Automotive

Buying or renting a car in Vancouver BC

  • Last Updated:
  • Sep 27th, 2019 2:05 am
Deal Addict
Jul 1, 2006
1124 posts
50 upvotes

Buying or renting a car in Vancouver BC

I'm looking to move to vancouver for a few months coming from Ontario. I dont want to drive my car there. Is it possible to buy a used car there with my ontario license and get insurance over there or do I have to change my drivers license over and its a big process? Also if I rent a vehicle are there any inexpensive choices?
5 replies
Deal Fanatic
Jun 26, 2007
5977 posts
1468 upvotes
???
AFAIK you have to plate your car in which province you hold your drivers license in. So no, you won’t be able to do that.
Member
Apr 27, 2009
430 posts
320 upvotes
West Vancouver
you probably should contact an icbc broker to confirm that you can purchase register and insure a vehicle. Registering and insurance are different things, you can own a car even if you do not have a driver's license.


If you move to bc you can use your out of province drivers license for 90 days.

You may find insurance expensive as you may be considered an inexperienced driver as you have no driver's history in bc.
Deal Fanatic
Oct 26, 2008
7022 posts
2907 upvotes
Victoria, BC
tripleflip wrote: I'm looking to move to vancouver for a few months coming from Ontario .........
Then you are visiting, not moving. So the above referenced 90 days using your OOP licence does not apply - you can use it for up to 6 months.

Long-term renting usually is prohibitively expensive from the majors. You might be able to negotiate something with a smaller rental company.
Car share/co-op might not be feasible for a term less than 1 year.

With a verifiable temporary address in Vancouver you could buy, register and insure/plate a used car.
ICBC has no interest in forcing you to get a BC driver licence when you are not planning to be a resident. Your Ont. licence is fine.
(Paying 12% tax just to own a car for a few months doesn't sound like a great plan.)
With a letter from your Ont. insurance company (not broker) your driving history will be taken into account and an appropriate discount up to 40% applied.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Sep 6, 2002
11547 posts
5376 upvotes
Moving target
I think you’ll likely be better off renting by the week and cycling through cars. You can try in town car rentals (although often the off airport agents have great deals)

Couple in town places I’ve used.

Pacific car rentals - https://www.pacificcarrentals.com

Ace rent a car downtown - https://www.acerentacar.com/landing/Can ... nacle.aspx


You should also remember many BC highways require snow tires or chains.
Autocorrect sucks
Deal Expert
User avatar
Jan 9, 2011
19723 posts
28591 upvotes
Vancouver
If you will be right in the city and not out in the suburbs, your best bet will probably be one of the car share services like Modo, Car2Go, or Evo. This will be the least amount of hassle for someone in your situation, and most likely cheapest too.

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