British Columbia has fewer car owners than the Canadian average, and B.C. residents pay substantially less to own those cars, according to BMO’s auto report released July 8.
Eighty per cent of British Columbians surveyed owned a car, compared with 83% of Canadians. But those British Columbians paid an average of $360 a month to maintain those cars, substantially less than the Canadian average of $437.48 per month.
Those costs include car payments, insurance, gas and maintenance. While gas prices in Vancouver top prices across Canada (at 148.6 cents per litre this week compared with a Canadian average of 137.2 cents, according to Kent Marketing Services survey of weekly pump prices), the savings may come from car payments as fewer car owners in B.C. borrow to buy. According to the survey, 42% of respondents in the province said they had taken out a car loan, and 5% said they had used a line of credit to buy their car. In Canada, those numbers were 49% and 11% respectively.
Across the country, car expenses made up the third-largest household expense. In B.C., 14% of spending was on the car, compared with 32% for housing costs and 20% for food.
The survey also found that 58% of car owners in B.C. planned to buy another car within five years, and spend, on average $28,562.
