Sans car, we have begun renting on a semi-regular basis, trying out many brands of compact cars, here in Toronto, Canada. These are my biased opinion about what I have liked and disliked about these cars. In trying out different brands I hope to understand what I really like in a car. It seems like these small options can really make the difference in your love or hate of the car. I also received the input from the kids and SO.
Over the last 15 years cars have gotten larger and wider. The Honda Civic is just one example that started out small and is now more of a mid-size car. Bigger is not always better for me. Right sizing for purpose gives me a better fit.
2014-2015 Car Style Trends: I am writing this in autumn 2014 and through 2015. Function is much more important to me than form. Current car design trends that affect us include a low swooping of the roofline and a high beltline. This gives the car a faster, more sporty look. What this means is that the roof tapers low at the back of the car. For passengers this means reduced headroom when sitting and possibly hitting your head when getting into the car. The rear edge of the rear doors can be a little pointy as well. Rearview sight lines are also reduced, as the rear pillars, the B-pillars, need to be quite large. In summary this means reduced passenger head room and reduced rear visibility. Cars that are boxier or more jelly bean like have better passenger head height and better rear visibility. As I do with designs that I disagree with, I do not buy these products, though it may take years for the trend to pass.
Current car design trend: High beltline. The swooping line of the rear roof makes the car look fast but reduces passenger head room and rear visibility. The kids really do not like this design, as they hit their heads on the door frame getting into and out of the car.
2015 Kia Soul: Grade C
Way too wide, too much room is wasted. Sight lines are obscured. No backup camera, so along with the obscured sight lines, makes this a hard vehicle to reverse park with accuracy. It is like an SUV with the ass end cut off. For us, we did not like it at all. It also drank gas like no one’s business. The neighbours thought it was a nice looking car, but I would not buy a car just so the neighbours will like it.
2014 Chevy Sonic: Grade B-
The driver’s seat would not rise, so I felt my sight lines were not ideal. I felt that the car did not fit my Asian body. Lots of electronic dodads for Little Weed to play with, and, for me, lots of things to malfunction in the future. The backup camera was great. Gas mileage was really not good. Fancy electronics for the cool and hip Millenial, which I am not. We had not driven an American car for a long time, so we were a little biased against it. I would not buy this car.
2014 Nissan Versa Note: Grade A
A really nice driving car, and the rear seats fold down, revealing lots of storage for storing stuff. Good on gas, has a backup camera so is easy to reverse park. Everything was in the right place. Comfortable. For us, too much leg room at the back, as we’d prefer a larger trunk storage area. Still, it was fun to drive, even though the rental was an automatic. Sight lines in front and back were really great.
2012 Nissan Versa: Grade B
Not to be mistaken for the Nissan Versa Note, the upgraded hatchback. No, this was a hatchback, but gutless and not much fun to drive. Gas mileage was also not that great. No backup camera, a bummer. It was an Ok car, but I would not buy it. This car was beaten a lot as a rental car, and we felt every single small bump. Suspension was shot or was extremely hard. I have better suspension on my bicycle.
2015 Chevy Sonic: Grade B
The driver’s seat can elevate, resulting in a much better fit. Backup camera was great. Lots of electronics for the kids, which they liked but I feel would malfunction in the future. How would you do a software upgrade when bluetooth gets a new version? Dump the car? No trip meter, which bugged me, as I did not know how far I drove unless I did the calculation. This model was very similar to the 2014 model. Do not search for the gas cap release lever, as there is none. The gas cap cover merely opens with your hand.
2013 Hyundai Accent Hatchback: Grade A
I actually really liked this hatchback car, and was sad to return it. Great gas mileage, I drove 98km and it needed 7L of gas to top it up. No backup camera, which I would install. Sight lines in front were more obscured than the Nissan Versa Note. Heated seats were very nice. There was an optional semi-manual shift that actually worked.This car drove very nicely but was not as fun to drive as the Nissan Versa Note. Enough leg room in the back but not much wasted space. Intuitive design and a nice enough sounding car. The hatchback’s rear window is really small, though, resulting in not being able to see much out back.
2013 Hyundai Accent/Elantra/Kia Rio rear view is way too small. This is a safety issue. Backing up was difficult. While the rear view mirror was huge, a third of it only showed the car interior. The boss will not tolerate it.
After renting this car for a second time I do confirm that the gas mileage is quite good. I did 98km and only used 8 litres of gas. it is the best of all the cars I’ve rented and is consistent for gas mileage. One very odd issue about the gas gauge: The tank LEDs show 12 bars for a full tank, or 6 bars for a half tank. This makes it harder to figure out gas mileage as you drive. For example, if your gas has dropped by one bar, how much gas in litres have you used? A full tank is about 43 litres, so a quarter tank should equate to 11 litres. A quarter tank is 3 bars, so this represents 11 litres, so each bar is 3.5 litres? Other cars have gas gauge gradations of 4 bars for a quarter tank, or 16 bars for the full tank, which makes the mental calculation easier, as in a quarter tank is 10 litres, each LED bar is 2.5 litres. Anyway, this is a small matter.
Seat warmers are very nice. The Nissan Versa Note does not have seat warmers. The Accent has some good acceleration and is fun to drive.
2015 Chrysler Town and Country Minivan: Grade B
Holy Crap was my thoughts as I realized that the rental company only had a minivan or a pickup truck left, and I ordered a compact car. Still, I said let’s give this a try, as they gave it to me for the same price as a compact.
This T&C is more than large, comfortably seating 7. Huge, luxurious, and leather everywhere. Very nice interior, lovely old school and classy analog clock. Large engine, which can spin the front wheels if you’re not careful. Very large tank. The vehicle eats gas at seemingly double a compact.
While I thought the luxury was novel, it is really not me. I felt guilty in it when I was alone, burning the world’s precious oil resources excessively. Going skating with the family was like sitting in our living room. We are just not used to this type of excess and would rather put our money elsewhere. For us a vehicle is an appliance that takes us from point A to B and nothing more.
While I liked the look, I felt like a soccer Mom with a low level of estrogen: It just did not fit. We had to step up to the seat, and step down to the ground. Very truckish. The wife felt it was ugly.
The user interface was quite intuitive. I did struggle with the wiper speeds, as there is no right steering wheel lever. Other than that there really was nothing else to complain about. This vehicle has no fancy Gen-Y gadgets to get the kids ooh-ing. The automatic side door opening mechanisms I felt like they would break after a while. These critical motors are not and advantage, in my opinion. The backup camera was useful, as this van was both wide and long.
Personally I really would not buy this vehicle, as it is very far from our intended use. To each his own.
2013 Kia Rio Hatchback: Grade B+
You would think that the sister car of the Hyundai Accent would be pretty much functionally identical, and you would be right, but there are some differences. Still, I and the Big Weed preferred the Hyundai Accent over the Kia Rio.
The radio UI was a little quirky on the Rio. The display showed radio stations on either side of the display, going downward, with the current radio station in the middle. This vertical line of radio stations was not intuitive and clashed with the selection buttons that are layed out horizontally below the display. At first I thought that the display was touch, but no, it is not. UIs should be intuitive, with a minimum of learning. Big Weed also did not like the orange on black display, saying there was insufficient contrast, but I thought it was Ok. The prominence of black in the car’s interior made it feel, to me, like a car for the younger crowd, but I’m an old fart. Big Weed said it made no difference to her.
2013 Kia Rio Radio UI problem: The radio stations are displayed on the left and right sides of the screen, vertically stacked, but the selections are below the screen in two horizontal rows. This makes selecting a station somewhat unintuitive. This forces the driver to concentrate on the radio, taking his eyes away from driving, or to memorize the order of the buttons. A touch screen would have been better for this layout.
The semi-manual shifting mode actually worked, but really did not give you the feel of a manual. I quickly switched back to auto. Big Weed liked that her door display lit up lock or unlock, exactly opposite to the current mode of the door. For example if her door was locked the display would light up unlock, and vice versa. The heated front seats were pleasant and made the morning drive much more comfortable. There was sufficient leg room in the back seat, with no wasted space. The trunk was large enough for groceries and 2 skate bags. We did not need to put down the rear seats so cannot comment on its space, but it looks sufficiently large enough.
Acceleration and cornering were very good, but not as good as the Nissan Versa Note. While I drove in eco mode I did not see any improvement in gas mileage, averaging about 10km/litre.
There were a couple of things we did not like. All family members said that the front passenger seat was too low and asked how to raise it. Unlike the driver’s seat, there is no way to do this. They all felt that their sight lines were blocked too much. Like the Hyundai Accent Hatchback the Rio has a pretty small rear window. The car’s rear view mirror is 1/3d larger than what you can view out the rear of the car, meaning that the mirror is too large or the rear window is too small. This small window was somewhat problematic in backing up. Either get a smaller rear view mirror, thus giving more unobstructed forward view, or, my preference, provide a bigger rear window.
Big Weed did notice that some of the electronic inputs were labeled “iPod”, which she thought was not correct. The iPod is a specific product and brand, and excludes all other MP3 players and smart phones. What if you had an Android device? She frowned.
The small rear windows would be somewhat mitigated by a backup camera, but alas, all Hyundai Accents and Kia Rios do not come with them, and this is sad. In such a competitive environment with backup camera regulations just around the corner in 2015, this is a deal breaker for me. As a driver unaccustomed to the car, a backup camera is much safer and more reassuring to the tentative driver. I would not want to install a 3d party backup camera and display for a new car.
We also noted that the body height from the ground at the front wheels seems to be less than the rear wheels. The boss mentioned that the car might get more easily stuck in deeper snow, which we often get in Toronto. For the Boss, low body height, small rear window and no backup camera were all deal breakers.
Overall this is a really good car but it would have been a better car if it had a rear view camera. We still prefer the Nissan Versa Note, unanimously in the family.
2015 Nissan Versa Note: Grade A
I really cannot tell the difference between the 2014 and 2015 models. The backup camera is very handy. The car handles very well. There are no seat warmers, so when the weather is cold, like -15C this weekend, the car is chilly and takes a long time to warm up. I can drive for 5 km and the temperature gauge still does not budge, and therefore if I turn on the fan I get cold air. At least the car has a temperature gauge.
This will be the third or fourth time to rent. The car drives pretty nicely, but has some body roll on corners. Acceleration is more than adequate, even though it only has 109 hp. I find that with the automatic I need to really concentrate and look at the speedometer in order to not speed. The engine noise is not sufficient for me to gauge speed.
The aux input is convenient, allowing the kids to use their devices. The aux input level is quite low. You need to turn your device volume up to near max before the car picks it up. Alternatively you can connect USB, and the car will use your device as a stick. Note that with USB you cannot shuffle, do random order, or other ordering of songs. It’s all sequential. The USB/Aux inputs are covered with a cheap plastic cover that would quickly break. This looks bad.
After putting the rear seats down I found that the rear area does not lay flat. This is because the Note has a false bottom that can be used to store hidden items. Once you place the false bottom in properly the rear will be flat. The hidden area in the trunk is 6″ tall and the width of the rear area, providing a significant storage space.
The interior of the car is well layed out and intuitive. My issue is with the engine and handling. Compared to the Honda Fit the Note’s engine (1.6L 109 hp) is way under-powered compared to the Fit (1.5L 130 hp). Fuel economy is near identical. This means that the Fit has a technologically better engine, providing 17% more horsepower for no loss in fuel economy. The Fit’s engine is also 100cc smaller. The 2007 Fit had a 109 hp engine, which in 2009 was bumped to 117 hp, and then in 2015 was bumped to 130.
Sharp cornering quickly shows that the Note has significantly more body roll than the Fit. The Fit is much more composed, though not as nice as the Mazda3.
As for fuel economy, I did 170km and used 16L. It’s not so bad but really nowhere near the Hyundai Accent.
As I was researching the 2015 Versa Note for purchase I noticed that forum support is sorely lacking. For any issues with this car I’d be on my own. There is a strong and active community for the 2015 Honda Fit. Community and forum support is not something that comes top of mind, but without it troubleshooting and updates are far harder.
2015 Mitsubishi Mirage: Grade B-
The smallest car we’ve rented so far. Though it looked the size of the Nissan Versa Note, it is much smaller. The car is narrower and shorter. Big Weed hit her head on the roof getting out the rear door, it is that small.
This car is bare bones. No backup camera. No temperature gauge. No seat warmers. The ABS can be turned off but not back on. The radio is somewhat unintuitive and I could not figure out how to turn it off. You need to keep pressing the button, which is not the same as all other cars. The gas tank lever is on the floor to the left of the driver’s side. As such it is in shadow almost all the time, and is difficult to find. The embossed lettering on this lever is in black, making it near impossible to read. Though the car has a USB input, it is in the glove compartment and is a cable with the USB housing dangling on the end. Could they not mount it into something solid.
On the plus side the gas mileage is very good, even better than the Hyundai Accent. The reason is because it is a 1.2L engine, and the car has glacial acceleration. Real world, after a snowstorm gas mileage was 80km using 6.5L of gas, or 12.3km/l, which is much better than other compact cars. It is very unexciting to drive. The brakes are a little skittish as well. I found I was getting nervous in the snow, as when I am just about to stop the brakes seemed to grab. The brakes are not so smooth.
Sight lines on the Mirage are quite good, both to each side and to the rear. The car is narrow and easy to park. Too bad for the motor. Cornering exhibits a lot of body roll, so not very inspiring. In the snow it pulled well enough and I could test out the ABS with the parking brake.
While I like the gas mileage, I’d rather forgo some savings for a car that drives better than this. It is too boring for me. Somehow this car reminded me of the Nissan Versa, the gutless version but not the Note. It has the same design features in the same place. I wonder if these two cars were designed together, or share some heritage.
2015 Nissan Versa Note: Grade A, V2
This 2015 model seems to differ from the last 2015 we rented. The middle of the instrument cluster now has a prominent gauge in the middle of the speedometer, which initially confused us. On this gauge there is a label that is a filled in circle, then an arrow, then as symbol for a gas station. Beneath it in large numbers is something like a clock, for time, which would increase when we drove. There was no explanatory label near it. After observing it for a while we realized that it was not a clock, because it only moved when we started the car, and did not change when the car was off. The readout tells us the amount of time the car has travelled, but does not really say from when.
Once the tank is low on fuel, and near the red zone, this readout starts to blink the number of kilometers left. In my case this was 40 km. As you continue to drive this counts down. I suppose this is helpful so you do not run out of gas but the blinking display is very distracting and annoying.
Big Weed was able to connect her smartphone to the car using Bluetooth with no issues. The car does need to be stopped in order to connect.
Overall the car drove well, but with all season tires did not grip well in the snow. I believe driving on snow really ate a lot more gas.
As I have to return the car with the same amount of gas it had when I took it out, I need to calculate the amount of gas I use. As I drove ~130km I estimated 13 litres, and added 2 litres due to driving on snow. Once I added 15 litres to the gas tank and turned the car on to view the gas gauge, it said I was still low, by one tick or 1/16 of a tank. I then added an additional 2 litres of gas. Still this did not budge the gas gauge. After driving off the gas gauge went up one tick. Once I arrived home the gauge went up yet another tick, which means I overfilled the tank. Note that this gas gauge is not so accurate and needs to warm up or the car to be driven to be accurate. Oh well, lessons learned.
This car is cold at -17C and heated seat warmers would have been nice. It takes a long time for this car to warm up, so we usually arrive at our destination before the car is really warmed up. Waiting for the heater is not so good. We did like and use the backup camera. Otherwise the car is good to drive, but does lack spirit.
2013 Mazda 3 Sedan: Grade A
From the get go, a very nice car to drive. Superior handling and solid on the road, able to take corners much better than any of the other cars we have rented. There is decidedly much less body roll than other cars. Acceleration was also so much better, probably because of the 2L engine vs their 1.4L.
No backup camera, no seat warmers. Big Weed did not like the swoopiness of the dash. There is one LED display near the windshield for outside temperature, time and radio station. It seemed a little odd, but I got used to it. The steering wheel had no electronic gadgets such as cruise control or radio control. I actually did not mind, but I also did not use the cruise control. The trunk was too large, much larger than we really need. The back seats fold down, allowing the sedan trunk to extend into the cabin. The driver’s seat can be raised up for a better view. The rear view was large and clear. I would have liked a backup camera. The trunk does not open with a key, but there is the remote as well as a lever on the driver’s side.
For electronics the car does come with a USB and external device outlet, which I did not test. There is no electronic display for the radio and gadgets, other than the small LED display for the radio station. There was no engine temperature gauge, so we did not know when the car had warmed up enough to give us heat.
The 2L engine really drank gas much more than the other cars. I found I had to watch the speedo in order to not go over the speed limit. Driving with 4 people was no problem. For 120km I used 13L of fuel. Just a note than the gas fillup is on the right vs the left, which I find odd for an Asian car. This is the penalty for the much improved acceleration. The semi manual gear shifting was fun and it did work very well. On the drive setting you could slide to the left for semi-manual or slide right for auto. With the semi-manual you could shift up and down when you wanted and could hold the car in the same gear for better acceleration. Off a full stop this was pretty quick compared to an auto. The shift from 1st to 2nd was a bit rough and took me some time to become smooth, but from 2nd to 3d and up it was quite smooth. Shifting up allowed the car to run at lower rpms. How this affects gas mileage I do not know.
While I much preferred the performance of the Mazda, this was lost on the two kids and spouse. For them it was just another car. The kids actually prefer the Nissan Versa Note. There are always trade offs for each car, and performance was better here.
V2: Rented it again, and had a similar experience. The gas gauge is a bit not reactive and I returned the car with a bit too much gas. Oh well. Money wasted.
2014 Hyundai Elantra: Grade B
This vehicle is somewhere between a subcompact and a compact, and looking very much like a mid size sedan. Unfortunately it has slow acceleration, has significant body roll, and seems very stiff to drive. In summary, a boring car to drive. Sure it is comfortable and spacious, but not at all exciting. The gas mileage was also somewhat low compared to other cars of this class. For 110km of driving this 1.8L engine it cost me a quarter tank, or 12L. I’d have preferred the Hyundai Accent.
Sight lines in this car are not the best. The rear window seems very small, with the pillars taking up much valuable space. The rear window is also very high, blocking my view when backing up. As there is no backup camera, it was difficult for me to judge distance, as many cars behind me were completely blocked, save the side mirrors. I’d rather not have others in my family back up this car. The Elantra does look quite stylish, but for me function over form.
The first thing that bothered me about the car was that the thermometer was set to F. I tried to go through the radio menu to try to reset it, but to no avail. There was no option. The clock, right beside it had H and M buttons, thus cluttering up the console somewhat. Why not have the clock and thermometer changed through the regular menu? I gave up on the thermometer, thinking that Little Weed, who is very good at figuring out these types of problems, could do it, but he could not. It turns out that the clock/thermometer display is unconnected to the radio, so I had to figure out how to change the thermometer, which I could not. For the first time I needed to break out the user manual, bound nicely in a leatherette cover, and read the instructions. I should not have to do this for such a simple thing. Press and hold the H, then press the M for over 3 seconds, they said. This did not work the first couple of times, then it changed to Celsius, at the same time resetting the clock. Not a good UI.
As with the Hyundai Accent, the radio display shows the station presets in an odd way. I quote myself with similar criticism for the Kia Rio radio:
The display showed radio stations on either side of the display, going downward, with the current radio station in the middle. This vertical line of radio stations was not intuitive and clashed with the selection buttons that are layed out horizontally below the display. At first I thought that the display was touch, but no, it is not.
Overall it is not a bad car, just a car we would not consider buying. For the car size, in automatic, the engine seems too small and the car sluggish and lethargic. Cornering and handling shows much body roll. Gas mileage is not that great. Sight lines are obscured. Frankly I’d rather a smaller, more nimble car. Sure it has many bells and whistles for new technology, but more importantly are the ones specifically used for driving. In two years time how many of these techy options will still be useful?
2015 Mazda 5: Grade B
The family lineage is unmistakable. The Mazda 5 is a larger Mazda 3. Overall the Mazda 5 corners and drives very well. As a vehicle that is much larger than we as a family need, we would not buy it, though I was impressed by its quality.
Interior-wise the clock was set in F, and Little Weed and I could not intuitively figure out how to change it to C. We had to resort to reading the manual. Unlike the Elantra, the temperature scale is not controlled by the clock set buttons, even though the temperature is right beside the clock. Temperature scale is done with a combo of the temperature and fan controls. Overall, this is not a deal breaker.
While I found the seats comfortable, the steering wheel does not tilt, thus blocking my view of the odometer and trip meter. This is more of an annoyance than major.
The third row of seats fold down, revealing a very large trunk area. This is way too large for me, but was really nice. The seats are easy to fold down and up, and fold flat, making it easy to load and unload gear. The kids said there was a lot of space in the back seats for them. I did not try to lower the second set of seats, as I had no need.
The sliding doors allow passengers to access the second row seats. These sliding doors are not mechanized and are a little heavy and stiff. Initially it was somewhat unintuitive for me to close this door. You really need to grab the inner door handle and pull. I prefer a manual door over a mechanized one for long-term reliability, as i believe the motor on such a well used area of the car would eventually break and need service.
The 5’s sight lines are very good, with no large rear pillars blocking my view. My wife believes the car is too large for her and refused to drive it. As there is no backup camera, and the car is larger than we normally drive, we did have some issues backing up. There is no LCD screen, only your older style buttons radio.
One annoyance is that all Mazdas have their gas intakes on the right side of the car, which confuses me. While the Mazda 5 drinks a bit more gas than the Mazda 3, it was not too thirsty. 160km cost be about 18L, or about $19CAD. I did not push the Mazda 5 into corners, as I would the Mazda 3. The 5 is more minivan than sport compact.
Overall, the Mazda 5 is a really nice vehicle, easy to drive, performs well, and reasonably good on gas mileage, but much larger than our family requires. We don’t need so much space and I don’t want to pay the gas premium for hauling the excess around. I’d rather the Mazda 3.
2015 Kia Forte: Grade B
This car is a little larger than what we need, but drove pretty nicely. Handling and acceleration was very good, though I did not really do anything to push my luck. I drove 140km and added 13 litres of gas, so it was pretty good.
Loading goods in this vehicle is not easy as this was a sedan and not a hatchback. From the trunk there are two levers to release the rear seats, but you need to crawl in and push the seats down. This was not very easy for those of us with short arms. The seats also did not fold down flat, so space was restricted. The second seat doors open wide, so this was good. Still, with the rear window sill of the sedan you are limited to how much you can put into the space. The safety belt for the middle passenger also got in the way. There seems to be no way to disconnect it when you drop the second row seats.
As with the other Hyundai and Kia cars, the radio was adequate but while the display showed stations vertically, the actual preset buttons are arranged horizontally. Maybe I’m getting used to it?
Seats are pretty comfy. The driving experience was fine, really. Acceleration was good. I worried about the 1.8L engine eating extra gas, but this was untrue. Little Weed did not like the reduced head height for the second row seats, as he often hits his head. I found the rear window to be very small. This is due to the gradual slope of the rear roof. Yes, it looks sporty, but it is very inconvenient as a rear view window. This car also does not have a backup camera, so it was hard to judge rear distance.
I really like the white paint as I believe it would make the car cooler in the summer, but it really got dirty quickly, and the dirt really shows. I doubt I’d be able to keep up the maintenance on white. Every spec shows.
I read ratings for the Forte and safety is not really good. I’d rather buy the Hyundai Accent, except for the small rear window. The Forte is a good car that handles nicely, no doubt, and it really looks nice. For me, there are better cars out there for our needs.
Mandatory Features
- Excellent Gas mileage: The vehicle cannot guzzle gas. This is both expensive and wasteful. The better the gas mileage the better.
- Relative comfort: For the same value for money, the larger the better, to a point. We are an Asian family, so on the short side. We do not need to accommodate a 6’5″ person.
- Excellent rear view visibility: This is a safety feature.
- Lively performance: The more lively the better, but this is a trade off with good gas mileage. Sub-compact cars need to be as affordable as possible, so this segment can include cars that are not only gutless but a hazard when merging onto the highway.
Useful Options
- Backup Camera: Greatly aids reversing into a parking spot, which I do for safety. It makes you a straighter parker. I used to rely on the other cars to be straight, but with the camera you can align to the parking lines and not the other cars, resulting in a better park.
- Heated front seats: I thought these were not useful but when the weather is cold these small engines take a long time to heat up and this blow cold air into the car. The electrically heated seats give you heat quickly. After the car heats up you can turn off the seats. I wonder if as I age I need more heat in winter?
- Hatchback: Sometimes I like to transport goods in the back, and a hatch is very convenient. While the boss prefers the look of a sedan, she leaves the movement of goods to me. It is not a dealbreaker, but a preference. Our last car was a sedan with a large trunk, and there were many situations where I would curse the design, as I wrestled to put goods into the car.
Though these cars are all low(er) investment vehicles they still cost about $20,000 CAD after you tack on tax, freight, delivery charges and the rest. This is still a large investment for most families. Flipping cars every 3-4 years can get expensive.
Carless:
Feb 20 2015: Car-less in the 905: One family’s quest for automotive freedom
We’ve been renting from Enterprise, using their Weekend Special, over the internet. Their office is about 3km from our house. This special runs from early September to May 15th or so. The price is $10/day for Friday to Monday, so the average weekend costs ~$36CAD. Long weekends are blacked out and are not available. Overall the price for rental is very good, but getting there on Friday, picking up a car and dropping it off on Monday can be a real inconvenience. This is especially true if it is -15C outside. A specific car cannot be reserved, though they try. Sometimes they run out of cars for a specific category and then offer an upgrade. This might cost you extra gas for a vehicle you do not like, but they will still charge you the fee you booked. Unfortunately over the summer the price can float to $35CAD/day to $45CAD/day, so a weekend can cost you a couple of hundred. If you have no family and kids using the weekend special might not be too bad. During the summer you can use the bus or bicycle.
We have done almost a full year car-less. At times this has been a great inconvenience. Shopping, going out to dinner, and all family events need to be rethought. The TTC is very close to our house but it is not as reliable and does take a long time to get places. We have saved money and we are fitter as a result. I’m just not willing to keep going car-less, as the changes to our lifestyle are too important. Sans car you are not equipped for emergency situations, like picking up or dropping off the kids, and this is important to me. Late night travel for the kids does concern me. Winter travel is more difficult. While I don’t mind waiting 15 mins for a bus in the summer, in winter this can stretch to 30 mins in the cold. Our experiment is almost finished, so are looking for a car.
Cars are expensive to own and run, but at least we have a better idea of why we need a car, what features are important to us, and what cars fit this criteria.
