Driving a car in Toronto (lease, car insurance, broker)

[lovecouture]

I want to buy or lease a car but have never owned a car before. I am from BC originally and have a full driver's license. I recently turned 25. How much can I expect to pay for car insurance per month? I will be driving from downtown to Markham and North York on a fairly regular basis so how is the commute from downtown to these places like?

I've also been looking into Autoshare. Has anyone used their services? Is it only recommended for people who don't drive very often?

[jambo101]

Buying and maintaining a car can be expensive and if you plan on using it for a daily rush hour commute i think public transit is faster and a whole lot less stressful.
Before blowing a whole bunch of money on a car and all the hassles that go with it why not just rent a car for a few days and drive your planned commute, then do it by public transit and see which one you prefer..

[malcolmwent]

Originally Posted by lovecouture

I want to buy or lease a car but have never owned a car before. I am from BC originally and have a full driver's license. I recently turned 25. How much can I expect to pay for car insurance per month? I will be driving from downtown to Markham and North York on a fairly regular basis so how is the commute from downtown to these places like?

I've also been looking into Autoshare. Has anyone used their services? Is it only recommended for people who don't drive very often?

Were you ever listed as an occasional driver on a parent's policy in BC?
If you truly have no past experience on any policy over there you will probably find if you shop your rates the prices to vary wildly, (and be fairly expensive).

Coming from BC and getting insurance in Toronto can be a little tricky. Since most insurance companies will have trouble verifying your record, (It's been awhile but i believe you are based on a GRID level). If you have something called a Letter of Expereince ,(LOE) and driver's abstract should be very easy to get various quotes from companies.

You will notice however that prices between companies will vary wildly especially when you have little experience.

As an estimate, ( this could be very far off), for a toronto postal code and a work commute over 20km one way you are probably looking at paying 200ish. However, make model and all that other stuff can change it substantially.
You can use a service like www.topquote.ca to help you.

I'm not that familar with auto share, so i can't comment on that.
-from a former insurance agent and broker

[Wwanderer]

Autoshare is not cost-effective for a daily commute, period, let along one from downtown to the 'burbs. It's really only viable for quick errands.

Have you looked into transit routes to your job? You might be able to take the subway up to Finch and then a bus or two.

[stormrider2011]

Lots of other factors, such as what kind of car you want to buy. What is the usage of the vehicle, for business or pleasure?

The mileage you drive per year matters also.

[Stay By The Phone]

Just buy a car, when I used to live there I thought about getting rid of my car and just take the TTC but you will soon realize that the TTC is not reliable and it takes forever to get anywhere on it. Driving is faster, you just have to be a good driver to dodge all the hippies on bicycles oh and don't forgot about the large streetcars that are nothing but an eyesore, they can't pull up to the curb so you have to stop as if its a school bus when people board/get off it, such a bad public transit layout.

You will however pay more in car insurance than you did out west because keep in mind its Toronto after all where they try and get you for every penny you have. Get a car to avoid sketchy smelly poor people on the TTC and just drive to work.

[East Coaster]

Originally Posted by Stay By The Phone

Just buy a car, when I used to live there I thought about getting rid of my car and just take the TTC but you will soon realize that the TTC is not reliable and it takes forever to get anywhere on it. Driving is faster, you just have to be a good driver to dodge all the hippies on bicycles oh and don't forgot about the large streetcars that are nothing but an eyesore, they can't pull up to the curb so you have to stop as if its a school bus when people board/get off it, such a bad public transit layout.

You will however pay more in car insurance than you did out west because keep in mind its Toronto after all where they try and get you for every penny you have. Get a car to avoid sketchy smelly poor people on the TTC and just drive to work.

I don't drive. I have no advice to offer in that respect. But I did want to say that the TTC is very safe and reliable. It can definitely be a pain if you're quite far from a subway station, though most buses run pretty frequently during rush hour. The subway system itself is just great.