Hi guys,
please people need your help.
Anyone living in Calgary and area, please can you advise me about where to get a good deal on Cars. We are thinking of buying used to start off, until we settle and hopefully afford more.

I was thinking of putting about £15000 ($30000) by to try and get two cars.
One will be a family car, 4x4, SUV, something that will fit loads, get my family of 4 and any other family & friends we might have over and a dog in the back. We are planning on getting a travel trailer, so this vehicle might need to tow.
Second car, is for me for work, as the main job that I have been offered, I will have to supply my own transport for a while ( plumber). So I was thinking of getting a van, truck?

We are thinking of slitting the $30000 into two, $20000 on family car & $10000 on work van.

Any help and info would be greatly aappreciated
many thanks,
Carl

Hi Carl

We have not entirely dissimilar requirements, our budget was slightly but not much more, plus I capped the SUV at no less than 28 miles per gallon preferably in the 30s. This is quite a tall order and I know petrol is cheaper etc but I just can't square having an unnecessarily large engine because you can with my green tinged principles. Its a struggle getting enviro friendly cars over there it seems as they seem to enjoy putting enormous engines in cars that in the UK manage fine on a 1.8, 2.0.or 2.4 diesel. OK so there are the new hybrids but they are new and pricey.

From the research I did we have decided to up our budgets. We had been hoping on 2-3 yr olds in the price range.

At dealers second hand cars seem very expensive, ie there isn't the price drop there is so much in the UK, maybe to do with the fact the plates are personal and don't give away the year- who knows. Someone in Calgary may help!

I think autotrader/private deals/auction may be better for at least one of your vehicles.

We have decided to splash out on numero1 car and wait a while and see what our requirements are for number 2.

Gryph

I'm in a similar boat although we've got one car sorted already I'm looking for another one. Budget will be around C$15-20000 but will shop around when I get there. Fortunately I can borrow a work car for a bit until we're settled.

One thing I have come across though (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) is if you buy from a dealer you pay tax on top of the advertised price whereas if you buy from an individual you don't. Obviously you don't get the dealer guarantee but if you're buying a 2-3 yr old car there shouldn't be too many problems especially if you have the vehicle checked.

I just purchased a used car in Calgary. A 2005 with just 20,000 kms and more warranty on it than a new car.

I used a combo of:
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/ (well I used the mag/book version which you can find in the magazine section in a grocery store)
http://www.autotrader.ca/
A lot of shopping around.
A advice from a good friend who knows more about cars than I.

In the end I bought the car that smiled at me.

Unless it's a very small trailer you'll need a truck for the goose neck attachment. Assuming you want to take the children camping as well as the trailer that suggests the truck will have to be a super or crew cab (in Ford speak). Why not put a cap on that and use it for work; then you could get a minivan for the kids, visitors and dog? Minivans are cheaper to buy and to run than SUVs.

Don't forget to budget for insurance, without any no claims you can expect to have to pay around $1500-$2000 a year per vehicle. If you can get your insurer to send you a no claims letter most of the companies here recognise it. I have a Ford minivan and first quote was 1900 which came down to 1400 with no claims letter.

Van was 3 months old and I paid 23K for it.

Cheers

Dobbie