Moving to canada. Does shedding work?
Discussion
matthias73 said:
Hey guys! Im in the fortunate position to be moving to canada for a ski season, and possibly for up to two years if I feel like it.
Whilst I wont be in dire need of a car per se, I wouldnt mind having one.
Also, would insurance be crippling for a twenty year old with a british lisence?
I am Canadian, but keep cars abroad as we travel a lot. I have British mates who do the same. Whilst I wont be in dire need of a car per se, I wouldnt mind having one.
Also, would insurance be crippling for a twenty year old with a british lisence?
1. North American (and Australian) cars have far higher safety standards that what is acceptable in the UK and EEC nations. This is sadly reflected in much higher car prices in North America, new and used. Canadian standards are also higher than those in the US.
2. But at 20 years old, the insurance on anything worthwhile will either be impossible to find or prohibitably expensive..same as it would be in the UK. It will also be a chore finding anyone to rent a car to you. There is a solution. Buy something so cheap you don't mind trashing the thing and get one-way insurance (aka liability to others only). I did that with my son and paid 300£ a year.
3. I have a UK permit and I have a CDN permit. I use the CDN in the UK and the UK permit here. (Give you 3 guesses why!)
p
plushuit said:
1. North American (and Australian) cars have far higher safety standards that what is acceptable in the UK and EEC nations. This is sadly reflected in much higher car prices in North America, new and used. Canadian standards are also higher than those in the US.
This is a joke, right?I've no experience of motoring in Australia, but I've seen no evidence of any of these safety standards you speak of in North America. Cars here are often driven into the ground with no mandatory safety checks whatsoever, unlike the UK (annual MOT), Germany (bi-annual TuV) or France (bi-annual CT), where a failure of this test can remove the offending vehicle from the roads. Drive around anywhere in Canada or the USA and you'll see the most shockingly dilapidated vehicles driving around. Jagged rusty body panels, or completely missing panels and lights are not uncommon, so who knows what is going on underneath that you can't see.
The reason for the price differences are nothing to do with supposed better standards, but the completely different market conditions in the different countries. It is not that North American cars are expensive, but that the UK has a proliferation of cheap cars, largely fuelled by the mass-buying fleet market, and the culture of disposing of 'old' cars once they reach the end of warranty after 3 or 5 years. This does not happen to anything like the same extent in other countries, where more private individuals, rather than company fleets, buy new cars and they keep them for longer, meaning fewer cars on the secondhand market at any time, and thus higher prices. This goes for much of Europe as well as North America. It is the UK that is the odd one out.
I also keep cars in several countries. I currently own cars registered in Canada, UK and Germany.
plushuit said:
1. North American (and Australian) cars have far higher safety standards that what is acceptable in the UK and EEC nations. This is sadly reflected in much higher car prices in North America, new and used. Canadian standards are also higher than those in the US.
Eh? New car prices in the USA are lower than the UK.Example - Range Rover Sport S/C with sunroof, homelink and upgraded audio is 71,380 pounds inc VAT in the UK. In the USA it's $77,395 plus sales tax (typically 7%) = 53,427 pounds using average exchange rate of 1.55. So 25% cheaper in the USA than in the UK.
As for safety standards.
Most states have no MOT test whatsoever. There are cars tooling around here that would not have passed an MOT 10 or 15 years ago. New car safety standards are no different from the EU bit used car safety standards are in the main nonexistent. Also car dealers in the USA can sell used cars with no warranty at all - "as is".unrepentant said:
As for safety standards. Most states have no MOT test whatsoever.
Most states have no MOT test whatsoever. thegreenhell said:
This is a joke, right?
Gentlemen,The gratuitous rudeness and ignorance of your responses indicate that you are from the UK. As the wonderful actress Helen Mirren pointed out earlier this year, no group is less courteous than a British male on the internet. Your type make it sad business to help people on UK forums.
I have no wish to humiliate either of you or bore other readers by belaboring you with facts. However;
"unrepetant", How on earth do annual MOT checkups add to the extent and cost of safety features legislatively required of NEW car manufacturers?? Your comment is patently absurd.
"thegreenhell" up until recently, the USA's NHTSA standards were precondition to being able to drive in Australia. They are still the import precondition for most past years and the new laws still follow the current USA law closely.
As well, both of you can look look to the NHTSA lists for number of automobiles refused entry to USA because they do not meet their new car standards. Here is a starting point for your obviously needed education http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/FAQ%20Site/... in this area. If you want more info, no problem.
Canada is far stricter than the USA. The USA (and the UK) have allowed "affidavit compliance" for decades in many safety areas. That is where the manufacturer states, "We swear (to the best of our knowledge (without a test) that our cars comply with your crash standards. Honor bright!"
Canada has never accepted such nonsense. Crash tests only. Check your lobbyist-created BS at the border.
P
Edited by plushuit on Thursday 22 November 23:40
Since when was this thread about new cars? But seriously, do you really think that car manufacturers make two different types of the same car? Safe ones for Canada and unsafe ones for the rest of the world? Even if there were any significant differences, by the time these cars reach 'shedding' age any new price difference that may have caused will have been negated and values equalised based on local market forces. The simple fact is you can buy a far better used car of the same type (and that is an important point) in the UK than anywhere in North America because the UK car market is fundamentally different in nature. And I still maintain that the condition of cars allowed to remain on the roads here in Canada and the USA is shocking compared to what is allowed in Europe. It doesn't matter how safe a car was when it was new if it's been allowed to rot to the point that it barely held together with Duck Tape.
My apologies if I offended your Canadian sensibilities by appearing rude on the internet.
My apologies if I offended your Canadian sensibilities by appearing rude on the internet.
plushuit said:
Gentlemen,
The gratuitous rudeness and ignorance of your responses indicate that you are from the UK. As the wonderful actress Helen Mirren pointed out earlier this year, no group is less courteous than a British male on the internet. Your type make it sad business to help people on UK forums.
I have no wish to humiliate either of you or bore other readers by belaboring you with facts. However;
"unrepetant", How on earth do annual MOT checkups add to the extent and cost of safety features legislatively required of NEW car manufacturers?? Your comment is patently absurd.
I'm in the USA.The gratuitous rudeness and ignorance of your responses indicate that you are from the UK. As the wonderful actress Helen Mirren pointed out earlier this year, no group is less courteous than a British male on the internet. Your type make it sad business to help people on UK forums.
I have no wish to humiliate either of you or bore other readers by belaboring you with facts. However;
"unrepetant", How on earth do annual MOT checkups add to the extent and cost of safety features legislatively required of NEW car manufacturers?? Your comment is patently absurd.
And you're talking complete rubbish. But I have no wish to further humiliate you or otherwise offend your Canadian sensibilities so I won't respond to the utter b
ks you spout.Ah! Our two self-appointed Canadian regulatory experts. You replied as expected. How can a land that once produced Shakespeare, Shaw and Churchill have fallen to the point where it now spawns such as you two? As Mirren said, a blight on the internet.
I'm in the USA.How disengenuous of you to say that! 
Shall we take wagers on where you were born and raised? The imprimatur of the UK internet boor is unmistakable. No facts, no references, just bombast. Americans don't act like you.
P (who is born and lives, strangely enough, in Canada, the subject of the question.)
unrepentant said:
I'm in the USA.
Shall we take wagers on where you were born and raised? The imprimatur of the UK internet boor is unmistakable. No facts, no references, just bombast. Americans don't act like you. P (who is born and lives, strangely enough, in Canada, the subject of the question.)
Edited by plushuit on Friday 23 November 09:48
Edited by plushuit on Thursday 6th December 14:32
sawman said:
plushuit said:
3. I have a UK permit and I have a CDN permit. I use the CDN in the UK and the UK permit here. (Give you 3 guesses why!)
p
struggling to see the benefit, please elaboratep
The answer is that Canada and the UK have no reciprocity agreement on demerit points. Additionally, with a bit of polite charm, a foreign permit often allows one to get any type of infraction dropped.
With the exception of the sorts I ran into in this thread, it is common in any community to extend a greater degree of courtesy to visitors.
Edited by plushuit on Thursday 6th December 14:51
plushuit said:
sawman said:
plushuit said:
3. I have a UK permit and I have a CDN permit. I use the CDN in the UK and the UK permit here. (Give you 3 guesses why!)
p
struggling to see the benefit, please elaboratep
The answer is that Canada and the UK have no reciprocity agreement on demerit points. Additionally, with a bit of polite charm, a foreign permit often allows one to get any type of infraction dropped.
With the exception of the sorts I ran into in this thread, it is common in any community to extend a greater degree of courtesy to visitors.
Edited by plushuit on Thursday 6th December 14:51
I don't want to burst your bubble, but I can testisfy that I got fined for a speeding ticket in Manitoba whilst using my uk license.
And call me unlucky, but I also attracted a fine in the UK whilst driving on a manitoba license. Imagine my surprise when exchanging my canadian license for my replacement UK license, that my uk license had been credited with the penalty points that had been "earned" whilst on the MB license!!
It may well be that your dual license status goes back a number of years, currently my understanding is that in several provinces the uk license is surrendered when being issued with a canadian one (and vice versa when returning to the UK)
Well I've been in BC for the last 4 years. When I first arrived, the only way I could 'legally' drive here after using my UK license for 90days was to take a driving test (the alternative is to nip to the US and re-enter and restart yor 90days!). But the test was really really easy compared to the UK one I did 15 years ago - only the 4-way stops and green-lit left turns into crossing-pedestrians seem wierd. Anyway you can now actually surrender your UK license for a full Canadian one without taking a test. This is a fairly new (last 2 years) reciprocal agreement between the UK and Canada (and brings it into line with Austrailia an Canada's agreement - to the OP, you'll find tons of Aussis in BC in the mountains!). I believe you can surrender your Canadian license and get your UK one back when you leave.
But yes there are some right sheds out here. I was driving on the highway and spotted a chap running down the shoulder carrying the main propshaft from his now-shafted F150 pickup (circa 1980!) about 200m upahead. And someone who obviously ha their wheel nuts come loose while driving. I find the lack of any obligitory annual or bi-annual safety inspection quite scary. There are cars driving around in the supermarkt carpark that you can tell have metal on metal brakes with no trace of pads left, along with slick tires (sorry 'tyres'). I've even been in multiple taxis that have their Check Engine lamp lit permanently (and the ABS warning light!). And there's lots of rusted rubbish from the salted roads. And you'll hardly ever find a used car (even from a dealer) with any record of service history - FSH is never going to happen (high-street oil changes are cheap though). Bangernomics could be possible with an old truck that is easy to work on but I'm sure you'll be talking $3000 minimum for something fairly decent. Subaru's are surprisingly popular being 4WD but a front driver on winter tyres is ok for BC. And just go with ICBC's minimum insurance coverage - although it's best if you've been driving for more than 10 years. Give me a message matthias73 if you want to discuss my experence.
But yes there are some right sheds out here. I was driving on the highway and spotted a chap running down the shoulder carrying the main propshaft from his now-shafted F150 pickup (circa 1980!) about 200m upahead. And someone who obviously ha their wheel nuts come loose while driving. I find the lack of any obligitory annual or bi-annual safety inspection quite scary. There are cars driving around in the supermarkt carpark that you can tell have metal on metal brakes with no trace of pads left, along with slick tires (sorry 'tyres'). I've even been in multiple taxis that have their Check Engine lamp lit permanently (and the ABS warning light!). And there's lots of rusted rubbish from the salted roads. And you'll hardly ever find a used car (even from a dealer) with any record of service history - FSH is never going to happen (high-street oil changes are cheap though). Bangernomics could be possible with an old truck that is easy to work on but I'm sure you'll be talking $3000 minimum for something fairly decent. Subaru's are surprisingly popular being 4WD but a front driver on winter tyres is ok for BC. And just go with ICBC's minimum insurance coverage - although it's best if you've been driving for more than 10 years. Give me a message matthias73 if you want to discuss my experence.
Edited by Rhod on Monday 10th December 06:08
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