Guides
Short, specific answers to the Ontario questions that cost real money. Every figure in them is either worked out by the same engine behind the calculator or carries a source you can open.
Taxes and fees
Ontario used-car tax: dealer, private, and the rule nobody warns you about
Ontario charges 13% either way, but not on the same number. A dealer collects HST on the advertised price. A private sale is taxed at ServiceOntario on the greater of what you paid or the book value.
OMVIC all-in pricing, and the fees you can refuse
In Ontario a dealer’s advertised price has to include every fee they intend to charge you. Only HST and licensing may sit outside it. Here is what that means at the desk.
Loans and credit
84-month car loans and the negative equity nobody mentions
A longer term buys a smaller payment and sells you years of owing more than the car is worth. Here is exactly how that happens, and what it costs when you trade in early.
What credit score you need for a car loan in Canada
There is no cut-off score. Lenders price you into a band, and the band decides your rate. Here are the four bands, what each one costs on the same car, and how to find out where you sit without hurting your score.
Car loans for newcomers to Canada
Your credit history does not cross the border with you. Here is what that costs, which lenders have programmes built for it, and what to bring to the appointment.
Your car payment is quietly shrinking your mortgage approval
Lenders cap all your monthly debts, car payment included, at about 44% of gross income. Every dollar of car payment is a dollar of mortgage room, and the trade is worth making on purpose.
Owning a car
What a car actually costs in Ontario, once everything is in
The loan payment is roughly half the bill. Insurance is the line that swings hardest, and in Ontario it can move by more than a hundred dollars a month between two cities an hour apart.
The EVAP rebate explained, and what it is worth against EV depreciation
The federal EV rebate is back. Up to $5,000 off a battery-electric car at the point of sale, capped on what you actually pay rather than the sticker. Here is how it works and what it does not cover.