Hi , I am new in canada and can not afford to pay 30k now to buy new car . I saw some options on web about 0% finance /lease / cash . But I am confused what to do ? I want to drive new car and want to use it atleast 3 years . I prefer Toyota RAV4 car as it is useful in remote location like Fort Mcmurray where I am living now .
Please share your experience and advice me in detail .
Thanks in advance

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DSD

If the lease APR is around 2%, why not lease for 3-4 years and finance it after that next 4 years.

RAV4 should be good for 8 years easily and after 8 years it could be used as a down payment (say 4-5K) + another 5K cash would get you a new car later on Finance which would be your own in 5 years and continue this until you could do that...

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The cowards never started,
The weak died on the way,
Only the strong arrived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yK1i9cLAMM

My personal take is to lease always. At the end of the lease term, you can choose to buy the vehicle, if you like it or just return it and re-lease.

I never tried lease mainly because fobia around the conditions that are put at the end of the term.
E.g. If there are scratches, how would they re-calculate the value if you are not buying/re-leasing? What about the limitations on kilometers.
Since you are new and may need to know driving conditions,better to go for a low cost used SVU in that area than the brand new to start with. This will also help in lowering the insurance cost a bit. Insurance for newer vehicles is always higher, not sure leasing/owning makes any diffference to the cost of insurance. I myself Would like to know the first hand experiences of leasing the vehicles.

Good luck!

Your query depends on how heavy your pocket is. Also how much your income vs expenses are.

As you are new to canada, I will suggest you to go for used Rav 4 or CRV. You can finance 2010 vehicle, which will save you money that helps you to settle in this country. Dealer have lots of hidden cost when you buy a new vehicle. Recently I bought 2008 honda vehicle for 16 K and end up paying around 20k.

Do not get lured with 0% down, 0% lease rate, there is always * mark on % and that * is might worth of 8-10K.

Make all calculation how much you will end up paying at end of term.

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એવા ઝંઝાવાત હજુ હૈયાની અંદર

New vehicles typically include destination charge (varies with manufactures.. can be up to 2K), tire tax ($35) and A/C tax ($100) on top of the listed price. New or Used, you pay 13% HST (in ON), $20 for new plates ($10 for plate transfer, if you already have one) and the sticker price (was $74, increased a bit this year).

Some dealers will try to charge Admin fee, Handling charges etc. Those can be removed. They will say No, but as part of negotiation, you can get them removed. I always talk about the 'On the road' price with the dealer.

@bhootnath: Scratches, extra kms etc. dont' matter to lease vehicles, if you are buying it out. In most cases, the buy out price for the lease is less than the market price. It will make sense to buy it out and sell privately. If you are re-leasing, you can easily get the repair/excess km charges waived - as long as they are reasonable. Dealers also sell some kind of protection package (adds upto another $80-90 to the monthly payments) that will cover for the scratches (even major ones). Kms limits are normally in the 16-24K per year range. Most won't exceed them. (They keep it high - hence the residual value comes down.)

I have mostly leased. Never regretted it. Now going to lease my 7th car.. Audi this time.

@OP: I would say lease. That way, your monthly payments are lower and you keep the money. There is nothing like having liquid $ in Canada, especially since you are new here. Once you settle and figure out the actual monthly income and expenses, you can make a call as to what you want to do with the $.

I have had a leased sedan. Payment was never less than financed vehicles when i was in the market. I leases just to avoid long term commitments being new in the country. I had all the worries bhootnath mentioned. But at the end, when 3 months remaining, dealer gave me lucrative offer for new car in exchange of leased vehicle. And when they sell new vehicle, they dont bother much about condition of old car. Not to mention i saved 3 month lwase. But you have to check with many dealers as this offer is generally from company.