help wanted

It looks like we'll be buying a car shortly after arriving in Canada. We weren't sure if we were going to lease, or how long we'd wait to buy, or what, but now we've decided. We're buying a new (as opposed to used) car very soon. Exciting!

Not owning a car in New York City has served us well. Bringing a car from the US to Canada is an amazing pain in the butt, requiring an enormous amount of paperwork and rigmarole. We've got quite enough of that in our lives as it is, with more to come. If we did own a car, I think we'd have sold it and bought another one anyway. It seems much easier to buy a car in Canada than to "import" (the official term) one from the US.

So, do any Ontario residents have any tips about auto insurance? How to get better rates, what to avoid, obscure laws we must know? I've checked out some basics here and here, but if you have any advice or pointers, I'd love to hear them.

I know many of you aren't blogging on the weekend, so I'll patiently await your replies.

Comments

  1. Marnie20 August 2005 at 10:28

    Dang, I've been meaning to ask if you needed help with anything at this end, but in this area I'm useless. I don't drive and don't know a thing about the system. (Except for the obvious: all insurance companies are evil and will make your life hell whenever they can.) No doubt the others will have some useful suggestions for you.

    Need help with anything in my (sadly limited) fields of expertise?

    ReplyDelete
  2. laura k20 August 2005 at 10:37

    Marnie: I can almost guarantee that I will need your help, perhaps several times along the way. You are very sweet to offer and to back it up.

    ALPF: Cool! That is a substantial savings and sounds so easy!

    I've never purchased car insurance, and the last time Allan did was a very long time ago, so we are really at a loss here. This sounds like a great time-saving and hassle-saving device. Many thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. laura k20 August 2005 at 10:44

    Also, if anyone can tell me what's an average annual cost of auto insurance, for an adult driver with a good driving record, I'd greatly appreciate it. I realize this varies with car make, deductible, etc., but even a ballpark figure would be helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous20 August 2005 at 11:02

    ALPF

    There are huge differences in Auto rates up here. I suspect that since you have not been continuously insured for a length of time it would be quite expensive.
    I pay just over $1600 a year for 2 vehicles (was $2700 with my old company) However I have been insured continuously since 1985 and have never made a claim or had a ticket. If you have any past claims or have been ticketed for speeding etc... wow!!!
    I have friends who pay over $2500-$3000 a year for 1 vehicle.
    Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  5. laura k20 August 2005 at 11:07

    Ah ha, that may explain the quotes I saw.

    I was expecting to see around $1500-2000 - but it was more than $4000.

    It may be because we have not been continuously insured. We both have perfect driving records, but haven't owned a car in 20+ years - and when you rent cars, you're insured only for the rental period.

    Damn. I never imagined that not owning a car would prove a liability. I'll keep researching, though. Maybe I'll come up with something better.

    ReplyDelete
  6. laura k20 August 2005 at 12:50

    Thanks G!

    We're definitely buying a new car. I don't worry about things like resale value, I plan on owning it for a long, long time. We've narrowed it down to 2 or 3 choices, so I should be able to get a fairly accurate quote.

    The catch is coming in Ontario with only an American driving record, no Canadian driving record. I'll have to talk to insurance people about that.

    Thanks for the info, though. It's very useful to have.

    ReplyDelete
  7. laura k20 August 2005 at 14:29

    I have good news!

    (US readers should laugh, thinking of Geico commercials...)

    It seems that insurers that operate in both the US and Canada won't hold our US driver's licenses and lack of insurance against us. State Farm of Canada gave a quote significantly lower than anyone else's - around $1850 vs. $3500. I'll be speaking to an agent this week, see what she says.

    ReplyDelete

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