pay tax on something....that has already had tax paid on it?

I hope the bus service is good...

ninaDGBCA

lol. You can buy cars in the US they just have to meet the Canadian road safety requirements. Friends of mine moved from the States to Canada and brought their cars and it wasn't a problem to get them approved. So maybe that's worth looking into.

I've heard that people get a receipt, when buying private, for less than the actual price was to pay less tax. Not legal though and I am sure classed as fraud!

Totally agree that the tax paying thing is rubbish. But then the inheritance tax is pretty much the same. Paying tax on something that has been taxed before.

To be honest I just went on the UK autotrader and tried to find a decent car for a 1000 quid and it'd pretty much the same as here. 1996-2002 models 100 000+ miles = Canadian 160 000km. It seem to get a decent choice I'd have to spend 2000 pounds + = $3000+

dbd33

If you bring a used car in from the US it'll need adapting, French language seat belt stickers, metriculated speedometer, disabled light switch. About $800 total. It may be worthwhile but probably not for a very cheap car.

In Ontario you pay tax on the nominal value of the car, what the government thinks it's worth, not necessarily what you paid for it.