Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
#47
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Joined: Oct 2010
Location: A Briton, married to a Canadian, now in Fredericton.
Posts: 4,854
Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
I am horrified by some of the cars that are driving around, they are bloody death traps, the North American produced cars are by far the worst, the foreign jobs seem to be either better built or had better rust treatment. How can an MOT be called ridiculous? Would you let someone you love drive an unsafe car?
#48
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Joined: Mar 2009
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 487
Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
Calgary is more expensive because it is booming right now (ie. supply and demand). it is not representative of the rest of the country.
And I have no idea what you mean by "b) no free trade agreement with the US" as the entire country is party to a free trade agreement with the US (NAFTA).
And I have no idea what you mean by "b) no free trade agreement with the US" as the entire country is party to a free trade agreement with the US (NAFTA).
#49
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Location: Calgary, AB
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Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
I disagree.
Food and clothes are not more expensive here (unless you are shopping in bargain basement places in the UK). I found that prices in the UK were basically the same as here, but that was obviously in GBP rather than CDN. Once you do the exchange rate that makes the British stuff more expensive. When you factor in the lower salaries there then food is definitely more expensive. Same goes for cleaning stuff (I am assuming you are referring to household cleaning products as opposed to industrial stuff).
I have no idea about insurance rates back in Britain because I didn't own a car there but my insurance rates here are very reasonable - less than $1000 per year. And gas is cheaper here as well. Plus there is no ridiculous MOT required.
Food and clothes are not more expensive here (unless you are shopping in bargain basement places in the UK). I found that prices in the UK were basically the same as here, but that was obviously in GBP rather than CDN. Once you do the exchange rate that makes the British stuff more expensive. When you factor in the lower salaries there then food is definitely more expensive. Same goes for cleaning stuff (I am assuming you are referring to household cleaning products as opposed to industrial stuff).
I have no idea about insurance rates back in Britain because I didn't own a car there but my insurance rates here are very reasonable - less than $1000 per year. And gas is cheaper here as well. Plus there is no ridiculous MOT required.
#50
Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
Ah, I live out in the sticks rather than a city! 9 yrs no claims, but it's the rural location and no crime that brings it down I guess. My husbands is even cheaper!
#51
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Joined: Sep 2011
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Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
An MOT is not ridiculous imo, its a sensible safety thing. You see some real horrors here, bald tyres, no brakes, rusted frames, at least if there was some form of yearly safety check these road hazards would be controlled a little more and there would I reckon be fewer deaths.
Maybe there are problems in Alberta but not here in Ontario. We don't have a rash of unsafe cars on our roads and I have never once heard the cops claiming an accident happened because of unsafe vehicles.
In my mind the MOT most certainly is ridiculous and is also a ripoff. If you (and by that I mean the collective you, not you specifically) pay even the remotest attention to your car you should know when something is going wrong and be able to get it fixed. I notice if I need air in my tires just by how the car feels. I do not need a mechanic to tell me about my own car. And there is also the issue of unscrupulous mechanics claiming things need to be fixed when they don't. One of my oldest friends moved back to Britain and was told by a mechanic that several things needed fixing on his car. What that mechanic didn't realize was that G was a mechanic himself (started on cars but transitioned to heavy equipment) and G immediately called the guy on his BS claims about things needing fixed!
#52
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Joined: Sep 2011
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Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
No, sorry as I am not familiar with the area. But I did post in your other thread.
You'll only get that if you buy privately as dealerships here do not tend to do that.
I wouldn't dream of spending a lot of money on a car in the UK without some evidence that the car has had maintenance, i'm not about to start in Canada.
#54
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Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
Dairy is not cheaper in Britain.
Check the Tesco website (just using Tesco as an easy example). They sell 2L of milk for £1.99. Do the conversion and that works out to be $3.21CDN for that 2L. I just bought milk when I was out today and got 4L of milk for $3.97. So I paid $0.76 more but got twice the amount.
Car insurance is also very expensive (and I live in Greater Manchester where I get ripped off for car insurance even though I've got 15 years no claims). When my wife moved over to Ontario last April the cheapest quote she had was $4000! Fortunately this dropped after 6 months to around $1200, but cheap it most certainly isn't.[/QUOTE]
That is because she is new here so of course it is going to be more expensive for her as she doesn't have a driving history here yet (if I were to move back to Britain today I would expect to pay through the nose due to a lack of driving history over there). Once she has been here 5-10 years compare what she is paying here to British insurance premiums.
Check the Tesco website (just using Tesco as an easy example). They sell 2L of milk for £1.99. Do the conversion and that works out to be $3.21CDN for that 2L. I just bought milk when I was out today and got 4L of milk for $3.97. So I paid $0.76 more but got twice the amount.
Car insurance is also very expensive (and I live in Greater Manchester where I get ripped off for car insurance even though I've got 15 years no claims). When my wife moved over to Ontario last April the cheapest quote she had was $4000! Fortunately this dropped after 6 months to around $1200, but cheap it most certainly isn't.[/QUOTE]
That is because she is new here so of course it is going to be more expensive for her as she doesn't have a driving history here yet (if I were to move back to Britain today I would expect to pay through the nose due to a lack of driving history over there). Once she has been here 5-10 years compare what she is paying here to British insurance premiums.
#56
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Joined: Sep 2011
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Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
$1000 only for car insurance? You must have a short journey to work.
#57
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2013
Location: St. Catharines, ON
Posts: 38
Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
What is the score with buying privately? You have to pay sales tax, right? (That is plain wrong in my book, why anything secondhand should be liable to sales tax/VAT when the items has been sold once already is morally corrupt. I know secondhand cars in the UK carry VAT if bought from a dealer (which is wrong) but private sales don't), also I don't understand the chain of events, it needs an e test/safety certificate before it can be licenced? Does the seller do this? If they don't how can you get it sorted without it being licenced? How do you pay the seller? Do people take cash (difficult as i can only get $200 a day out of the hole in the wall, could take a couple of months to get enough money!) as bank transfers don't seem to have made it to Canada yet? Very confusing and highly risky as well. I may be stuck with my bicycle until I get my head round these bonkers rules!
#58
Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
Maybe there are problems in Alberta but not here in Ontario. We don't have a rash of unsafe cars on our roads and I have never once heard the cops claiming an accident happened because of unsafe vehicles.
In my mind the MOT most certainly is ridiculous and is also a ripoff. If you (and by that I mean the collective you, not you specifically) pay even the remotest attention to your car you should know when something is going wrong and be able to get it fixed. I notice if I need air in my tires just by how the car feels. I do not need a mechanic to tell me about my own car. And there is also the issue of unscrupulous mechanics claiming things need to be fixed when they don't. One of my oldest friends moved back to Britain and was told by a mechanic that several things needed fixing on his car. What that mechanic didn't realize was that G was a mechanic himself (started on cars but transitioned to heavy equipment) and G immediately called the guy on his BS claims about things needing fixed!
In my mind the MOT most certainly is ridiculous and is also a ripoff. If you (and by that I mean the collective you, not you specifically) pay even the remotest attention to your car you should know when something is going wrong and be able to get it fixed. I notice if I need air in my tires just by how the car feels. I do not need a mechanic to tell me about my own car. And there is also the issue of unscrupulous mechanics claiming things need to be fixed when they don't. One of my oldest friends moved back to Britain and was told by a mechanic that several things needed fixing on his car. What that mechanic didn't realize was that G was a mechanic himself (started on cars but transitioned to heavy equipment) and G immediately called the guy on his BS claims about things needing fixed!
It was only 2 weeks ago he saw someone cable tying his suspension together before he hit the highway to drive 1.5hrs. This type of thing is why I worry about my kid on the roads.
#59
Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
Dairy is not cheaper in Britain.
Check the Tesco website (just using Tesco as an easy example). They sell 2L of milk for £1.99. Do the conversion and that works out to be $3.21CDN for that 2L. I just bought milk when I was out today and got 4L of milk for $3.97. So I paid $0.76 more but got twice the amount.
.
Check the Tesco website (just using Tesco as an easy example). They sell 2L of milk for £1.99. Do the conversion and that works out to be $3.21CDN for that 2L. I just bought milk when I was out today and got 4L of milk for $3.97. So I paid $0.76 more but got twice the amount.
.
#60
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,009
Re: Why is second-hand stuff here so expensive?
http://business.financialpost.com/20...ng-u-s-prices/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...y-pricing.html