Help choosing a car to live in while traveling in Canada

[timmothy]

We have moved to Canada for a working holiday and need to find a car to use all winter in the ski fields while we work but also be able to live and travel in it in the summer.

We have done a similar thing in New Zealand with a Nissan Serena that was excellent and a VW T4 in Australia that again was excellent.

We are really struggling this time as I am worried about a rear wheel drive 5.4l engined van/truck in the snow and also how much fuel it will guzzle. All their MPV, vans and trucks seem to be at least 3.5 litre engines that get 15mpg.

We have looked and there are no t4s here in Vancouver in our budget and they don't bring over Nissan Serena's . We are at a loss and wondered if anyone had experience living in a car/van in Canada or had rented one here and could say whether it would be good to live out of.

Safety is a concern so don't want an old US van from 30 years ago. Also would like decent fuel efficiency and needs room in the back for a bed and storage underneath

 

[timmothy]

That's what were going to do. Unfortunately the price of any campervan is drastically higher in the summer as no one really wants to travel in winter.

 

[timmothy]

As has already been said. Fuel is unfortunately expensive here. About $1.19 a litre. If a car is getting 20l to 100km fuel efficiency then it's going to be a very expensive trip.

We drove 50000km in Australia in the T4 that got 10l to 100km. Even a small country like New Zealand we drove 30000km at 8l per 100km. Over the course of a trip having a bigger engine will possibly cost us thousands.

 

[timmothy]

Working out at today's rate it's about 70p per litre which you are both right about really. As Fox says compared to the US or even Australia it is expensive. If you compare it to the UK it does sound very cheap. We will be hopefully using the car/van for two years so fuel cost is something we do take into account usually. I did a check from real world people about two vehicles I'm interested in. One is a Pontiac Montana which is a typical soccer moms minivan with a 3.9 litre V6. It will get around 18mpg combined with a load in the back. The other one was a Ford F150 truck with a camper attachment on the bed. Due to the 5.4l engine and the added wind resistance people generally get 8-9mpg. This is half of the Pontiac which is to be expected as one is going to be a much better place to live in. The other issue is that here in British Columbia there is no such thing as an MOT or yearly safety check. It means I am reluctant to spend a lot on a vehicle that may not have been looked after for years.

 

[timmothy]

You can get that ford pickup with an ecoboost engine as an option. It's much better for economy.

Yes but unfortunately it's way out of our budget. The only vehicle in our budget that may be big enough to sleep in with that engine is a Ford Flex that is based on the F150. Even still that's about $10000

 

[timmothy]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1490818741108822/

We are interested in that one. It's pretty grotty inside and damaged on the panel but we thought we may be able to get it for cheaper due to this. I am wondering what the stickers on the windows are? Think it's been bought from an auction and has issues?

 

[timmothy]

I think you’re placing too much emphasis on economy. Where I live, our fuel prices are similar to yours, and I wouldn’t even consider buying something like that. It’s not exactly a Prius, so you’re still going to spend quite a bit on fuel, and the engine / transmission aren’t going to be as reliable or as cheap to fix as an F150 or similar. You’re far better off getting something with a well known, reliable drivetrain (F150 with the 4.6 or any Chevy truck / van with the 5.3 would be ideal), and pay a little extra on fuel, rather than looking for a minivan like that.

I have a Canadian friend here who was planning something similar to you - he ignored everyone’s advice and bought an early 90s VW camper which has been a nightmare. I went to see a really clean, 1 owner Econoline with him which would have been a much better proposition but he discounted it due to the economy. He wishes he’d gone for that instead now!

Thanks for that. Good to hear other opinions. The minivans I have looked into are the best selling with cheap to repair parts. That VW has the same 4litre engine as the grand caravan and Chrysler town and country as they are all the same car. The other options like Pontiac Montana and Chevrolet uplander are also both the same car. It's not only mpg that's important, we are also thinking of what it will be like to drive in winter. A 2wd f150 is supposed to be terrible in the snow. The 4wd versions are way to expensive for us. We were thinking of buying a work van like the ecoline in summer if the smaller minivan doesn't feel big enough. .

 

[timmothy]

I was going to go for a Dodge Grand Caravan but couldn't find a decent one in the short amount of time we had. I went for a Kia Sedona in the end. They seem to hold their value more unfortunately so I had to spend more for less. Even without traction control it seems okay in the tiny bit of snow it's seen, I got a decent set of winter tires on it so hopefully that makes a difference. It's a huge vehicle though and does drink fuel at an alarming rate but I guess that's too be expected. What's strange is that even with that huge V6 it doesn't seem all that powerful with the auto box. The Nissan Serena with a 2litre CVT transmission seemed a lot more responsive and I loved that gearbox as it was so smooth and nice to not feel it changing gears. I'm not sure why all auto cars don't have it.