im hoping to get out to AB in july this year, looking to get a set of wheels asap as my other half and daughter will be in tow shortly after me. what do people spend on the first run around and what type of vehicle do you get?
are vehicles priced before tax? also any ideas on the other costs like registration etc to get the wheels up and running ?
cheers
You pay tax (GST) when you buy the car at a dealer, or when you register/insure it (it’s the same all in one deal) if you buy privately.
Money wise the choice is yours, you can buy an old snotter for anything between a grand and ten grand, depends what you want.
Look on Kijiji for the area you are going to, so www.calgarykijiji.ca for Calgary etc.
It’s like a big online exchange and mart. 
About $85/yr for licencing, (AB).
Bring your “no claims” from your UK insurance, some accept it, some don’t. Insurance here is very expensive.
My “no claims” ran out before I bought a car here and I’ve been paying for it since. I had an ‘04’ GMC Yukon first and that was costing me $1800/yr, and now got a ‘12’ Charger that’s costing me $1500/yr.
As to what car people buy & spend on it, there’s a vast choice of makes and models and prices, that’s totally down to you, truck, suv, car, and what you can afford.
There probably isn’t 2 people on here with the same make/model/engine.
Another thing to think about is MPG when buying, a lot of people want that big V8, me included, but with prices for gas running between $1.10 - $1.25/litre & my Yukon averaging 10.8mpg in winter & 14.3mpg in summer, you can plough some money into the cost of running a car.
What lump is in your Charger Neil?
Thanks for the info so far, I think for what I want to spend, around $6-8k I’ll be looking at an SUV. I was surprised at the cost of used cars, they seem to fetch more money than the old bangers in the UK!
Ps Neil, is that uk or us gallons mate?
Dereko:
Thanks for the info so far, I think for what I want to spend, around $6-8k I’ll be looking at an SUV. I was surprised at the cost of used cars, they seem to fetch more money than the old bangers in the UK!
This is my experience as well. In the UK you can buy a car for lets say a grand, have tons of choice and it’ll potentially run for years. Here for the same money you’ll struggle to find much at all and it will almost certainly be completely rotten and not pass another inspection.
When I came out in 2009 I bought a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.2 V8 for $5500 and despite being a thirsty bugger doing about 16mpg its stood me well because I still have it. I’ve since got married and both my Jeep and wife’s car which is a 2012 Hyundai Accent costs $1200 per year combined for fully comp insurance.
I have a friend from the UK who did live here in NB until the other year and upon his moving to Ontario, their cost of insurance for their 3 vehicles went from $1500 per year to $5500!!!
Funnily enough I was looking at grand Cherokees, should be plenty big enough for what we’d need, I also like the Chrysler 300c but keep finding myself veering toward the hemi motored ones,
I have about 12 years no claims over here so hopefully that counts for something
I think the most I ever paid for insurance was £800 !!
Fortunately my they did accept my UK no claims record when I came here. I may be wrong but I’m sure my Ontario based friend told me that Ontario didn’t accept their New Brunswick no claims history and that’s the same country!
If you can afford it, buy the HEMI, I have one in my Charger and it is worth every penny for the noise alone, the way it picks up speed is quite entertaining too 
Oh and before you start Taffy, one word and it’s spelt exactly the same as ■■■■■■■■ 
newmercman:
What lump is in your Charger Neil?
I was going to go for the Hemi & test drove one, great acceleration but I’ve got a right leadfoot & fuel consumption for me would be horrendous, also got a licence I hope to keep so I bought the new Pentastar V6 with the 8speed box, only 40 HP down on the Hemi and just 3/4 sec slower on the 0/60mph. We did an 1800km run last summer into BC and back and it averaged 43.8mpg.
Through this winter it’s averaged 28.9mpg. Just waiting for Mopar to crack the ECU codes, and bring a chip out for it, they’re talking between 65-75hp, we’ll see.
Dereko:
Ps Neil, is that uk or us gallons mate?
That’s UK gallons, Canada does UK gallons.
Dereko:
Funnily enough I was looking at grand Cherokees, should be plenty big enough for what we’d need, I also like the Chrysler 300c but keep finding myself veering toward the hemi motored ones,
I have about 12 years no claims over here so hopefully that counts for something
I think the most I ever paid for insurance was £800 !!
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I test drove the new 300c as well, exactly the same dimensions inside and out, engine size, etc. another fantastic car to drive but it just seemed a little too refined, too quiet compared to the Charger.
If I was ten years older I know I would have picked the 300c & if I was ten years younger I know I would have picked the Hemi so I’m halfway to sensibility. 
I would suggest AWD on whatever you choose , as opposed to RWD or 4WD , as AWD’s to stay glued to the road moreso which you’ll find handy while adapting to the road conditions .
My wife has a Grand Cherokee with the 6.1 Hemi 
,has been a great vehicle , fuel economy(cough) doesn’t play a part as it’s not used for commuting .Have been tempted recently with upgrading to the 6.4 with 460 horses but SWMBO is flatly saying no , she’s probably right again 
I agree with FTTM on the AWD thing, I used to enjoy RWD in the snow and ice, but that was only one a week, but since I’ve been commuting every day I have discovered that my car is almost undriveable some days, all season tyres play a part, but all the power going to only the rear wheels is the biggest factor.
I’ve never worried about mpg, but I struggle to get 500kms out of a full tank ($80+) so the big V8 can be an expensive hobby, luckily I get my gas paid for at the moment, so I don’t worry about it. I did get over 400 miles out a tank on a run down to Minneapolis and that was at 70mph, so not too bad considering.
It’s been a lot of fun, but my next vehicle will have AWD for sure, I’ll probably get a pick up as I’ve not had one yet and we bought a new Focus for the hormonal one last year, so it’ll probably be an F150 FX4, with a V8 of course
Awd is most likely what I’ll go for as it will be my other halfs to use while I’m over the road. She tends to be a bit heavy footed with driving so I dont fancy calls while I’m in Texas with her telling me she’s in a ditch… Again…!!!
Screw fuel economy too, I’d love a v8!
I ended up with a Kia forte hire car for the week in calgary and found it pretty poor for economy. Think it was a 1.8 or similar.
Does the low octane regular gas give lower mpg? Any experience of dramatic increases with higher grade fuel?
Dereko:
Awd is most likely what I’ll go for as it will be my other halfs to use while I’m over the road. She tends to be a bit heavy footed with driving so I dont fancy calls while I’m in Texas with her telling me she’s in a ditch… Again…!!!
Screw fuel economy too, I’d love a v8!
I ended up with a Kia forte hire car for the week in calgary and found it pretty poor for economy. Think it was a 1.8 or similar.
Does the low octane regular gas give lower mpg? Any experience of dramatic increases with higher grade fuel?
I use the Shell V Power and I haven’t noticed any increase in mpg, plenty of increase in the price of the stuff though, but as it’s free I’m not too concerned by that (I get a monthly limit and it’s withing my budget to get the dear stuff, so I do) I used to use it before when I was buying it myself so it’s not like I’m suddenly having doubles because it’s a free bar
Do you get ripped off ‘tax wise’ there like we do here ? When a new car is sold the buyer pays sales tax on it and each time it changes hands each person has to pay sales tax again 
The feds get more than they deserve over and over again… the tax system in this country is a disgrace.
Sales tax goes to the State, not Feds…
Stumbled across regal auctions on kijiji, looks like if your willing to gamble, you might get a bit more for your $
Any experience anyone?
Cheers
Dereko:
Stumbled across regal auctions on kijiji, looks like if your willing to gamble, you might get a bit more for your $
Any experience anyone?
Cheers
Just like the car auctions in UK, OK if you’ve got some mechanical knowledge and know what you’re doing when at these places, unlike me.
I’ve bought 2 cars at Auctions, in the UK, both pieces of crap, so never again for me, there’s no warranty or redress.
I only buy from main dealer now, at least there’s some sort of warranty.
The car I got now came with a Dodge 7 year bumper to bumper warranty, how good it actually is remains to be seen.
Yeah might be worth a visit one evening, problem is, I get carried away and probably end up witb a couple Junkers!!